《母亲的香水》帕斯卡尔•葩蒂
母亲的香水
好奇怪，她的香水常常人未到，香气早已飘抵，
一团硬玉般的香气熏得我急匆匆
先上厕所，再上楼，到窗边去守望她的出租车。
我使劲回忆她的脸，
做好心理准备才不会害怕。她离我越近
我就变得越勇敢，
直到她的香气浓得呛人，我可以尝到她手袋底部
那几枚硬币的味道。
现在我年过40了，仍有点期盼见到她，虽然现在
我只需去打开
一瓶昂贵的法国香水的瓶塞，大胆地喷一点
萨里马*，
香水世家雅克娇兰用香草兰花藤萃取的一款香水。
她那幽灵一样的脸
会颤抖，就像维罗妮卡*的面纱上基督那张脸——一束金绿色的花，
让我想起
学校放假的第一天，那时我常常
对着镜子练习亲吻
她的脸颊，眼睛仔细盯着那条长长的路，寻找一个斑点，
而空气都变成了琥珀色。
即使现在，香子兰的气味还像藤条一样螫人。但我也能闻到
玫瑰花和茉莉花
那瓶香水的前调，我拖着沉重的双腿走过那条芳香小径，
走到那只带着手套的手伸出
一辆黑色出租车，在祖母院门前。有一刻
我以为自己是安全的。
然后妈妈转过身，对我微笑，就像一个摔破的
香水瓶，散发出她的本质气息。
注：
1.维罗妮卡的面纱，据《圣经》记载，耶稣背负十字架被押往刑场的途中，一位叫做维罗妮卡的女子上前用自己的面纱他擦汗。从此，耶稣的面容就印在了这块面纱上。
2. 萨里马（Shalimar），一款香水，中文名"一千零一夜".
译自《女猎人》（The Huntress, 2005 ）
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Mother's Perfume
Strange how her perfume used to arrive long before she did,
a jade cloud that sent me hurrying
first to the loo, then to an upstairs window to watch for her taxi.
I'd prepare myself
by trying to remember her face, without feeling afraid. As she drew
nearer I'd get braver
until her scent got so strong I could taste the coins in the bottom
of her handbag.
And here I am forty years on, still half-expecting her. Though now
I just have to open
the stopper of an expensive French bottle, daring only a whiff of
Shalimar
which Jacques Guerlain created from the vanilla orchid vine.
Her ghostly face
might shiver like Christ's on Veronica's veil – a green-gold blossom
that sends me back
to the first day of the school holidays, the way I used to practise
kissing her cheek
by kissing the glass. My eyes scanned the long road for a speck
while the air turned amber.
Even now, the scent of vanilla stings like a cane. But I can also smell
roses and jasmine
in the bottle's top notes, my legs wading through the fragrant path,
to the gloved hand emerging
from a black taxi at the gate of Grandmother's garden. And for a
moment I think I am safe.
Then Maman turns to me with a smile like a dropped
perfume bottle, her essence spilt.
好奇怪，她的香水常常人未到，香气早已飘抵，
一团硬玉般的香气熏得我急匆匆
先上厕所，再上楼，到窗边去守望她的出租车。
我使劲回忆她的脸，
做好心理准备才不会害怕。她离我越近
我就变得越勇敢，
直到她的香气浓得呛人，我可以尝到她手袋底部
那几枚硬币的味道。
现在我年过40了，仍有点期盼见到她，虽然现在
我只需去打开
一瓶昂贵的法国香水的瓶塞，大胆地喷一点
萨里马*，
香水世家雅克娇兰用香草兰花藤萃取的一款香水。
她那幽灵一样的脸
会颤抖，就像维罗妮卡*的面纱上基督那张脸——一束金绿色的花，
让我想起
学校放假的第一天，那时我常常
对着镜子练习亲吻
她的脸颊，眼睛仔细盯着那条长长的路，寻找一个斑点，
而空气都变成了琥珀色。
即使现在，香子兰的气味还像藤条一样螫人。但我也能闻到
玫瑰花和茉莉花
那瓶香水的前调，我拖着沉重的双腿走过那条芳香小径，
走到那只带着手套的手伸出
一辆黑色出租车，在祖母院门前。有一刻
我以为自己是安全的。
然后妈妈转过身，对我微笑，就像一个摔破的
香水瓶，散发出她的本质气息。
注：
1.维罗妮卡的面纱，据《圣经》记载，耶稣背负十字架被押往刑场的途中，一位叫做维罗妮卡的女子上前用自己的面纱他擦汗。从此，耶稣的面容就印在了这块面纱上。
2. 萨里马（Shalimar），一款香水，中文名"一千零一夜".
译自《女猎人》（The Huntress, 2005 ）
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Mother's Perfume
Strange how her perfume used to arrive long before she did,
a jade cloud that sent me hurrying
first to the loo, then to an upstairs window to watch for her taxi.
I'd prepare myself
by trying to remember her face, without feeling afraid. As she drew
nearer I'd get braver
until her scent got so strong I could taste the coins in the bottom
of her handbag.
And here I am forty years on, still half-expecting her. Though now
I just have to open
the stopper of an expensive French bottle, daring only a whiff of
Shalimar
which Jacques Guerlain created from the vanilla orchid vine.
Her ghostly face
might shiver like Christ's on Veronica's veil – a green-gold blossom
that sends me back
to the first day of the school holidays, the way I used to practise
kissing her cheek
by kissing the glass. My eyes scanned the long road for a speck
while the air turned amber.
Even now, the scent of vanilla stings like a cane. But I can also smell
roses and jasmine
in the bottle's top notes, my legs wading through the fragrant path,
to the gloved hand emerging
from a black taxi at the gate of Grandmother's garden. And for a
moment I think I am safe.
Then Maman turns to me with a smile like a dropped
perfume bottle, her essence spilt.
