強大，來自反省

－高塔譯 T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land有感

然而，在那裡，夜鶯

以不容玷辱的聲音盈滿整座沙漠

她仍啼喚，世界仍逐聽

「唧格 唧格」，對髒污的耳朵－

(“yet there the nightingale

Filled all the desert with inviolable voice

And still she cried, and still the world pursues,

“Jug Jug” to dirty ears.”－ II. A Game of Chess of The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot)

荒原五部

II.棋戲by T.S. Eliot

高塔 譯2015

她入坐的椅子，像天工細琢的御座(77行)

在大理石上熠熠發光，鏡子

雕鏤纍纍葡萄藤的支架托起

金黃丘比特自其間探出

(另一個的眼睛躲在翼後)

輝映七枝燭台的燄火

倒射在桌上

她的奪目珠光起迎(84行)

從錦盒大量繽紛灑出

小象牙及五彩玻璃瓶

拔下塞子，暗汩她的怪異合成香水

玉膏、傅粉或瓊汁－煩憂、困惑

感官耽溺於香氣；窗外襲來

清新空氣微微攪動，裊裊上升

捻粗，細長的燭燄

煙霧騰至鑲板天花板

攪亂方格天花板上的圖案(93行)

巨大的海漂木鑲銅

燻成青綠和橘黃，外框彩石

躍然雕出的海豚泅於哀傷的光中(96行)

古老壁爐架上方浮顯

如窗所見，在林中幽谷

斐洛美的變身，蠻橫的國王

粗暴凌逼，然而，在那裡，夜鶯

以不容玷辱的聲音盈滿整座沙漠

她仍啼喚，世界仍逐聽

「唧格 唧格」，對髒污的耳朵(103行)

其他時間的枯枝

在牆上訴說；凝視人像

探身，斜倚，閉室闃然安靜

樓梯上，拖著走的腳步聲

火光下，刷子下，她的頭髮

散成火星

亮成字詞，而後，橫生生，趨靜(110行)

「我的神經今晚不好。是的，不好，陪我。」

「對我說話，為何一直不對我說話，說話。」

「你想到什麼？想什麼？什麼？」

「我永遠不知道你想什麼？想。」

我想我們在老鼠的胡同

在此，死人失去他們的骨頭(116行)

「什麼聲響？」

 門下的風

「現在那是什麼聲響？風在幹什麼？」

沒有，什麼都沒有。  

「你什麼都不知道？你什麼都看不見？你記得嗎？」

「你什麼都不知道？你什麼都看不見？你什麼都不記得？」                      

我記得                                                       

那是明珠，那是他的眼睛。

「你還活著？或不在？你的腦袋空空？」(126行)

但  

噢噢噢噢，那莎士比亞式爵士          

如此優雅

如此大知

「我現在要作什麼？我要作什麼？」       

「我要依然故我，衝出去，走到街上」

「如此披頭散髮，我明天要作什麼？」

「我長此以往要作什麼？」(134行)

十點喝杯熱水

如果下雨，四點關車門

我們要下盤棋

強迫硬撐的眼睛，並等待敲門(138行)

當莉爾的丈夫退伍，我說

我就直說，我自己對她說

請快點，時間已到

現在，艾伯特將回來，你自己打理打理

他想要知道，妳如何用那筆

他給妳的錢，要你自己作牙齒。他給的時候，我在

妳就將它們全拔掉，換一套好的

他說，我發誓，我不忍看著妳

我再也無法，我說，為可憐的艾伯特想一想

他在軍隊已四年，他想快活快活

如果妳不給他，別人會，我說(149行)

是嗎？她說。就那麼一回事，我說

那我知道該謝誰了，她說，瞪我一眼

請快點，時間已到

如果妳不樂意，那就請便，我說

如果你辦不到，別人便能挑走，揀走

但要是艾伯特落跑，別怪我沒說

妳真該羞羞臉，我說，看起來這麼老

(她只有31歲) (157行)

我身不由己，她說，拉長臉

是那些我吃的藥丸，把它打掉，她說

(她已經有5個，小喬治差點翹掉)

藥師說不打緊，但我永遠回不去了

你真是儍子，我說

也罷，如果艾伯特沒丟下妳不管，就這樣囉，我說

如果妳不要小孩，幹嘛結婚？(164行)

