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国外诗歌翻译集萃

  • Writer: ChocBrxwnie :3
    ChocBrxwnie :3
  • Mar 6, 2022
  • 37 min read

Updated: Oct 5, 2022

一、

巴勃罗.聂鲁达是内夫塔利·里卡多·雷耶斯·巴索阿尔托(西班牙语:Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto)的笔名,他是一个富于传奇色彩的诗人、诺贝尔文学奖获得者、外交家、政治家、智利共产党参议员、狂热的共产主义者,他曾被纽约时报称为 南半球的惠特曼。后半生因为政治原因被驱逐出国,在意大利一个海边小镇上度过了余生,终日听海写诗。 作为西班牙语最伟大的诗人,他的诗歌据说很难翻译,不过从他最出名的一首诗《如果你忘记我》(西班牙语Si Tu Me Olvidas,英语If you forget me)来看,翻译成英文却不是想象的那样难。例如,你可以用google 翻译器来将此诗从西班牙文翻译成英文,与Donald S. Walsh的翻译,简直没有多少区别。也许是西方各国文化都比较接近吧,我一个讲西班牙语的同事说,西班牙文和英文之间几乎每个词都可以互相替换。不过,此诗要译成中文,就难上加难,因为中西语言文化的差异, 比之西方语言文化之间,要大很多。例如,你可以试试用google翻译器将它分别从西班牙原文和英文翻译成中文,结果差不多,都是惨不忍睹。 互联网上我只能找到的一个网名为“北美长风”的作者的翻译版本,感觉有点“再创作”的味道很重。因为我主张翻译的信雅达里边,三者缺一不可。先把我的翻译卸载下面,大家可以搜索“北美长风”的版本,大家对比读读,看看哪一个版本更适合你的阅读风格 If you forget me I want you to know one thing. You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if I touch near the fire the impalpable ash or the wrinkled body of the log, everything carries me to you, as if everything that exists, aromas, light, metals, were little boats that sail toward those isles of yours that wait for me. Well, now, if little by little you stop loving me I shall stop loving you little by little. If suddenly you forget me do not look for me, for I shall already have forgotten you. If you think it long and mad, the wind of banners that passes through my life, and you decide to leave me at the shore of the heart where I have roots, remember that on that day, at that hour, I shall lift my arms and my roots will set off to seek another land. But if each day, each hour, you feel that you are destined for me with implacable sweetness, if each day a flower climbs up to your lips to seek me, ah my love, ah my own, in me all that fire is repeated, in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten, my love feeds on your love, beloved, and as long as you live it will be in your arms without leaving mine. 如果你忘记我 欧阳京译 我要你知道 一件事。 你应该明白: 如果我看见 水晶般的月亮,红色的树叶 窗外慵懒的秋天, 如果我触摸 火边 无形的灰烬 或者褶皱的木柴, 一切都让我想起你, 仿佛存在的一切 芳香、灯光、铁器 都是驶向你的小船 而你是小岛将我等候。 好吧, 如果你渐渐地不爱我了 我也会渐渐地不爱你。 如果突然, 你将我遗忘 请不要寻找, 我已经把你忘记。 如果你认为, 穿越我生命的旌旗风 疯狂而漫长 并决定 在我扎根的心海边上离我而去 记住 就在那一天, 那一刻, 我将举起双臂 我的根也会出发 寻找另一片田园 不过, 如果每一天, 每一刻, 你感觉我就是你的归宿 带着悸动的甜蜜, 如果每一天,一朵花儿 爬上你的嘴唇来寻找我 哦,我的爱,我爱的, 所有的火焰都将重新燃烧, 所有的一切都没有被忘记或消失, 你的爱是我爱的源泉,爱人, 直到生命尽头,它都在你的怀抱里 与我的双臂交织



二、


但凡女高音soprano,如果不尝试一下《Madam Butterfly蝴蝶夫人》里的“Un Bel Di”,《Norma诺尔玛》里边的“Casta Diva”,或者难度最大的《Rigoletto弄臣》“Gualtier malde”,那么算不上真正的女高音。


