这些版面不属于年轻人，

These are no pages for the young,

他们最好彼此相拥，

who are better off in one another's arms,

也不属于那些只需知道

nor for those who just need to know

黄金价格的人，

about the price of gold,

或一场正撕裂基韦斯特的飓风。

or a hurricane that is ripping up the Keys.

但终有一天你会加入

But eventually you may join

那群人——他们首先翻到这里，

the crowd who turn here first to see

看看谁在夜里倒下了，

who has fallen in the night,

谁留下了一团行走的空气占据其位置。

who has left a shape of air walking in their place.

这里亮出了最后的底牌：

Here is where the final cards are shown,

年龄、死因、功绩的铭牌，

the age, the cause, the plaque of deeds,

有时还有一则古怪的花絮——

and sometimes an odd scrap of news—

她曾收集糖罐，

that she collected sugar bowls,

他玩单人纸牌时不穿衣服。

that he played solitaire without any clothes.

所有幸存者在末尾挤作一团，

And all the survivors huddle at the end

躲在一个段落的屋檐下，

under the roof of a paragraph

仿佛刚刚避开了死亡之火。

as if they had sidestepped the flame of death.

还有什么更好的方式，

What better way to place a thin black frame

能给早晨的事物镶上一层薄薄的黑框——

around the things of the morning—

那只手绘的杯子，

the hand-painted cup,

那只切开的橙子的两半半球，

the hemispheres of a cut orange,

桌上那一道斜落的阳光？

the slant of sunlight on the table?

有时会出现一对最奇特的组合，

And sometimes a most peculiar pair turns up,

古怪的室友躺在那里，

strange roommates lying there

在版面上肩并肩——

side by side upon the page—

阿瑟·戈弗雷紧挨着曼·雷，

Arthur Godfrey next to Man Ray,

肯·克西紧挨着黛尔·埃文斯。

Ken Kesey by the side of Dale Evans.

这足以让人想到一艘死亡之舟，

It is enough to bring to mind an ark of death,

不是动物王国里的成双配对，

not the couples of the animal kingdom,

而是一对又一对男女，

but rather pairs of men and women

两两登上跳板——

ascending the gangplank two by two,

外科医生和模特，

surgeon and model,

热气球驾驶员和金属工匠，

balloonist and metalworker,

考古学家和疼痛权威。

an archaeologist and an authority on pain.

他们臂挽着臂，上了船，

Arm in arm, they get on board

然后加入其他人，倚靠在栏杆上，

then join the others leaning on the rails,

终于所有人都在生命的可怕洪水中得救了——

all saved at last from the awful flood of life—

每天有这么多人离去，

so many of them every day

那一定需要许多艘方舟，

there would have to be many arks,

一支舰队来运送死者

an armada to ferry the dead

渡过世界之外翻滚的深水，

over the heavy waters that roll beyond the world,

也需要许多个诺亚，

and many Noahs too,

留着胡子，眉头紧锁，在每个船头警惕地守望。

bearded and fiercely browed, vigilant up there at every prow.