眼隨手動，

“The eye follows the hand,

意隨眼動，

  the mind follows the eye,

心隨意動。

  the heart follows the mind.”

——《樂舞論》

      —from the Natya Shastra

重量幾不可察，

With no appreciable weight,

一隻蝴蝶翩然

a butterfly alit

停落在我指上

and rode my finger

足有一個小時。

an hour or longer.

我將手舉在身前，

Holding my hand ahead,

接受牠的引領。

I let the butterfly lead.

我們行至溪邊，

We walked down to the kill,

牠豎起的雙翼作帆。

its wings an upright sail.

我幾乎不敢呼吸，

I was almost afraid to breathe,

任雙腳探路——

but my feet knew the path—

避開打結的樹根，

its slipknot roots

反彈的枝條。

and slingshot branches.

我在一塊石頭上坐下，

I sat down on a rock.

無法相信這運氣。

I couldn’t believe my luck.

世界瞬間變得柔和，

The world then seemed kind,

一隻蝶在我手上，

a butterfly on my hand,

牠青銅的翅翼平展，

its bronze wings spread flat,

震動著提高體溫。

pulsing to raise its body heat.

彷彿呼扇的眼睫毛

Like a fluttering eyelash,

在我敏感的虎口

it tickled the web of flesh

搔癢。

between forefinger and thumb.

「我的生命從此不同！」

“My life can never be the same!”

我這樣想著，欣賞牠豹斑似的

I thought, scanning the leopard spots

眼紋；翅脈的裙褶；

of its eyes; its veins like pleats;

鱗片如扇貝排列；六根

its scalloped scales; its legs,

伶仃的細枝作腳。

six knobby little twigs;

胸部的絨毛泛著銅綠光澤；

the thorax’s fuzzy patina;

一對觸角纖細，

the two slender antennae,

燈泡形的末端，像火柴棍；

bulb-tipped, like matchsticks;

刀刻斧鑿的翅面各自妝點了

and the pointed black circumflex

尖尖的黑色抑揚符：

markings on each scored wing:

來自母語的重音。

accents from the mother tongue.

牠伸展口器，從我手上

With its proboscis it sipped

吸食鹽分，敲擊

salt from my hand and tapped

密碼，

out a secret code,

神的不可言說的名字，

the secret names of God,

從不示人，

invisible to man,

此刻印在我皮膚上。

imprinted on my skin.

假如我能變成一株蕨類——

If I could have become a fern—

一塊石頭——一根玉米莖桿……

a stone—a stalk of corn . . . .

但事與願違，我的左手一抖，

Instead, my left hand twitched

蝶兒即刻

and the butterfly detached

飛離，全部在一息之間，

itself, all in a breath,

與我結契者，

my article of faith,

這短暫的馴服

momentarily tame

猶如在夢中，

as if out of a dream,

終於繞石而去，

now circling the rock,

不再歸返。

not coming back.