那時我正要去給草莓澆水，

On my way to water the strawberries

黃昏時分——我需料理我的菜園——

at dusk—I gardened in those days—

我看見一隻浣熊握緊門口的水龍頭

I saw a raccoon clasping the outdoor spigot

彷彿水手操控船舵，兩隻爪子

like a sailor’s wheel, using both paws,

越看越像一雙手

that seemed more and more like hands

不斷擰動直至水流

as it kept twisting until water gushed

從那銅嘴噴出，牠喝水。

out of the copper nozzle and it drank.

很多年沒想起這件事，哪怕有一次

I hadn’t thought of it in years, not even

看到另一隻浣熊在大白天

after I saw another raccoon, high-stepping

高步跨過土狼圍欄，一隻田鼠

the coyote fence mid-day with a limp vole

軟綿綿啣在口中。多麼罕見的一幕，

overhanging its mouth. Such a singular sight,

我一見到你，就忍不住脫口而出，

I had to tell you, and blurted it out as soon

像第一朵綻開的番紅花或鄰居的嘈吵

as I saw you, a piece of domestic gossip

成爲一則家庭八卦：

like the first crocus or noisy neighbors:

公共財產，如同婚姻中許多事物——

common property, like so much in marriage—

一個朋友稱之爲小本生意，包括

a small business, a friend called it, down to

做假帳。後來，我認出了

the cooked books. Only later, after I spotted

你詩行裡信步走過的

the raccoon sauntering through a line

浣熊……我不快的情緒壓力鍋

in one of your poems . . . only after the pressure

迫使你將浣熊和田鼠

cooker of my displeasure caused you to recast

改成臭鼬和鼴鼠，

your raccoon and vole as skunk and mole,

我終於記起多年前的那隻：

did I flash on the one I’d seen decades before:

沒有鬼鬼祟祟，那神氣看起來

its lack of furtiveness, the air it had

天經地義，甚至不慌不忙

of being within its rights, the way it took its time

沿路返回，關掉水龍頭。

to retrace its steps to turn the water off.

——又或者從容走過，任水流不停？

—Or did it amble on and let the water run?

閒談不受版權保護，你也許這樣說過，

No copyright protects idle talk, you might have said,

或：想像的婚姻之地沒有邊界。

or: the imaginarium of marriage knows no bounds.