双语畅销书|《这不是告别》第一章

　　《这不是告别》作为全美媒体和读者的年度之选，一出版就迅速横扫《纽约时报》畅销书榜长达45周，席卷全球三十多国。故事讲述了一头红发、穿着肥大男款衬衫的Eleanor，与沉默寡言、沉迷于音乐和漫画世界的Park之间的故事。

August 1986

1986年8月

# Park #

#帕克#

XTC was no good for drowning out the morons at the back of the bus.

XTC（1）无法盖过校车后面那些家伙的声音。【注：（1）XTC，七十年代的英国新浪潮乐队。】

Park pressed his headphones into his ears.

帕克压紧了耳机。

Tomorrow he was going to bring Skinny Puppy or the Misfits. Or maybe he'd make a special bus tape with as much screaming and wailing on it as possible.

明天他应该带“嶙峋小狗”（2）或者“怪胎乐队”（3），或者录一盘塞满尖叫哭喊的校车专用磁带。【注：（2）嶙峋小狗（Skinny Puppy），八十年代的加拿大工业之声（Industrial Sound）乐队，是工业电子乐的先锋。（3）怪胎乐队（Misfits），七十年代的美国朋克乐队，以融合朋克摇滚与恐怖电影主题音乐的恐怖朋克（Horror Punk）次类型见长。】

He could get back to New Wave in November, after he got his driver's license. His parents had already said Park could have his mom's Impala, and he'd been saving up for a new tape deck. Once he started driving to school, he could listen to whatever he wanted or nothing at all, and he'd get to sleep in an extra twenty minutes.

等他十一月拿到驾照，就可以回头听新浪潮音乐（4。爸妈答应把妈妈的那辆羚羊轿车给他，他也开始存钱买新的车载音响。一旦能开车上学，他就可以爱听什么听什么，不听也可以，还可以多睡二十分钟。【注：（4）新浪潮（New Wave），一个概括性的音乐分类，泛指七十年代末到八十年代中期与朋克摇滚相关的音乐风格，来源可能是华丽摇滚、Ska、雷鬼、实验音乐、电子音乐、强力流行乐、迪斯科音乐等。】

"That doesn't exist," somebody shouted behind him.

有人在他背后大叫：“根本没那种东西！”

"It so fucking does," Steve shouted back. "Drunken-monkey style, man, it's a real fucking thing. You can kill somebody with it…"

史蒂夫也大叫：“我操！我说有就是有！老兄，醉猴拳是他妈的真货，可以杀人…”

"You're full of shit."

“你放屁。”

"You're full of shit," Steve said. "Park! Hey, Park."

“你才放屁。”史蒂夫说，“帕克！喂，喂，帕克。”

Park heard him, but didn't answer. Sometimes, if you ignored Steve for a minute, he moved onto someone else. Knowing that was 80 percent of surviving with Steve as your neighbor. The other 20 percent was just keeping your head down…

帕克听见了，但没回答。有时，你不理会史蒂夫，一分钟后，他就会转向其他目标。与史蒂夫为邻，百分之八十的存活机会在此。另外百分之二十就是低下头。

Which Park had momentarily forgotten. A ball of paper hit him in the back of the head.

不幸的是，他一时忘记了低头，一个纸团击中了他的后脑勺。

"Those were my Human Growth and Development notes, dicklick," Tina said.

提娜说：“你傻啊，那是我‘人类生长与发展’课的笔记。”

"I'm sorry, baby," Steve said. "I'll teach you all about human growth and development. What do you need to know?"

“对不起啊，宝贝，”史蒂夫说，“我来教你人类生长与发展的所有知识吧，你想知道什么？”

"Teach her drunken-monkey style," somebody said.

有人应声：“教她醉猴拳！”

"PARK!" Steve shouted.

史蒂夫大叫：“帕克！”

Park pulled down his headphones and turned to the back of the bus. Steve was holding court in the last seat. Even sitting, his head practically touched the roof. Steve always looked like he was surrounded by doll furniture. He'd looked like a grown man since the seventh grade, and that was before he grew a full beard. Slightly before.

帕克拿下耳机，回头看车尾。史蒂夫正在最后一排耍猴。他就算坐着都几乎顶到了车顶，总是让周遭的东西显得像玩具家具，初一时他就和大人一样高了，那时他还没长胡子。忽然之间，他就满脸胡须了。

Sometimes Park wondered if Steve was with Tina because she made him look even more like a monster. Most of the girls from the Flats were small, but Tina couldn't be five feet. Massive hair, included.

有时，帕克怀疑史蒂夫追提娜是因为她让他看起来更像一头巨兽。佛列兹区的女孩大多很矮小，提娜连头发在内也肯定不超过五英尺。

Once, back in middle school, some guy had tried to give Steve shit about how he better not get Tina pregnant because if he did, his giant babies would kill her. "They'll bust out of her stomach like in Aliens," the guy said. Steve broke his little finger on the guy's face.

