評論
打印
Cord
紐帶
Edna O'Brien
埃德娜•奧布萊恩
Everything was ready, the suitcase closed, her black velvet coat carefully brushed, and a list pinned to the wall reminding her husband when to feed the hens and turkeys. She was setting out on a visit to her daughter Claire in London, just like any mother, except that her daughter was different: she'd lost her faith, and she mixed with queer people and wrote poems.
—切都準備好了，手提箱也關上了，她的黑色天鵝絨大衣已仔細地刷過一遍，給丈夫留下的注意事項的清單也已釘在墻上，提醒他什么時候喂母雞與火雞。她像所有母親一樣，就要出發去看望自己在倫敦的女兒克萊爾，但和其他母親不一樣的是，她的女兒與眾不同：她已經失去自己的信仰，和一些奇怪的人來往，她還寫詩。
"The turkeys are the most important," she said to her husband, thinking faraway to the following Christmas, to the turkeys she would sell, and the plumper ones she would give as gifts.
“最重要的是要照料好火雞，”她對丈夫說，心里想著遙遠的圣誕節，想到那些她要出售的火雞，而那些肥一點的，她是要當作禮物送人的。
"I hope you have a safe flight," he said. She'd never flown before.
“一路平安，”他說。她以前從沒有乘坐過飛機。
"All Irish planes are blessed, they never crash," she said, believing totally in the God that created her, sent her this husband, and this daughter.
“所有愛爾蘭的飛機都有上帝的保佑，從來沒有出過事，”她說道。她完全相信創造了她并把她的丈夫和女兒賜給了她的上帝。
