《美食祈祷和恋爱》Chapter 72 (157):印度诗二首之一

Two Poems from an Ashram in India

来自印度道场的两首诗

First

第一首

All this talk of nectar and bliss is starting to piss me off.

这些甘露天堂的言谈开始令我倒胃，

I don't know about you, my friend,

朋友，我不知你的情况，

but my path to God ain't no sweet waft of incense.

但通往神的道路对我而言可不芳香，

It's a cat set loose in a pigeon pen,

仿佛把猫放入鸽笼，

and I'm the cat—

我是那猫——

but also them who yell like hell when they get pinned.

也是被钉住而大吼大叫的那些人。

My path to God is a worker's uprising,

通往神的道路对我而言是劳工暴动，

won't be peace till they unionize.

除非组成工会，否则不得平静。

Their picket is so fearsome the National Guard won't go near them.

这些示威者如此令人生畏，国民警卫队不敢靠前。

My path was beaten unconscious before me,

我的前方道路久经践踏、失去知觉，

by a small brown man I never got to see,

是我未能见到的小棕人所为，

who chased God through India, shin-deep in mud,

他追赶神穿越印度，泥巴及胫，

barefoot and famined, malarial blood,

赤脚，缺粮，疟疾缠身，

sleeping in doorways, under bridges—a hobo.

睡在门口、桥下——一个游民。

(Which is short for "homeward bound," you know)

（可知，这是前往返乡途中的简称）

And he now chases me, saying: "Got it yet, Liz?

如今他追赶我，说：小莉，懂了没？

What HOMEWARD means? What BOUND really is?"

‘返乡’是何意？何谓‘前往’的真实意义？