黃金漲價，讓儲藏黃金的打算推遲，後悔當年的摳門。
Gold’s going up, investors sorry they waited.
鑽石也漲價——而鑽石，不過是石頭的一種——必有人如此感悟。
Diamonds too. Surely some see diamonds are just stones.
利比亞戰事沒完沒了，歐洲的干預騎虎難下，但那都在遠方。
Libya’s war endless, Europe clutching the tiger’s tail. All so remote.
本‧拉登被擊斃在巴基斯坦。可惜開槍的海豹突擊隊員永遠出不了大名。
Bin Ladin shot dead in Pakistan. Too bad the Seal pulling the trigger won’t be famous.
股市套住了許多人，包括我那些智慧的朋友們。
Many tangled in the stock market, including clever friends.
他們總在說笑時翻看手機中的股市行情，好像在發短信談情說愛。
Checking the latest quotes on their cellphones, they chat and chortle
他們生活在此處同時又生活在別處，專心致志同時又心不在焉。
as if texting love notes. Here and not here, they’re utterly devoted yet distracted.
美好的下午，像假的。團團白雲以為自己飄動在巴黎的上空。
The afternoon’s so pleasant it seems fake. Clumps of white clouds dream they’re adrift
購物中心建成歐洲小鎮的模樣，使老外有歸家之感；
over Paris. Shopping centers styled like Europe’s hamlets, so foreigners feel at home,
使戲水的孩子們習慣於世界性消費，而家長們全在玩照相機。
so children dabbling in water get used to global consumption, while the parents
toy with cameras.
人造噴泉的數十根水柱忽高忽低，表明它們是快樂的；
中心水柱忽然噴出十米之高，帶著魔術師表演成功的得意。
A dozen streams in the fountain dance high and low, confirming their happiness.
The central jet suddenly shoots ten meters, like a magician grandly closing his performance.
從咖啡店走出的女孩甩頭髮，戴上墨鏡。陽光愛著她。
她胸罩的粉紅色肩帶露在肩膀上，拖鞋打著腳底板發出「噼噼」聲響。
A girl struts out of a cafe, tossing her hair, donning sunglasses. How sunshine loves her.
The straps of her pink bra show on her shoulders, her flipflops slap at her soles, “pip-pap”.
而比她更小的女中學生走著日本女孩的小碎步，不過將來
她還是會走回中國人的步伐，嫁雞隨雞嫁狗隨狗。
A middle-school girl walks with Japanese mini-steps, but soon she’ll return to Chinese
—marry a chicken, live like a chicken; marry a dog, live like a dog.
來自小縣城的中年男人彷彿一下掉進了洞天福地，看不懂外文廣告，
卻仍能享受電影《泰坦尼克號》抒情的主題曲：又該有新產品上市。
A middle-aged man from a small town suddenly finds himself in the palace of the gods,
but can’t grasp the foreign ads.
我坐在咖啡店的露天散座上，被老婆孩子要求讓出一個下午。
Still, he enjoys Titanic‘s theme song: new products should now be in the market.
偏西的太陽還在走它的弧線，一會兒更會加快速度。
Roped into surrendering an afternoon by my wife and child,
但老婆去購物了，孩子去滑冰了，我給朋友打電話，通了。
I find a free chair in a streetside cafe.
我先前數次電他他都關機。我以為他被抓了起來但這次他接了電話。
The sun creeps west along its arc, falling faster soon enough.
他活得好好的，但他母親肺癌轉骨癌。他盡著最後的孝道。
Since the wife’s off shopping, the child skating, I dial a friend’s number.
我們約好過兩週見個面，其實也沒什麼要緊的事情。
His phone off lately, now it rings through.
I thought he’d been arrested, but he picks up.
His life’s alright, but his mother’s lung cancer has entered her bones.
He’s serving out his last filial duties.
We arrange to meet in two weeks, about nothing important.