Bye, Chris!
再见 克里斯!
He risked what could have been a relentlessly lonely path
他冒险踏上一条残酷孤独的道路
but found company in the characters of the books he loved
却在他钟爱的书籍中找到同路知己
from writers like Tolstoy, Jack London and Thoreau.
他喜爱托尔斯泰 杰克·伦敦和梭罗
He could summon their words to suit any occasion,
他可以在任何情况下 引用出适合的文句
and he often would.
他也经常会这么做
I forgot to ask what quote he’d have picked for his graduation dinner,
我忘了问他在毕业晚宴上引用了什么
but I had a good idea of who the primary target would be.
但是我知道最有可能是谁的话
It was inevitable that Chris would break away.
克里斯出走是不可避免的
And when he did, he would do it with characteristic immoderation.
他一旦选择出走 他会按他特有的极端方式来进行
It should not be denied that being footloose has always exhilarated us.
不可否认 无疆行走总是让人振奋
It is associated in our minds with escape
在我们心中 它意味着
from history and oppression and law and irksome obligations.
忘记过去 摆脱压力 逃离法律与繁琐义务
Absolute freedom.
绝对的自♥由♥
And the road has always led west.
道路总是向西延伸
I need a name.
我需要一个名字
Toward the end of June,
将近六月末
Emory had mailed our parents Chris’ final grade report.
埃默里大学给我的父母寄来了 克里斯的最后一份成绩单
Almost all A’s.
几乎是全A
A in Apartheid in South African Society.
南非社会的种族隔离 A
A-minus in Contemporary African Politics and the Food Crisis in Africa.
当代非洲政♥治♥和非洲粮食危机 A减
And on it went. Clever boy, my brother.
学得不错 老哥 你真聪明
But by the end of July, we hadn’t heard anything from him
但是到了七月末 我们没有一点他的消息
and my parents were becoming unsettled.
我的父母开始坐立不安
Chris had never had a phone,
克里斯从来没有电♥话♥
so they decided to drive down to Atlanta and surprise him.
所以他们决定开车到亚特兰大给他一个惊喜
When they arrived at the apartment, there was a “For Rent” sign up
当他们到达他的公♥寓♥时 只看到一个”招租”标志
and the manager said that Chris had moved out at the end of May.
管♥理♥员♥说克里斯五月底就搬出去了
Oh, yes. He left two months ago.
哦 对 他两个月前就走了
So when they got home,
所以他们回家时
I had to hand them all the letters that they had sent Chris that summer,
我不得不把他们在那个夏天 寄给克里斯的信都给他们
which had been returned in a bundle.
一整包的信都被退了回来
Chris had arranged for the post office to hold them until August 1st,
克里斯去通知了邮局 告诉他们等到8月1日再退信
to buy himself some time.
为自己争取了一些时间
Did you know about this?
你知道这事吗?
He didn’t say anything.
他什么也没说过
I understood what he was doing. That he had spent four years
我理解他在做什么 他花了四年
fulfilling the absurd and tedious duty of graduating from college,
履行荒诞乏味的责任 完成大学学业
and now he was emancipated from that world of abstraction,
现在他终于解放了 离开了那个充满幻象
false security, parents and material excess,
脆弱不堪 父母管教 物欲横流的世界
the things that cut Chris off from the truth of his existence.
离开那些阻碍他体验真实存在的东西
Hey, man. Step around. Jump in. Okay, great.
伙计 绕到那边上车 好的 太好了
We barely saw you there underneath that crazy hat of yours.
你戴这么顶夸张的帽子 我们差点没看到你
This door’s a little tricky. There you go. Hop in.
车门有点问题 来吧 进去吧
That’s Rainey.
这是雷尼
Hi, Rainey. Yeah, I’m Rainey.
雷尼 你好 我叫雷尼
I’m Jan. Hi. I’m Alex.
我叫简 我叫亚历克斯
Alex with the hat on.
带帽子的亚历克斯
Yeah, I know. You said it, man. Yeah.
对 我知道 你说过 伙计 对
So you’re a leather now.
你现在是个皮鞋
I’m a leather?
我是个皮鞋?
Yeah, a leather tramp. That’s what they call the ones that hoof it, go on foot.
对 皮鞋流浪者 现在都这样称呼徒步行走的人
Technically we’re rubber tramps.
事实上 我们是轮胎流浪者
Because we have a vehicle.
因为我们有辆车
You don’t have to push me away. Come on, please?
你不必推开我 别这样?
Yeah, Alex could have a vehicle as well,
是啊 亚历克斯可能也有辆车
but he decided to burn all of his money.
但是他决定烧了他所有钱
And why did you do that?
你为什么要这么做?
I don’t need money. Makes people cautious.
我不需要钱 钱让人畏手畏脚
Come on, Alex. You gotta be a little cautious.
得了 亚历克斯 你多少也得小心一点
I mean, that book of yours is cool and everything,
我是说 你的书啊那些都很酷
but you can’t depend entirely on leaves and berries.
