IPNHK 2009 contributor Eliot Weinberger (USA), born in 1949, is a contemporary American writer, essayist, editor, and translator. His work regularly appears in translation and has been published in more than thirty languages. Weinberger first gained recognition for his translations of the Nobel Prize–winning writer and poet Octavia Paz. His many translations of the work of Paz include The Poems of Octavio Paz, In Light of India, and Sunstone. His edition of Borges’ Selected Non-Fictions received the National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism. Today, Weinberger is primarily known for his literary writings (essays) and political articles, the former characterized by their wide-ranging subjects and experimental style, verging on a kind of documentary prose poetry, and the latter highly critical of American politics and foreign policy.In 2000, Weinberger became the only U.S. literary writer to be awarded the Order of the Aztec Eagle by the government of Mexico. He was chosen by the German organization Dropping Knowledge as one of a hundred “world’s most innovative thinkers.” At the 2005 PEN World Voices Festival, he was presented as a “post-national writer.” He currently lives in New York City.
Lacondons
In the forest of Chiapas, in thatched huts without walls, in hammocks barely rocking, they sleep.
There it is said:
If you dream of a donkey, there will be a strong wind.
If you dream of tacos, you will see an anteater.
If you dream of an anteater, people are coming.
If you dream of a termite, you will see a jaguar.
If you dream of a jaguar, people are coming.
If the jaguar bites you, they are not people.
If you dream you are walking, you’ll be frightened in the forest.
If you dream of a mirror, you will see white stones.
If you dream of your tongue, beware.
All birds mean fever; all fish mean pain in your stomach.
If you dream you’re worrying about the cost of things, you’ll not have to worry about the cost of things.
If you dream of a party, for a long time you’ll be bored.
A gourd is a jaguar’s head; the old canoe an alligator.
If you dream of a house, you will see a wild boar.
If you dream of a beard, you will see a wild boar.
If you dream of a broom, you will see a wild boar.
If you dream of a radio, you will see a wild boar.
If you dream of a poet, someone will cry.
A shotgun is the tooth of an animal.
Beans are maggots and maggots are beans.
If you dream you are writing, you’ll be bitten by a snake.
If you dream of a lake, it is nothing.
If you dream of a frog, it is nothing.
If you dream of a flower, it is nothing.
If you dream of heaven, it is nothing.
If you dream of leaves, it is nothing, but if the leaves are shaking in the wind, grasshoppers will eat the corn.
If you dream of fog, people are coming who are sad and ill.
If you dream you know something, you do not know it.
If you dream of a halo around the moon, the end of the world is coming.
That which is thin in a dream will be thick.
That which is certain in a dream won’t happen.
拉康丹斯①
在恰帕斯②森林，在沒有四壁的茅草棚，在幾乎不動的吊床上，他們睡去。
據說：
如果你夢見驢，那裏會刮大風。
如果你夢見玉米面卷，你會看到食蟻獸。
如果你夢見食蟻獸，有人到來。
如果你夢見白蟻，你會看到美洲豹。
如果你夢見美洲豹，有人到來。
如果美洲豹咬你，他們不是人。
如果你夢見你走路，你會在森林嚇得要命。
如果你夢見鏡子，你會看到白石頭。
如果你夢見你的舌頭，小心。
所有的鳥意味發燒；所有的魚意味你胃疼。
如果你夢見你為什麼東西的價格擔心，你會剛好相反。
如果你夢見聚會，你會無聊很久。
葫蘆是美洲豹頭，舊獨木舟是條鰐魚。
如果你夢見房子，你會看到野豬。
如果你夢見鬍鬚，你會看到野豬。
如果你夢見掃帚，你會看到野豬。
如果你夢見收音機，你會看到野豬。
如果你夢見詩人，有人會哭。
散彈槍是野獸牙齒。
豆子是蛆而蛆是豆子。
如果你夢見你寫作，你會被蛇咬。
如果你夢見湖，啥都不是。
如果你夢見青蛙，啥都不是。
如果你夢見花，啥都不是。
如果你夢見天堂，啥都不是。
如果你夢見樹葉，啥都不是，除非樹葉在風中顫抖，螞蚱會吃穀粒。
如果你夢見霧，悲哀有病的人到來。
如果你夢見你知道什麼，你一無所知。
如果你夢見環繞月亮的光暈，世界末日降臨。
那在夢中很薄的會很厚。
那在夢中可靠的不會發生。
（北島 譯）
【譯者注】
① 拉康丹斯（Lacandons），瑪雅人後裔，僅有幾百人幸存下來，生活在墨西哥南部恰帕斯的森林里。
② 恰帕斯（Chiapas），墨西哥南部的州。