A KITE IS A VICTIM # Leonard Cohen
風箏是受害者，你相信
你愛它
因為拉得夠輕，它就叫你主人
扯得夠重，它就罵你白癡
因為它就像受過訓練的獵鷹
在歡樂的高空中飛翔
你總是可以拉下它
收在抽屜裡馴養
A kite is a victim you are sure of.
You love it because it pulls
gentle enough to call you master,
strong enough to call you fool;
because it lives
like a trained falcon
in the high sweet air,
and you can always haul it down
to tame it in your drawer.
風箏是池裡已經上鉤的魚
池裡沒有魚會游來
你仔細耐心與它遊戲
希望它不要放棄
或風勢不要減輕
A kite is a fish you have already caught
in a pool where no fish come,
so you play him carefully and long,
and hope he won’t give up,
or the wind die down.
風箏是你寫的最後一首詩
你交給風
又不放手
直到有人找你去忙其他事
A kite is the last poem you’ve written,
so you give it to the wind,
but you don’t let it go
until someone finds you
something else to do.
風箏是榮耀的合約
必須與太陽簽訂
這樣才能與原野
河流和風交朋友
然後你在寒冷的天中
在周遊天空，無拘無束的月亮下
整夜祈禱
希望能活的有價值，像詩一樣而純粹
A kite is a contract of glory
that must be made with the sun,
so make friends with the field
the river and the wind,
then you pray the whole cold night before,
under the travelling cordless moon,
to make you worthy and lyric and pure.

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