Time slows down

Para. 1 

「Daddy, let’s take a walk.」

Para. 2 

It’s an April day in Virginia. He nods, puts his hands on the arms of his wheelchair, whispers something that makes little sense. I try to help him up, but he is too heavy and limp.

這是維吉尼亞四月的一天。他點點頭，把手放到輪椅的扶手上，嘟噥著誰也聽不懂的話。我試著扶他起來，但是他太重了，而且也太虛弱了。

Para. 3 

「Come for a walk, and then — I』ve brought you a surprise.」 

Para. 4 

The white curtains surge in the breeze.

Para. 5 

Shivering, he complains it’s chilly. 「It’s cold, I’m tired. Can’t we go home now?」他哆嗦著，抱怨天太冷。「冷，我累了。我們現在回家不行嗎？」

Para. 6  

Suddenly we’re far away in a time long past in part of a harbor I』ve never seen before. December, Chicago, I’m five, and cold. One glove is lost. My feet are tired. His legs are longer; he strides quickly through melting snow, toward buildings like airplane sheds with immense doors.

突然間，我們仿佛回到了很久很久以前，我們來到一個我從來沒見過的港口。那時是十二月份，在芝加哥，我五歲，我很冷。一隻手套丟了。我也走不動了。他的腿長多了，大步流星地走過正在融化的雪地，走向一群裝著大門的像是飛機機庫一樣的建築。

Para. 7 

This is the most exciting place I have ever been. Suddenly my fatigue  is gone. I could walk along here forever, at least until I find out how to get aboard one of the boats.

這是我到過的最令人興奮的地方。忽然之間，我的疲憊消失得無影無蹤。我可以一直在這裡走下去，起碼可以一直走到我設法登上其中的一條船為止。

Para. 8 

We slow down our pace. Smaller sheds now. A green diner. Smells of fish and smoke. We enter a little hut. Barrels of salty water, string bags of shellfish,bundles of fish laid out on ice.

我們放慢了腳步。現在我們看到的是一些小一點的貨棚，還有一間綠色的小餐館。四周瀰漫著魚和煙的味道。我們走進一個小棚裡。裡面是一桶桶的海水，一網兜一網兜的貝類海鮮，還有一捆捆放在冰塊上的魚。

Para. 9 

「Daddy, look at that snake!」

Para. 10 

「No, that’s an eel,」 says Daddy. 「Smoked. We』ll take a portion home for supper.」

「不，那是鰻魚，」爸爸說。「煙燻的。我們買一段回家當晚飯吃。」

Para. 11 

「I certainly won’t eat that!」

Para. 12 

「All right,」 he says, and carries the smelly package. As we walk back, he tells me about migrations of eels to the Sargasso Sea: how eels come down Dalmatian rivers and swim across the Mediterranean and then the whole Atlantic, until they reach the warm Sargasso Sea. Here they lay their eggs, and then the baby eels swim back to the native rivers of their parents.

「好吧，」他說道，然後拿起那包腥味很重的魚。我們往回走的時候，他給我講鰻魚向馬尾藻海洄遊的故事：鰻魚怎樣從達爾瑪提亞地區的河流遊過地中海，再遊過整個大西洋，直到抵達溫暖的馬尾藻海。它們在那裡產卵，然後幼魚再遊回到它們的父母原先待過的河流。

Para. 13 

Back at last in the apartment, he unwraps the eel, opens his pocket knife and slices carefully.

我們終於回到了公寓。他拆開鰻魚包，打開摺疊小刀，小心地切片。

Para. 14 

「I won’t eat it,」 I say suspiciously.

Para. 15 

「Try one bite, just for me.」

Para. 16 

「I won’t like it.」

Para. 17 

While he hangs up our coats, I test one pinch. Smelly, smoky, and salty.

當他在掛我們的外套時，我嘗了一丁點兒。很腥，帶著煙燻味，還鹹鹹的。

Para. 18 

He goes into the kitchen to heat milk for me and tea for himself. I test another pinch. Then another. He returns with the steaming cups.

他去廚房幫我熱牛奶，並給他自己熱茶。我又嘗了一丁點兒。然後，又嘗了一點兒。他從廚房回來，端著熱氣騰騰的杯子。

Para. 19 

The eel has vanished.

Para. 20 

Because it is Sunday and I am five, he forgives me. Time slows down and the love flows in — father to daughter and back again.

