2020年经济学人 爱尔兰女诗人伊万·博兰德(2)

But once she was married and the mother of two small daughters, happy if she could jot¹ down just one line or one image, that was not her life. Her days now revolved² round cooking, washing up, nappies, feeds; lifting the kettle to the gas stove, setting her skirt over a chair to have it without creases³ for the morning. They were full of small untidinesses and oversights⁴ which assumed huge importance, like the loaf forgotten by the cash register, or washing left wet.

但是一旦伊万结婚了，成为两个小女孩的母亲，她能草草地写下一行字或者一个点子就已经很开心了，可那不是她的生活。她的生活现在围绕着做饭，洗碗，换尿布和喂食；把水壶放到煤气灶旁，把裙子搭在椅子上，这样早上就不会有褶皱了。这些事充满着小的凌乱和疏忽，都很重要，比如把面包忘在收银台前面，或者东西没有洗干。

They were full, too, of hidden satisfactions: a row of cups winking⁵ on their saucers, a copper⁶ pan well polished, fresh green celery feathers. Much of this was so ordinary that it might have seemed unremarkable. Certainly it was not named in Irish poetry. But ordinariness, "dailiness", was precisely⁷ what she wanted to capture. The surfaces of things could barely hold what was under them; just as the small, routine gestures of many couples contained the unspoken steadfastness⁸ of love.

它们也充满了隐藏的满足:一排在碟子上闪闪发光的杯子，一个擦得很亮的铜锅，新鲜的绿色芹菜。这些事情中很多都很平常，所以可能看起来不起眼。当然，它不会出现在爱尔兰诗歌中。但是，伊万想表现的就是普通的日常生活。事物的表面几乎无法隐藏它们内部的东西，就像许多情侣的小动作和日常动作一样，包含着不言而喻的爱的坚定。

Other "women's subjects" needed tackling more forcefully. She had no qualms⁹ about that. The whole poetic¹⁰ tradition had to be scrubbed and abraded¹¹ with the wash stones of resistance. So an anorexic torched her witch-body, its "curves and paps" until, "thin as a rib¹²", she could slip back into Adam again, "as if I had never been away". A menstruating woman confronted the moon, "dulled by it/ thick with it…a water cauled by her light…barren with her blood."

其它“女性的议题”需要更强有力的应对。她对此并没有感到不安。整个诗歌传统必须用反抗的磨刀石来擦洗和研磨。一位厌食者点燃了她女巫般的身体，她的“曲线和柔软”，直到“瘦的像一根肋骨”，她就能再次回到亚当的身体里，“就好像从没有离开过”。一个来月经的女人面对着月亮，“变得迟钝/变得愚笨...光倾注在水面上...在空荡荡的地方流着血。”

1 jot   

n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下

参考例句：

• I'll jot down their address before I forget it.我得赶快把他们的地址写下来，免得忘了。
• There is not a jot of evidence to say it does them any good.没有丝毫的证据显示这对他们有任何好处。

2 revolved   

v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The fan revolved slowly. 电扇缓慢地转动着。
• The wheel revolved on its centre. 轮子绕中心转动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 creases   

（使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹

参考例句：

• She smoothed the creases out of her skirt. 她把裙子上的皱褶弄平。
• She ironed out all the creases in the shirt. 她熨平了衬衣上的所有皱褶。

4 oversights   

n.疏忽( oversight的名词复数 )；忽略；失察；负责

参考例句：

• He saw shocking oversights and inefficiencies that made the Separatist invasion possible. 他看出在首都遭到分裂势力入侵的背后是惊人的疏漏与低效。 来自互联网
• Instead it means that the submitted code has no glaringly obvious oversights. 相反，它意味着所提交的代码没有突出的显而易见的疏忽或错漏。 来自互联网

5 winking   

n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• Anyone can do it; it's as easy as winking. 这谁都办得到，简直易如反掌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The stars were winking in the clear sky. 星星在明亮的天空中闪烁。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

7 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

8 steadfastness   

n.坚定，稳当

参考例句：

• But he was attacked with increasing boldness and steadfastness. 但他却受到日益大胆和坚决的攻击。 来自辞典例句
• There was an unceremonious directness, a searching, decided steadfastness in his gaze now. 现在他的凝视中有一种不礼貌的直率，一种锐利、断然的坚定。 来自辞典例句

9 qualms   

n.不安；内疚

参考例句：

• He felt no qualms about borrowing money from friends.他没有对于从朋友那里借钱感到不安。
• He has no qualms about lying.他撒谎毫不内疚。

10 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

11 abraded   

adj.[医]刮擦的v.刮擦( abrade的过去式和过去分词 )；（在精神方面）折磨（人）；消磨（意志、精神等）；使精疲力尽

参考例句：

• Much of the skin on her arm was abraded. 她胳膊上的大片皮肤被擦破了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Their gossips abraded her into restlessness. 他们的流言蜚语使她心烦意乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 rib   

n.肋骨，肋状物

参考例句：

• He broke a rib when he fell off his horse.他从马上摔下来折断了一根肋骨。
• He has broken a rib and the doctor has strapped it up.他断了一根肋骨，医生已包扎好了。