而男高音Tenor呢?如果不把《Turandot图兰朵》里的“今夜无人入眠Nessum Dorma”,还有《Rigoletto弄臣》里的“La donna e mobile 女人善变,“,或者反恐游戏CS里边最过瘾的场景《市场之战》里的“Ah! inseparabile d'amore不舍的爱”,那么也算不上真正的男高音。


同样,如果一个翻译家,不能翻译艾米莉 狄金森著名的Bring me sunset in a cup,莎士比亚十四行诗,或者叶芝的红得发紫的“When you are old当你老了”,那算不上好翻译家。


那好吧,我就发几首我粗浅的尝试,以请教方家。


  When you are old


  By W.B.Yeats



  When you are old and grey and full of sleep,

  And nodding by the fire, take down this book,

  And slowly read, and dream of the soft look

  Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;



  How many loved your moments of glad grace,

  And loved your beauty with love false or true,

  But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,

  And loved the sorrows of your changing face;


  And bending down beside the glowing bars,

  Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled

  And paced upon the mountains overhead

  And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.



  当你老了

  欧阳京译



  当你老了,头发灰白,睡意沉沉,

  取下这本书, 炉旁打盹,

  慢慢地读着,回忆往昔,

  温柔的双眸,眼影幽深;



  多少人爱你雍容怡人,

  爱你的美,真情或者假意,

  唯有我爱你朝圣的灵魂,

  爱你脸上多变的悲哀;



  弯下腰,炽热的炭火旁,

  低低地倾诉,浅浅地忧伤,

  诉说爱神如何离你而去,

  漫步群山之顶, 藏身星汉中央


三、艾米莉.狄金森



艾米莉.伊丽莎白.狄金森,是人们眼中的怪人,晚年她喜欢穿白衣,基本不出门,除了与朋友通信,她过着几乎与世隔绝的生活,来访者和她对话都需要隔着墙壁。受过七年学院教育的她,在作为清教徒后裔的祖父建造的故居“家园”中生活了一辈子。在那里,她默默地写诗、收集植物标本、经历了一个个亲人的相继亡故,直到56岁。终身未婚。


  她的诗,在生前从不为人所知,死后才声名鹊起。其诗独具一格、变化无常、经常不守韵律,随意使用破折号、大写字符和自造词,然而她的天才的笔下充满了人性温暖、幽默和慈悲,那些让人激动、欢乐的东西。艾米莉对美国文学影响可谓深远。我们可以毫不夸张地说,她是可以与惠特曼、斯蒂文斯、弗罗斯特、艾略特平起平坐的伟大诗人。


  作为一个植物学家、诗人,艾米莉相信伟大的神能带来平安和喜悦,然而她从未公开自己的信仰,36岁后也不再参加宗教仪式。在这种特殊的信仰方式中,诗人写下许多热爱自然、热爱生命,却又对世界、对永生的保持怀疑、充满思索和拷问的诗。《给我一杯夕阳》就是这样一首代表作。


  Bring Me The Sunset In A Cup

  By Emily Dickinson


  Bring me the sunset in a cup,

  Reckon the morning's flagons up

  And say how many Dew,

  Tell me how far the morning leaps—

  Tell me what time the weaver sleeps

  Who spun the breadth of blue!


  Write me how many notes there be

  In the new Robin's ecstasy

  Among astonished boughs—

  How many trips the Tortoise makes—

  How many cups the Bee partakes,

  The Debauchee of Dews!


  Also, who laid the Rainbow's piers,

  Also, who leads the docile spheres

  By withes of supple blue?

  Whose fingers string the stalactite—

  Who counts the wampum of the night

  To see that none is due?


  Who built this little Alban House

  And shut the windows down so close

  My spirit cannot see?

  Who'll let me out some gala day

  With implements to fly away,

  Passing Pomposity?


  给我一杯夕阳

  欧阳京译


  给我一杯夕阳,

  看,这清晨的酒壶,

  究竟装了多少露珠;

  告诉我,黎明跳得多远--

  告诉我,织工何时入眠

  当她织完这广袤的蓝天!


  为我写下,知更鸟的狂喜里

  究竟有多少音符

  惊讶的灌木丛中--

  乌龟徜徉了多少回--

  放浪形骸的蜜蜂

  喝了多少杯露珠!


  是谁,铺下了彩虹之桥

  是谁,用蔚蓝的藤条

  牵引着那些温顺的星球?