因為是星期天，我又只有五歲，他原諒了我。時光在此刻駐足，愛意在此刻流淌——從父親流向女兒，又從女兒流向父親。

Para. 21 

At 19, I fly out to Japan. My father and I climb Mount Fuji. High above the Pacific, and hours up the slope, we picnic on dried eel, seaweed crackers, and cold rice wrapped in the eel skin. He reaches the peak  first.
十九歲的時候，我飛去日本。父親和我一起登富士山。我們爬了幾小時後，在俯瞰太平洋的山坡上野餐，吃著鰻魚乾、海苔餅乾和鰻魚皮包的冷飯糰。他第一個登上山頂。

Para. 22 

As the years stretch, we walk along waterways all over the world. With his long stride, he often overtakes me. I』ve never known anyone with such energy.

隨著歲月的流逝，我們遊遍了世界各地的江川湖海。他步子大，所以經常走得比我快。我不知道除了他，還有誰能有如此旺盛的精力

Para. 23 

Some days, time flies with joy all around. Other days, time rots like old fish.

有些日子，時間在快樂中飛逝，也有些日子會像不新鮮的魚一樣，令人難受。

Para. 24 

Today in the nursing home in Virginia, anticipating his reluctance, I beg boldly and encourage him, 「Please, Daddy, just a little walk. You are supposed to exercise.」

今天，在維吉尼亞的養老院裡，雖然明知他不太願意，我還是大膽地請求他、鼓勵他：「來吧，爸爸，就走一小會兒。你應該鍛鍊鍛鍊。」

Para. 25 

He can’t get out of his chair. Not that he often gets up on his own, but once in a while he』ll suddenly have a surge of strength. I stoop  to lift his feet from the foot restraints, fold back the metal pieces which often scrape his delicate, paper-thin skin. 「Come, now you can stand.」

他無法從輪椅上站起來。不是說他能常常靠自己站起身來，但是偶爾，他會突然來那麼一股子勁兒。我彎下身，把他的腳從腳蹬裡拿出來，收起經常把他脆弱的、薄紙般的皮膚擦傷的金屬腳踏。「來，你現在可以站起來了。」

Para. 26 

He grips the walker and struggles forward. Gradually I lift and pull him to his feet. Standing unsteadily, he sways and then gains his balance.

他抓住助步車，努力往前起身。慢慢地，我連拖帶拽地幫他站了起來。他站在那兒，有點兒不穩，搖搖晃晃，然後才站穩了。

Para. 27 

「See, you made it! That’s wonderful! All right, I』ll be right behind you, my hand in the small of your back. Now - forward, march!」

「看，你做到了！太好了！好吧，我就跟在你後面，我會用手扶著你的腰。好，往前，往前走！」

Para. 28 

He is impatient with the walker as I accompany him to the dining room. I help him to his chair,and hand him a spoon. It slips from his fingers. Pureed tuna is heaped on a plastic plate. I encourage him, sing him old songs, tell stories, but he won’t eat. When I lift a spoonful of gray fishy stuff to his mouth, he says politely, 「I don’t care for any.」

我陪著他往餐廳走，一路上他對助步車很不耐煩。我扶他在椅子上坐下，遞給他一把勺子。勺子從他的指間滑落。塑料餐盤上是一堆金槍魚肉糜。我鼓勵他吃，唱老歌給他聽，給他講故事，但是他不肯吃。當我舉起一勺灰灰的魚肉糜送到他嘴邊時，他客氣地說：「我一點兒也不想吃。」

Para. 29 

Nor would I.

Para. 30

Then I take the small smelly package covered in white wrapping paper from a plastic bag. He loves presents, and he reaches forward with awkward fingers to try to open it. The smell fills the room.

於是，我從一個塑膠袋裡取出一小包用白紙包著的帶著腥味的東西。他喜歡禮物。他伸手用不怎麼靈活手指試著打開紙包。房間裡滿是魚腥味。

Para. 31 

「Look, Daddy, they』ve been out of it for months, but at last this morning at the fish seller near the Potomac, I found some smoked eel.」

「看，爸爸，他們已經斷貨好幾個月了。今天早上，我終於在波託馬克河附近的魚販子那裡找到了一些燻鰻魚。」

Para. 32 

We unwrap it, and then I take out the Swiss Army Knife my beloved aunt gave me 「for safekeeping」, and slice the silvery flesh.

我們把紙包打開，然後我拿出我親愛的姨媽送給我的那把「防身用」的瑞士軍刀，切開銀色的魚肉。

Para. 33 

「What a beautiful picnic,」 my father beams.

Para. 34 

He takes a sip of his champagne, and then with steady fingers picks up a slice of eel and downs it easily. Then another, and another, until he eats the whole piece. And again, time slows down and the love flows in - daughter to father and back again.

他品了一口香檳，然後用一點兒也不哆嗦的手指捏起一片鰻魚肉，輕鬆地咽了下去。接著，他吃了一片又一片，直到把整塊魚吃完。再一次，時光在此刻駐足，愛意在此刻流淌——從女兒流向父親，又從父親流向女兒。

(821 words)