康塞尔作品

玛丽·A·康塞尔（Mary A. Koncel），美国诗人。生于芝加哥。先后在哥伦比亚学院和马萨诸塞大学攻读文学，毕业后做过多种工作，还受聘于史密斯学院，担任其文学创作顾问。她长期从事散文诗创作，作品广泛发表在北美各种文刊，被收入多种经典散文诗选集，结集的散文诗集有《更靠近白天》《你可以把一切都告诉马》《最后一个金发女郎》等。她对马很有研究，因此她在作品中多以超现实甚至荒诞的手法来描写马及其它动物。她还曾获得过马萨诸塞州颁发的文学奖。

当婴孩阅读《 亡灵书 》①

我们无法阻止他们。我们说：“婴孩们，别翻动书页。”但他们试图打探每一个词语，粘住每一个书角，直到那里变得柔软，黏糊糊的。我们说：“婴孩们，看看这里吧——这里有小熊维尼②、跳跳虎③，一只飘过红色和白色矮牵牛花圃的帝王蝶。”婴孩们不理我们，乱挤成一堆，口水流遍了书封。他们最喜欢图画——同时喜欢树、人和毛发蓬松的狗，还喜欢争分夺秒地穿越崎岖岩石的漫漫长途跋涉。我们试图让婴孩们分神，便逗挠他们樱桃色的圆下巴，但他们根本不为所动。他们的手指、眼睛、嘴巴，每一个部位都如此之小却又不为所动。有时候，我们认为婴孩们可能不属于我们。我们可以要求他们，但我们害怕。夜里，这些婴孩并不睡觉，我们听见他们在楼上的婴儿床下面摇动，那本书则犹如另一篇祷文放在他们之间。我们不知道应该去呼唤谁。

注：①古埃及的宗教性诗文集，反映了古埃及人的宗教信仰、风俗习惯以及征服自然的愿望。②③均为动画形象。

WHEN THE BABIES READ THE BOOK OF THE DEAD

We can’t stop them. We say，“Babies，don’t turn the page.” But they try to sound out every word，gum each corner until it’s soft and sticky. We say，“Babies，look here——Winnie the Pooh，Tigger，a monarch butterfly wafting over a bed of red and white petunias.” The babies ignore us. They huddle together，drool across the cover. They like the pictures best——trees，man and shaggy dog together，the long，rocky trek against time. We try to distract the babies，tickle their round cherry chins，but they’re relentless. Their fingers，eyes，mouths，every bit of them so little but relentless. Sometimes we think the babies might not be ours. We could ask them，but we’re afraid. The babies don’t sleep at night. We hear them rocking upstairs beneath the crib，the book held between them like another prayer. We don’t know who to call.

钢丝绳上的伊曼纽尔

在这个小小的角落，雪花飘得比最后一群燕子还高，风敲打樱桃树，仿佛那些树是廉价的铁皮鼓。但在1200英里开外的南方，在这座大城市，一个人坐在钢丝绳上，吃着奶酪三明治，看那用皮带别在腰间的电视。

他名叫伊曼纽尔，在人行道和烟蒂、割草机和盆栽棕榈之上600英尺处，他不再是有一打凸形扳手和一个困倦的金发妻子的男人，他是一个在钢丝绳上的人。

我了解真相。今天，当又一轮冬天连续猛捣我的前门，不断说着“你、你、你”之际，我再次战栗，我知道这个人害怕大地。我确信这一点，因为我确信天空和湖泊可以冻结在一起，确信二月像杂种狗紧随一月而来，还确信这个人也在睡梦中战栗过。

伊曼纽尔把一个个飞吻抛给下面的人群。“这是一个梦，”他告诉他们，“一个真正的、普通的男子汉的梦。”他转身，不再面对那吃力地越过地平线的太阳，他挺直双肩，挥舞两根手指，仿佛那两根手指就是他的旗帜。

他在那上面很安全。然而在整个大地上，人们正在退缩——他们裹着厚厚的衣物，挤在一起，想起越来越高的伊曼纽尔，他那捕获昨夜群星的微雨的赤裸胸膛。“伊曼纽尔，坚持下去吧，”我们通过恰当攥紧的拳头而低语。“坚持下去。”

EMANUEL ON THE TIGHTROPE

In this small corner，snow drifts higher than the last flock of swallows，and the wind beats cherry trees as if they were cheap tin drums. But 1200 miles south，in the big city，a man sits on a tightrope，eating cheese sandwiches and watching a television strapped to his wrist.

His name is Emanuel，and，600 feet above sidewalks and cigarette butts，lawn mowers and potted palms，he’s no longer a man with a dozen lug wrenches and a weary blonde wife. He’s the man on the tightrope.

I know the truth. Today，as I shiver again while another round of winter pounds on my front door，repeating，“you，you，you，” I know that this man is afraid of the earth. I am sure of this as I am sure that sky and lake can freeze together，that February follows January like a well-trained mutt，and that this man too has shuddered in his sleep.

Emanuel blows kisses to the crowd below.“It’s a dream，”he tells them，“the dream of a real，everyday man.”He turns away from the sun that drags itself across the horizon，straightens his shoulders，and waves two fingers as if they were his flag.

Up there，he is safe. Yet all over the earth，people are shrinking back. Wrapped and huddled，they think of Emanuel growing taller，his bare chest catching last night’s drizzle of stars.“Hold on，Emanuel，”we whisper through our clenched right fists.“Hold on.”

如果不恰当的狗睡在坟墓上

那始终是最小的坟墓，新近挖掘的坟墓，狭窄得仅仅足够最后一个小男孩容身的坟墓。那只不恰当的狗奔跑，嗅闻着越过印有车辙的土豆地和砂砾路。在脆弱的夜晚，在不情愿的树木背对背地蹲坐、不加装饰的夜晚，那只不恰当的狗绕着圈、大张着嘴喘气，会发现这里，躺下来，从鼻子到尾巴蜷缩成一团，然后开始做起每只狗都应该做的梦。那个穿着黄色条纹衬衣的男孩，那个有一捧树莓的金发男孩，他的那只乖巧又善良的狗就在他身边。

IF THE INAPPROPRIATE DOG SLEEPS ON A GRAVE

It’s always the littlest grave. The freshly dug one. The one just narrow enough for the last little boy. The inappropriate dog runs，sniffs across rutted potato fields and gravel roads. On brittle nights，on nights when reluctant trees hunker back to back，unadorned. Circling，panting wide-mouthed，the inappropriate dog will find it，lie down，curling nose to tail before beginning the dream that should every dog should dream. The boy in a striped yellow shirt. The boy with a handful of raspberries，blonde hair and his good，good dog beside him.