請快點，時間已到

對了，那個星期天艾伯特在家，他們吃熱醃豬腿

他們邀我用晚餐，叫我乘熱用

請快點，時間已到

請快點，時間已到

晚安，比爾，晚安，羅，晚安，梅

晚安

再會，晚安，晚安

晚安，女士，晚安，甜蜜的女士，晚

安，晚安(172行)

II. A Game of Chess

The Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne,(line 77)

Glowed on the marble, where the glass

Held up by standards wrought with fruited vines

From which a golden Cupidon peeped out

(Another hid his eyes behind his wing)

Doubled the flames of sevenbranched candelabra

Reflecting light upon the table as

The glitter of her jewels rose to meet it, (line 84)

From satin cases poured in rich profusion;

In vials of ivory and coloured glass

Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes,

Unguent, powdered, or liquid—troubled, confused

And drowned the sense in odours; stirred by the air

That freshened from the window, these ascended

In fattening the prolonged candle-flames,

Flung their smoke into the laquearia,

Stirring the pattern on the coffered ceiling. (line 93)

Huge sea-wood fed with copper

Burned green and orange, framed by the coloured stone,

In which sad light a carvéd dolphin swam. (line 96)

Above the antique mantel was displayed

As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene

The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king

So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale

Filled all the desert with inviolable voice

And still she cried, and still the world pursues,

“Jug Jug” to dirty ears. (line 103)

And other withered stumps of time

Were told upon the walls; staring forms

Leaned out, leaning, hushing the room enclosed.

Footsteps shuffled on the stair.

Under the firelight, under the brush, her hair

Spread out in fiery points

Glowed into words, then would be savagely still. (line 110)

 “My nerves are bad tonight. Yes, bad. Stay with me.

“Speak to me. Why do you never speak. Speak.

  “What are you thinking of? What thinking? What?

“I never know what you are thinking. Think.” (line 114)

I think we are in rats’ alley

Where the dead men lost their bones. (line 116)

  “What is that noise?”

                          The wind under the door.

“What is that noise now? What is the wind doing?”

                           Nothing again nothing.

                                                        “Do

“You know nothing? Do you see nothing? Do you remember

“Nothing?” (line 123)

       I remember

Those are pearls that were his eyes.

“Are you alive, or not? Is there nothing in your head?” (line 126)

        But (line 127)

O O O O that Shakespeherian Rag—

It’s so elegant

So intelligent

“What shall I do now? What shall I do?”

“I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street

“With my hair down, so. What shall we do tomorrow?

“What shall we ever do?” (line 134)

                                               The hot water at ten.

And if it rains, a closed car at four.

And we shall play a game of chess,

Pressing lidless eyes and waiting for a knock upon the door. (line 138)

  When Lil’s husband got demobbed, I said—

I didn’t mince my words, I said to her myself,

HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME

Now Albert’s coming back, make yourself a bit smart.

He’ll want to know what you done with that money he gave you

To get yourself some teeth. He did, I was there.

You have them all out, Lil, and get a nice set,

He said, I swear, I can’t bear to look at you.

And no more can’t I, I said, and think of poor Albert,

He’s been in the army four years, he wants a good time,

And if you don’t give it him, there’s others will, I said. (line 149)

Oh is there, she said. Something o’ that, I said.

Then I’ll know who to thank, she said, and give me a straight look.

HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME

If you don’t like it you can get on with it, I said.

Others can pick and choose if you can’t.

But if Albert makes off, it won’t be for lack of telling.

You ought to be ashamed, I said, to look so antique.

(And her only thirty-one.) (line 157)

I can’t help it, she said, pulling a long face,

It’s them pills I took, to bring it off, she said.

(She’s had five already, and nearly died of young George.)

The chemist said it would be all right, but I’ve never been the same.

You are a proper fool, I said.

Well, if Albert won’t leave you alone, there it is, I said,

What you get married for if you don’t want children? (line 164)

HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME

Well, that Sunday Albert was home, they had a hot gammon,

And they asked me in to dinner, to get the beauty of it hot—

HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME

HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME

Goonight Bill. Goonight Lou. Goonight May. Goonight.

Ta ta. Goonight. Goonight.

Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night. (line 172)