Translating Dead Poets: Sylvia Plath's "The Couriers" "信使" ： 譯讀普拉斯

The Couriers  |   信使



The word of a snail on the plate of a leaf?   |      蝸牛的字寫在樹葉的碟子上？
It is not mine. Do not accept it.   |   這不是我的。別收下它。

Acetic acid in a sealed tin?   |        醋酸密封在錫罐裏頭？
Do not accept it. It is not genuine.   |        別收下它。它不純粹。
 
A ring of gold with the sun in it?   |      圈住了陽光的金指環？
Lies. Lies and a grief.     |       謊言。謊言和一種哀愁。

Frost on a leaf, the immaculate    |       樹葉打了霜；  潔白無瑕的
Cauldron, talking and crackling |     大鼎說著話，噼啪著，
 
All to itself on the top of each |    在那九座黑色的阿爾匹斯頂峰上依次
Of nine black Alps. |     自言自語。

A disturbance in mirrors, |   如鏡子中的一場動亂，
The sea shattering its grey one ----   |    海洋在破裂那灰色 -----
  
Love, love, my season.   |     去愛吧，愛吧，我的季節。 






*Dated Nov. 4, 1962. Original translation.

Translating Dead Poets: Sylvia Plath's "Sheep In Fog" 霧中之羊： 譯讀普拉絲

Sheep In Fog  |  霧中之羊
 

The hills step off into whiteness.  |  山陵移步悄入白色。
People or stars   |   人們或星星
Regard me sadly, I disappoint them.  |  憂傷地注視我： 我令他們失望。

The train leaves a line of breath.  |  火車遺下一綫氣息。
O slow  |  哦，慢著，
Horse the colour of rust,   |  鉄銹色的馬兒，

Hooves, dolorous bells ----  |  蹄聲是那哀鈡 —
All morning the  |  整個清晨
Morning has been blackening,   |  清晨都在變黑。

A flower left out.  |   外有遺置花一朵。
My bones hold a stillness, the far  |  我的骨骼含著一种靜態，遠處的
Fields melt my heart.  |  原野融化我的心。

They threaten  |  他們威脅
To let me through to a heaven   |   允許我進入一處天堂
Starless and fatherless, a dark water.  |   沒有星星，沒有父親，一灘黑水。



* Written by Plath on December 2, 1962; revised in January 1963. Original translation.

Translating Dead Poets: Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus" 拉撒路夫人 ： 譯讀普拉絲

Lady Lazarus | 拉薩路夫人


I have done it again. | 我又成功了。
One year in every ten |    每十年一次
I manage it - | 我都能做到 —

A sort of walking miracle, my skin | 活生生的神跡見證：我的皮膚
Bright as a Nazi lampshade, | 闪亮有如纳粹的人皮灯罩；
My right foot | 我的右脚

A paperweight, | 是一塊紙鎮；
My face a featureless, fine | 我的臉毫無特徵，一塊上等
Jew linen. | 猶太亞麻布。

Peel off the napkin | 將這塊餐布剝下，
O my enemy. | 哦，我的敵人。  
Do I terrify? - | 是否嚇著你了？ —

The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth? | 我的鼻子，眼洞，整副森森白齒，及
 The sour breath | 這腐酸氣味的呼吸
Will vanish in a day. | 過一天就會蕩然無存。

Soon, soon the flesh | 須臾，須與之間這肉體
The grave cave ate will be | 這副被墓穴吞噬的肉體
At home on me | 會再安居在我身上。

And I a smiling woman. | 而我，我這微笑著的女子，
I am only thirty. | 我僅三十嵗。
And like the cat I have nine times to die. | 如貓一般可以死亡九次。

This is Number Three. | 三次至今 —
What a trash |  真是廢物 —
To annihilate each decade. | 每過十年便會毀滅。　

What a million filaments. | 這數以萬計的游絲，
The peanut-crunching crowd | 這群嚼著花生的人們
Shoves in to see | 爭先恐後地擠來看我。

Them unwrap me hand and foot - | 他們將我從頭到腳剝個精光 —
The big strip tease. | 一場巨型脫衣舞會。
Gentlemen, ladies | 先生們，女士們，

These are my hands | 此處是我的手、
My knees. | 我的膝蓋、
I may be skin and bone, | 雖然只是皮包骨 ，

Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. | 但依然是如出一撤的那個女子。
The first time it happened I was ten. | 第一次發生時，我僅十歲。
It was an accident. | 那只是意外。

The second time I meant | 第二次我有意
To last it out and not come back at all. |   讓它無期延續，從此不再歸來。
I rocked shut | 我緊閉著搖動，

As a seashell. | 像一只海蚌。
They had to call and call | 他們只能千呼万喚，
And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls. | 把一條條蚯蚓如黏糊的珍珠一樣從我身上挑走。


Dying | 死亡
Is an art, like everything else. | 是一種藝術，和世間一切事物一般。
I do it exceptionally well. | 我尤其擅長。

I do it so it feels like hell. | 我如此這般只是爲了感受地獄。
I do it so it feels real. | 我如此這般只是爲了感受真切。
I guess you could say I've a call. | 或許我只是聽到了某種召喚。

It's easy enough to do it in a cell. | 在牢房中尋死，談何容易。
It's easy enough to do it and stay put. |  尋死之後靜靜不動，又是談何容易。
It's the theatrical | 可是，這戲劇性的

Comeback in broad day | 光天化日之下的歸來，
To the same place, the same face, the same brute | 那舊地，舊人，獸性依舊，
Amused shout: | 情不自禁地叫出：

'A miracle!' | “奇跡！”
That knocks me out. | — 這才讓我死去活來。
There is a charge | 請繳費：

For the eyeing of my scars, there is a charge |  如要目觀我的傷疤，請繳費：
For the hearing of my heart - | 如要耳聼我的心跳 —
It really goes. | 它真的還在跳動。

