《美食祈禱和戀愛》Chapter 91 (216):痛苦沒有盡頭?
"What is this life? Do you understand? I don't." This was Wayan talking.
"人生是怎麼回事？你搞得懂嗎？我搞不懂。"說話的是大姐。
I was back in her restaurant, eating her delicious and nutritious multivitamin lunch special, hoping it would help ease my hangover and my anxiety. Armenia the Brazilian woman was there, too, looking, as always, like she'd just stopped by the beauty parlor on her way home from a weekend at a spa. Little Tutti was sitting on the floor, drawing pictures of houses, as usual.
我回到她的餐廳吃美味營養的多種維他命午間特餐，希望紓解自己的宿醉與焦慮。巴西女人亞美尼亞也在那兒，一如往常，看起來好似度過水療週末，而在返家途中順道造訪美容院。小圖蒂坐在地板上，照例畫着房子。
Wayan had just learned that the lease on her shop was going to come up for renewal at the end of August—only three months from now—and that her rent would be raised. She would probably have to move again because she couldn't afford to stay here. Except that she only had about fifty dollars in the bank, and no idea where to go. Moving would take Tutti out of school again. They needed a home—a real home. This is no way for a Balinese person to live.
大姐剛剛得知，她的店即將在八月底租約期滿——距今僅剩三個月——且店租即將提高。她可能必須再次搬家，因爲她負擔不起。她的存款僅剩五十元左右，不知該何去何從。搬家得讓圖蒂再次轉學。他們需要一個家——一個真正的家。這可不是巴釐人可以過的生活。
"Why does suffering never end?" Wayan asked. She wasn't crying, merely posing a simple, unanswerable and weary question. "Why must everything be repeat and repeat, never finish, never resting? You work so hard one day, but the next day, you must only work again. You eat, but the next day, you are already hungry. You find love, then love go away. You are born with nothing—no watch, no T-shirt. You work hard, then you die with nothing—no watch, no T-shirt. You are young, then you are old. No matter how hard you work, you cannot stop getting old."
"痛苦爲何沒有盡頭？"大姐問。她並未痛哭，只是提出一個簡單、毫無解答的無奈問題。"爲什麼每件事必須重複再重複，沒完沒了，無止無盡？你辛勤工作一整天，隔天卻只是得繼續工作。你吃飯，隔天卻又餓了。你找到愛，而後愛又離去。你出生時一無所有——沒有手錶，沒有T恤。你辛苦工作，死的時候也一無所有——沒有手錶，沒有T恤。你年輕，卻會變老。無論多麼辛苦工作，都無法阻止自己變老。"
"Not Armenia," I joked. "She doesn't get old, apparently."
"亞美尼亞可不，"我打趣道，"她顯然不會變老。"
Wayan said, "But this is because Armenia is Brazilian," catching on now to how the world works. We all laughed, but it was a fair breed of gallows humor, because there's nothing funny about Wayan's situation in the world right now. Here are the facts: Single mom, preco-cious child, hand-to-mouth business, imminent poverty, virtual homelessness. Where will she go? Can't live with the ex-husband's family, obviously. Wayan's own family are rice farmers way out in the countryside and poor. If she goes and lives with them, it's the end of her busi-ness as a healer in town because her patients won't be able to reach her and you can pretty much forget about Tutti ever getting enough education to go someday to Animal Doctor Col-lege.
大姐說："那是因爲亞美尼亞是巴西人。"如今她已理解世界的運作方式。我們都笑了，然而這是一種黑色幽默，因爲大姐此刻在世間的處境可一點也不有趣。事實真相是：單親媽媽，早熟的孩子，僅足餬口的生意，迫在眉睫的貧窮，實質上的無家可歸。她何去何從？顯然不能去住在前夫家。大姐自己孃家則是貧困的鄉下稻農。她如果回去與家人同住，她在市鎮的治療事業將從此告終，因爲她的病患無從與她取得聯繫，而讓圖蒂受良好教育、將來上大學念獸醫的夢想也將成爲泡影。
