評論
打印
I am learning about twenty new Italian words a day. I'm always studying, flipping through my index cards while I walk around the city, dodging local pedestrians. Where am I getting the brain space to store these words? I'm hoping that maybe my mind has decided to clear out some old negative thoughts and sad memories and replace them with these shiny new words.
我每天新學二十個左右的意大利字。我總是在學習；在城里漫步時，一邊翻閱我的單字卡，閃避街頭行人。我的腦子怎么有儲存這些生字的空間？或許我內(nèi)心已決定清除舊有的負面想法和哀傷回憶，用這些閃亮的新字眼取而代之。
I work hard at Italian, but I keep hoping it will one day just be revealed to me, whole, perfect. One day I will open my mouth and be magically fluent. Then I will be a real Italian girl, instead of a total American who still can't hear someone call across the street to his friend Marco without wanting instinctively to yell back "Polo!" I wish that Italian would simply take up residence within me, but there are so many glitches in this language. Like, why are the Italian words for "tree" and "hotel" (albero vs. albergo) so very similar? This causes me to keep accidentally telling people that I grew up on "a Christmas hotel farm" instead of the more accurate and slightly less surreal description: "Christmas tree farm." And then there are words with double or even triple meanings. For instance: tasso. Which can mean either interest rate, badger, or yew tree. Depending on the context, I suppose. Most upsetting to me is when I stumble on Italian words that are actually—I hate to say it—ugly. I take this as almost a personal affront. I'm sorry, but I didn't come all the way to Italy to learn how to say a word like schermo (screen).
我用功學習意大利語，但我不斷希望有一天意大利語能完整而完美地展現(xiàn)給我。讓我有一天張開嘴巴時口若懸河。那時我將是一位道地的意大利女子，而不是一個聽見有人在對街叫朋友“馬可”的時候，直覺想回喊“波羅”的徹底美國人。我希望意大利語能在我內(nèi)心定居，可是這語言有這么多變化，比方，為什么“樹”（albero）和“旅館”（albergo）的意大利用詞如此相似？這使我不斷在無意中告訴他人，我在“圣誕旅館農(nóng)場”長大，而不是較為精確、較不超現(xiàn)實的描述：“圣誕樹農(nóng)場”。還有些用詞具有雙重、甚至三重含意。譬如，“tasso”的意思可以是利率、獾或紫杉。我想得視內(nèi)文而定。對我來說最惹人煩的，是碰上——我很不情愿這么說——很難聽的用詞。我?guī)缀醢堰@當做一種個人的侮辱。很抱歉，我一路來到意大利，不是為了學怎么念“schermo”（熒幕 ）。
Still, overall it's so worthwhile. It's mostly a pure pleasure. Giovanni and I have such a good time teaching each other idioms in English and Italian. We were talking the other evening about the phrases one uses when trying to comfort someone who is in distress. I told him that in English we sometimes say, "I've been there." This was unclear to him at first—I've been where? But I explained that deep grief sometimes is almost like a specific location, a coordinate on a map of time. When you are standing in that forest of sorrow, you cannot imagine that you could ever find your way to a better place. But if someone can assure you that they themselves have stood in that same place, and now have moved on, sometimes this will bring hope.
話雖如此，整體來說卻很值得。大半是一種純粹的快樂。喬凡尼和我教給彼此英語和意大利語慣用語時，度過十分愉快的時光。有一天傍晚，我們說起嘗試安慰悲苦之人時所用的短語。我告訴他，在英語中，我們時而說：“我到過那里。”（I'have been there.）一開始他并不懂——“我到過哪里”？但我解釋說，悲痛有時宛如一個特定地點，時間地圖上的一個坐標。當你站在悲傷之林，你無法想象自己走出林子，去到某個更好的地方。但若有人告訴你，他們自己曾站在相同的地方，而今已走向新的生活，這有時會帶來希望。
"So sadness is a place?" Giovanni asked.
“所以悲傷是一個地方？”喬凡尼問道。
"Sometimes people live there for years," I said.
“有時，人們在那兒居住多年。”我說。
In return, Giovanni told me that empathizing Italians say L'ho provato sulla mia pelle, which means "I have experienced that on my own skin." Meaning, I have also been burned or scarred in this way, and I know exactly what you're going through.
喬凡尼回過來告訴我，意大利人表示同情的時，意思是“我的皮膚領教過”。其意味，我曾受過這樣的傷或留下這樣的疤，我完全清楚你內(nèi)心的掙扎。
So far, though, my favorite thing to say in all of Italian is a simple, common word:
不過，到目前為止，我最喜歡說的意大利語是一個簡單平常的用詞：
Attraversiamo.
Attraversiamo。
It means, "Let's cross over." Friends say it to each other constantly when they're walking down the sidewalk and have decided it's time to switch to the other side of the street. Which is to say, this is literally a pedestrian word. Nothing special about it. Still, for some reason, it goes right through me. The first time Giovanni said it to me, we were walking near the Colosseum. I suddenly heard him speak that beautiful word, and I stopped dead, demanding, "What does that mean? What did you just say?"
意思是“我們過街吧！”當朋友走在人行道上、決定該換到對街的時候，經(jīng)常對彼此說這句話。也就是說，基本上這是行人用詞，沒什么特別之處。 但不知何故，它就是深得我心。喬凡尼頭一次跟我 說起這個用詞時，我們正走在競技場附近。我忽然聽見他講出這個好聽的字眼，我突然站住，要求道：“這字是什么意思？你剛剛說什么？”
"Attraversiamo."
“Attraversiamo。”
He couldn't understand why I liked it so much. Let's cross the street? But to my ear, it's the perfect combination of Italian sounds. The wistful ah of introduction, the rolling trill, the soothing s, that lingering "ee-ah-moh" combo at the end. I love this word. I say it all the time now. I invent any excuse to say it. It's making Sofie nuts. Let's cross over! Let's cross over! I'm constantly dragging her back and forth across the crazy traffic of Rome. I'm going to get us both killed with this word.
他不明白我為何這么喜歡這個詞。我們過街吧？在我聽來，它完美地結合了意大利語音。起頭是哀 怨的“ah”，途經(jīng)顫動、舒緩的“s”，結尾結合了縈回不散的“依阿莫”。我愛這字。現(xiàn)在我一天到晚講它。我為了講它而編造借口，這讓蘇菲抓狂。我們過街吧！我們過街吧！我經(jīng)常拉著她來回穿越羅馬瘋狂的車潮。這字會讓我倆丟了小命。
Giovanni's favorite word in English is half-assed.
喬凡尼最愛的英文字“half-assed”（不稱職）。
Luca Spaghetti's is surrender.
Eat, Pray, Love
盧卡則是“surrender”（投降）。