  是谁,用手指串起那钟乳石--

  是谁,数着夜空的贝壳串

  是否按时闪耀?


  是谁,建造了阿尔班小屋(坟墓)

  紧紧地关上窗户,

  让我的灵魂无法看见?

  是谁,在狂欢*中将我释放

  带着双翼飞去

  飞过这浮夸的世间?


  注:Gala Day其实算不得狂欢节。就是热闹的集市、游行和特色假日。如澳大利亚著名小镇Bright的秋之节。


四、


艾米莉有一首轻灵而沉重的诗,是写死亡的。


很多诗人都关注死亡这个话题,有些干脆用自己的死来写一首诗。


因为苍穹之下,只有人才会思考自己的死亡,我们从何而来,往哪里去,是个永恒经典的题材。


我记得朋友王怡有一篇文章,内容我已经忘了,标题是《向死而生》却记忆犹新,很有感触,所以自己也回应了一篇。当然,这是题外话了。不过如果我们都是向死而生,不去好好想一想这个问题,活着多少有点不明不白。


这首思考死亡的诗,也是一部非常优秀的电影《苏菲的选择》的主题。因为喜爱这部电影,又喜爱这首诗,所以,忽一日有个朋友要求我给ta朗读一首自己喜欢的诗时,我选择了它,希望能引出一连串的美来。


A Country Burial

By Emily Dickinson


Ample make this bed

Make this bed with awe

In it wait till judgement break

Excellent and fair


Be its mattress straight

Be its pillow round

Let no sunrise's yellow noise

Interrupt this ground.


乡村葬礼

欧阳京译


宽大铺好这床

铺它,带着敬畏

待到审判之日降临

至善、而且公义


床垫即方

枕头即圆

别让朝阳的黄色噪音

打扰此间


五、


电影《苏菲的选择》里,Nathan读完朋友Stingo的手稿,真情流露且洋溢地赞美他,说他必将和惠特曼、伍尔夫一样,进入

文学的名人殿堂(pantheon),因为文字而不朽----words of immortality。


让我想起一首莎士比亚的十四行第十八首。


文字的意义,就是生命的意义;文字不朽,生命不朽。



Sonnet 18

By Shakespeare


Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date.


Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed;


But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,

Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,

When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.


So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee


十四行诗第十八首

欧阳京译


可否把你比作夏天?

你比夏天更可爱温婉

烈风吹散了五月的花蕾

且相约有期,夏日苦短


有时盛夏之目光灼烤

金色的面容失去了光彩

一切美丽终将凋零

偶然,或自然规律的安排


可你的夏季永不衰败

天生丽质,娇颜不改

死的阴影也无法将你遮蔽

永恒的诗中你将常在


只要人能呼吸,眼睛能阅读,

此诗长存,而你,青春永驻


六、


除了或轻灵、或沉重、或哲理的诗,艾米莉有些诗非常的轻松活泼。例如下面这一首,读起来有李清照的感觉,个人非常喜欢,所以尝试翻译一下:


I taste a liquor never brewed –

From Tankards scooped in Pearl –

Not all the vats upon the Rhine

Yield such an Alcohol!


珍珠手杯舀起-

我把新酒浅尝-

莱茵河畔的陈酿里,

也未曾有过如此醇香!


Inebriate of air – am I –

And Debauchee of Dew –

Reeling – thro' endless summer days –

From inns of molten Blue –


气息微醺慵懒如我-

饕餮着朝露-

徜徉 - 在无尽的夏日 -

欲溶的天蓝客都 -


When "Landlords" turn the drunken Bee

Out of the Foxglove's door –

When Butterflies – renounce their "drams" –

I shall but drink the more!


当醉酣的蜜蜂,

被房东赶出洋地黄花 -

当蝴蝶们宣布戒酒 -

我除畅饮无他!



Till Seraphs swing their snowy Hats –

And Saints – to windows run –

To see the little Tippler

Leaning against the – Sun!


直到天使长挥舞雪帽 -

圣徒们跑向明窗 -

看,那个小酒鬼,

正斜倚着太阳!


七、


好也好,歹也好,生活总是充满诗意。--J.D.Estrada


我不会写诗,但读诗于我,有更大的乐趣。


所以,请让我继续...


