Warning
Jenny Joseph
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and
beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprise
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
警告
譯/ 朵云
當我變成了老太太，我要穿紫色的衣服
再戴頂紅色的帽子，不搭配就不搭配！
我要用退休金來買白蘭地和夏天的手套
還有絲絨涼鞋，然后說我們沒錢買黃油
當我累了，我要就地休息坐在馬路邊上
并在商店里大口品嘗樣品，按響警報鈴
我要用我的拐杖沿路劃過公共圍欄
來補償我青年時期的循規蹈矩
我要穿著拖鞋走進雨中
到別人家花園采摘花草
我還要學會怎么吐唾沫
你可以穿著難看的衣，多長幾斤肉
并一口氣吃下三磅香腸
或者整個星期只有面包和泡菜
然后囤積鉛筆水筆和啤酒墊
以及其他的七七八八統統放進盒子里
但是現在我們必須要保持衣著干爽
按時繳納房租并不在大街上說臟話
以給孩子們樹立一個好榜樣
我們要會友共進晚餐，還要每天讀報
或許我現在就該逐漸開始練習
以免將來嚇著我周圍的人們，
只因我突然老了，開始穿戴紫色的衣服
