Mexico / 墨西哥



午後的陽光照在對街的灰泥建築，可以數出十幾種色調的顏料，最後全混在牆壁最上端：黃色、土色、磚紅色、血紅色、深藍色、藍綠色，加在一起就變成墨西哥的顏色。而墨西哥的味道也是相似的混合風：茉莉花、狗尿尿、香菜、酸橙。墨西哥領你穿過拱形的石壁入口，進入核心樹木林立的庭院，小狗靠著牆尿尿，侍者匆忙地從如簾幕的茉莉花間端出玉米餅濃湯，熱騰騰的，有香菜和酸橙的香味。貓兒在水池四周的泥土花盆之間追逐著蜥蜴，鴿子藏身於綻放的藤蔓，咕咕地祈禱，感謝蜥蜴的存在。盆栽安靜地呼吸，長大到花盆都顯得小了，就像墨西哥的孩子，得縮腳掌、耐心地站著，因為去年的鞋子已經穿不下了。

節錄於芭芭拉金索芙之「缺口」

"In the afternoon when the sun lights the stucco buildings across the street, it’s possible to count a dozen different colors of paint, all fading together on the highest parts of the wall: yellow, ochre, brick, blood, cobalt, turquoise. The national color of Mexico. And the scent of Mexico is a similar blend: jasmine, dog piss, cilantro, lime. Mexico admits you through an arched stone orifice into the tree-filled courtyard of its heart, where a dog pisses against a wall and a waiter hustles through a curtain of jasmine to bring a bowl of tortilla soup, steaming with cilantro and lime. Cats stalk lizards among the clay pots around the fountain, doves settle into the flowering vines and coo their prayers, thankful for the existence of lizards. The potted plants silently exhale, outgrowing their clay pots. Like Mexico’s children they stand pinched and patient in last year’s too small shoes.”

from The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver