Barbara Rendall

Expatriate

Five hard months a foreigner,

And what have I earned?

The satisfaction of following my nose

Down any cobbled lane

No matter how narrow,

How peculiar-smelling,

How clogged with people, vegetables,

Doomed chickens, or racks of defective track suits,

And coming out somewhere I faintly recognize,

Unfazed, armed with a good hunch

That this travessa must flow eventually

Into some estrada I’ve drifted by before –

Catching the currents,

Working my sails,

Surviving my own ignorance,

Bobbing along the surface of other people’s lives.

芭芭拉

僑民

辛苦當了五個月的外鄉人，

我得到什麼？

滿足地跟隨自己的鼻子

走下鋪著卵石的小巷

不管小街有多窄，

不管氣味有多奇怪，

不管多麼堵塞：人群、蔬菜、死雞、

掛著廉價衣服的衣架

我來到一個我不認識的地方，

不慌不忙，保持著好的直覺

相信這條小巷必定會流到

某條我認識的大道

抓住水流，

操縱我的風帆，

在我的無知中生存，

沿著他人生活的表層浮沉。

翻 譯：劉鈺馨、姚風