陈子弘 译
通往水边的路上，我看到一株丑草
在岩间生长。风轻抚着它，
说：“我的野草，我的野草。”它坚实
毛茸茸的身姿挺立，大大的银色叶片
在我身上蹭来蹭去，很私昵。一开始，
我以为它是羊耳朵，但又不是。
我不是丑陋派的一员，
但我绕着它转圈，看了很久，
这就是说，我只是在做人，而它在我看来——
在更高的意义上——代表着生活的明智。
那是在黄昏。行星在聚集。
“野草先生，”我说，“我有竞争力，
但我害怕，我孤单，我明亮。
你可会告诉我如何度过？”
My Weed
On the path to the water, I found an ugly weed
growing between rocks. The wind was stroking it,
saying, “My weed, my weed.” Its solid,
hairy body rose up, with big silver leaves
that rubbed off on me, like sex. At first,
I thought it was a lamb's ear, but it wasn't.
I'm not a member of the ugly school,
but I circled around it and looked a lot,
which is to say, I was just being, and it seemed to me—
in a higher sense—to represent the sanity of living.
It was twilight. Planets were gathering.
“Mr. Weed,” I said, “I'm competitive,
I'm afraid, I'm isolated, I'm bright.
Can you tell me how to survive?”
译注：
1. 第6行“羊耳朵”原文为lamb's ear，在英文中也写为Lamb's-ear则是指唇形科水苏属下的一个种，叫绵毛水苏，其毛茸茸的叶片很像羊耳朵，羊耳朵是其英文俗名。
2. 2014年夏季号第209期《巴黎评论》上刊发了萨莎·维斯与柯尔的访谈录，其中萨莎问道了这首诗。她提到了“我不是丑陋派的一员”这一句。柯尔答道：“那是一首在阿第伦达克山（纽约州东北部的山地，是一处度假胜地）时写的诗。年复一年，在通往湖边的石子路上，一直有一棵又大又高的野草在那里迎接我去游泳，所以我开始向它鞠躬，以示尊重。这是一个私人笑话，当然更是个适合美学冥想的场合。”
