Billy Collins: Everyday moments, caught in time

翻译人员: Aili Huang 校对人员: Yuchen Zhang

I'm here to give you

比利•柯林斯：我今天为大家推荐

your recommended dietary allowance

您每日应摄取的

of poetry.

“诗”量。

And the way I'm going to do that

而我与大家分享的方法，

is present to you

就是向大家展示

five animations

我五首诗的

of five of my poems.

五个动画短片。

And let me just tell you a little bit of how that came about.

让我先简单介绍一下这些动画的来源吧，

Because the mixing of those two media

因为这两种媒体的结合

is a sort of unnatural or unnecessary act.

似乎并不是件很自然或必须的事。

But when I was United States Poet Laureate --

但当我还是美国桂冠诗人的时候

and I love saying that.

我很爱这样说，

(Laughter)

（笑声）

It's a great way to start sentences.

因为这是一种很好的起句方式。

When I was him back then,

当我还是他的时候，

I was approached by J. Walter Thompson, the ad company,

智威汤逊广告公司来找过我，

and they were hired

他们受雇于

sort of by the Sundance Channel.

圣丹斯频道。

And the idea was to have me record some of my poems

他们有意让我录一些我的诗，

and then they would find animators

然后让动画制作师

to animate them.

将它们做成影片。

And I was initially resistant,

起初我有些不愿，

because I always think

因为我一直认为

poetry can stand alone by itself.

诗歌可以是一种独立的个体。

Attempts to put my poems to music

之前尝试把我的诗与音乐结合在一起

have had disastrous results,

的作品都非常糟糕，

in all cases.

无一例外。

And the poem, if it's written with the ear,

而且如果一首诗是用耳朵“写”的，

already has been set to its own verbal music

那么当它被创作出来时，

as it was composed.

就已经有了它的乐曲。

And surely, if you're reading a poem

当然，如果你在读一首诗，

that mentions a cow,

诗中提到了牛，

you don't need on the facing page

你完全不需要这页纸上

a drawing of a cow.

画有一头牛。

I mean, let's let the reader do a little work.

我说，就让读者动一小会脑子吧。

But I relented because it seemed like an interesting possibility,

但是我还是同意了，这毕竟是个很有意思的尝试，

and also I'm like a total cartoon junkie

而且我自从儿时就对动画

since childhood.

上瘾。

I think more influential

我想，

than Emily Dickinson or Coleridge or Wordsworth

相比较迪更生、柯尔律治或华兹华斯来说，

on my imagination

对我的想象力更有帮助的

were Warner Brothers, Merrie Melodies

是华纳兄弟动画公司，梅里小旋律，

and Loony Tunes cartoons.

和兔宝宝的动画。

Bugs Bunny is my muse.

兔八哥也是我的钟爱。

And this way poetry could find its way onto television of all places.

所以这个方法也许会使诗歌出现在电视中。

And I'm pretty much all for poetry in public places --

而且我十分支持在公共地点展示的诗歌

poetry on buses, poetry on subways,

在公交车上，地铁里，

on billboards, on cereal boxes.

广告牌上，麦片盒上......

When I was Poet Laureate, there I go again --

当我还是桂冠诗人时，我又来了，

I can't help it, it's true --

但我没办法，这的确是真的

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I created a poetry channel on Delta Airlines

我在达美航空开创了一个诗歌频道，

that lasted for a couple of years.

开通了几年时间。

So you could tune into poetry as you were flying.

所以当你在飞机上的时候也可以听到诗歌。

And my sense is,

我的想法就是，

it's a good thing to get poetry off the shelves

把诗歌从书架上搬下来

and more into public life.

传播到日常生活中，是一件很好的事情。

Start a meeting with a poem. That would be an idea you might take with you.

你也许愿意尝试以诗开始一场会议。

When you get a poem on a billboard or on the radio

当你在广告牌上看到、在收音机中听到、

or on a cereal box or whatever,

从麦片盒上或其它地方读到一首诗的时候，

it happens to you so suddenly

它们往往都出现得太突然，

that you don't have time

让你来不及

to deploy your anti-poetry deflector shields

调动你高中时就

that were installed in high school.

