春的序列
【美】罗伯特·吉布 陈子弘 译
i.
从古至今困顿的持续似乎都捱过了冬天，
那垄茴香在一场倾盆大雨中沦落倒伏。
狂野的日子一串串，我拔掉篱笆桩，
除掉那些根系已深入冻土的杂草。
ii.
三月回暖——兀鹫飞临上升气流像灰烬的屑片，
连翘在路的两边弥漫着淡淡的黄色氤氲。
黄水仙和丁香。就在今朝，沿着那段小溪，
它们花苞上斑斑点点的火焰，我看见臭鼬偷食。
iii.
又是今年，在雨蓬和交错的屋面之下，
幼苗从沙蓬公寓楼摆放的盆栽中
破土而出。雪冠，横玉，以及金夏——
在暮色中，我的车满载这些艳俗的名字。
iv.
就像黑暗从甜绿光的缝隙中透出，
两只蝈蝈翅鞘半透犹如碧叶，
在我卧室墙壁的高处鸣叫。我醒躺着
听它们唧唧的高潮。今夜我不会孤单入眠。
v.
跨过几组铁轨，它们离河边还有些距离，
我看见携手成双的前行：铁轨、枕木、路基，
现在牛眼的第一道眼神沿着路边绽放，
拉毛草针垫一样的花苞围着螺旋的刺针。
vi.
今天我把番茄垫在细细的草缕上，
铺好边上的堆肥，剪掉一侧枝杈。
这世上事儿一桩桩，我们将镇静自处。
杜甫曾写过：“方春独荷锄。”
诗人简介：罗伯特·吉布（Robert Gibb 1946—）美国当代诗人，出身在宾州钢城霍姆斯特德，已出版10部诗集，其中 The Origins of Evening获得了全美诗歌丛书奖。他还获得了另外多种文学奖项。
“本译文及所附英文原文仅供个人研习、欣赏语言之用，谢绝任何转载及用于任何商业用途。本译文所涉法律后果均由本人承担。本人同意简书平台在接获有关著作权人的通知后，删除文章。”
译注：
1、第三段第三行原文为“At Chapon's. Snow Crown, Jade Cross, Golden Summer—”这三个名字疑为三种花的名字。
2、第五段第四行拉毛草（teasels）学名起绒草，原产欧洲。浙江余姚一带农民称“斤洋菜都”,慈溪农民称“拉毛都”“起拔都”。其穗果又名“拉毛草果”“刺果”,是工业上一种很好的起绒材料。可利用它具有规则而富有弹性的钩刺状的总苞片,为毛毯、大衣呢、羊毛衫和高极毛制品拉绒，拉出的绒毛完整无揖,均匀柔软,色泽鲜艳,质量优美。意思就是成熟后有倒刺可以拿来理毛，拿这个来刮，是非常好用的传统工具。
3、第六段第三行原文为“The world one thing after another, soon it will be cucumbers.”黄瓜一词在诗中暗含双关，英语中有一个成语“as cool as a cucumber”意为保持冷静自若，本行译者取意译。
4、末行引用的杜诗原文做"In the end," said Tu Fu, "I will carry a hoe." 直译的意思是：杜甫说，最终我将带把锄头。我在谷歌图书中搜索了这一行，发现出自美国华裔作家Maxine Hong Kingston（汤婷婷）的书“China Men”，出处在Vintage1989年国际版的306页。这句杜诗译文不知出自谁家之手，或是汤婷婷自译也难说。反查有“锄”字的杜诗，断定只有“方春独荷锄”（这句出自著名的三吏三别中的《无家别》）切合这个意思。顺便也找到了这一句的几个英译译文兹为对比：
In spring I shouldered my hoe alone, （宇文所安/ Stephen Owen）
Come spring, I shoulder the hoe alone, (华兹生 / Burton Watson)
To hoe up weeds in spring's my lot, (无名氏)
In spring I carry my hoe all alone, (Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping )
【英文原诗】
Spring Sequence
i.
So far all the perennials seem to have survived the winter,
The bed of fennel retrenching itself in one showery stem.
A mild run of days and I'm out here pulling up stakes,
Hoeing weeds whose roots reach down into frozen ground.
ii.
March thaw—the vultures on the updrafts like flakes of ash,
The forsythia in their little haze of yellows by the road.
Daffodils and lilacs. And just this morning, along the creek,
I saw skunk cabbage, the dark mottled flames of their spathes.
iii.
Again this year, underneath the awnings and latticed roofs,
The seedlings are exhalations of the potting soil set out in flats
At Chapon's. Snow Crown, Jade Cross, Golden Summer—
My cart fills up, at twilight, with the names of the earth.
iv.
As if the darkness spilled from crevices of sweet green light,
Two katydids, sheathed and translucent as leaves,
Trill from perches on my bedroom wall. I lie awake listening
To their bodies' crescendos. Tonight I don't have to sleep alone.
v.
Crossing the sets of train tracks back from beside the river,
I see how things go forward by twos: rails, ties, gravel beds,
The first of the ox-eyes now blooming along the roadsides,
The pincushion teasels within their collared whorl of spines.
vi.
Today I bedded the tomatoes in the shred excelsior of straw,
Spread side dressings of compost, pinched off any side-shoots.
The world one thing after another, soon it will be cucumbers.
"In the end," said Tu Fu, "I will carry a hoe."
ROBERT GIBB
AFTER /Marsh Hawk Press
