他倆走在海邊的樹林中
They are walking in the woods along the coast
和荒蕪的草地上，碰見
and in a grassy meadow, wasting, they come upon
兩棵蒼老得被遺忘的蘋果樹。
two old neglected apple trees. Moss thickened
苔蘚增厚枝椏，樹幹看似腐爛
every bough and the wood of the limbs looked rotten
卻繁花怒放，小小新葉的綠色火焰，
but the trees were wild with blossom and a green fire
閃爍在哪怕最無生機的枝條上。
of small new leaves flickered even on the deadest branches.
藍眼睛，罌粟花，散落的羽扇豆
Blue-eyes, poppies, a scattering of lupine
遍布於草地，還有一種錯綜如豹紋的
flecked the meadow, and an intricate, leopard-spotted
綠葉花，他倆不知其名。
leaf-green flower whose name they didn’t know.
他說是狗牙紅蓮；她說是山慈菇。
Trout lily, he said; she said, adder’s-tongue.
她顫慄於那蘋果花的原始、潔白，
She is shaken by the raw, white, backlit flaring
逆光的火焰，他狂喜雀躍，
of the apple blossoms. He is exultant,
彷彿他感覺到的東西被證實，
as if some thing he felt were verified,
並指望她有同樣的反應。
and looks to her to mirror his response.
要是在午後，令我失望的一彎瘦月
If it is afternoon, a thin moon of my own dismay
像一塊傷疤在天空逐漸消逝，朝著他倆的東邊。
fades like a scar in the sky to the east of them.
在夢中，他可能會瘋狂地敲擊著
He could be knocking wildly at a closed door
一扇關閉的門。同時，她想，那苔蘚
in a dream. She thinks, meanwhile, that moss
似船塢上輕微晾乾的海藻。
resembles seaweed drying lightly on a dock.
撕裂肉體，冷白的花朵裏
Torn flesh, it was the repetitive torn flesh
反復撕裂的肉體之欲
of appetite in the cold white blossoms
令她震驚。此刻它們顯得溫柔，
that had startled her. Now they seem tender
在令她厭惡的地方，她打量樹
and where she was repelled she takes the measure
並讓它們進入內心。但他已不再
of the trees and lets them in. But he no longer
擁有蘋果樹了。如此悲傷或快樂，
has the apple trees. This is as sad or happy
正如潮水，在日落時潮漲潮落。
as the tide, going out or coming in, at sunset.
光芒被困於暗礁上噴起的水霧，
The light catching in the spray that spumes up
跟他倆注意到的田野上空
on the reef is the color of the lesser finch
光芒中的小金翅雀一樣，閃爍著
they notice now flashing dull gold in the light
暗淡的金色。他們一同贊賞鳥兒，
above the field. They admire the bird together,
這使他倆靠近，他倆又開始步行。
it draws them closer, and they start to walk again.
一個小男孩遊蕩在旅館走廊。
A small boy wanders corridors of a hotel that way.
一道門後，一位女僕。另一道門後，
Behind one door, a maid. Behind another one, a man
穿條紋睡衣的一個男子刮著臉。
in striped pajamas shaving. He holds the number
他在頭腦裏嚴肅而細致地
of his room close to the center of his mind
記住他的房號，就像它是鑰匙，
gravely and delicately, as if it were the key,
然後在陌生人中隨心所欲地漫遊。
and then he wanders among strangers all he wants.