The Griesly Wife

Lie still, my newly married wife,
Lie easy as you can．
You’re young and ill accustomed yet
To sleeping with a man．

The snow lay thick, the moon was full
And shone across the floor．
The young wife went with never a word
Barefooted to the door．

He up and followed sure and fast,
The moon shone clear and white．
But before his coat was on his back
His wife was out of sight．

He trod the trail wherever it turned
By many a mound and scree*,
And till the barefoot track led on,
And an angry man was he．

He followed fast, he followed slow,
And still he called her name,
But only the dingoes* of the hills,
Yowled back at him again．

His hair stood up along his neck,
His angry mind was gone,
For the track of the two bare feet gave out
And a four-foot track went on．

Her nightgown lay upon the snow
As it might upon the sheet,
But the track that led from where it lay
Was never of human feet．

His heart turned over his chest,
He looked from side to side,
And he thought more of his gumwood fire
Than he did of his griesly* bride．

And first he started walking back
And then began to run,
And his quarry wheeled at the end of her track
And hunted him in turn．

O, long the fire may burn for him
And open stand the door,
And long the bed may wait empty：
He’ll not be back any more．

注 dingoes*:wild dogs
scree*： stony slope
griesly*:uncanny,mysterious

神秘的妻子

“躺下吧, 我新婚的妻子,
自由自在, 安安靜靜；
與男人睡在一起,
你還太過年輕, 不大適應(yīng)。”

外面的積雪已深,
屋里透進了滿月的光明；
年輕的妻子一聲不吭,
光著腳丫走出家門。

他翻身起床隨后緊跟,
月光輝耀皎潔明凈；
可還沒等他披好衣服,
妻子就消失得無綜無影。

追過一座座山一面面坡,
他緊緊跟隨那雪上的腳印；
那赤足的腳印不斷往前,
他心中的怒火油然而生。

他在后面緊追慢趕,
大聲呼喊著她的姓名,
但只有山中成群的野狗,
向他報以狂吠聲聲。

他不由寒毛倒豎,
胸中的怒火也蕩然無存；
因為一雙赤腳的足跡已經(jīng)消失,
變成了四足的印痕繼續(xù)前行。

她的睡衣脫在雪地,
像擺放在床上合于常情；
可那周圍延伸開去的足跡,
又絕不是人類留下的腳螢?

他舉目四周張望,
一陣恐怖使他失魄喪魂；
他憶起那橡膠木的爐火,
不敢再想他新婚的神秘女人。

他開始邁步返回,
緊接著就拔腿飛奔；
他追逐的腳印轉(zhuǎn)過身來,
反倒把他作為獵物追尋。

啊, 那爐火會為他悠悠燃燒,
那新房開著門將他遲遲久等；
那張空床也將無盡地期待,
可他再也不會重返家門。

約翰•馬尼福爾德(John Manifold 1915—)澳大利亞詩人 傳奇故事入詩,氣氛神秘恐怖而又帶著無盡的悲傷。這位新娘為何在新婚之夜奔向山野,隨后緊追的新郎后來為何反被嚇得倉皇逃避而且再也不敢重返家門?