马克·比宾斯: 在这漫长十年的尽头


多年以来,如果有人要我拼写“commiserate(同情)”这个词,我就会让他们失望。
我嫉妒对词源学感兴趣的人,但我尊敬能阐释音乐神奇力量的人——曾经有个评论员说极地双子星乐队(Cocteau Twins)的音乐是上帝的声音,我想知道ta还信不信自己说过的话。ta肯定信的,不然上帝的声音应该是什么样?
即便现在我懂得多了一些,当我看到“misericordia(拉丁语的mercy)”这个词,我依然想到受苦,而不是原谅;
我们在同情的时候,将我们联结在一起的不是仁慈,而是苦难。
因此,让我们把这个历史的脓肿,叫做“伟大的同情”吧。
affliction(痛苦)和affection(喜爱)的区别,在于一个小小的“flick”、“lick”——但看仔细了,有一个“lie”躲在字母中间,多巧啊。
年复一年,我们的朋友对于各种损失越来越坦率:让我用你的痛苦来赚钱好吗?我的朋友“公司”说道。
努力融入一个城市的时的时候,在我脑海中,它的名字总会自动更正为“永远”:我要在“永远”待一个星期,“永远”今年特别热;“永远”的东西好贵,但这里的博物馆简直太棒了。
这座城市的所有苦难,都是我们的。
At the End of the Endless Decade
Mark Bibbins
For years had anyone needed me
to spell the word commiserate
I'd have disappointed them. I envy
people who are more excited
by etymology than I am, but not
the ones who can explain how
music works—I wonder whether
the critic who wrote
that the Cocteau Twins were the voice
of god still believes it. Why not,
what else would god sound like.
Even though I know better, when I see
the word misericordia I still think
suffering, not forgiveness;
when we commiserate we are united
not in mercy but in misery,
so let's go ahead and call this abscess
of history the Great Commiseration.
The difference
between affliction and affection
is a flick, a lick—but check
again, what lurks in the letters
is “lie,” and what kind of luck
is that. As the years pile up
our friends become more vocal
about their various damages:
Won't you let me monetize
your affliction, says my friend
the corporation. When I try to enter
the name of any city
it autocorrects to Forever:
I'm spending a week in Forever,
Forever was hotter than ever
this year, Forever's expensive
but oh the museums,
and all of its misery's ours.