“Love at First Sight”——by Wislawa Szymborska

《一见钟情》——葳思拉瓦．辛波斯卡作品（波兰）

 

Both are convinced
that a sudden surge of emotion bound them together.
Beautiful is such a certainty,
but uncertainty is more beautiful.

 

Because they didn't know each other earlier, they suppose that
nothing was happening between them.
What of the streets, stairways and corridors
where they could have passed each other long ago?

 

I'd like to ask them
whether they remember-- perhaps in a revolving door
ever being face to face?
an "excuse me" in a crowd
or a voice "wrong number" in the receiver.
But I know their answer:
no, they don't remember.

 

They'd be greatly astonished
to learn that for a long time
chance had been playing with them.

 

Not yet wholly ready
to transform into fate for them
it approached them, then backed off,
stood in their way
and, suppressing a giggle,
jumped to the side.

 

There were signs, signals:
but what of it if they were illegible.
Perhaps three years ago,
or last Tuesday
did a certain leaflet fly
from shoulder to shoulder?
There was something lost and picked up.
Who knows but what it was a ball
in the bushes of childhood.

 

There were doorknobs and bells
on which earlier touch piled on touch.
Bags beside each other in the luggage room.
Perhaps they had the same dream on a certain night,
suddenly erased after waking.

 

Every beginning
is but a continuation,
and the book of events
is never more than half open.

（translated by Walter Whipple）

 

他们始终深信，
是瞬间迸发的热情让他们相遇，
相遇固然美丽，
却仍抵不过那命运无常的美。

 

他们素未谋面，
彼此之间什么也不曾发生，
但这熟悉的街道、楼梯、走廊传来的阵阵细语，
却悄然暗示着那无数次的擦身而过。

 

很想知道，他们是否还记得，
旋转门前那面对面的一刹那，
人群中那几声仓促的“对不起”，
或是电话另一端匆忙道出的“打错了”？
其实答案已然明了，
是的，他们从未记得。

 

倘若得知，
许多年来，命运不停上演着捉迷藏的把戏，
他们该会对此多么地诧异啊。

 

面对命运，

只能任其摆布的两人，
时而近在咫尺，时而又天各一方。
这东西横挡在他们中间，
发出沉闷的笑声，
又突然跳着跑开。

 

那些心照不宣的默契，
连他们自己也未能察觉。
三年前，或是上周二，
一片落叶从一个人的肩膀飘向了另一个人，
某些东西被遗漏，继而被拾起，
谁知道呢，也许只是儿时滚入树丛的那只玩具球罢了。

 

一个人此时碰触的这只门把手，这个门铃，
仿佛还残留着另一个人的温度，
一个人的手提箱，似乎也曾紧紧地挨着另一个人的，
某夜，同样的梦境，最终被双双遗忘在某个清晨。

 

每个故事的开始，
都是过往的延续，
然而这本命运之书，
时至今日，将将阅读过半。

（比烟花寂寞 译）