初中时，有人跟史蒂夫胡扯，说千万别让提娜怀孕，巨婴可能会害死她。他说：“孩子会像怪物一样撑爆她的肚皮。”史蒂夫狠揍了那人的脸，结果搞断了自己的小指头。

When Park's dad heard, he said, "Somebody needs to teach that Murphy kid how to make a fist." But Park hoped nobody would. The guy Steve hit couldn't open his eyes for a week.

帕克的爸爸听到后说：“该有人教教莫菲家那孩子如何正确握拳。”帕克希望没人这么做，因为挨了史蒂夫拳头的家伙一星期都睁不开眼睛。

Park tossed Tina her balled-up homework. She caught it.

帕克把那团作业纸丢回给提娜。她接住了。

"Park," Steve said, "tell Mikey about drunken-monkey karate."

“帕克，”史蒂夫说，“你给米基讲讲空手道醉猴拳吧。”

"I don't know anything about it." Park shrugged.

帕克耸耸肩：“我一无所知。”

"But it exists, right?"

“有这个东西，对吧？”

"I guess I've heard of it."

“好像听说过。”

"There," Steve said. He looked for something to throw at Mikey, but couldn't find anything. He pointed instead. "I fucking told you."

“你看，”史蒂夫想找东西扔米基，找不到，只好用力指着他，“我他妈不是说了有吗。”

"What the fuck does Sheridan know about kung fu?" Mikey said.

米基说：“谢里登懂个屁的功夫。”

"Are you retarded?" Steve said. "His mom's Chinese."

“你傻啊，”史蒂夫说，“他妈妈是中国人。”

Mikey looked at Park carefully. Park smiled and narrowed his eyes.

米基认真地看着帕克。帕克微笑着，双眼眯成了细缝。

"Yeah, I guess I see it," Mikey said. "I always thought you were Mexican."

米基说：“哦，我看出来了，我一直以为你是墨西哥人呢。”

"Shit, Mikey," Steve said, "you're such a fucking racist."

“去你妈的，米基，”史蒂夫说，“你这个有种族偏见的混蛋。”

"She's not Chinese," Tina said. "She's Korean."

“她不是中国人，”提娜说，“她是韩国人。”

"Who is?" Steve asked.

史蒂夫问：“谁？”

"Park's mom."

“帕克他妈妈。”

Park's mom had been cutting Tina's hair since grade school. They both had the exact same hairstyle, long spiral perms with tall, feathered bangs.

提娜从小学开始就让帕克妈妈剪头发。两人的发型一模一样：长长的大波浪卷，加上高而蓬松的刘海。

"She's fucking hot is what she is," Steve said, cracking himself up. "No offense, Park."

“你妈真是太火辣了，”史蒂夫笑着说，“别生气啊，帕克。”

Park managed another smile and slunk back into his seat, putting his headphones back on and cranking up the volume. He could still hear Steve and Mikey, four seats behind him.

帕克又挤出一个笑容，然后滑回座位，戴上耳机，把音量开到最大，但依然听得见四排后面米基与史蒂夫的声音。

"But what's the fucking point?" Mikey asked.

米基说：“那又怎样？”

"Dude, would you want to fight a drunk monkey? They're fucking huge. Like Every Which Way But Loose, man. Imagine that bastard losing his shit on you."

“哥们儿，你想跟醉猴打吗？它们可真他妈叫大，跟电影《永不低头》里面那只一样。要是撒起野来，你想想看吧。”

Park noticed the new girl at about the same time everybody else did. She was standing at the front of the bus, next to the first available seat.

帕克跟大家差不多同时注意到了那个新来的女孩。她站在校车前排的第一个空位旁。

There was a kid sitting there by himself, a freshman. He put his bag down on the seat beside him, then looked the other way. All down the aisle, anybody who was sitting alone moved to the edge of their seat. Park heard Tina snicker; she lived for this stuff.

空位旁的那个学生马上拿起袋子占住空位，移开了视线。走道两旁还有空位的人也纷纷挪到靠窗的位子。帕克听见提娜在窃笑，她最喜欢这种场景了。

The new girl took a deep breath and stepped farther down the aisle. Nobody would look at her. Park tried not to, but it was kind of a train wreck/eclipse situation.

这个新女孩深深吸了口气，继续往前走。没人正眼看她。帕克也努力不看，但是这场景就像火车出轨或者日食一样吸引眼球。

The girl just looked like exactly the sort of person this would happen to.

