譯/李京倫 核稿/樂慧生
新冠病毒時代 恐懼日增
In a Harlem cafe , a woman reading her cellphone sneezed without covering her mouth. On an ordinary day, the fleeting moment would pass barely noticed. But these are not ordinary days.
在紐約哈林區一間咖啡館，一名正在看手機的女子沒遮住嘴就打了個噴嚏。在正常時期這短短的一刻幾乎不會有人注意，但現在可不是正常時期。
The woman's downward-directed sneeze, in the narrow confines of PROOF Coffee Roasters, set off a silent chain reaction: A man at the counter cringed; three patrons shot germ-killing stares; and the barista continued her new habit of incessantly wiping counters with bleach and rubbing her hands with sanitizer.
這名女子在狹小的「證據烘焙咖啡館」內向下打的噴嚏，引發一連串靜默的連鎖反應：櫃檯上一名男子厭惡地皺眉；三名顧客朝她狠瞪，眼神足以殺死病菌；咖啡師則繼續做她新養成的習慣動作，不斷用漂白水擦拭廚房料理台，雙手沾消毒水反覆摩擦。
This is life in a pandemic, when the emergence of the potentially fatal coronavirus has spawned strains of uncertainty: about the progression of the new virus, about the government's response, about the open-ended nature of our altered lifestyles. About one another.
這就是疾病大流行時的生活，可能致命的新冠病毒出現，造成多方面的不確定性：關於這種新病毒的發展，關於政府的因應措施，關於我們變動後的生活方式究竟要持續多久。關於彼此。
The collective mind whirls. Will my mother in her quarantined nursing home be all right? Will my children get sick? Will there be enough hospital beds? Will we see the same high death rate as Italy's? Do I just have a slight cold, or is it a sign of something else?
社會集體感到頭暈眼花。養老院被封鎖檢疫，我的母親在裡面沒事吧？我的孩子會得病嗎？醫院床位夠嗎？美國的新冠肺炎死亡率會像義大利一樣高嗎？我只是得了輕微感冒，還是那是其他疾病的徵兆？
Even common moments of good will have been modified. During a midmorning Mass last month at Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church on the Upper West Side, the moment eventually came to exchange signs of peace — normally a handshake or a peck on the cheek. Instead, people flashed one another the V-for-victory sign. Just a few days later, Masses were ended entirely.
就連平常的善意表達都做了調整。上個月某天上午十點左右，在紐約上西城羅馬天主教聖體堂一場彌撒中，以肢體動作互祝平安的時刻到了，通常是握手或輕吻臉頰，那一天卻改為互相比出勝利手勢。過不了幾天，彌撒就完全停辦了。
This creeping uncertainty can be fueled by the very steps taken to reassure. President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency; Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's dispatch of the National Guard to a "containment zone" in the Westchester city of New Rochelle. Do these steps calm us, or unnerve us?
旨在安定民心的措施可能反倒助長了逐漸增加的不確定感。美國總統川普宣布全國進入緊急狀態；紐約州州長郭謨出動國民兵到威徹斯特郡新羅謝爾市的「封鎖區」。這些措施使我們更平靜，還是更緊張？
Nina Haug, a student at the New York University School of Law, seems to embody much of this collective uncertainty. She is 25, bespectacled and hair-bobbed, and grew up near New Orleans. She knows from experience that emergencies like hurricanes mean people either evacuate or hunker down — but always together.
紐約大學法學院學生妮娜．豪格似乎在很大程度上體現了這種集體不確定感。她現年25歲，戴眼鏡、留短髮，在路易西安納州最大城紐奧良附近長大。她從經驗得知，颶風等緊急情況意味撤離或準備長期守在某處，不過不論哪一種情況，人們總是在一起。
"Someone is sharing that fear," Haug said. "Right now, the reaction is to isolate."
豪格說：「總有人分攤憂慮。但現在，回應緊急情況的方法卻是隔離。」
With the law school transitioning to remote instruction, Haug is confining herself to her Harlem apartment with her dog, Tula, and her cat, Etta. She tries to prepare for exams, presuming they take place. But her thoughts also turn to the well-being of her parents in Louisiana, the four weddings she is invited to in the coming months — and the open-ended reality of living amid a threat that isn't coming at you like a hurricane.
由於法學院改為遠距授課，豪格的活動範圍僅限於她在哈林區的住所，跟寵物狗圖拉和寵物貓艾塔在一起。她試著準備考試，假定考試會舉行。不過她還會想到些別的事：在路易西安納州的父母是否安好，她受邀在未來數月參加的四場婚禮，以及在這種跟颶風不一樣的威脅下的生活不知要持續多久。
※說文解字看新聞
新冠肺炎大流行，紐約市規定所有咖啡廳只准外賣。文首發生在咖啡廳店內尚可營業時期的小插曲，具體而微反映出疫情對美國人際關係的影響。
標題中dread是恐懼，意思類似fear，為什麼不用fear？因為dread比fear多了「厭惡」的意思，也就是不但害怕，還討厭面對，而本文主旨正是美國民眾不願接受生活方式變動，想著還要熬多久。
作者自創germ-killing stares和strains of uncertainty這兩種詞彙組合方式，很應景，帶點戲謔意味。a strain of是指病菌、植物或有機物的某一種類，例如a new strain of the virus（一種新病毒），後面通常不會接uncertainty這種抽象名詞，在本文中strains of uncertainty要解作多方面的不確定性。
open-ended和uncertainty是關鍵字。open-ended有三種意思：沒固定限制（如數量、持續期間等）的、沒固定答案的、容許未來修改的。本文是第一種意思。
