亲爱的远方的你,当你出航时,我该拿什么来邮寄给你?那么多美好的过往,那么多甜蜜的回忆,那么多绵长的思念,那么多爱……
My Love,
亲爱的:
You’ve asked what you can send me while I’m on cruise: those things which I want but cannot get while on the ship thousands of miles away. The list was fairly easy to write. I suspect that it won’t be so easy to fill the order.
你问过我,当我出航时,你可以寄什么给我——在千里之外的航船上,那些我想要却无法得到的东西。我想这份清单不难列出,只恐不易兑现。
Please send me autumn. Fill a box with that special chill the evenings get that forebodes1) the cold of winter, that Jack Frost2) nip3). Add the colors of fall: the yellows, reds and browns of leaves whose cycle of life has ended. Send me the sound they make as you shuffle through ankle-deep blankets of them scattered across the yard. Be sure to wrap some of the fragrant smoke which spirals4) up from the pile as they burn. Package with it the yellow harvest moon caught in the naked branches of a tree which has begun its winter sleep.
请将秋天寄给我。用盒子装上预示寒冬来临的清冷夜风、冰凉霜冻,再加上秋色少许——那是终结了生命轮回的秋叶,黄色的、红色的、褐色的。落叶撒满庭院,如同铺上了层层地毯,当你踩上这没过脚踝的落叶时,它们会簌簌作响,请将这声音寄给我。当叶堆焚烧时,青烟袅袅,其味芬芳。秋分前后,木叶凋陨,生机不再,光秃的枝丫上挂着一轮金黄的圆月。请将这青烟月色一并打包寄来。
Later you can send me winter. Send me the first heavy snowfall: that muted, magical silence which comes down across the land with the fat flakes that pile up quickly. Don’t forget the taste of snowflakes on my tongue, or the dusting5) of snow caught in your hair like jewels. Send me a blanket of white under a full moon, when the land seems to glow. Send me a snowman, or even better a snow family with a snow-daddy, snow-mommy and little snow children with button eyes, sticks for arms and carrots for noses. Send me an evening in front of a fireplace with hopes and dreams in the flames. Send me some of your warmth, as we snuggle6) beneath the covers on a cold December night. Icicles7), too: long sturdy8) ones and thin delicate ones.
随后,你可将冬天给我寄来。寄给我第一场大雪。在万籁俱寂的魔境中,雪片硕大,疾疾飞落,铺天盖地,愈积愈厚。别忘了将雪花飘落我舌尖的味道或那挂在你头发上如宝石般璀璨的雪花寄给我。皓月当空,整个大地在皑皑白雪的映衬下熠熠生辉,取一块雪毯送给我。请寄给我一个雪人,最好寄一个雪人之家——雪人爸爸、雪人妈妈和雪人娃娃,都以纽扣为眼,以木棍为臂,以胡萝卜为鼻。寄给我壁炉前度过的一个夜晚,炉中火焰闪烁着希冀和梦幻。寄给我一些你的温暖,一些在十二月的寒夜里,当我俩在被子下相依相偎时你给我的温暖。另外,寄给我一些长而坚硬、细而精致的冰凌吧。
The holidays, too, I’ll want those. Send me Halloween with the little witches, ghosts, cowboys and pirates. Carefully wrap for me the shy voices which whisper “trick or treat” from the little fairies joining in the ritual for the first time. Package them carefully with the louder, bolder cries of the more experienced trolls9) and Indians hidden safely behind disguises they are sure could fool even their own parents. Send me the smell of freshly carved pumpkins with their funny or horrifying jack-o’-lantern10) grins and snarls. Capture for me some of the more grown-up magic that comes later that one night a year near the witching hour11), when after the little ones are tucked in their beds and the house is quiet except maybe for a branch against the window and even grownups get an uneasy feeling that perhaps there are haunts and goblins about in the night.
把假日也寄给我吧——这些也是我想要的。把万圣节,连同那些小女巫、鬼魂、牛仔和海盗一起寄给我。为我小心地把小“精灵们”第一次参加庆祝活动时羞涩的轻声低语“不给糖,就捣蛋”包裹起来。许多更谙于此道的“小矮人”和“印第安人”安安稳稳地藏在他们确信连父母都能骗过的面具后,东奔西窜,嚷得更响亮、更大胆,把他们的喊声也一并细心包裹起来,寄给我。把刚刚刻好的南瓜灯的气息寄给我——连同南瓜灯上刻出的滑稽笑容、恐怖咆哮。为我捕捉一些更适合大人们的魔幻时分,这魔幻时分要来得晚些,一年只此一回,大约在女巫出没的夜半三更出现。其时,小家伙们已被安置在床,拥被入眠,除了树枝划着窗子的声音,房间里一片沉寂。即便是大人们也惴惴不安,担心鬼魅或许会在夜间幽现。
Save for me the smells of roast turkey and dressing12), homemade breads and pies. Send me the smells of Thanksgiving, as the food is cooked all day and the table is piled higher and higher. Send me that quiet sense of pride and accomplishment that rests briefly between setting the table and the feasting frenzy.
