壞不過告別

by Christopher Hudspeth

翻譯：思葦

壞不過告別

Goodbyes Are the Worst

by Christopher Hudspeth

翻譯：思葦

Track 7

時間正像一個趨炎附勢的主人，對于一個臨去的客人不過和他略微握握手，對于一個新來的客人，卻伸開了兩臂，飛也似地過去抱住他；歡迎是永遠含笑的，告別總是帶著嘆息。—莎士比亞

Eras[時代]end. Friendships,daily routines[日常生活], jobs, locations, relationships, lives—anything you’re a part of right now is likely to end some day. Maybetemporarily[暫時地], but possibly forever. Endings as a wholetend to[趨向于]be disappointing. Personally, I hate when something I’m enjoying nears the end, so much so that I always avoid the last 20 seconds on the fnal tracks of my favorite albums, or turn off my favorite movies before theend credits[片尾演職人員表]begin. It’sextreme[極端的], and perhaps even a little odd, but somehow it eases the disappointment in the fact that something I enjoy is over. In life, these endings are far different than the last 20 seconds ofMarvin Gaye’s注What’s Going On, because I can just start the disc over. Endings in real life—in our lives, are simply not that simple.

時代總是會告終的。友誼、日常、工作、處所、關系、生活—你正置身其中的一切，總有一天會迎來終結。或許只是暫離，但也有可能從此永別。從大體上而言，結局總是容易讓人失望的。對我來說，我很討厭自己喜歡的事情臨近尾聲，以至于我在聽喜歡的專輯時，總是要跳過最后一首歌的最后20秒；又或是在看喜歡的電影時，總是在結尾的演職人員表出現之前就關掉。我這做法太極端了，也許甚至有點怪異，不過它能緩解我喜歡的東西即將結束所帶來的失落感。在人生中，我們所面對的結束與馬文·蓋伊的《發生了什么》最后20秒相去甚遠，因為對后者，我只要從頭再播就可以了。而在真實生活中—在我們的生活里的各種結局，可遠遠沒有這么簡單。

Goodbyes are directly linked to endings. A career change, a decision to move to another city, our lover breaking up with us or the other way around—these types of life-changing events each have endings that weigh heavily on our emotions. Whether you saw it coming or were completely surprised, the feelings are still going to be present. In reality, there’s no amount of timein advance[提前]that can fully prepare us for the actual goodbye—the part where the moment we’ve feared finally comes to pass, or the worst casescenario[情節]you hadn’t expected suddenlysnatches[搶奪]comfort from yourgrasp[抓住].

Generally speaking, saying “goodbye” is kind of uneasy. It doesn’t always go smoothly and often feels uncomfortable. Whether you ran into an old friend that you hadn’t seen for a long time, or you’re moving out of the place you’ve shared with the same roommates for years—when parting ways it can get awkward. Emotional words and tears orsarcastic[譏笑的]jokes and laughs? Handshake or hug? An empty “We should hang out soon” or an actual number exchange andhashed out[充分討論]details? Will you be back in this place you’re leaving in a year? A decade? Or is this the last time you’ll ever be here? There are simply too many unanswerable questions for comfort. Too many unknowns tobe at ease[安心].

告別總會讓人馬上聯想到終結。一次跳槽，決定搬去其他城市，被愛人甩了（或者甩了對方）—像這些會改變生活的事情，每次結束都會給我們的情緒帶來沉重的負擔。不管你是早有預感還是完全出乎意料，這些感受依然會如約而至。在現實生活里，無論給多長時間讓我們做好心理準備，在真正面對告別時，我們還是會措手不及：那個讓我們一直害怕的時刻終于到來了，又或是突然發生了一個最糟糕的意外狀況，將你所擁有的安逸一把奪去。

