生活如這般運轉

文◎ Gary Soto 譯 ◎劉宛妮 繪 ◎馬豆子

Today it's going to cost us twenty dollars to live.Five for a softball, four for a book, a handful of①ones for coffee and two sweet rolls, bus fare, rosin②for your mother’s violin.

We're completing our task. The tip I left for the waitress filters down like rain, wetting the new roots of a child, perhaps, a belligerent③cat that won't let go of a balled sock until there’s chicken to eat.

As far as I can tell④, daughter, it works like this:You buy bread from a grocery⑤, a bag of apples from a fruit stand⑥, and what coins are passed on helps others buy pencils, glue, tickets to a movie in which laughter is thrown into their faces. If we buy a goldfish, someone tries on a hat. If we buy crayons⑦, someone walks home with a broom⑧. A tip, a small purchase here and there,and things just keep going. I guess.

今天我們花二十塊錢就可以生活。五塊買一個壘球，四塊買一本書，一把一塊的硬幣換來咖啡和兩個甜面包卷、車票，還有給你媽媽的小提琴上的松香。

我們的任務還沒完成。我留給服務員的小費像雨水一樣過濾下來，滋潤一個孩童，或是一只不到有雞肉吃的時候就不放開襪子球的好斗貓咪的幼嫩的根。

據我所知，女兒，生活就這樣運轉：你在百貨店買面包，在水果店買一袋蘋果，你花出去的硬幣就幫別人買了鉛筆、膠水、電影票，那部電影叫他們發笑。

如果我們買一條金魚，就有人可以試一頂帽子。我們買蠟筆，就有人可以在回家路上添一把掃帚。一筆小費，這里那里買一點東西，大家的生活就這樣維持下去。我想是這樣吧。

①a handful of 一把；少量的；一小部分

②rosin 英 ['r?z?n] n. 松香；樹脂vt. 用松香或樹脂擦抹

③ belligerent 英 [b?'l?d?(?)r(?)nt] adj. 交戰的；好戰的；交戰國的n. 交戰國；參加斗毆的人或集團

④as far as I can tell 據我所知

⑤ grocery 英 ['gr??s(?)r?] 美 ['ɡros?ri]

n. 食品雜貨店；食品雜貨

⑥fruit stand 水果店

⑦ crayon 英 [kre??n] 美 [kre?n]

n. 蠟筆，有色粉筆vt. 以蠟筆作畫，用彩色粉筆畫⑧ broom 英 [bru?m] 美 [brum]

n. 掃帚；金雀花vt. 掃除vi. 樁頂開花或開裂