试译几篇 Lydia Davis，以及一点感想
今年给我启示最深的应该是 Lydia Davis 了；即，身为写作者，在关注生活中琐碎无趣的主题时，可以如何控制内容和形式的距离，去规避无趣和庸俗。因此，Lydia Davis 不仅仅是《包法利夫人》的英译者，她也传承了福楼拜的写作方式；虽说 20 世纪以来，大多数作家免不了要受到福楼拜影响，但我相信 Lydia Davis 又比大多数作家离他更近些。
一篇 Lydia Davis 的典型是 The Outing（《外出》）。这一篇不大可能译成中文，不过总共就四五行字，句子也很简单；就直接贴原文了。
The Outing
An outburst of anger near the road, a refusal to speak on the path, a silence in the pine woods, a silence across the old railroad bridge, an attempt to be friendly in the water, a refusal to end the argument on the flat stones, a cry of anger on the steep bank of dirt, a weeping among the bushes.
这个短篇(?) 总共就这一句话，甚至这句话也不算完整，分成许多节，都有头无尾，像散落的珠子被细丝串起；读起来很有韵律感，除了音节和句式(?)差不多外，也有可能是 /ə/, /r/, /s/ 的音形成了一种连绵的音律（具体的格律不懂，但那种韵律感确实能感受到）。
不难看出，故事里有两个争吵的人，争吵的人没有在文字里留下身影，只留下争吵的声音或寂静，以及沿途的场景；短篇只截出几个瞬时的镜头：一声愤怒、一点寂静、一次尝试、一次拒绝，也像在用细丝串珠子；由此，造成了时间和故事上的断裂和连绵，同文字的音律一致。
可以对比着看一段福楼拜的《情感教育》。
滚滚尘土慢慢扬起；车子穿过奥特依；家家户户门窗紧闭；街灯时而照亮一个墙角，车子驶过，又隐入黑暗中；有一次，他发觉她哭了。（王文融 译）
刚才也差不多提到，《外出》这个短篇，故事是残的，很不完整。没有争吵的缘由，没有外出的目的，也没有关于争执者的描述，总之，故事缺少一些关键的信息，很不完整——月光渗入岩穴，照亮一个角落，余下依旧黑暗，但黑暗与那角落成了一个整体，不再没有意义；黑暗中的东西，都由读者借着月光去猜测或感受。那黑暗无止无境，于是，萤火虫般的琐事落入无限可能的深渊。
选择《外出》这个短篇开头，是觉得这个短篇代表了 Lydia Davis 的一些风格：直面生活中日常到乏善可陈的主题（比如，一次争吵），以简短的文字，借助文字的重复和节奏和轻盈，恰到好处地调配细节的浓度，在崩塌的生活和琐碎中创造诗意和美；这种创造不是为了美化生活，而是为了拉开形式和内容（主题）的距离，描写庸俗无趣却逃过庸俗无趣的桎梏。
Wife One in Country 乡下的第一位妻子
Wife one calls to speak to son. Wife two answers with impatience, gives phone to son of wife one. Son has heard impatience in voice of wife two and tells mother he thought caller was father’s sister: raging aunt, constant caller, troublesome woman. Wife one wonders: is she herself perhaps another raging woman, constant caller? No, raging woman but not constant caller. Though, for wife two, also troublesome woman. 第一位妻子打电话过去，想跟儿子说说话。第二位妻子不耐烦地接了电话，把电话递给第一位妻子的儿子。儿子听出第二位妻子声音里的不耐烦，跟妈妈说，他以为打来电话的人是爸爸的姐姐：发怒的姑妈、总打来电话的人、麻烦的女人。第一位妻子想：她也许是另一位发怒的女人、总打来电话的人？不是。是发怒的女人，但不是总打来电话的人。尽管在第二位妻子眼里，同样是麻烦的女人。
After speaking to son, much disturbance in wife one. Wife one misses son, thinks how some years ago she, too, answered phone and talked to husband’s raging sister, constant caller, protecting husband from troublesome woman. Now wife two protects husband from troublesome sister, constant caller, and also from wife one, raging woman. Wife one sees this and imagines future wife three protecting husband not only from raging wife one but also from troublesome wife two, as well as constantly calling sister. 跟儿子说完电话，第一位妻子坐立不安。第一位妻子思念儿子，想到几年前，她，也接起电话，应付丈夫那发怒的姐姐、总打来电话的人，帮丈夫避开麻烦的女人。现在，第二位妻子要帮丈夫避开麻烦的姐姐、总打来电话的人，也要避开第一位妻子、发怒的女人。第一位妻子想到这里，又想象将来，第三位妻子要帮丈夫避开发怒的第一位妻子，避开麻烦的第二位妻子，同时避开总打来电话的姐姐。
