学习阅读

        弗兰兹.赖特
  

 

如果每看五六个字我就要翻字典，

那有什么关系。我查找。

反正我无处可去。

 

我父亲不在，我母亲

像要即将爆发，

不是开成花朵，每当我说话。

我最爱读伊利亚特。是的。

我不能准确发音，

但我什么时候要发音，

 

给谁？

难道是我的继父？

首先，他几乎不会说英语；

 

其次他完全可能

嘲笑或打我

即使我没有触怒他。

 

孤独，苦闷和恐惧

我的动机

火上浇油

 

我跪在地上为他们感谢上帝。

 

杜甫，赞美诗，惠特曼，里尔克。

生活已经教会了我。

 

 

. （ 林木译）

 

Learning To Read — by Franz Wright

 

If I had tolook up every fifth or sixth word,

so what. I looked them up.

I had nowhere important to be.

 

My fatherwas unavailable, and my mother

looked like she was about to break,

and not into blossom, every time I spoke.

 

My favoritewas the Iliad. True,

I had trouble pronouncing the names,
but when was I going to pronounce them, and 

 

to whom?
My stepfather maybe?

Number one, he could barely speak English;

 

two, he had sufficient intent

to smirk or knock me down

without any prompting from me. 

 

Loneliness, boredom and terror

my motivation

fiercely fuelled.

 

I get down on my knees and thank God for them.

 

Du Fu, the Psalms, Whitman, Rilke.

Life has taught me.