爛錶(范德培英譯)
Wu Tung-cheng吳東晟
CRAPPY WATCH
爛錶
translated by David van der Peet范德培
Acquired you for a hundred Taiwan dollars to help me keep time
Thinking you’d accompany me through middle age
Who would’ve thought that you’d start to dawdle after just a few months
Leading me to believe that I still got five-six-seven minutes before I have to leave
So I reset your time:
At the tone, the time will be 11 hours, 5 minutes and 20 seconds
Beep! And you are on time again
But deep down inside you’re still lazy
You provide a standard, yet you’re not truly trustworthy
You lead those who believe into a state of constant doubt
Fortunately, there’s also a different reckoning of time
That follows the course of the sun and the moon and the stars
There has to be a giant dark being behind you
That controls both sleep and waking
I’m willing to frequently adjust the time, and wait
Wait for you to get back into your normal groove
爛錶
一百元僱你幫我顧著時間
以為你將伴我度過整個中年
誰知不幾月你便偷懶
告訴我離出門還有五分鐘六分鐘七分鐘
重新校正你的時間
下面音響,十一點五分二十秒
嗶!一瞬間你重新振作
但骨子裡依然是懶惰
你是標準,卻不可信任
你讓相信你的人習慣疑問
所幸我們還有另一套時間
依著月亮太陽,依著上天
你的背後必有一個黑暗的巨靈
掌握著睡眠,也掌握著清醒
我願時時校正時間,等候你
等候你找回正常的作息
原作刊登於《創世紀詩雜誌》第156期2008秋季號
譯作刊登於《當代台灣文學英譯》第151期2010春季號