After speaking to son, wife one, often raging though now quiet woman, eats dinner alone though in company of large television. Wife one swallows food, swallows pain, swallows food again. Watches intently ad about easy-to-clean stove: mother who is not real mother flips fried egg onto hot burner, then fries second egg and gives cheerful young son who is not real son loving kiss as spaniel who is not real family dog steals second fried egg off plate of son who is not real son. Pain increases in wife one, wife one swallows food, swallows pain, swallows food again, swallows pain again, swallows food again. 跟儿子说完电话，第一位妻子总会发起怒来，尽管现在很平静；她独自吃着晚饭，尽管有大电视机陪伴。第一位妻子咽下食物，咽下苦楚，又咽下食物。专注地看易清洗电炉的广告：不真的是母亲的母亲翻起热炉里的煎鸡蛋，又煎起第二个鸡蛋，并给不真的是儿子的儿子充满爱意的吻，而不真的是宠物狗的西班牙狗正从不真的是儿子的儿子的盘里偷走第二个煎鸡蛋。第一位妻子越发觉得苦楚了，第一位妻子咽下食物，咽下苦楚，又咽下食物，又咽下苦楚，又咽下食物。
我喜欢这个短篇，喜欢它「咽下食物和苦楚」的修辞，喜欢它借「食物」和「苦楚」的反复来模拟进食的动作、来传递一位妻子的孤独和怨，也喜欢电视广告的细节描写。
这个细节可以看出 Lydia Davis 的匠心。
广告的内容稀松平常，无非是「母亲」给「儿子」煎了两个鸡蛋，跟大多数广告一样，很温情，也很无趣；但这份无趣融化在文字里，不仅仅因为它被文字绕住了，也因为温情的面具被文字撕碎，露出了广告的内核——假。
撕碎面具的是第一位妻子，Lydia Davis 是以第一位妻子为视角来写的。第一位妻子牵挂儿子而不可得，于是孤独，于是闲闷，于是嫉恨，于是撕碎嫉恨的一切；无事可做，玩起了文字游戏，似乎很轻松，当然是故作轻松，所以说苦楚。
对 Lydia Davis ⽽言，较快的节奏十分紧要，距离也同样紧要。所以，在 Lydia Davis 的小说里，直接引用的对话会尽量避开：引号是有声音的（比如：「我爱你。」他说。VS. 他爱她，他说。），会影响节奏，很容易把内容和形式的距离拉得太近。
不过，这也不是什么原则，也绝不可能是绝对。Old Mother and the Grouch 这一篇的篇幅较长，就只贴出其中一段了。
Old Mother and the Grouch 老太婆和挑剔公
“Since I met you,” says the Grouch, “I have eaten more beans than I ever ate in my life. Potatoes and beans. Every night there is nothing but beans, potatoes, and rice.” Old Mother knows this is not strictly true. “What did you eat before you knew me?” she asks. “Nothing,” says the Grouch. “I ate nothing.” 「自打碰见你」，挑剔公说，「我吃的豆子得有一堆了，比我上辈子吃得还多。每晚都是豆子、土豆，还有米。」 老太婆知道这也不尽然。「你认识我以前吃什么呢？」她问。 「什么都不吃，」挑剔公说，「我什么都不吃。」
Old Mother likes all chicken parts, including the liver and heart, and the Grouch likes the breasts only. Old Mother likes the skin on and the Grouch likes it off. Old Mother prefers vegetables and bland food. The Grouch prefers meat and strong spices. Old Mother prefers to eat her food slowly and brings it hot to the table. The Grouch prefers to eat quickly and burns his mouth. 鸡的任何部位老太婆都很喜欢吃，连鸡肾和鸡心也一并喜欢，挑剔公只喜欢吃鸡胸肉。老太婆喜欢吃带皮的，挑剔公喜欢剥了皮的。老太婆想吃蔬菜和清淡的食物，挑剔公想吃肉和口味重的。老太婆喜欢细嚼慢咽，喜欢趁热吃。挑剔公喜欢狼吞虎咽，喜欢烫自己嘴巴。
“You don’t cook the foods I like,” the Grouch tells her sometimes. “You ought to like the foods I cook,” she answers. “Spoil me. Give me what I want, not what you think I should have,” he tells her. That’s an idea, thinks Old Mother. 「你就是不做我喜欢的菜。」挑剔公有时会跟她说。 「你要喜欢我做的菜。」她说。 「随便我。给我做我想吃的，别给我做你以为我得吃的。」他告诉她。 这倒是个主意，老太婆想。
Old Mother wants direct answers from the Grouch. But when she asks, “Are you hungry?” he answers, “It’s seven o’clock.” And when she asks, “Are you tired?” he answers, “It’s ten o’clock.” And when she insists, and asks again, “But are you tired?” he says, “I’ve had a long day.” 老太婆希望挑剔公跟她直话直说。可是，当她问：「你饿吗？」他回答：「现在七点钟。」当她问：「你累吗？」他回答：「现在十点钟。」她又继续问：「你累不累？」他说：「今天真漫长。」
