理想的國度﹝Utopia﹞

◎辛波絲卡著 宋澤萊譯
島嶼處處都乾淨
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你的腳下有堅固的地面
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除了抵達的地點沒有任何更有趣的地點
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灌木在證據的重量下彎曲
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「有根有據的假設之樹」生長在這兒
其樹枝因為遠古難明的時光而解除糾纏
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「理解的樹」，眩目的直和簡單，
靠著「現在我抓住了它」的春天而急速成長
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更濃密的樹林，更寬廣的遠景：
那個「一無隱蔽的山谷」
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假如有任何的懷疑升起，風兒馬上驅散它
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回音不再只顧回響
急切解釋所有世界的秘密
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在右邊有一個洞穴存放著意義
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在左邊有一個「確定的深湖」
真理從湖底冒出而泡沫抵達湖表
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「不可搖撼的確信之塔」在山谷之上
它的尖端提供「事物存在」的確定觀點
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一切都很迷人，這個島嶼不被佔居
模糊的足印散落在海灘
一無例外的朝向海洋
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好像你能做的只是離開
跳入，不回頭，深深進入
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進入不可測量的生命中

Utopia

Island where all becomes clear.

Solid ground beneath your feet.

The only roads are those that offer access.

Bushes bend beneath the weight of proofs.

The Tree of Valid Supposition grows here
with branches disentangled since time immemorial.

The Tree of Understanding, dazzlingly straight and simple,
sprouts by the spring called Now I Get It.

The thicker the woods, the vaster the vista:
the Valley of Obviously.

If any doubts arise, the wind dispels them instantly.

Echoes stir unsummoned
and eagerly explain all the secrets of the worlds.

On the right a cave where Meaning lies.

On the left the Lake of Deep Conviction.
Truth breaks from the bottom and bobs to the surface.

Unshakable Confidence towers over the valley.
Its peak offers an excellent view of the Essence of Things.

For all its charms, the island is uninhabited,
and the faint footprints scattered on its beaches
turn without exception to the sea.

As if all you can do here is leave
and plunge, never to return, into the depths.

Into unfathomable life.

By Wislawa Szymborska
From "A large number", 1976
Translated by S. Baranczak & C. Cavanagh