配备的诗歌防御罩。

So let us start with the first one.

那么让我们从第一首开始吧。

It's a little poem called "Budapest,"

这是首简短的的小诗，名叫“布达佩斯”。

and in it I reveal,

它展现，

or pretend to reveal,

或试图展现

the secrets of the creative process.

创作过程的奥秘。

(Video) Narration: "Budapest."

（视频）旁白：“布达佩斯”。

My pen moves along the page

我的笔划过纸页

like the snout of a strange animal

像是个奇异动物的鼻子，

shaped like a human arm

形似人的手臂

and dressed in the sleeve

穿在宽大的

of a loose green sweater.

绿色毛衣的袖子里。

I watch it sniffing the paper ceaselessly,

我看着它不停地嗅着纸张，

intent as any forager

像个觅食的动物，

that has nothing on its mind

别无它想，

but the grubs and insects

只为寻蛆和昆虫果腹，

that will allow it to live another day.

争取再活一天。

It wants only to be here tomorrow,

它只想明天还留在此地，

dressed perhaps

或许穿在

in the sleeve of a plaid shirt,

格子衬衫的袖子里，

nose pressed against the page,

鼻尖对准纸页，

writing a few more dutiful lines

尽职地多写几行。

while I gaze out the window

而我，则向窗外望去，

and imagine Budapest

想象着布达佩斯

or some other city

或是别的

where I have never been.

我还没去过的城市。

BC: So that makes it seem a little easier.

看上去动画是对诗的理解有所帮助。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Writing is not actually as easy as that for me.

写作对我来说其实并没有那么容易。

But I like to pretend that it comes with ease.

但我喜欢装作它很容易。

One of my students came up after class, an introductory class,

我有位学生，在一堂入门课后

and she said, "You know, poetry is harder than writing,"

对我说：“你知道吗写诗其实比写作要难？”

which I found both erroneous and profound.

我觉得她的话虽然并不正确，但却很有深度。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So I like to at least pretend it just flows out.

总之，我宁愿装作我下笔如流。

A friend of mine has a slogan; he's another poet.

我另一个诗人朋友有句口号，

He says that, "If at first you don't succeed,

他说：“如果你一开始不成功，

hide all evidence you ever tried."

就把你所有尝试过的迹象都藏起来。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

The next poem is also rather short.

下首诗也是很短的一首。

Poetry just says a few things in different ways.

诗只是把有些事物用不同的方式表达出来。

And I think you could boil this poem down to saying,

但我相信下面这首诗可以被总结为：

"Some days you eat the bear, other days the bear eats you."

“有时你吃熊，有时熊吃你。”

And it uses the imagery

它使用的意象

of dollhouse furniture.

是玩具屋中的家具。

(Video) Narration: "Some Days."

（影视）旁白：“有些天”

Some days

有些天

I put the people in their places at the table,

我把人偶放到他们在桌旁应属的位置。

bend their legs at the knees,

如果他们的膝盖可以弯曲，

if they come with that feature,

我就让他们曲腿而坐，

and fix them into the tiny wooden chairs.

并把他们固定在小木椅上。

All afternoon they face one another,

一整个下午他们对望着彼此，

the man in the brown suit,

那个身着棕色西服的男子，

the woman in the blue dress --

那个穿着蓝色裙子的女人，

perfectly motionless, perfectly behaved.

一动不动，任你摆布。

But other days I am the one

又有些天，

who is lifted up by the ribs

我则是那个玩偶，身子被提起，

then lowered into the dining room of a dollhouse

然后放进玩具屋的餐厅中，

to sit with the others at the long table.

和别的玩偶一起坐在长桌前。

Very funny.

