美 查尔斯·西米奇 陈子弘 译

有天晚上我去陪伴时钟。

午夜后它发出喧闹的嘀嗒

就像它难得一见的害怕。

像经过墓地吹口哨加快步伐，

我说明一下。

不管怎样，我告诉它我理解啦。

曾几何时这样的时钟

在每家美国的厨房都有。

现在工厂的窗户均已破败。

值夜班的老人都在卡戎的船中。

我对时钟说，你停摆的那天，

他们备用的小齿轮

将滚向各个

难以找寻的地方。

想想看，我忘记了给钟上发条。

在黑暗中我们醒了。

我说这个城市该有多寂寥。

妻子应答说就像停滞的钟表。

墙上的祖母啊，

我听到你童年时的雪在飘

在开始落下。

英文原诗

One night I went to keep the clock company.

It had a loud tick after midnight

As if it were uncommonly afraid.

It's like whistling past a graveyard,

I explained.

In any case, I told him I understood.

Once there were clocks like that

In every kitchen in America.

Now the factory's windows are all broken.

The old men on night shift are in Charon's boat.

The day you stop, I said to the clock,

The little wheels they keep in reserve

Will have rolled away

Into many hard-too-find places.

Just thinking about it, I forgot to wind the clock.

We woke up in the dark.

How quiet the city is, I said.

Like the clocks of the dead, my wife replied.

Grandmother on the wall,

I heard the snows of your childhood

Begin to fall.