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Unit 11 Beauty
第十一單元 美
Scott Russell Sanders
斯科特·拉塞爾·桑德斯
In memory, I wait beside Eva in the vestibule of the church to play my part as father of the bride. She hooks a hand on my elbow while three bridesmaids fuss over her, fixing the gauzy veil spreading the long ivory train of her gown, tucking into her bun a loose strand of hair, which glows the color of honey filled with sunlight. Clumsy in my rented patent leather shoes and stiff black tuxedo, I stand among these gorgeous women like a crow among doves. I realize that they're gorgeous not because they carry bouquets or wear silk dresses, but because the festival of marriage has slowed time down until any fool can see their glory.
記憶中，教堂的門廳里，我等在伊娃的身旁準備擔當新娘父親的角色。她一只手挎著我的臂彎，同時，三個伴娘手忙腳亂地在她身上忙著，或整理薄薄的面紗，或鋪平象牙色長長的拖裙，或將一綹散落的頭發卷塞到發髻里。她蜜糖色的頭發在陽光下閃耀著。我穿著一雙租來的專利皮革制成的鞋，身上是一件筆挺的黑色禮服，笨拙地站在一群漂亮的女士中間，就像一只被白鴿包圍的烏鴉。我意識到她們是如此美麗并非因為她們手捧花束身著絲質裙裝，而是因為婚禮使得時間的腳步放慢了下來，慢得即便是傻瓜也看得到她們的光彩。
Concerned that we might walk too fast, as we did in rehearsal, Eva tries in vain to teach me a gliding ballet step to use as we process down the aisle.
伊娃擔心我們可能會像在排練時那樣走得太快，便徒勞地試圖教我一種滑動的芭蕾舞步，以便在步入教堂時使用。
"It's really simple, Daddy, "she says, as I botch it over and over.
她說：“爸爸，真的很簡單。”我卻一遍又一遍地搞砸。
I fear that I will stagger along beside my elegant daughter like a veteran wounded in foreign wars.
走在優雅的女兒身旁，我擔心自己會像個從海外戰場歸來的受傷退伍兵，搖晃不穩。
Eva, meanwhile, seems blissfully confident, not only of being able to walk gracefully, as she could do in her sleep, but of standing before this Congregation and solemnly promising to share her life with Matthew Allen, the man who waits in thinly disguised turmoil at the far end of the aisle. Poised on the dais, wearing a black ministerial robe and a white stole, is the good friend whom Eva and know best as our guide on canoe trips through the Boundary Waters. He grins so broadly that his full cheeks push up against he round rims of his spectacles.
然而伊娃看起來興高采烈，充滿自信。一方面相信她自己會走得優雅，這一點她睡夢中都做得到。另一方面她對站在眾人面前莊嚴允諾同馬修·倫共度此生也信心百倍。那位男士正遠遠地等在過道的另一頭，緊張不安難以掩飾。我和伊娃都熟識的一位好朋友穿一件黑色教士袍、身披圣帶泰然自若地站在禮臺上。他曾在我們劃獨木舟穿越美加邊界湖區時做我們的向導。他笑得很夸張，整個臉頰抵住眼鏡的圓邊。
"There's one appy preacher," Eva says.
“這是一位快樂的教士，”伊娃說。
He believes in marriage, " I reply.
“他相信婚姻，”我回答。
"So do I. Remember, Matt and I figured that between you and Mom and his folks, our parents have been married fifty-eight years."
“我也相信。記得馬特和我計算過，把你和媽媽及他的父母的婚齡加到一起，可以說我們的父母結婚已有58年了。”
