开车送爸爸去狗博物馆
作者:盖尔玛丽·帕迈尔
翻译:韩鲁珩
越野旅行中,我的父亲唱歌,
他让我们至少学会这首歌的哼唱
我妈妈在前座随声迎合,
他们的女儿在后面无拘无束。
他唱了呵,苏珊娜,他唱,有一个洞
在桶里,亲爱的丽莎,亲爱的丽莎,
他唱了美宝莲(为何你不是真的?),
为大家唱宠物名字的歌曲。
今天我把他从不能自理的生活中解脱出来,
在公园野餐,然后是狗博物馆。
我会花钱去看胡耐克的展览,
木头和椅子,欣赏
精美的瓷器大丹犬,
一个丑角。我父亲做得很好
和他的治疗犬,它们柔软的外套
带回他养猎犬的日子,
一个年轻的父亲,在西装和领带之前,
在郊区之前。他最喜欢的房间
军犬展览的所在地,
老林丁丁和约克犬,烟。
当我们进入停车场时,转圈
寻找可以置放他轮椅的停车地方,
他开始唱歌,他在那儿唱 一路向下
在纽扣之地……他大声地唱,
他的声音在场地上回荡,遇见
一个女人领着她的慧比特走来,她吓了一跳,
狗转向朝着我们。我的父亲
无视这个女人,说那不是同一只狗
你的朋友曾在高中吗?她不是那个
死于自残的人?
她的狗后来怎么样了?他也难过吗?
在我开始回答之前,
我父亲开始唱歌,他唱着这个老人——
knick knack paddywack,给狗一根骨头!
这位老人滚动中回家。到......的时候
我们走过博物馆的坡道,他唱过
所有的十首诗歌,我又是丽莎,修补中。
注解:美宝莲(Maybellene) (歌名),一路向下(Way Down Yonder )歌名。慧比特,一种狗的名称。knickknack paddywack,一首儿歌。老林丁丁,一种狗的名字,类似狼狗。
Driving Dad to The Dog Museum
Gailmarie Pahmeier
On cross country road trips, my father sang,
old songs he made us learn at least to hum,
my mother snapping along in the front seat,
their daughter untethered in the back.
He sang Oh, Susanna, he sang There's a Hole
in the Bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
he sang Maybellene (why can't you be true?),
songs with pet names for all of us.
Today I've sprung him from Assisted Living,
a picnic in the park, then the Dog Museum.
I'll pay to see the Huneck exhibit,
the wood cuts and chairs, admire
the exquisite porcelain Great Dane,
a harlequin. My father's done well
with his therapy dogs, their soft coats
bring back his days of raising hounds,
a young father, before the suits and ties,
before the suburbs. He loves best the room
which houses the war dogs exhibit,
old Rin Tin Tin and the Yorkie, Smoky.
As we enter the parking lot, circle
for a spot his chair can handle,
he starts to sing, he sings Way Down Yonder
in the Land of Buttons...he sings loudly,
his voice echoes across the lot, reaches
a woman walking her whippet, she's startled,
the dog turns toward us. My father
ignores the woman, says isn't that the same dog
your friend had in high school? Wasn't she the one
who died of a self-inflicted woe?
What happene d to her dog? Was he sad, too?
Before I can begin to answer,
my father starts to sing, he sings This Old Man—
knick knack paddywack, give the dog a bone!
This old man came rolling home. By the time
we travel the museum's ramp, he has sung
all ten verses, and I'm Liza again, mending.