And there is a charge, a very large charge | 請繳費： 請繳一筆不菲的費用，
For a word or a touch | 如果你想聼我説話，想摸我一下，
Or a bit of blood | 或是想見血。

Or a piece of my hair or my clothes. | 又或是想要我的一絲頭髮，我的一角衣衫。
So, so, Herr Doktor. |  就這樣吧 ，醫生君。
So, Herr Enemy. | 就這樣吧，敵人君。

I am your opus, | 我是你們的樂曲。
I am your valuable, | 我是你們的值錢貨。
The pure gold baby | 那純金寶貝，

That melts to a shriek. | 熔煉出一聲慘叫。
I turn and burn. | 我在燃燒中輾轉反側。
Do not think I underestimate your great concern. | 可別以爲我低估了你們偉大的關懷。

Ash, ash - | 對著骨灰 —
You poke and stir. | 你們反復戳撥。
Flesh, bone, there is nothing there - | 除了骨頭，肌肉，別無他物 —

A cake of soap, | 一塊肥皂， 
A wedding ring, | 一只婚戒，
A gold filling. | 一顆金牙。

Herr God, Herr Lucifer | 上帝君，魔鬼君，
Beware | 警戒，
Beware. | 警戒。

Out of the ash | 從灰燼中
I rise with my red hair |  紅髮的我冉冉升起 ，
And I eat men like air. | 吃人如同呼吸空氣。



*Written in 1962, published posthumously in Ariel in 1965. Original translation.

Kimchi Recipe for the Lazy and the Picky

If you're like me, who consider yourself a potential snob at everything you come into contact with (yet you'll never let it slip), then you'll most likely cringe at the thought of grocery store prepared anything, especially when it comes to ethnic foods, such as kimchi. I mean, who doesn't like kimchi and wishes one had jars of it in the fridge so one can eat it straight from the jar like peanut butter? More awesomely, kimchi is made mostly of cabbage. Which makes it essentially a SALAD. (And you thought you could pat yourself on the back for upgrading to sorbet.)

To create the perfect kimchi for the lazy is simple; I have come up with the sacred union between self-indulgent purism and practicality in the art of kimchi making. It's an exact science. (Complete list of ingredients at the end of post.)

To create the best kimchi, you'll need a healthy head of napa cabbage. I'd suggest a medium sized head. Rinse, cut into small pieces approx. 1 x 2 inches.


Then take 1/3 cup of salt, sprinkle evenly over the cabbage, and put on a sandwich glove and rub/knead the leaves for a minute. (Korean sea salt would be optimal, but my lazy self just used normal fine salt.)

Once the leaves become wilted, next we will make the kimchi marinade sauce. This requires half an onion, diced; one crispy Korean pear (may substitute with Anjou pear; if you really don't have any pear, apple will do too); a piece of ginger, and a head of garlic, peeled.

 

 Then we'll make some stock that will go into the blending of the sauce. I recommend making the stock using either frozen seafood, dried fish, or shrimp. Or anything from the ocean that will give the stock an umami taste. I had a bag of frozen assorted seafood, so I grabbed a bunch and boiled it with a cup of water. Looks like some calamari, mussels/clam/various shellfish.

 While the stock is in the making, chop up a few stalks of green onion, a bunch of leek, and some daikon. This part really depends on your personal picky palate. If you like crunch, then daikon is a must. If you like the herbal oniony-ness of allium plants, then double up on the green onion. I've had baby bok-choy in kimchi and it totally worked too, just so long as the main ingredient is Napa cabbage. 

Put the diced onion and pear into a blender; press garlic and grate ginger over it. When the stock is done, add the liquid to everything else and VROOOOOOM.

  The white puree should fill up a medium sized bowl. Add a cup of korean chili flakes, adjust according to your spiciness tolerance. Then add approximately three tablespoons of Korean fish sauce, and Korean vinegar. May substitute with rice vinegar, but Korean fish sauce is essential.

The result is a warm bowl of vermilion pulpy mass.... there ought to be a "kimchi sauce test" a la the cinnamon test.

Now we can return to the salt-rubbed cabbage. Using a gloved hand, squeeze out as much liquid as you can, placing the squeezed cabbage into a big mixing bowl.

Toss in the green onion, leek, and daikon, and add about half of the kimchi sauce.

 

Using a gloved hand (unless you want a hydrating kimchi mask for your hand), rub the sauce all over the vegetable.

 Purty, ain't she? 

 Press the kimchi tightly into jars; mix about two tablespoons with half a cup of water and pour it over the kimchi. I'd recommend using glass containers, since kimchi stains plastic permanently. Unless you want your Tupperware to reek of garlic till the end of humanity, use glass. This makes about a quart and half.

Let it pickle for two to three days, and it will have just the right amount of crunch and flavor.

 Kimchi makes a perfect companion to anything, really. Pile it on top of your rice for a spicy flavor, or eat it straight from the jar with chopsticks or a fork in case of emotionally wrecking breakups. The leftover kimchi sauce can be used to make tofu stews, kimchi ramen, kimchi fried rice.... eat your heart out, Shin Ramen.

Happy kimching!

Ingredients: 

- Napa cabbage, 1 medium head
- Green onion, 3-4 stalks
- Leek, 1/2 a stalk
- Daikon, 1 medium
- Ginger root, 1 medium piece 
- Garlic, one head
- Yellow onion, 1/2 
- Pear (Korean), 1 medium
- Frozen seafood/shrimp/fish, a few small pieces
- Korean chili flakes, 1 cup
- Korean fish sauce, 3 tbsp
- Korean vinegar or rice vinegar, 3 tbsp