《美食祈禱和戀愛》Chapter 9 (18):都來做我的見證

I thought for a while, then pulled out a notebook and wrote this petition:

我想了一會兒，而後抽出一本筆記本，寫下這封請願書：

Dear God.

親愛的神：

Please intervene and help end this divorce. My husband and I have failed at our marriage and now we are failing at our divorce. This poisonous process is bringing suffering to us and to everyone who cares about us.

請幫忙我了結這場離婚事件。我先生和我的婚姻沒能成功，而如今我們的離婚也沒能成功。不愉快的過程給我們與關心我們的每個人帶來痛苦。

I recognize that you are busy with wars and tragedies and much larger conflicts than the ongoing dispute of one dysfunctional couple. But it is my understanding that the health of the planet is affected by the health of every individual on it. As long as even two souls are locked in conflict, the whole of the world is contaminated by it. Similarly, if even one or two souls can be free from discord, this will increase the general health of the whole world, the way a few healthy cells in a body can increase the general health of that body.

我知道你還有比調解一對不正常夫妻更重要的事要忙：戰爭、悲劇、更大規模的衝突。但據我瞭解，地球上每個人的健康都影響着地球的健康。即使只是兩個人陷於衝突，整個世界都會受到污染。同樣的，只要一兩個人得以擺脫混亂，也會增進整個世界的整體健康，一如身體內的幾個健康細胞得以增進那個身體的總體健康一般。

It is my most humble request, then, that you help us end this conflict, so that two more people can have the chance to become free and healthy, and so there will be just a little bit less animosity and bitterness in a world that is already far too troubled by suffering.

這是我謙卑的期盼，求你協助我們結束衝突，多讓兩個人有自由健康的機會，讓這個已經受苦太多的世界再多減少一點敵意和怨恨。

I thank you for your kind attention.

感謝你的關照。

Respectfully,

Elizabeth M. Gilbert

伊莉莎白•吉爾伯特 敬上

I read it to Iva, and she nodded her approval.

我念給伊娃聽，她點頭表示同意。

"I would sign that," she said.

“讓我籤個名吧。”她說

I handed the petition over to her with a pen, but she was too busy driving, so she said, "No, let's say that I did just sign it. I signed it in my heart."

我遞給她請願信和筆，但她忙着開車，於是她說：“不，就說我剛簽了名。在心裏籤。”

"Thank you, Iva. I appreciate your support."

“謝謝你，伊娃。謝謝你的支持。”

"Now, who else would sign it?" she asked.

“還有誰會簽名？”她問。

"My family. My mother and father. My sister."

“我的家人。我父母。我姐姐。”

"OK," she said. "They just did. Consider their names added. I actually felt them sign it. They're on the list now. OK—who else would sign it? Start naming names."

“好，”她說。“他們剛剛簽了。把他們的名字加上去。我真的感覺到他們簽了名。現在他們已在名單上。好——還有誰會籤？開始指名道姓吧。”

So I started naming names of all the people who I thought would sign this petition. I named all my close friends, then some family members and some people I worked with. After each name, Iva would say with assurance, "Yep. He just signed it," or "She just signed it." Sometimes she would pop in with her own signatories, like: "My parents just signed it. They raised their children during a war. They hate useless conflict. They’d be happy to see your divorce end."

於是我開始說出可能會籤這封請願信的人名。 我點名我的每個好友，而後是幾個親人和同事。我 報出每個名字後，伊娃即胸有成竹地說：“對。他剛簽了”或是“她剛簽了名”。有時她會突然加入自己的簽名人士，像是：“我父母剛剛簽了名。他們在戰時養兒育女。他們厭惡沒有意義的衝突。他們會很高興看見你的離婚協議有個了結。”

I closed my eyes and waited for more names to come to me.

我閉上眼睛，等待更多名字來臨。

"I think Bill and Hillary Clinton just signed it," I said.

“我想克林頓夫婦剛剛簽了名。”我說。

"I don't doubt it," she said. "Listen, Liz—anybody can sign this petition. Do you understand that? Call on anyone, living or dead, and start collecting signatures."