Old Mother likes two blankets at night, on a cold night, and the Grouch is more comfortable with three. Old Mother thinks the Grouch should be comfortable with two. The Grouch, on the other hand, says, “I think you like to be cold.” Old Mother does not mind running out of supplies and often forgets to shop. The Grouch likes to have more than they need of everything, especially toilet paper and coffee. 到了晚上，天凉的晚上，老太婆喜欢盖两条毯子，挑剔公要盖三条才舒服。老太婆觉得挑剔公盖两条就够舒服了。相反，挑剔公说：「我觉得你喜欢吹冷风。」 老太婆不怎么担心日用品会用完，常常忘了要买。挑剔公希望所有的东西都有剩余，尤其是卫生纸和咖啡。
这是摘录的短篇里唯一一篇有引号的，印象中，看过的短篇里也只有这一篇有大量的对话内容。这一段虽然对话多，但时间和情节没有限制，所以还是能保持轻盈。
接下来放几篇喜欢的短篇就好。
Happiest Moment 最幸福的时刻
If you ask her what is a favorite story she has written, she will hesitate for a long time and then say it may be this story that she read in a book once: an English-language teacher in China asked his Chinese student to say what was the happiest moment in his life. The student hesitated for a long time. At last he smiled with embarrassment and said that his wife had once gone to Beijing and eaten duck there, and she often told him about it, and he would have to say the happiest moment of his life was her trip, and the eating of the duck. 你要是问她，她最喜欢自己笔下哪个故事，她会考虑一段时间，说应该是这个从书里看来的故事：在中国教书的英语老师问他的中国学生，他一生中最幸福的时刻是什么时候。学生考虑了一段时间，最后腼腆地笑了，说妻子有次去北京，在那里吃了烤鸭，她总跟他提起这事。他大概得说，他一生中最幸福的时刻，在她旅途中，在她吃烤鸭的时候。
Mir the Hessian
Mir the Hessian regretted killing his dog, he wept even as he forced its head from its body, yet what had he to eat but the dog? Freezing in the hills, far away from everyone. Mir the Hesian 后悔把他的狗杀了，他一边哭，一边把它的头从身上拽开。现在，除了这条狗，他还能吃什么呢？在山上挨冻，远离他人。
Mir the Hessian cursed as he knelt on the rocky ground, cursed his bad luck, cursed his company for being dead, cursed his country for being at war, cursed his countrymen for fighting, and cursed God for allowing it all to happen. Then he started to pray: it was the only thing left to do. Alone, in midwinter. Mir the Hessian 跪在石块上，咒骂起来，咒骂他的背运，咒骂他死去的同伴，咒骂战争中的祖国，咒骂打仗的同胞，也咒骂不管不顾的上帝。接着，他祈祷起来：能做的只有这件事了。独自地，在仲冬时节。
Mir the Hessian lay curled up among the rocks, his hands between his legs, his chin on his breast, beyond hunger, beyond fear. Abandoned by God. Mir the Hessian 缩起身子，躺在石堆中，手塞进两腿间，下巴抵着胸，无比饥饿，无比恐惧。被上帝抛弃。
The wolves had scattered the bones of Mir the Hessian, carried his skull to the edge of the water, left a tarsus on the hill, dragged a femur into the den. After the wolves came the crows, and after the crows the scarab beetles. And after the beetles, another soldier, alone in the hills, far away from everyone. For the war was not yet over. 狼群把 Mir the Hessian 的骨头散落四处，衔着他的头颅去了水边，在坡上落下一块踝骨，拖着一根股骨回到窝穴。狼群离去后，乌鸦来了。乌鸦之后，是金龟子。金龟子之后，是另一个士兵，孤独地站在山上，远离他人。因为战争，还未结束。