很好笑吧。

But how would you like it

但是你会如何面对

if you never knew from one day to the next

日复一日中，你不知道

if you were going to spend it

自己会像

striding around like a vivid god,

神明般阔步而行，

your shoulders in the clouds,

肩入云霄；

or sitting down there

或是坐在那儿，

amidst the wallpaper

在墙纸边，

staring straight ahead

小小的塑料脸庞

with your little plastic face?

直视前方？

(Applause)

（掌声）

BC: There's a horror movie in there somewhere.

这里一定带有恐怖片的成分。

The next poem is called forgetfulness,

下一首是叫做“健忘”，

and it's really just a kind of poetic essay

它其实是一篇类似诗的小品，

on the subject of mental slippage.

是有关忘性的。

And the poem begins

诗是以

with a certain species of forgetfulness

一种被人们称作

that someone called

文学健忘症的忘性

literary amnesia,

开始的。

in other words, forgetting the things that you have read.

换句话说就是忘记你读过的内容。

(Video) Narration: "Forgetfulness."

（视频）旁白：“健忘”。

The name of the author is the first to go,

首先消失的是作者的名字，

followed obediently

而后便是

by the title, the plot,

标题、情节、

the heartbreaking conclusion,

心碎的结局。

the entire novel,

整本小说

which suddenly becomes one you have never read,

突然变成了你从未读过的，

never even heard of.

甚至从未听说过的。

It is as if, one by one,

就好像，一个个

the memories you used to harbor

你珍惜的记忆

decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain

都退休到了头脑的南半球，

to a little fishing village

去了一个小小的渔村，

where there are no phones.

完全失去了联络。

Long ago,

很久以前，

you kissed the names of the nine muses good-bye

你吻别了那九个缪斯女神的名字，

and you watched the quadratic equation

你眼看着二次方程

pack its bag.

打包走人。

And even now,

甚至是现在，

as you memorize the order of the planets,

当你熟记了行星的顺序，

something else is slipping away,

也有其它的什么正在溜走，

a state flower perhaps,

也许是一朵州花，

the address of an uncle,

一位叔叔的住址，

the capital of Paraguay.

或是巴拉圭的首都。

Whatever it is

不管

you are struggling to remember,

你在费力地回想什么，

it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,

它都没有在你的舌尖停稳，

not even lurking

也没有

in some obscure corner

潜伏在你脾脏中

of your spleen.

某个隐蔽的角落。

It has floated away

它已漂走了，

down a dark mythological river

顺着神话中的黑暗河流。

whose name begins with an L

你只能回忆起它的名字以L开始。

as far as you can recall,

剩下的你记不起来了。

well on your own way to oblivion

就在你通往遗忘的路上，

where you will join those

你将加入那些

who have forgotten even how to swim

甚至忘记了如何游泳

and how to ride a bicycle.

和骑自行车的人们。

No wonder you rise in the middle of the night

怪不得，你在午夜起身，

to look up the date of a famous battle

在一本关于战争的书中查找

in a book on war.

一场著名战役的日期。

No wonder the Moon in the window

怪不得，窗中的月亮

seems to have drifted out of a love poem

似乎已飘出那首

that you used to know by heart.

你曾铭记于心的情诗。

(Applause)

（掌声）

BC: The next poem is called "The Country"

下一首诗名叫“郊外”，

and it's based on,

是有关于

when I was in college

我在大学时

I met a classmate who remains to be a friend of mine.

的一个同学，也是我现在的一位朋友。

He lived, and still does, in rural Vermont.

他那时候，和现在一样，都住在佛蒙特。

I lived in New York City.

而我住在纽约市。

And we would visit each other.

我们会去看望彼此。

And when I would go up to the country,

我去他郊外找他的时候，

he would teach me things like deer hunting,

他就会教我猎鹿之类的事，

which meant getting lost with a gun basically --

对我来说基本上就是带着一把猎枪迷路。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

and trout fishing and stuff like that.

还有钓鳟鱼、等等。

And then he'd come down to New York City

他也会来纽约

and I'd teach him what I knew,

然后我就会教他我所知道的，

which was largely smoking and drinking.

大部分内容无非是抽烟喝酒。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And in that way we traded lore with each other.