一般而言，說“再見”可不容易，那并不總能順利說出口，而且時常讓人感到難受。不管你是偶遇一個很久不見的老朋友，還是準備搬離與室友同住多年的地方，在即將各奔東西時，告別就會讓人局促不安。是直抒胸臆、抱頭痛哭，還是調侃扯皮、大笑一場？是握握手，還是抱一個？一句空泛的“我們以后再聯系”，還是真的交換號碼，一邊討論細節？你會在一年還是十年后回到你離開的這個地方嗎？又或者這是你最后一次待在這里呢？有太多無法回答的問題讓人無以慰藉；有太多的未知讓人無法自在。

注：馬文·蓋伊（1939—1984），美國摩城唱片著名歌手、作曲家，有“摩城王子”之稱，對許多靈歌歌手都有巨大影響，可說是黑人流行音樂史上最受人敬重及喜愛的超級巨星之一。

Ciao['t?a?]在意大利語里既是“你好”，也是“再見”的意思，是較熟悉的朋友之間相互問候的口頭語。走在意大利的大街上，經常可以聽到人們在說“Ciao”，至于他們是在告別還是剛見面，還得看具體的情況。

Ta-ta[‘t?’ta:]指“再見，回頭見”，多用于英式英語，非正式語境，語氣偏向感嘆。

Adieu[?'dju?]源自法語，指“再見，訣別，永別”。Dieu在法語里表示“上帝，神”，而a就相當于英語里at或者to的意思，因此adieu直譯過來就是“在上帝那里見面吧”，有“永別”或者“長期分別”、“相見遙遙無期”的意思。在日常生活中最好還是不要用adieu。

The best goodbyes are the ones that don’t ever actually happen. The stuff that doesn’t necessarily come to an ending so much as it slowly becomes into less and less over the months and years. Consider a person you used to be close friends with, but no longer speak to regularly. Someone you never had afalling out[吵架]with, but you simply grew apart from. These situations can be adowner[令人沮喪的人或事], especially when you realize the former friendship is covered in so manycobwebs[蜘蛛絲]it’s no longerrecognizable[可辨認的]. As big of a downer as thatepiphany[頓悟]may be, it doesn’t have the sudden shock effect of an actual goodbye. No hugs, no kisses, no handshakes, no airports, no packed bags or tears—just time.

Goodbyes are never going to be something we canadapt to[適應]. They’re all different and each one is followed by a different person, place or thing beingabsent[缺席的]in our lives. There are the necessary goodbyes that we feel a sense ofrelief[解脫]after, but even then, to know that something we once felt strongly about or comfortable with is going tocease[停止]to exist can be scary. Maybe we shouldeliminate[消除]“goodbye” from our vocabulary.Ciao, farewell[辭別], later,ta-ta, adieu—take your pick—any of those feel a lot less fnal, even if goodbye is the sad reality.

最好的告別是那種沒有真正說出口的告別。有些東西不是必然地步向終結，而是隨著年月逝去變得越來越不重要。有些人并沒有和你吵架鬧翻，你們只是自然而然地分開了。這些情況也會讓人沮喪難過，尤其是當你意識到昔日的友誼如今布滿蛛絲、早已面目全非的時候。這種頓悟雖然讓人十分難過，但它不會帶來真正的道別那種突如其來的震驚效果。沒有擁抱，沒有吻別，沒有握手，沒有機場送別，沒有大包小包的行李，也沒有眼淚—僅僅是時間的流逝。

道別是我們永遠無法適應的事情。每一次道別都是獨一無二的，隨之而來的就是不同的人、地點或事物從此離開了我們的生活。有些告別還是很有必要的，會讓我們在事后感到從此解脫；但就算是那樣，一旦意識到我們曾經付出如此強烈感情的東西—又或是那些曾經讓我們如此舒坦的存在將要消失殆盡，這依然是件可怕的事情。也許我們應該將“告別”從詞匯表里刪去。再會，別了，回見，再見，告辭……選個你喜歡的吧，選個感覺沒那么曲終人散的詞語—盡管我們還是要面對告別這個令人傷心的不爭現實。