艾米丽终身未婚。没有经历婚姻,不代表不懂得爱情,实际上也许恰恰相反。例如她一首写于她唯一的爱人离开之后的诗,就足以让人掩卷。


同时,面对如此精致完美的句子,翻译简直就是一种亵渎。不过,精心选择遣词造句,一字不多,凭汉语之优美,当配得上她的诗。


YOU left me, sweet, two legacies


YOU left me, sweet, two legacies,—

A legacy of love

A Heavenly Father would content,

Had He the offer of;


You left me boundaries of pain

Capacious as the sea,

Between eternity and time,

Your consciousness and me.



你留给我,爱人,两样东西

欧阳京译


你留给我,爱人,两样东西

一种残余的爱

天父也会满足,

如果那是祂的恩赐;


你也留给我无边的痛苦

海一样辽阔,

在永恒与时间之间,

你的领悟,与我。


八、


貌似不写男女之情的诗歌很少,我也挠头,为什么西方一百首好诗里边,有99首是情诗。


下面这首是其中之一,不过,可以超越儿女私情直达信仰的情诗,又是另一种境界了:


The Rose

by Amanda Mcbroom


Some say love, it is a river

That drowns the tender reed.

Some say love, it is a razor

That leaves your soul to bleed.

Some say love, it is a hunger,

An endless aching need.

I say love, it is a flower,

And you its only seed.


It's the heart afraid of breaking

That never learns to dance.

It's the dream afraid of waking

That never takes the chance.

It's the one who won't be taken,

Who cannot seem to give,

And the soul afraid of dyin'

That never learns to live.


When the night has been too lonely

And the road has been too long,

And you think that love is only

For the lucky and the strong,

Just remember in the winter

Far beneath the bitter snows

Lies the seed that with the sun's love

In the spring becomes the rose.


玫瑰

欧阳京译


有人说, 爱是一条河

淹没了柔嫩的芦苇

有人说,爱是刀片

让你的灵魂滴血

有人说,爱是饥渴

永不满足

但我说,爱是花朵

而你是它唯一的种子


此心生怕破碎

所以从不起舞

此梦生怕惊醒

所以从未追寻

此生从不信靠

所以无从给予

从来畏惧死亡

所以不懂得生活


当深夜寂寞难耐

旅途漫漫遥远

当你发现此爱

只不过属于幸运和强者

请想起冬夜的记忆

酸楚的雪堆里

深埋着阳光爱的种子

冬去春来,玫瑰盛开


youtube上有这一首诗的歌曲,美得一塌糊涂。


九、


艾米莉的诗,以轻灵哲理见长,读起来让人思考,或者恍然大悟。例如这一首,“我没有时间恨”,我把它翻译在下面,纪念一个也许本不该失去的朋友:


I HAD no time to hate, because

The grave would hinder me,

And life was not so ample I

Could finish enmity.


Nor had I time to love; but since

Some industry must be,

The little toil of love, I thought,

Was large enough for me.


我没有时间恨

欧阳京译


我没有时间恨,因为

坟墓将把我阻拦,

生命并非无垠,我

无法结束宿怨。


我也没有时间爱;不过既然

总要一些劬劳,

爱的小小辛苦,我想,

对我已经足够。


要注意的是,这里艾米莉用了过去时态,不知道她是什么意思。


十、


罗伯特·李·弗罗斯特(Robert Lee Frost),1874年3月26日生于美国旧金山,他11岁时父亲死后,随母亲迁居新英格兰。在那里弗罗斯特16岁开始学写诗,20岁时正式发表第一首诗歌。从此勤奋笔耕,一生中共出了10多本诗集。他曾4次获得普利策诗歌奖,被Vermont州授予“桂冠诗人”(Poet laureate)称号。


他的诗被认为是美国乡村生活特别是新英格兰乡村的现实主义杰作。在语言风格上,他的诗作朴实无华、涵义隽永,往往寓深刻的思考和哲理于平淡无奇的内容和简洁朴实的诗句之中。正是这种艺术风格让他在美国家喻户晓。


