文字难度：★★★☆
My father worked with a horse plough,
His shoulders globed like a full sail strung
Between the 1)shafts and the 2)furrow.
The horses strained at his clicking tongue.
父亲赶马，犁地耕田，
鼓起双肩，犹如满帆撑悬，
航扬车辕、土垄之间。
喀哒喊声，驱马奋力向前。
An expert. He would set the wing
And fit the bright-4)pointed 5)sock.
The sod rolled over without breaking.
At the headrig, with a single pluck.
行家里手，装好犁翼，
配上犁头，尖锐铮亮。
翻土层卷，整整齐齐。
器械那头，一拽绳缰。
Of 8)reins, the sweating team turned round
And back into the land. His eye
Narrowed and angled at the ground,
Mapping the furrow exactly.
汗马转向，回踏田地。
此时父亲轻眯一眼，
定角睨视前方土地，
精确测绘犁沟距间。
I stumbled in his 9)hobnailed 10)wake,
Fell sometimes on the polished sod;
Sometimes he rode me on his back
Dipping and rising to his 11)plod.
我随他靴印前行跌撞，
有时在犁平的泥地摔一把；
有时我会骑到他背上，
随他沉重的步伐浮沉上下。
I wanted to grow up and plough,
To close one eye, stiffen my arm.
All I ever did was follow
In his broad shadow around the farm.
盼着长大，犁耕驭马，
学他闭一眼双臂使劲牵。
回想儿时，只跟着他
那宽大身影走在田垄间。
I was a nuisance, tripping, falling,
Yapping always. But today
It is my father who keeps stumbling
Behind me, and will not go away.
以前烦人的是我，常绊常摔，
唧唧喳喳吵不停，可到现在，
却是父亲，常在我后面跌摔，
也是父亲，总跟着不愿离开。
谢默斯•希尼（Seamus Heaney，1939－）是一位伟大的爱尔兰诗人。他于1962年开始发表诗作，1995年获得诺贝尔文学奖。他的诗歌对现代诗歌的影响是巨大的，世界性的。对他的诺贝尔文学奖提名是这样写的，“他的作品有一种抒情美和伦理深度，歌颂了日常生活中的奇迹和鲜活的往事。”著有诗集《一个自然主义者的死亡》（Death of a Naturalist）、《进入黑暗之门》（Door into the Dark）、《在外过冬》（Winterins Out）等。
本期精选的Follower一诗追述了当年诗人和他的父亲在田间一起度过的一些时光。一个个精致的片断在诗歌末节——老去的父亲和自己角色对换的情景中化为印记，不禁让人感叹，时间最是无情物……但愿天下儿女都能以同样程度的关爱回报自己那渐老去的父母！
