意义

蔡平

                  意义
                by Carl Dennis
                 蔡平释译

如果一种生活对于是否有意义而言是无用的
那么可能就是躺在海滩上晒日光浴的生活
至少对于少数人而言可能会认为这是有意义的
有少数人将太阳视为神
而且把晒太阳视为对神的尊崇

有些人致力于冲浪运动
或许倾心于一副冰鞋一袋高尔夫球杆
尽管我不能和他们争论这样的生活是否有用
我也不愿声称他们这样做没有意义
即使没有人看到他们精湛的演技

没有人听从图书管理员
我能想到她在练习，下班后，
在胡佛街她的公寓里，拉响古大提琴
一天中的一个小时，生活对于她而言是金色的
假使她在音乐会上表现的不能么足够出色
对不起那些付了钱的听众，那又怎样？

当我想起她和听众时
我能想象到已经死了数百年的作曲家的幽魂
很愿意听到她在音乐方面最出色的表演

如果不尽如人意时，我们可以乘上傍晚的车
在胡佛街下车，参加完一个
讨论如何挽救一个正要拆除的旅馆的会议之后，
赶上去听一个人满屋音乐缭绕的表演
我们难道不会去拜访一个乐音萦绕心头的独奏表演吗？

接着，礼物会随我们的想象而来
如何让那些今天在海边的冲浪运动员相信
我们不是去那里欣赏大的海浪
也不祈求引起他们的注意
只是想到不受我们欢迎的日光
为何使其他人涌往前去并沉浸其中

备注：作者系美国诗人卡尔•丹尼斯

         Meaning   
                by Carl Dennis  

If a life needn’t be useful to be meaningful,
Then maybe a life of sunbathing on a beach
Can be thought of as meaningful for at least a few,
The few, say, who view the sun as a god
And consider basking a form of worship.

As for those devoted to partnership with a surfboard
Or a pair of ice skates or a bag of golf clubs,
Though I can’t argue their lives are useful,
I’d be reluctant to claim they have no meaning
Even if no one observes their display of mastery.

No one is listening to the librarian
I can call to mind as she practices, after work,
In her flat on Hoover Street, the viola da gamba
In the one hour of day that for her is golden.
So what if she’ll never be good enough
To give a concert people will pay to hear?

When I need to think of her with an audience,
I can imagine the ghosts of composers dead for centuries,
Pleased to hear her doing her best with their music.

And isn’t it pleasing, as we walk at dusk to our cars
Parked on Hoover Street, after a meeting
On saving a shuttered hotel from the wrecking ball,
To catch the sound of someone filling a room
We won’t be visiting with a haunting solo?

And then the gifts we receive by imagining
How down at the beach today surfers made sure
The big waves we weren’t there to appreciate
Didn’t go begging for attention.
And think of the sunlight we failed to welcome,
How others stepped forward to take it in.