“我相信，”她說。“聽着，小莉——任何人都能簽署這份請願書。你懂嗎？號召任何人，活着或死去的人，開始徵集簽名。”

"Saint Francis of Assisi just signed it!"

“聖方濟各（Saint Francis of Assisi ）剛簽了名！”

"Of course he did!" Iva smacked her hand against the steering wheel with certainty.

“當然囉！”伊娃信心滿滿地伸手拍駕駛盤。

Now I was cooking:

我開始編造：

"Abraham Lincoln just signed it! And Gandhi, and Mandela and all the peacemakers. Eleanor Roosevelt, Mother Teresa, Bono, Jimmy Carter, Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson and the ** Lama . . . and my grandmother who died in 1984 and my grandmother who's still alive . . . and my Italian teacher, and my therapist, and my agent . . . and Martin Luther King Jr. and Katharine Hepburn . . . and Martin Scorsese (which you wouldn't necessarily expect, but it's still nice of him) . . . and my Guru, of course . . . and Joanne Woodward, and Joan of Arc, and Ms. Carpenter, my fourth-grade teacher, and Jim Henson—"

“林肯剛剛簽了名！還有甘地、曼德拉以及所有愛好和平人士。羅斯福夫人、德蕾莎修女、博諾（Bono）、前總統卡特、阿里 （Muhammad Ali）、傑基•羅賓森 （Jackie Robinson ）……還有我1984年過世的祖母，以及還在世的外祖母……還有教我意大利語的老師、我的治療師、我的經紀人……還有馬丁•路德和凱瑟琳•赫本……還有馬丁•斯柯西斯 （你或許想不到，但他仍是個很不錯的人）……當 然還有我的印度精神導師……還有瓊安•華德、聖女貞德、卡本特小姐、我小學四年級的導師，還有吉姆•漢森（Jim Henson）——”

The names spilled from me. They didn't stop spilling for almost an hour, as we drove across Kansas and my petition for peace stretched into page after invisible page of supporters. Iva kept confirming—yes, he signed it, yes, she signed it—and I became filled with a grand sense of protection, surrounded by the collective goodwill of so many mighty souls.

一個又一個名字從我嘴裏奔泄出來。幾乎一個小時中，我不停地脫口而出。我們開車橫越堪薩斯，我的和平請願書延展成看不見的一頁頁支持名單。伊娃持續確認——“沒錯，他簽了名；沒錯，她簽了名”——我逐漸充滿一股保護感，四周環繞着許多偉人的集體善意。

The list finally wound down, and my anxiety wound down with it. I was sleepy. Iva said, "Take a nap. I'll drive." I closed my eyes. One last name appeared. "Michael J. Fox just signed it," I murmured, then drifted into sleep. I don’t know how long I slept, maybe only for ten minutes, but it was deep. When I woke up, Iva was still driving. She was humming a little song to herself. I yawned.

名單終於慢慢結束，我的焦慮也隨之減緩。我昏昏欲睡。伊娃說：“睡一下。我會開車的。”我閉上眼睛，最後一個名字冒出來。“米高•福克斯剛剛簽了。”我喃喃自語，而後進入夢鄉。我不知道睡了多久，或許只睡了十分鐘，卻睡得很熟。我醒來的時候，伊娃仍在開車。她正自個兒哼着小曲。我打了個哈欠。

My cell phone rang.

我的手機響了起來。

I looked at that crazy little telefonino vibrating with excitement in the ashtray of the rental car. I felt disoriented, kind of stoned from my nap, suddenly unable to remember how a telephone works.

我看着我那瘋狂的“迷你電話機 ”在車上的菸灰缸裏興奮地振動。小睡讓我還有點精神恍惚、迷迷糊糊，突然記不得電話如何運作。

"Go ahead," Iva said, already knowing. "Answer the thing."

“去啊 ，”伊娃說，已經曉得怎麼回事。“接電話吧。”

I picked up the phone, whispered hello.

我拿起電話，低聲說“喂 ”。

"Great news!" my lawyer announced from distant New York City. "He just signed it!"

Eat, Pray, Love

“好消息！”我的律師從遙遠的紐約通知我“他剛剛簽了！”