The Cedar Trees 雪松
When our women had all turned into cedar trees they would group together in a corner of the graveyard and moan in the high wind. At first, with our wives gone, our spirits rose and we all thought the sound was beautiful. But then we ceased to be aware of it, grew uneasy, and quarreled more often among ourselves. 我们的女人都变成了雪松，她们聚在墓地一角，在疾风中呼啸。刚开始，身边没了妻子，我们兴致勃勃，都觉得呼啸声动听极了。之后，我们不这么认为了，急躁起来，彼此经常争吵。
That was during the year of high winds. Never before had such tumult raged in our village. Sparrows could not fly, but swerved and dropped into calm corners; clay tiles tumbled from the roofs and shattered on the pavement. Shrubbery whipped our low windows. Night after night we drank insanely and fell asleep in one another’s arms. 那一年总刮疾风。村子里还从未掀起过这样的骚乱。麻雀不飞了，转过身子，掉在宁静的角落里。瓦片从屋檐跌落，摔碎在路面。灌木丛鞭打低窗。夜复一夜，我们疯狂饮酒，睡在彼此怀里。
When spring came, the winds died down and the sun was bright. At evening, long shadows fell across our floors, and only the glint of a knife blade could survive the darkness. And the darkness fell across our spirits, too. We no longer had a kind word for anyone. We went to our fields grudgingly. Silently we stared at the strangers who came to see our fountain and our church: we leaned against the lip of the fountain, our boots crossed, our maimed dogs shying away from us. 春天来了，风沉寂下来，太阳也明亮。晚上，长长的影子覆盖住地面，只有一把刀锋的光亮能与这黑暗抗争。黑暗，也覆盖住我们内心。我们再也不跟别人说客气话。我们无奈地回到那方土地。陌生人前来游览喷泉和教堂，我们回以沉默，注视他们：我们斜倚喷泉的边缘，我们的鞋子交叉，我们残废的狗躲着我们。
Then the road fell into disrepair. No strangers came. Even the traveling priest no longer dared enter the village, though the sun blazed in the water of the fountain, the valley far below was white with flowering fruit and nut trees, and the heat seeped into the pink stones of the church at noon and ebbed out at dusk. Cats paced silently over the beaten dirt, from doorway to doorway. Birds sang in the woods behind us. We waited in vain for visitors, hunger gnawing at our stomachs. 路面变得破烂不堪。陌生人也不来了。就连那些旅途中的神父也不敢踏进村庄，尽管，喷泉的水在阳光下闪闪烁烁，远处的山谷被繁茂的果树和坚果树染成白色，热气在午时渗进教堂的粉色石块，又在黄昏时退潮。我们虚妄地等待访客；饥饿啮噬肠胃。
At last, somewhere deep in the heart of the cedar trees, our wives stirred and thought of us. And lazily, it seemed to us, carelessly, returned home. We looked on their mean lips, their hard eyes,and our hearts melted. We drank in the sound of their harsh voices like men coming out of the desert. 最后，在雪松内心某个深处，我们的妻子轻轻晃动，想起了我们。似乎懒洋洋地，似乎漠不关心地回到家。望着她们刻薄的嘴和冷峻的眼，我们的心化了。我们沉醉在她们嘶哑的声音里，如同人走出一片沙漠。
This Condition 这种状态
（注：这一篇只有一个段落，但这个段落实在太太太太长了，翻译的时候拆成了好几段。）
