对于， 这种飞蛾。 我知之甚少！ 就算是想认真地查找它的名称都无从下手。 在第几次见到这种虫子的时候， 我先生告诉我， 这是Mayfly。 所以， 我们就暂且这么称呼它吧。

About these… flying… bugs, I knew very little at all. Even though I wanted to, I didn’t know where to begin to find out their real names. Afterwards, my husband told me, these are the Mayflies. So let’s just call them that for now.

你一定很困惑，若你要是常住在澳门，我相信过去地每个五月份的某一天里，你一定见过这一大群不速之客，在路灯下飞蛾扑火。我也相信，你同我一样， 每一次见到这一群完全没有社交礼仪的昆虫，也总是，心生厌恶，随手拿起什么就对着他们挥去！ 仿佛任何与他们有关的都是可耻的一般。 是的， 对于这么一种， 人见人赶， 家家户户一见都嗤之以鼻的昆虫的确没什么值得深究。 而且， 仿佛这种虫子生来都非常明白自己不被人喜爱的属性， 所以每一次， 都是成群结队地匆匆而至又消失在须臾的节奏里。

You must be a bit confused. If you have lived for a while in Macau, every year in May, from one day to another, I believe you will have witnessed the arrival of these unique visitors, flitting nervously under the lamps and streetlights. I also believe that, like myself, the first time you see them you will think them nasty little things, and pick up something to chase them away! You might think that there is nothing worthwhile to talk about these little creatures that everyone seems to hate. Also, it seems that the Mayflies know very clearly that they are not loved by anyone, so every year, they gather together for a brief moment in time before being swallowed up once more by the madding pace of this city.

我从来没有在其他地方， 见过它。 也从来没有在其他的时候见过它。只有在澳门短暂而又漫长地五月的瞬间里。五月的澳门， 在我的潜意识里， 应该总是美丽，晴朗的。I myself have never seen them in any other place, and I’ve never seen them at any other time. Only in the month of May in Macau – one of those months that seems so short and yet seems to last forever. In my memory, May in Macau is a beautiful month.

记忆中， 第一次见这种五月特有的虫子是在大学时代，在市中心的教学大楼楼下，那天下雨。 只见这一群可恶的虫子疯了一般，扑面而来， 满街店铺门口上演着， 大叔， 大妈用各种布，扫帚来驱赶的好戏。还很清楚的记得， 在我一边挥动手里的雨伞一边绕道而行的时候， 心里正在默念， 不会澳门要闹蝗虫灾吧！请原谅， 我对昆虫世界的一无所知。I remember, the first time I saw these little bugs that only appear in May was in my university years. It was raining that day, and I was standing under the university lecture building which was located in the center of town. I could see these annoying little bugs swirling around me, and in the shops the uncles and aunties put on quite a show as they furiously slapped at the mayflies with their clothes. I remember wondering as I paused before crossing the road, holding my umbrella, whether this was some pestilence of bugs which was afflicting the city. Please forgive me, I am completely ignorant of the fascinating world of insects!

之后， 每隔一年， 我都会再次目睹这样的场景， 当然我也不会再天真的以为澳门会闹虫灾。 Mayfly会在你还没有习惯性想起来的时候， 就已然无影无踪。 仿佛， 扇动翅膀的回声都不曾有。 Afterwards, every other year, I would see the same scene take place, and I no longer worried of pestilence. In fact, however, before you became used to the Mayflies, they would disappear without a trace, the echo of their wings vanishing into thin air.

我是有认真观察过这些虫子的， 在很无奈的情况下 。那一年， 我刚刚搬进路环山区，五月的一天， 有10只左右的Mayfly 不请自来。 于是， 整个夜晚， 都在不停的观察它们驱赶它们！结果发现， 它们的翅膀一沾湿贴上地面就可能再也飞不起来了。这一弱点， 把他们本来不长的生命推向了更加岌岌可危的程度。 I had observed these Mayflies with attention. That one year, I had just moved out of the city to the quiet of Coloane Island. One day in May, a dozen or more Mayflies flew into the house uninvited, so I was able to spend the evening observing them and then chasing them out! As a result, I found out, if their wings became wet and stuck to the ground they would not be able to fly. This weakness added yet another challenge for survival to their already short life span.

