My Eternal Butterfly1永遠的蝴蝶

陳啟佑　吳欣欣/譯

It was raining then. Wet and chilly， the asphalt pavement was flickering with lights in green， yellow and red. We were taking shelter under an arcade， staring at the lonely green mailbox across the street. In the big pocket of my white windbreaker was a letter to my mother living in the south.

那時候剛好下著雨，柏油路面濕冷冷的，還閃爍著青、黃、紅顏色的燈火。我們就在騎樓下躲雨，看綠色的郵筒孤獨地站在街的對面。我白色風衣的大口袋里有一封要寄給在南部的母親的信。

Yingzi said that she could drop the letter for me. I nodded and handed over the letter.

櫻子說她可以撐傘過去幫我寄信。我默默點頭，把信交給她。

“Well， it seems to be the only option，2 since weve only brought one small umbrella，” she smiled and said. Opening the umbrella， she got ready to cross the road and deliver the letter for me. Little raindrops trickled down from the frame of her umbrella， spattering on my glasses.

“誰叫我們只帶來一把小傘哪。”她微笑著說，一面撐起傘，準備過馬路去幫我寄信。從她傘骨滑落下來的小雨點濺在我眼鏡玻璃上。

With the screech of braking， Yingzis entire life lightly fluttered3 away and then gently perched on the wet and chilly pavement， like a butterfly in the evening.

隨著一陣拔尖的剎車聲，櫻子的一生輕輕地飛了起來。緩緩地，飄落在濕冷的街面上，好像一只夜晚的蝴蝶。

Although it was spring， I suddenly felt like it was late autumn4.

雖然是春天，好像已是秋深了。

All she did was crossing the street to drop a letter for me！ Such an ordinary act， yet so unforgettable for the rest of my life. Slowly， I opened my eyes. Vacantly， I stood under the arcade， with hot tears stinging my eyes. All the cars in the whole world seemed to have stopped. Throngs of people surged to the middle of the street， but none of them knew that the one lying there was my butterfly. At that moment， a longest distance seemed to have spread between her and me instead of mere five meters.5 Bigger raindrops began to spatter on my glasses， all the way into my life.

她只是過馬路去幫我寄信。這簡單的行動，卻要叫我終身難忘了。我緩緩睜開眼，茫然站在騎樓下，眼里裹著滾燙的淚水。世上所有的車子都停了下來，人潮涌向馬路中央。沒有人知道那躺在街面的，就是我的蝴蝶。這時她只離我五公尺，竟是那么遙遠。更大的雨點濺在我的眼鏡上，濺到我的生命里來。

Why？ Why havent I brought one more umbrella？6

為什么呢？只帶一把雨傘？

Then I saw Yingzi again in her white windbreaker， holding the umbrella， crossing the street silently. She was to drop a letter for me， a letter to my mother living in the south. I stood under the arcade， completely at loss. I saw Yingzi again—she was eternal7 and she was walking to the middle of the street. The rain was not heavy actually， but there would never again be a rain as heavy as that one. Did young Yingzi know what was written in the letter？

然而，我又看到櫻子穿著白色的風衣，撐著傘，靜靜地過馬路了。她是要幫我寄信的，那，那是一封寫給在南部的母親的信。我茫然站在騎樓下，我又看到永遠的櫻子走到街心。其實雨下得并不大，卻是一生一世中最大的一場雨。而那封信是這樣寫的，年輕的櫻子知不知道呢？

“Dear Mom， I am going to marry Yingzi next month.”

媽：我打算在下個月和櫻子結婚。

（選自《大學語文新教程》，浙江大學出版社，2015）