HAIR IN YOUR EYES By Helen Foster Snow

李洁红　刘冰

It is still a mystery to me – why anyone wants to have hair hanging down into their eyes. I dont like anything in front of my eyes.

In the 1960s men and boys began to hide behind long feminine haircuts， with the bangs so long， sometimes they actually hung over most of the eyes like a thin curtain. What did this mean？ It had to be unkempt looking， even if by the art of studied carelessness.

On television “Cher” was an example of the long， straight， flat hair parted in the middle and hanging down on both sides， always about half way over the eyes. Then the “Cher” was to constantly swing the hair back or to put up the hand to keep brushing it out of the eyes. She obviously thought this was the ultimate in charm and style， even though she usually had a little bit of burlesque.

I once had a severe nosebleed and went to the emergency ward of Yale New Haven Hospital. I was assigned to a young Japanese woman， training to be a doctor.Her hair was short and so heavy and bushy， she actually could not see through the overlong heavy bangs and had to keep brushing them out of her eyes right in the middle of using a scalpel and mirror to cut off the artery. In the end， she made such a “hairy” mess of it， she had to call another doctor to do the job – he was a real square，fortunately， with nice neat short hair and good glasses.

When I was in China in 1970s， I was always bothered by the straight wisps of hair escaping from a bobby pin to hold the bangs back and directly obscuring the vision. I could not understand it at all， but assumed the hair grew in that intractable manner. I well remembered in the 1930s when the old-fashioned women plucked their foreheads to make a square， then brushed the long hair down like a crows wing to be as flat as possible.

In the 1960s one of my aged friends went to visit a family of relatives around Halloween. Their girls appeared in long calico skirts with the long straight hair hanging like witches and covering half their eyes. At first she thought it was a costume party for the holiday – but of course， that was the ne plus ultra of young fashion then all the time.

A few minutes ago I watched a woman author on the Donahue show. Her long bangs were curved， but resting actually on the eyelids. She thought herself most attractive， but this hair problem gave me the “creeps”.（Madison， 14 January 1983）

你眼中的发丝

作者 海伦·福斯特·斯诺

为什么所有人都希望自己的头发遮挡住自己的眼睛呢？对于我来说，这依然是个谜。我可不喜欢任何东西遮挡住我的眼睛，即便是一缕发丝。

在二十世纪六十年代，当男人和男孩们开始留起女性般的长发时，刘海儿也很长，有时会挡住他们的眼睛，就像一层薄薄的窗帘一样。这意味着什么？即便是刻意装扮出来的随意，这看上去还是很凌乱。

我们知道，无论是在远古时期，还是任何时间，人类本能的一种表现便是对发型的追求。人类把头发弄得飘逸，并视其为一面旗帜或是一种挑战。在不知道多少代人中，飘逸和凌乱的长发一直是艺术家，音乐家，演员及其他“非主流”们热衷的事物，标志着他们的与众不同。其中一个例子就是波士顿流行管弦乐团的日籍指挥—他将自己那蓬松的长发从一边甩另一边，浓密的刘海遮挡住了他的半只眼睛，使他只能透过刘海儿向外窥视。所有的乐队指挥都倾向于留着雄狮般的长发，虽然都遮挡了视线，使眼睛只能透过长发窥视，但比起甩动长发，还是有所不同。

由于鼻子曾一度严重流血，我便去了耶鲁纽黑文医院急诊室就诊。一位年轻的日籍女性为我接诊，当时她是一名见习医生。她留了短发，但是却很浓密。实际上，过长的刘海儿会妨碍她的视线，因此在使用手术刀和反光镜来切除动脉时，她不得不总是梳理头发，防止头发遮挡视线。最后，她那浓密的头发将她的工作搞得一团糟，她不得不叫另外一位医生来接替她——值得庆幸的是，这位医生十分保守，他的头发短而又精细整洁，还带着一副不错的眼镜。

在二十世纪七十年代，当我在中国的时候，总是有小缕的直发从固定刘海儿的发夹中脱落，直接挡住了我的视线。我根本就理解不了为什么会这样，但我也只能假装将其视为一种自然现象，凭头发肆意增长。我记得很清楚，在二十世纪三十年代，不追求时尚的妇女会剪干净前额的头发，留出一块方方正正的头皮，这样就可以彻底清除长发，就像乌鸦的翅膀一样平滑。

在二十世纪六十年代，我的一位上了年纪的朋友在万圣节前后去拜访亲戚。亲戚家的女孩子们穿着长长的印花布裙，再加上长长的直发遮盖了半只眼睛，看上去简直像女巫。起初，她还以为是为庆祝节日而准备的化装晚会—当然，那只是当时在年轻人中超级流行的时尚。

几分钟以前，我在唐纳修访谈上看到以为女性作家。她长长的刘海儿呈卷状，但是，实际上，刘海儿却是粘在眼睑上。她觉得自己最迷人，但是她的长发却给我一种“浑身不适”的感觉。（1983年1月14日写于麦迪逊）