为我保存烤火鸡、烤鸡填馅、自制面包和馅饼的香味。寄给我感恩节的气息——烹煮终日,餐桌上的佳肴越摆越高。寄给我从布置餐桌到宴席酣饮期间由心底而生的那短暂却淡定的自豪感和成就感。
Send me a Christmas tree. Not just any tree: a fresh cut tree felled by small hands assisted by mom and dad. Send it to me with fresh cut smell, some lights and sparkles all draped13) in tinsell4) carelessly tossed here and there as the young ones try to outdo each other. Send me a glass of eggnog15), ever so gently spiked16). Take your sips first, and leave the prints from your lips there on the glass for me to see and taste. Send me that sleepless anticipation of the night before Christmas, when little angels are trying so hard to go to sleep, knowing in their hearts that Santa Claus won’t come until they sleep. Share with me a glass of milk and a couple of chocolate chip cookies as we help preserve the fleeting illusions of childhood. Send me the excited shouts as little ones get their first glimpse of the piles of gifts left by Santa Claus. Send the crinkle and tear of wrapping paper and the oohs and aahs that punctuate each gift as it is exposed and shown around. Send me the hugs as everyone opens the gifts that were “just what I wanted!”
寄给我一棵圣诞树吧。那不是一棵寻常的树,而是孩子们在爸爸妈妈的协助下用自己的小手刚刚砍下来的圣诞树。孩子们都想在装点圣诞树时胜人一筹,因而急切切地将金箔丝线裹饰的亮闪闪的小灯挂得圣诞树上到处都是。把这刚砍的圣诞树的气息,连同上面的彩灯和灯的光辉都寄给我吧。请再寄给我一杯勾兑得至醇至润的蛋奶酒。你先酌饮几口,让你的唇印留在杯口,那样我就可以看见你的唇印,品尝它的味道。寄给我圣诞平安夜的无眠期待。这时小天使们都逼着自己入睡,因为他们心里知道,只有当他们睡着了,圣诞老人才会到来。和我分享一杯牛奶和几块巧克力曲奇饼干吧,这有助于保存我们那转瞬即逝的对于童年的幻想。寄给我孩子们第一眼看到圣诞老人留下的一大堆礼物时发出的欢呼声。寄给我礼物包装纸被撕开的声音和孩子们打开礼物并四处炫耀时的啊呀声。寄给我每个人打开自己心仪的礼物时所给予的拥抱。
For the last day of the year, send me a quiet evening spent with you as we look forward to another year together, and marvel at all we survived the year before.
在一年的最后一天里,请寄给我一个与你共度的安静夜晚,我们期盼新的一年仍彼此相依,感叹过去一年经历的风雨。
Space out the packages, but send me all the changes of season, all the day-to-day worries and joys, all the holidays that I’ll miss as I sit halfway around the world from you. Most of all, send me your thoughts and hopes, your dreams and wishes, your smiles and tears.
再把包裹腾出一些空间,将四季的变幻、每日的悲欢,以及因我与你天各一方而即将错过的节日都寄给我。最重要的是,寄给我你的思绪和希望,你的梦想和愿望,你的微笑和眼泪。
Most of all, send me your love.
最最重要的是,寄给我你的爱。
1. forebode [fC:5bEud] vt. 预示,预言,预兆 2. Jack Frost:(拟人化称呼)霜,严寒
3. nip [nIp] n.〈俗〉刺骨寒冷,严寒 4. spiral [5spaIErEl] vi. 盘旋上升
5. dusting [5dQstIN] n. 薄薄的一层喷洒物 6. snuggle [5snQ^l] vi. 偎依
7. icicle [5aIsIkl] n. 垂冰,冰柱 8. sturdy [5stE:dI] adj. 坚固的
9. troll [trEul] n. 友善而好恶作剧的侏儒;(北欧民间传说中居于地下、洞中、山间的)巨人,巨怪
10. jack-o’-lantern:(把南瓜挖空并雕成人面形的)杰克灯;南瓜灯
11. the witching hour:(传说中)巫师出没的时刻;半夜三更
12.dressing [5dresIN] n. (烤鸡等腹内的)填馅
13.drape [dreIp] vt. (尤指装饰性地)覆盖,包,裹;装饰
14. tinsel [5tInsEl] n. 金属箔
15. eggnog [5egnRg] n. (由蛋、牛奶、糖和酒搅拌而成的)蛋奶酒
16. spike [spaIk] vt. 将烈酒搀入