这女孩简直就是“活该如此”的那种类型。

Not just new -- but big and awkward. With crazy hair, bright red on top of curly. And she was dressed like… like she wanted people to look at her. Or maybe like she didn't get what a mess she was. She had on a plaid shirt, a man's shirt, with half a dozen weird necklaces hanging around her neck and scarves wrapped around her wrists. She reminded Park of a scarecrow or one of the trouble dolls his mom kept on her dresser. Like something that wouldn't survive in the wild.

不仅初来乍到——还又胖又笨拙。大卷发乱七八糟的不说，偏偏还是大红色。穿着嘛…就是想引人注目。或许她不知道自己穿得糟透了。男款的格子衬衫，脖子上挂了六七串诡异的项链，两只手腕裹着丝巾。她让帕克联想到稻草人，或者他妈妈放在五斗柜上的烦恼娃娃（5）。总之，是那些在野外无法生存的东西。【注：（5）烦恼娃娃（Trouble doll），危地马拉特产的小洋娃娃，能取代小主人的烦恼。比如小孩难以入睡，就跟烦恼娃娃诉说，把娃娃摆在枕头下，就能一夜好眠。】

The bus stopped again, and a bunch more kids got on. They pushed past the girl, knocking into her, and dropped into their own seats.

校车停下了，更多的学生上了车。他们推挤着那女孩跑进车厢，坐到自己的位子上。

That was the thing -- everybody on the bus already had a seat. They'd all claimed one on the first day of school. People like Park who were lucky enough to have a whole seat to themselves weren't going to give that up now. Especially not for someone like this.

这就是问题所在。每个人都有固定座位，那是他们开学第一天就占为己有的位子。像帕克这种幸运地占据整排座位的人可不会拱手相让，尤其是让给她那样的人。

Park looked back up at the girl. She was just standing there.

帕克又回头看那女孩。她还站在那里。

"Hey, you," the bus driver yelled, "sit down."

“喂，你，”校车司机大叫，“快坐下！”

The girl started moving toward the back of the bus. Right into the belly of the beast. God, Park thought, stop. Turn around. He could feel Steve and Mikey licking their chops as she got closer. He tried again to look away.

那女孩开始往校车后面走，直入虎口。帕克心想，天啊，站住，转过去。她逐渐接近车后座，帕克能感觉到史蒂夫和米基正舔着舌头，准备看好戏。他再次转过头不看她。

Then the girl spotted an empty seat just across from Park. Her face lit with relief, and she hurried toward it.

看到帕克斜对面有个空位，女孩如释重负，快步走上前。

"Hey," Tina said sharply.

提娜尖声叫起来：“喂喂。”

The girl kept moving.

女孩继续往前走。

"Hey," Tina said, "Bozo."

提娜又叫：“喂，波佐（6）。”【注：（6）波佐（Bozo），红头发的小丑。】

Steve started laughing. His friends fell in a few seconds behind him.

史蒂夫笑了。他的狐朋狗友们立即响应。

"You can't sit there," Tina said. "That's Mikayla's seat."

“你不能坐那里，”提娜说，“那是蜜凯拉的位子。”

The girl stopped and looked up at Tina, then looked back at the empty seat.

那女孩停住脚步，抬头看着提娜，又回头看那个空位。

"Sit down," the driver bellowed from the front.

司机在前面大吼：“坐下！”

"I have to sit somewhere," the girl said to Tina in a firm, calm voice.

那女孩以坚定而冷静的口吻对提娜说：“我总要找个位子坐吧。”

"Not my problem," Tina snapped. The bus lurched, and the girl rocked back to keep from falling. Park tried to turn the volume up on his Walkman, but it was already all the way up. He looked back at the girl; it looked like she was starting to cry.

提娜厉声说：“不关我的事。”车子歪斜着前进，那女孩往后倾斜以保持平衡。帕克想把随身听音量开大，但已经是最大了。他回头看那女孩，她好像要哭了。

Before he'd even decided to do it, Park scooted toward the window.

他还没决定怎么做，身体却已经挪向靠车窗的位子。

"Sit down," he said. It came out angrily. The girl turned to him, like she couldn't tell whether he was another jerk or what. "Jesus-fuck," Park said softly, nodding to the space next to him, "just sit down."

他说：“坐下！”语气中带着怒意。女孩转头看着他，无法确定他是不是他们的同伙。帕克朝身旁的座位点点头，轻声说：“妈的，你就赶紧坐下来吧。”

The girl sat down. She didn't say anything -- thank God, she didn't thank him -- and she left six inches of space on the seat between them.

女孩坐了下来，没吭声，也没道谢。谢天谢地，她还让两人之间空了大约六英寸。

Park turned toward the Plexiglas window and waited for a world of suck to hit the fan.

帕克面向窗玻璃，就等着天下大乱了。