In this condition: stirred not only by men but by women, fat and thin, naked and clothed; by teenagers and children in latency; by animals such as horses and dogs; by certain vegetables such as carrots, zucchinis, eggplants, and cucumbers; by fruits such as melons, grapefruits, and kiwis; by certain plant parts such as petals, sepals, stamens, and pistils; 处于这种状态：触动内心的，不只有男人，也有女人，胖的和瘦的，裸露的和穿衣的；有 ；有成长中的青年和孩子；有动物，比如马和狗；某些蔬菜，比如胡萝卜、南瓜、茄子和黄瓜；有水果，比如柠檬、柚子和猕猴桃；某些植物的部位，比如花瓣、萼片、雄蕊和雌蕊；
by the bare arm of a wooden chair, a round vase holding flowers, a little hot sunlight, a plate of pudding, a person entering a tunnel in the distance, a puddle of water, a hand alighting on a smooth stone, a hand alighting on a bare shoulder, a naked tree limb; by anything curved, bare, and shining, as the limb or bole of a tree; by any touch, as the touch of a stranger handling money; 有木椅裸露的扶手，一个装花的圆瓶，一小束烈日的光，一碟子布丁，一个进入长隧道的人，一洼水，一只落在光滑石头上的手，一只落在裸露肩膀上的手，一根裸露的树枝；所有弯曲的、赤裸的、闪闪亮的事物，比如一棵树的枝或干；所有的触碰，比如陌生人递钱时的触碰；
by anything round and freely hanging, as tassels on a curtain, chestnut burrs on a twig in spring, a wet tea bag on its string; by anything glowing, as a hot coal; anything soft or slow, as a cat rising from a chair; anything smooth and dry, as a stone, or warm and glistening; 所有弯曲且任意悬挂的事物，比如窗帘上的流苏，春天树枝上簌簌作响的栗子，细线上的茶包；所有发光的事物，比如一块烧炭；所有柔软或缓慢的事物，比如从椅子拱起的猫；所有光滑且干的事物，比如一块石头，或者所有暖和且闪亮的事物；
anything sliding, anything sliding back and forth; anything sliding in and out with an oiled surface, as certain machine parts; anything of a certain shape, like the state of Florida; anything pounding, anything stroking; anything bolt upright, anything horizontal and gaping, as a certain sea anemone; 所有滑动的事物，所有滑来滑去的事物；所有滑进滑出、外表油润的事物，比如某些机器部件；所有轮廓清晰的事物，比如佛罗里达州；所有的敲打，所有的抚摸；所有笔直的插销，所有水平的和裂开的事物，比如某种海葵；
anything warm, anything wet, anything wet and red, anything turning red, as the sun at evening; anything wet and pink; anything long and straight with a blunt end, as a pestle; anything coming out of anything else, as a snail from its shell, as a snail’s horns from its head; anything opening; 所有暖和的事物，所有潮湿的事物，所有潮湿且红的事物，所有在变红的事物，比如傍晚的太阳；所有潮湿且粉红的事物；所有又长又直且不太尖的事物，比如杵；所有从别的东西中伸出的东西，比如伸出壳的蜗牛，比如蜗牛伸出脑袋的触角；所有张开的东西；
any stream of water running, any stream running, any stream spurting, any stream spouting; any cry, any soft cry, any grunt; anything going into anything else, as a hand searching in a purse; anything clutching, anything grasping; anything rising, anything tightening or filling, as a sail; anything dripping, anything hardening, anything softening. 所有流动的溪水，所有流动的涌流，所有喷射的涌流，所有迸出的涌流；所有哭喊，所有低声哭喊，所有咕哝；所有进入别的东西里的东西，比如搜钱包的手；所有握紧的动作，所有抓紧的动作；所有上升的东西，所有变紧或鼓起的东西，比如一张帆；所有滴落的东西，所有变硬的东西，所有变软的东西。
2018.09.30
