“The eye follows the hand,

眼隨手動，

  the mind follows the eye,

意隨眼動，

  the heart follows the mind.”

心隨意動。

      —from the Natya Shastra

——《樂舞論》

With no appreciable weight,

重量幾不可察，

a butterfly alit

一隻蝴蝶翩然

and rode my finger

停落在我指上

an hour or longer.

足有一個小時。

Holding my hand ahead,

我將手舉在身前，

I let the butterfly lead.

接受牠的引領。

We walked down to the kill,

我們行至溪邊，

its wings an upright sail.

牠豎起的雙翼作帆。

I was almost afraid to breathe,

我幾乎不敢呼吸，

but my feet knew the path—

任雙腳探路——

its slipknot roots

避開打結的樹根，

and slingshot branches.

反彈的枝條。

I sat down on a rock.

我在一塊石頭上坐下，

I couldn’t believe my luck.

無法相信這運氣。

The world then seemed kind,

世界瞬間變得柔和，

a butterfly on my hand,

一隻蝶在我手上，

its bronze wings spread flat,

牠青銅的翅翼平展，

pulsing to raise its body heat.

震動著提高體溫。

Like a fluttering eyelash,

彷彿呼扇的眼睫毛

it tickled the web of flesh

在我敏感的虎口

between forefinger and thumb.

搔癢。

“My life can never be the same!”

「我的生命從此不同！」

I thought, scanning the leopard spots

我這樣想著，欣賞牠豹斑似的

of its eyes; its veins like pleats;

眼紋；翅脈的裙褶；

its scalloped scales; its legs,

鱗片如扇貝排列；六根

six knobby little twigs;

伶仃的細枝作腳。

the thorax’s fuzzy patina;

胸部的絨毛泛著銅綠光澤；

the two slender antennae,

一對觸角纖細，

bulb-tipped, like matchsticks;

燈泡形的末端，像火柴棍；

and the pointed black circumflex

刀刻斧鑿的翅面各自妝點了

markings on each scored wing:

尖尖的黑色抑揚符：

accents from the mother tongue.

來自母語的重音。

With its proboscis it sipped

牠伸展口器，從我手上

salt from my hand and tapped

吸食鹽分，敲擊

out a secret code,

密碼，

the secret names of God,

神的不可言說的名字，

invisible to man,

從不示人，

imprinted on my skin.

此刻印在我皮膚上。

If I could have become a fern—

假如我能變成一株蕨類——

a stone—a stalk of corn . . . .

一塊石頭——一根玉米莖桿……

Instead, my left hand twitched

但事與願違，我的左手一抖，

and the butterfly detached

蝶兒即刻

itself, all in a breath,

飛離，全部在一息之間，

my article of faith,

與我結契者，

momentarily tame

這短暫的馴服

as if out of a dream,

猶如在夢中，

now circling the rock,

終於繞石而去，

not coming back.

不再歸返。