也不知道， 是风水， 节气还是单纯的巧合， 我总是忘记， 五月的澳门实际上是多雨的，因为每一次见到Mayfly都是下雨天。 湿湿答答， 路上雨伞一把又是一把。 这个五月， 在停不下来的雷暴雨下， 我又有幸看见了一年未见的Mayfly，努力挣扎地迎着暴雨， 在空中展翅而飞！这次， 我见到的它们，比以往飞得更高， 仿佛， 它们自己也知道， 要是越靠近地面， 它们步入死亡就越快一样。听说，这种展翅而飞被叫做“婚飞”是它们离世前履行的最后一个义务，只为明年又有一群这样的Mayfly,  在短暂如一日一夜的生存季节里， 用生命品尝一次于2米至3米低空的飞翔。

I don’t know if it was the climate, the season or just plain coincidence, but I always remember May as a rainy month in Macau, and it was always raining on the day the first Mayflies appeared. Rainy and wet, with umbrellas covering their holders as they shuffled down the street. This May, during the thunderstorms that wouldn’t end, I was fortunate to once again see the yearly appearance of the Mayflies, struggling bravely against the wind and rain, and managing to fly! This time, I noticed they would fly as high as possible, as if they knew, that each inch closer to the ground was an inch closer to death. I had learned, that the flight of the Mayflies was called the swarming, or “mating flight”, the last task which must be accomplished before they left this earth. This was accomplished so that next year there could be a new swarm of Mayflies, for another day and another night, who would for one brief moment taste the joy of flight at a height of 2 or 3 meters above the ground.

而这些于澳门街头巷口不停驱赶它们的人们， 又何尝不是在澳门这个特殊的舞台， 用短暂的停留， 来飞翔于世，体现这与众不同的经历？你是， 我也是。 这是我在澳门过的第6个五月， 如以往一样， 却如潜意识不同， 这个五月以一场场不间断的雷暴开始。 在它， 结束之前， 我就要与她半路道别。 As for these people who chase away the Mayflies in the alleys and in the streets. What is their unique story to tell on the special stage of life which unfolds in Macau – that is different and unique from the others? These are also stories of you and me. In fact, this is the sixth month of May that I spend in Macau. Just like before, and just as I remembered it to be, this month of May began with thunderstorms, and before they are over, I would have said my goodbyes.

仿佛， 如我潜意识里的五月一样， 澳门总是那么虚幻， 一个连海都能被填满的城市， 没有什么是永恒不朽的。 人来人往，总期待着，收获着一些唯独澳门所有的东西。 用力的抓住这一瞬间时间， 尽情体验。那些， 把新马路挤得水泄不通的游客们， 在娱乐场里放肆博弈的客官们， 不都如此， 除了看得出它们是异乡人，他们真实的生活完全不见痕迹。就仿佛， Mayfly的一生， 只有在最后那最美丽， 最跋扈， 最不逊的一面被我这个曾有几面之缘的路人，举头收获。却依旧， 连真正的姓名都无法正确的称呼。 It seems that, just like the months of May that I remember in my mind, Macau is just a passing fantasy, a city where even the sea can be transformed into land, where nothing lasts forever. People come and go, always hoping to get something which only Macau has to offer; giving everything to hold on to this moment in time, to experience it while they can. Those tourists who pack the street of San Ma Lou, or those who are spending their holidays spinning the wheel at the casinos. All we know about each one of them is that they’re not from here, their real lives are but a shadow we cannot see. It is like the life of the Mayfly, we who pass by only see them at their most confident moment, at their most beautiful moments of flight; and yet, we still don’t know their names, don´t understand who they really are.

在澳门，7个年头。 每一个来到澳门的旅人都会离开，不同之处只是时长时短。 以及， 澳门于你，又有如何的命脉波折？I have been in Macau for about seven years. Each traveler who has come to Macau, must leave one day, the only difference is the length of time. What has been the relationship, the fate, between you and Macau?

仿佛， 如Mayfly翱翔于半空中之前的生命一样， 澳门是空的。 而你， 我在这个舞台上的即兴演出， 填补了当时的空白。曲终人散， 鞠躬退位也是应该。 我们可能会被遗忘在看客们的淡泊人生里， 却又会在某一个类似的五月雨天， 被人睹物思情般记起。 游荡在， 澳门瞬息万变的历史长河里。

It is as if – just like the sky where the mayfly flutters and lives out its life – Macau is an empty stage. And you, and me are the actors who must fill it. After having our moments, our ups and downs, it is time for us to take a bow and retire. Perhaps we will be forgotten by the crowds that swell around us, only to be remembered once more on a rainy day in May, and we will drift into the long and changing river of history that flows under the glittering lights of Macau

苏米然 Miranda

 

2014年5月 某一个深夜 A late night in May, 2014

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路环黑沙村17号 Hac Sa, Coloane