The Arrival of the Bee Box
蜂箱的到来

I ordered this, this clean wood box
我订购了这只，这干净的木箱

Square as a chair and almost too heavy to lift.
方正如椅子，太重几乎提不起来。

I would say it was the coffin of a midget
我想说它像侏儒的棺木

Or a square baby
或是方形的婴儿

Were there not such a din in it.
若里面没有这种嘈杂声。

The box is locked, it is dangerous.
箱子是锁着的，有危险。

I have to live with it overnight
我必须与它一起过夜

And I can’t keep away from it.
我不可以离开它。

There are no windows, so I can’t see what is in there.
没有窗户，因此我不能看清里面是什么。

There is only a little grid, no exit.
只有一个小栅格，没有出口。

I put my eye to the grid.
我从栅格往里瞧。

It is dark, dark,
黑暗，黑暗一片。

With the swarmy feeling of African hands
蜂拥的感觉，像非洲人的手

Minute and shrunk for export,
紧缩成小堆争着要出去，

Black on black, angrily clambering.
黑压压，愤怒攀爬。

How can I let them out?
我如何可以放它们出去？

It is the noise that appalls me most of all,
是喧闹声特别使我感到恐惧，

The unintelligible syllables.
无法听懂的音节。

It is like a Roman mob,
像一群罗马暴徒，

Small, taken one by one, but my god, together!
小小的，一个接一个，我的上帝，它们一起！

I lay my ear to furious Latin.
我贴上耳朵听喧闹的拉丁语。

I am not a Caesar.
我并不是恺撒。

I have simply ordered a box of maniacs.
我只是订购了这箱疯子。

They can be sent back.
它们可能被送回。

They can die, I need feed them nothing, I am the owner.
它们可能死，我不必喂养它们，我拥有它们。

I wonder how hungry they are.
我想知道它们有多饿。

I wonder if they would forget me
我想知道它们是否会忘了我

If I just undid the locks and stood back and turned into a tree.
若我打开锁，往后站，就会变成一棵树。

There is the laburnum, its blond colonnades,
还有金莲花，金色的列柱，

And the petticoats of the cherry.
樱桃色的衬裙。

They might ignore me immediately
也许它们会即刻忽视我

In my moon suit and funeral veil.
我穿月亮套装、戴葬礼面纱。

I am no source of honey
我绝不是蜂蜜之源

So why should they turn on me?
它们为何对我感兴趣？

Tomorrow I will be sweet God, I will set them free.
明天我将是温柔的上帝，我会释放它们。

The box is only temporary.
这只蜂箱只是暂时的。

(1962/10/04. pp.212—213. No. 177)
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