但是你不能完全靠树叶浆果维生
I don’t know if you want to depend on much more than that.
如果你要有别的需要怎么办?
Where are your mom and dad?
你的爸妈在哪里?
Living their lies somewhere.
在某处生活在他们的谎言里
You look like a loved kid. Be fair.
你像一个被宠爱的孩子 说实话
Fair?
实话?
You know what I mean.
你知道我说的意思
I’ll paraphrase Thoreau here.
我要借用梭罗的话来解释
Rather than love, than money, than faith,
不是爱情 不是金钱 不是信仰
than fame, than fairness,
不是名誉 不是公平
give me truth.
给我真♥相♥
From as long ago as Chris and I could remember,
从克里斯和我开始记事起
there have been daily bouts of rage in our house.
每天我们的家里都有几回激烈的争执
Violence that we were forced to witness. It was very real.
我们被迫目睹的那些暴♥力♥ 非常真实
But it was also like theater.
但也像一出戏
They cast us as both judges and the accused.
他们既当我们是法官 又当是被告
And I got you this token, this expensive token.
我送你一个纪念品 一个非常贵重的纪念品
Dad had been the young genius
爸爸曾是年轻的天才
that NASA enlisted to do crucial designs
曾被美国航♥天♥航♥空♥局征召去
for the American satellite radar systems
为美国卫星雷达系统做关键设计
that would be our answer to the Russian Sputnik.
以回应苏联卫星
And Mom and he later started up a consulting firm
而妈妈和他后来开了一家咨♥询♥公♥司♥
combining her get-up-and-go resourcefulness
结合了她的足智多谋
with his wealth of knowledge.
和他丰富的知识
Look at this.
看这个
But by the time the company actually made its first million,
但是当公♥司♥挣了第一个一百万时
the careerism and money seemed only to embolden their blindness.
利欲熏心与金钱看上去 仅仅加重了他们的盲目愚昧
Thank you very, very much.
非常非常感谢
I remember the first family meeting
我记得第一次家庭会议
to let us in on their plans for getting a divorce.
让我们加入到他们离婚的计划中
They wanted us to choose which of them we’d live with.
他们让我们选择要和谁生活在一起
We cried our eyes out.
我们抱头痛哭
The divorce never happened,
他们从未离婚
but the battles and the meetings never stopped.
但是争执和会议也从未停歇
It wasn’t very long before Chris and I shut off.
不多久克里斯和我不搭理他们
We’d say Go ahead.
我们说 去吧
Get the divorce.
去离婚吧
Jeez. If I struck a match to you I’d have dinner and warmth at the same time.
如果燃根火柴扔过去 我就又有火烤又有烤肉吃了
Where’s Jan going?
简去哪里?
Well, my friend,
好吧 我的朋友
all is not well on the hippie front.
你别看我嬉皮 日子不好过啊
You’re an industrious little fucker, aren’t you?
你是个勤劳的小傻瓜 是吗?
Little bit.
有点
It’s funny how things happen at particular times.
造化弄人 凡事都在特定的时间发生
I’ve loved that woman for a lot of years, bro.
我爱上那个女人很多年了 兄弟
But, you know, she’s got a story.
但是 她有一段故事
We’ve been going through this thing, real quiet.
我们一直静静地对这件事保持沉默
So when we ran into you yesterday,
当我们昨天遇到你时
this thing that we’ve been going through real quiet,
那件我们一直静静地埋藏的事情
she’s talking about it. You know what I mean?
她提起了 你知道我的意思吗?
I think I do. You think what?
我想是的 你知道什么?
Well…
这个…
Some people feel like they don’t deserve love.
有些人觉得他们不值得爱
They walk away quietly into empty spaces,
他们悄然走开遁入空无
trying to close the gaps to the past.
试着消除过往的罅隙
That’s a hell of an insight. Jesus!
真有见地 耶稣啊!
You’re not Jesus, are you? Look who’s talking.
你不是耶稣 对吗? 你看谁在说话
You gonna walk across the water and get her back for me, pal?
你想涉水去帮我带她回来吗 老兄?
No. I’m afraid of water.
不 我怕水
Always have been.
一直是这样的
Something I’ve gotta get over sometime though, huh? So I will swim in it
不过这是迟早要克服的问题
if you’ll carry the firewood back to camp.
如果你把柴火拿回营地 我就跳下水去游泳
Shit, yeah. Yeah?
好的 好的?
Call it carried. All right.
我来拿 好的
The sea’s only gifts are harsh blows,
大海唯一的礼物就是汹涌的浪击
and, occasionally, the chance to feel strong.
有时 还有使人感受坚强的机会
Now, I don’t know much about the sea,
现在我对大海知之甚少
but I do know that that’s the way it is here.
但是我知道这一道理在这里也适用
And I also know how important it is in life
我也明白它在生命中何等重要

你的评论可以尖锐,也可以湿疣!