HAIR IN YOUR EYES By Helen Foster Snow

李潔紅　劉冰

It is still a mystery to me – why anyone wants to have hair hanging down into their eyes. I dont like anything in front of my eyes.

In the 1960s men and boys began to hide behind long feminine haircuts， with the bangs so long， sometimes they actually hung over most of the eyes like a thin curtain. What did this mean？ It had to be unkempt looking， even if by the art of studied carelessness.

On television “Cher” was an example of the long， straight， flat hair parted in the middle and hanging down on both sides， always about half way over the eyes. Then the “Cher” was to constantly swing the hair back or to put up the hand to keep brushing it out of the eyes. She obviously thought this was the ultimate in charm and style， even though she usually had a little bit of burlesque.

I once had a severe nosebleed and went to the emergency ward of Yale New Haven Hospital. I was assigned to a young Japanese woman， training to be a doctor.Her hair was short and so heavy and bushy， she actually could not see through the overlong heavy bangs and had to keep brushing them out of her eyes right in the middle of using a scalpel and mirror to cut off the artery. In the end， she made such a “hairy” mess of it， she had to call another doctor to do the job – he was a real square，fortunately， with nice neat short hair and good glasses.

When I was in China in 1970s， I was always bothered by the straight wisps of hair escaping from a bobby pin to hold the bangs back and directly obscuring the vision. I could not understand it at all， but assumed the hair grew in that intractable manner. I well remembered in the 1930s when the old-fashioned women plucked their foreheads to make a square， then brushed the long hair down like a crows wing to be as flat as possible.

In the 1960s one of my aged friends went to visit a family of relatives around Halloween. Their girls appeared in long calico skirts with the long straight hair hanging like witches and covering half their eyes. At first she thought it was a costume party for the holiday – but of course， that was the ne plus ultra of young fashion then all the time.

A few minutes ago I watched a woman author on the Donahue show. Her long bangs were curved， but resting actually on the eyelids. She thought herself most attractive， but this hair problem gave me the “creeps”.（Madison， 14 January 1983）

你眼中的發絲

作者 海倫·福斯特·斯諾

為什么所有人都希望自己的頭發遮擋住自己的眼睛呢？對于我來說，這依然是個謎。我可不喜歡任何東西遮擋住我的眼睛，即便是一縷發絲。

在二十世紀六十年代，當男人和男孩們開始留起女性般的長發時，劉海兒也很長，有時會擋住他們的眼睛，就像一層薄薄的窗簾一樣。這意味著什么？即便是刻意裝扮出來的隨意，這看上去還是很凌亂。

我們知道，無論是在遠古時期，還是任何時間，人類本能的一種表現便是對發型的追求。人類把頭發弄得飄逸，并視其為一面旗幟或是一種挑戰。在不知道多少代人中，飄逸和凌亂的長發一直是藝術家，音樂家，演員及其他“非主流”們熱衷的事物，標志著他們的與眾不同。其中一個例子就是波士頓流行管弦樂團的日籍指揮—他將自己那蓬松的長發從一邊甩另一邊，濃密的劉海遮擋住了他的半只眼睛，使他只能透過劉海兒向外窺視。所有的樂隊指揮都傾向于留著雄獅般的長發，雖然都遮擋了視線，使眼睛只能透過長發窺視，但比起甩動長發，還是有所不同。

由于鼻子曾一度嚴重流血，我便去了耶魯紐黑文醫院急診室就診。一位年輕的日籍女性為我接診，當時她是一名見習醫生。她留了短發，但是卻很濃密。實際上，過長的劉海兒會妨礙她的視線，因此在使用手術刀和反光鏡來切除動脈時，她不得不總是梳理頭發，防止頭發遮擋視線。最后，她那濃密的頭發將她的工作搞得一團糟，她不得不叫另外一位醫生來接替她——值得慶幸的是，這位醫生十分保守，他的頭發短而又精細整潔，還帶著一副不錯的眼鏡。

在二十世紀七十年代，當我在中國的時候，總是有小縷的直發從固定劉海兒的發夾中脫落，直接擋住了我的視線。我根本就理解不了為什么會這樣，但我也只能假裝將其視為一種自然現象，憑頭發肆意增長。我記得很清楚，在二十世紀三十年代，不追求時尚的婦女會剪干凈前額的頭發，留出一塊方方正正的頭皮，這樣就可以徹底清除長發，就像烏鴉的翅膀一樣平滑。

在二十世紀六十年代，我的一位上了年紀的朋友在萬圣節前后去拜訪親戚。親戚家的女孩子們穿著長長的印花布裙，再加上長長的直發遮蓋了半只眼睛，看上去簡直像女巫。起初，她還以為是為慶祝節日而準備的化裝晚會—當然，那只是當時在年輕人中超級流行的時尚。

幾分鐘以前，我在唐納修訪談上看到以為女性作家。她長長的劉海兒呈卷狀，但是，實際上，劉海兒卻是粘在眼瞼上。她覺得自己最迷人，但是她的長發卻給我一種“渾身不適”的感覺。（1983年1月14日寫于麥迪遜）