我们用这种方式交换知识。

The poem that's coming up

下面这首诗

is based on him trying to tell me a little something

与我的这位朋友有关。

about a domestic point of etiquette

他曾试图向我解释一则郊外

in country living

家庭生活传统，

that I had a very hard time, at first, processing.

而最初我觉得这一点很难理解。

It's called "The Country."

这首诗名叫“郊外”。

(Video) Narration: "The Country."

（影视）旁白：“郊外”。

I wondered about you

当你告诉我

when you told me never to leave

不要把易燃的火柴

a box of wooden strike-anywhere matches

随便扔在家里时，

just lying around the house,

我很是不解。

because the mice might get into them

因为老鼠有可能会爬过去

and start a fire.

然后引起着火。

But your face was absolutely straight

但是，当你拧下

when you twisted the lid down

装火柴的圆罐盖子时，

on the round tin

你的表情那么坦诚，

where the matches, you said, are always stowed.

还说要把火柴一直存放在那里。

Who could sleep that night?

那晚谁睡得着呀？

Who could whisk away the thought

谁能不去想

of the one unlikely mouse

那只不大可能会出现的老鼠

padding along a cold water pipe

顺着冷水管爬到

behind the floral wallpaper,

印花的墙纸后，

gripping a single wooden match

用尖锐的牙齿叼起

between the needles of his teeth?

一只木棍火柴?

Who could not see him rounding a corner,

谁会看不到他拐过墙角？

the blue tip scratching against rough-hewn beam,

谁会看不到那蓝色的火柴头划过粗糙的房梁，

the sudden flare

和那突如其来的火焰？

and the creature, for one bright, shining moment,

在一个明亮耀眼的瞬间，这生物

suddenly thrust ahead of his time --

突然穿越了时代.

now a fire-starter,

成为了一个纵火者，

now a torch-bearer

一个火炬手。

in a forgotten ritual,

在一场被人遗忘的祭祀上，

little brown druid

谁会看不到小小的棕色祭司

illuminating some ancient night?

照亮了古老的夜晚？

And who could fail to notice,

谁会注意不到

lit up in the blazing insulation,

那被炽热的光芒照亮了的

the tiny looks of wonderment

带着惊异的

on the faces of his fellow mice --

别的老鼠的小小脸庞，

one-time inhabitants

那些曾经住在

of what once was your house in the country?

你郊外家中的居民？

(Applause)

（掌声）

BC: Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Thank you. And the last poem is called "The Dead."

谢谢。这最后一首诗名叫“已故之人”，

I wrote this after a friend's funeral,

是我在参加完一场朋友的葬礼后所作，

but not so much about the friend as something the eulogist kept saying,

但这与我朋友的赞颂者所言不同。

as all eulogists tend to do,

因为他们会说，

which is how happy the deceased would be

已故之人看到我们大家都聚集在这里时，

to look down and see all of us assembled.

是多么的快乐。

And that to me was a bad start to the afterlife,

对我来说，这是死后非常不好的开始，

having to witness your own funeral and feel gratified.

因为你要目睹自己的葬礼并做到心满意足。

So the little poem is called "The Dead."

所以这首诗名叫“已故之人”。

(Video) Narration: "The Dead."

（影视）旁白：“已故之人”。

The dead are always looking down on us,

死去的人会在天上一直看着我们，

they say.

他们如是说。

While we are putting on our shoes or making a sandwich,

当我们穿鞋，或是做三明治的时候，

they are looking down

他们会

through the glass-bottom boats of heaven

从天堂一条透明底的船中望下来，

as they row themselves slowly

一边望着我们，

through eternity.

一边驶向永恒。

They watch the tops of our heads

他们会看着我们的头顶

moving below on Earth.

在人间移动。

And when we lie down

当我们躺在

in a field or on a couch,

草地或睡椅上，

drugged perhaps

或许沉溺于

by the hum of a warm afternoon,

温暖午后的嘈杂中，

they think we are looking back at them,

他们以为我们也在看着他们。

which makes them lift their oars

于是他们抬起船桨，

and fall silent

悄悄地，

and wait like parents

向父母一样，

for us to close our eyes.

