2022-08-14 Victory-over-Japan Day

【Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction—It Must Chang·III (1942)】

Wallace Stevens (1879—1955)

         The great statue of the General Du Puy

         Rested immobile, though neighboring catafalques

         Bore off the residents of its noble Place.

         The right, uplifted foreleg of the horse

         Suggested that, at the final funeral,

         The music halted and the horse stood still.

         On Sundays, lawyers in their promenades

         Approached this strongly-heightened effigy

         To study the past, and doctors, having bathed

         Themselves with care, sought out the nerveless frame

         Of a suspension, a permanence, so rigid

         That it made the General a bit absurd,

         Changed his true flesh to an inhuman bronze.

         There never had been, never could be, such

         A man. The lawyers disbelieved, the doctors

         Said that as keen, illustrious ornament,

         As a setting for geraniums, the General,

         The very Place Du Puy, in fact, belonged

         Among our more vestigial states of mind.

         Nothing had happened because nothing had changed.

         Yet the General was rubbish in the end.

—— • —— • —— • —— • —— • —— • —— • ——

【《最高虚构笔记——它必要改变·之三》(1942年)】

异乡人·史蒂文斯(1879生—1955卒)

【红霞译】

            火山将军的壮观雕像

            永垂不朽，尽管邻近的灵柩台

            厌烦了这位君临天下的住户。

            马匹高抬起右前蹄

            暗示，告别葬礼上，

            音乐停止与坐骑静立不动。

            星期天，律师沿滨海步行大道

            走近这尊巍峨挺拔的雕像

            去审视历史，而医生，早已

            沉浸其中并小心地，找出麻木的骨架

            一种漂浮，一种永恒，固守成规

            把将军塑造得近乎荒唐，

            让鲜活的形象变成迂腐的青铜。

            从来没有过，永远不可能，像

            这样的人物。律师怀疑，医生

            称之为穿透力非凡的摆设，

            用以衬托天竺葵，雕像、

            所在的火山广场，实际上，属于

            挥之难去的思想范畴。

            什么都没有发生毕竟一切如故。

            到头来雕像成了垃圾。

【注】早在18世纪初期，来自德国、瑞士和荷兰的农民涌进柳树津下镇及和平使者下镇，由莱茵河上谷宫廷德语方言(Palatine German)演绎而来的宾州德语(PA Deitsch/Dutch/Diets/Deutsch)因此而盛行至20世纪中叶。虽说与宾州其它任何农耕地区看似相同，但这里“生如夏花之绚烂，死如秋叶之静美”，历经沉浮后的成熟蕴涵令我大开眼界。

以下大多数建筑被列入《国家史迹名录》(Natl. Register of Historic Places)。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2022: Germanic Upper Frederick Twp, PA (宾州日耳曼式和平使者上镇)

2017: Amsterdam─Van Gogh Museum, NLD(荷兰阿姆斯特丹─梵高博物馆)

2014: YMCA Camp─Day @ Home(基督教青年会营─赋闲在家)

2009: 孩子手记(Kid's Writing)

Gambrel Roofed Dwelling w/ a Modified Germanic Floor Plan @ Dielman Kolb Homestead (1717)

(建于1717年的崇拜者·狼牙棒农庄——带有复折屋顶住宅的改造后日耳曼楼层图)

Shed of Dielman Kolb Homestead

(崇拜者·狼牙棒农庄——库房)

Jacob Graeff's Mill on the Perkiomen Built in 1760 w/ a Hip Roof & a Cupola on the East End

(建于1760年位于浑水溪畔的替代者·伯爵磨坊——东端带有四坡屋顶与穹形屋顶)

Klein Meetinghouse (1720), the 2^nd oldest congregation of the Brethren in the US

(成立于1720的小教友会·美国第二老的弟兄会)

Klein Meetinghouse (1843) (建于1843年的小教友会)

Klein Meetinghouse, the remains of Peter Becker who led the Brethren to America in 1714

(小教友会——1714年带领新浸信会成员前往美国的“磐石·烘焙”之墓)

Tomb of Peter Becker @ Klein Meetinghouse

(小教友会创始人“磐石·烘焙”之墓)

Cemetery @ Klein Meetinghouse (小教友会墓地)

Shed & Bank Barn @ Knurr Log House (c.1750)

(大约建于1750年的树结原木屋·库房与斜坡谷仓)

Corn Crib of Knurr Log House

(树结原木屋·玉米穗仓库)

Knurr Log House, Germanic Log Dwelling w/ a Gable Roof & Traditional 3-Room 1^st Floor Plan

(树结原木屋·日耳曼原木住宅，山墙式屋顶和传统的三卧平面图)

Gerloff Road Bridge (1888) Crossing Swamp Creek

(建于1888年、横跨沼泽溪的狼矛路桥)

Crosslink(相关博文):

USA(出游美国)