鹦鹉螺岛上的隐士

Nautilus Island's hermit

那个女继承人在简陋的屋子里过了一冬；

heiress still lives through winter in her Spartan cottage;

她的羊群还在海边高地上吃草。

her sheep still graze above the sea.

她儿子是个主教。她的农场主

Her son's a bishop.  Her farmer

是咱们村里的第一任村长；

is first selectman in our village;

她如今已经老迈。

she's in her dotage.

她渴望得到

Thirsting for

维多利亚女王时代

the hierarchic privacy

那种等级森严的清静闲适，

of Queen Victoria's century,

她收买了

she buys up all

the eyesores facing her shore,

所有对岸看不顺眼的地方，

and lets them fall.

任它去倾颓。

The season's ill--

这季节出了毛病——

we've lost our summer millionaire,

我们丧失了夏天的百万富翁，

who seemed to leap from an L. L. Bean

他仿佛从一个货目单上逃走了。

catalogue.  His nine-knot yawl

他那九英尺长的游艇

was auctioned off to lobstermen.

拍卖给了一个捕虾的人。

A red fox stain covers Blue Hill.

秋天的蓝山沾满狐狸皮的红斑点。

And now our fairy

如今我们那仙子般的装饰家

decorator brightens his shop for fall;

粉饰好店铺等着秋市开张，

his fishnet's filled with orange cork,

他的渔网挂满橘黄色的浮子，

orange, his cobbler's bench and awl;

鞋匠的凳子、锥子也是橘色的；

there is no money in his work,

他干活，挣不了钱，

he'd rather marry.

还不如去结婚。

One dark night,

一个黑夜，

my Tudor Ford climbed the hill's skull,

我的福特车爬上山头，

I watched for love-cars.  Lights turned down,

我注视情人们的车子。灯黑了，

they lay together, hull to hull,

车子并列着，机身捱着机身，

where the graveyard shelves on the town. . . .

坟场在市镇上空层层排列着。

My mind's not right.

我的脑袋不对头。

A car radio bleats,

一辆车中的无线电在尖叫，

'Love, O careless Love . . . .' I hear

“爱情，啊，轻率的爱情……”

my ill-spirit sob in each blood cell,

我听到每个血细胞中都有恶神在啜泣，

as if my hand were at its throat . . . .

仿佛我的手卡住了喉咙……

I myself am hell;

我自己也像是座地狱；

nobody's here--

这里没有人——

only skunks, that search

只有黄鼠狼，在月光下

in the moonlight for a bite to eat.

寻找一口食物，

They march on their soles up Main Street:

他们在大街上阔步行进；

white stripes, moonstruck eyes' red fire

毛上的白条纹，狂乱的眼神吐出红的火光，

under the chalk-dry and spar spire

在三一教堂

of the Trinitarian Church.

那些白垩色、带横梁的尖顶下面。

I stand on top

我站在我家

of our back steps and breathe the rich air--

后门的台阶上，吸入浓烈的气味——

a mother skunk with her column of kittens swills the garbage pail

一只黄鼠狼带着一群小的

She jabs her wedge-head in a cup

of sour cream, drops her ostrich tail,

舐着废物箱中的食钵，

and will not scare.

她把尖尖的脑袋插进

一个酸乳酪杯子，吹下她鸵鸟似的尾巴，

什么也不怕。