等着我们闭上眼睛。

(Applause)

（掌声）

BC: I'm not sure if other poems will be animated.

我不确定别的诗会不会配动画。

It took a long time --

这花了很长的时间

I mean, it's rather uncommon to have this marriage --

我的意思是，这是个很不平常的结合，

a long time to put those two together.

需要很长时间来融入彼此。

But then again, it took us a long time

但是同样的，我们也花了很长时间

to put the wheel and the suitcase together.

才把轮子和箱子结合在了一起。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I mean, we had the wheel for some time.

我是说，我们很久前就有了轮子。

And schlepping is an ancient and honorable art.

生拉硬拽是一个古老而崇高的艺术。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I just have time

我还有些时间

to read a more recent poem to you.

来给你们读一首我近期的作品。

If it has a subject,

如果说这首诗有个主题，

the subject is adolescence.

那么这主题就是青春。

And it's addressed to a certain person.

我将它送给一位特定的人。

It's called "To My Favorite 17-Year-Old High School Girl."

诗名叫“致我最爱的17岁女高中生”。

"Do you realize that if you had started building the Parthenon

“你知道吗？如果你从出生那天

on the day you were born,

就开始建帕提农神庙，

you would be all done in only one more year?

你还一年就可以完工了。

Of course, you couldn't have done that all alone.

当然，你自己是完成不了这样的任务的。

So never mind;

所以没关系，

you're fine just being yourself.

你只要做好你自己就好。

You're loved for just being you.

会有人爱这样的你。

But did you know that at your age

但是你知道吗？像你这么大的时候，

Judy Garland was pulling down 150,000 dollars a picture,

茱蒂•加兰拍一张照片就可以赚15万美元；

Joan of Arc was leading the French army to victory

圣女贞德正带领法国大军向胜利进发；

and Blaise Pascal had cleaned up his room --

布莱士•帕斯卡已经打扫了他的房间，

no wait, I mean he had invented the calculator?

不，我是说发明了计算器。

Of course, there will be time for all that

当然，你以后也有时间

later in your life,

做这些，

after you come out of your room

当你踏出房门，

and begin to blossom,

开始绽放，

or at least pick up all your socks.

或者至少把你的袜子捡起来。

For some reason I keep remembering

某些原因总让我想起

that Lady Jane Grey was queen of England

英国的简·格雷夫人，

when she was only 15.

在她15岁时便当上了女王。

But then she was beheaded, so never mind her as a role model.

但是她最终还是被砍了头，所以不要以她为榜样吧。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

A few centuries later,

几世纪后，

when he was your age,

当他像你这么大的时候，

Franz Schubert was doing the dishes for his family,

舒伯特就帮家里洗碗。

but that did not keep him

即使是这样，他年轻的时候便

from composing two symphonies, four operas

谱写了两部交响乐，四部歌剧

and two complete masses as a youngster.

和两部完整的弥撒曲。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But of course, that was in Austria

当然，那是在奥地利，

at the height of Romantic lyricism,

在浪漫主义抒情体的巅峰，

not here in the suburbs of Cleveland.

不是我们现在所在的克利夫兰郊区。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Frankly, who cares

说真的，谁会在乎

if Annie Oakley was a crack shot at 15

安妮•奥克利15岁时就是神枪手，

or if Maria Callas debuted as Tosca at 17?

玛丽亚•卡拉斯17岁时便首次献唱托斯卡？

We think you're special just being you --

我们认为你就是你，你是特别的。

playing with your food and staring into space.

你会摆弄你的食物，会发呆。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

By the way,

顺便说一下，

I lied about Schubert doing the dishes,

我说舒伯特洗碗是骗你的，

but that doesn't mean he never helped out around the house."

但那不代表他从来没帮忙做过家务。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（掌声）

Thank you. Thank you.

谢谢。谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Thanks.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）