“The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.”

過往如同他鄉異國，在那裏人們和當今的我們大不相同

Anemoia.

Anemoia

Looking at old photos, it's hard not to feel a kind of wanderlust

凝視著一張老照片時，你很難不感受到一股想出去流浪的衝動

—a pang of nostalgia, for times you've never experienced.

一陣懷舊感湧上心頭，你為你從未經歷過的時光感到緬懷

To sit on the side of the road and watch the locals passing by.

坐在路邊看著來來往往的當地人

Who lived and died before any of us arrived here,

在我們還未抵達他們所在之處之前，早已生來並死去

who sleep in some of the same houses we do,

他們曾下榻在我們現在的屋舍中

who look up at the same moon,

他們曾抬頭仰望同一輪明月

who breathe the same air,

他們曾和我們呼吸著相同的空氣

feel the same blood in their veins—

感受相同的血液脈動

and live in a completely different world.

並活在完全不同的世界

It's a world still covered in dust from the frontier.

那是一個依舊被開拓中的邊境之灰所籠罩的世界

A world of adults, whose lives are hammered out by hand.

一個所有成人都能親手打造他的人生的世界

A world of front porches,

一個有著前院

of fires to light in the evening,

用火照亮夜晚

of conversations over a fence.

隔著籬笆交談的世界

You'd watch as they carry on with their lives,

你看著他們持續著他們的人生

that seem so important.

彷彿是在凝視某些重要的事物

Even if their story has already been told,

即使他們的故事已經說完了

even if none of it risks turning out any other way but the way it happened.

即使除了已經塵埃落定的事實，故事不會有其他發展的可能

But they carry on anyway.

但無論如何他們的故事是持續著的

The past is a foreign country, and we’re only tourists.

過往如同他鄉異國，我們只是過客

We can't expect to understand the locals,

我們不能期待了解這些當地居民

or why they do what they do.

或明白他們為何做出他們所做的任何事情

We can only ask them to hold still,

我們只能請他們別動

so we can capture a photo to take home with us.

這樣我們就能照張照片帶回家

So we can sit for a few minutes in a world of black and white,

這樣我們就能坐在椅子上，暫時進入這個黑與白的世界幾分鐘

with clean borders that protect us from the rush of time,

那世界涇渭分明的邊界能保護我們不被時間的洪流侵襲

like a tide pool just out of the reach of the waves,

像個潮間帶的水坑，脫離了海浪的範圍

that lets you linger in the moment—

使我們徘徊於那個時間裡

so clear and still

如此清澈而靜止

you can see your own reflection.

你甚至能從中看見自己的倒影