如《雪夜林边》就是这样一首诗歌。在这首诗中,作者对大自然、对马的感情,深厚而自然。特别是对承诺的看重,又赋予了此诗更高一层,温情而积极的意义。当然,有人把诗中的黢黑的森林,当作死亡的象征,认为诗人因为对生者的许下的承诺而摆脱对自杀的迷恋。当然,诗人幼年丧父,青年亡母,中年丧子,6个孩子,仅有两个长大成人,家族也有精神病史,一生在悲痛丧亲与折磨中度过,可谓命运多舛。因此,诗人常在诗作中流露出压抑、伤感的情调,这种理解也是不无道理的。


借景抒情是中国古典诗歌的最迷人之处,所以,我觉得用古诗格式来翻译他的抒情诗代表作,应该更为适宜。


Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening


Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.


My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.


He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.


The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.


《雪夜林边》


勒马谁家原,应知村舍远;

主人浑不觉,大雪漫林间。


冰湖伴深林,今夕夜最暗;

落鞍执我驹,唯惊远人烟。


振铃如相问,驻足可太偏?

风轻飘雪静,欲辨已忘言。


吾爱林深黑,欲留长相伴

重诺仍策马,

路正远,岂得眠。

路正远,岂得眠。


当然,古文我最没有信心。所以改来改去,没有满意的稿子。贴出来,它日慢慢改。


十一、


Frost的另一代表诗作,《the road not taken》堪称他诗歌独特风格的典范。特别是那让人拍案叫绝的最后几句,曾让大诗人聂鲁达佩服的五体投地。这几句,也是此诗最难翻译之处。


不过,此诗本来是戏谑之作,目的在于善意地嘲弄他的挚友英国作家爱德华.托马斯。因为他们经常在一起散步,诗人发现托马斯性情不够果决。未曾想到托马斯把此诗看得非常严肃,并因之摆脱犹豫,毅然入伍参加第一次世界大战,两年后托马斯战死。诗人因此而万分沮丧。


而在好莱坞名片《死亡诗社》(Dead Poet Society)中,此诗句也为教授英语文学的Keating所引,目的在于激发学生追求梦想、热爱生活、不同流俗。结果,学生尼尔因为做演员的梦想被父亲无情压迫而破灭,竟愤而自杀。


可见诗歌的力量。


The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost


Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;


Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear,

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,


And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way

I doubted if I should ever come back.


I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.


歧路


金秋深林里,一路两分歧,

沉吟立良久,客行何所之,

极目灌木后,行转倏已失。


余者亦欣然,或通佳境里,

山野尘嚣远,芳草唯萋萋,

踟蹰意不决,二者皆相宜。


晨露青蔓草,落英藏人迹,

吾志忽已坚,前路待良日,

长程接短程,或永别此地。


长嗟经年老,相语暮已迟,

深林有歧路,取静我行之,

安能随大流,负我平生志。


十二、


劳阿尔.达尔(Roald Dahl,1916 – 1990)是挪威裔英国小说家、诗人、皇家空军王牌飞行员、足球运动员、二十世纪最伟大的儿童文学作家。(其最著名的儿童文学作品《查理和巧克力工厂》在2005年被改编成同名电影。他的小说《Matilda》,被改编成了笔者最爱的音乐剧之一,澳大利亚人相当喜欢这部音乐剧,它经常在墨尔本女王陛下大剧院演出,大家走过路过千万不要错过,一定要带孩子一起去听。)他获得的荣誉包括“世界奇幻奖”终生成就奖、“英国图书奖”等等。


不过,从小爱读吉卜林、萨克雷、狄更斯的劳阿尔传奇的生活,也许比他的作品更吸引人。


童年,热爱运动和大自然的他在挪威母亲的家里度过了大部分暑假,这些经历,成了他写作的宝贵素材。成年后,他应征入伍参加二战,成为一名步兵中尉排长。接着,他加入皇家空军,成为一名初级飞行员。在一次突然安排的任务中,他奉命驾驶一架他从未摸过的过时了的皇家空军“角斗士”双翼战斗机,单独飞往利比亚,因燃油耗尽在沙漠迫降,飞机坠毁后,他严重受伤退出战斗。


伤愈后,他所在的80飞行中队被调动到希腊战区,在雅典空战中,他驾驶“飓风”战斗机与队友一起击落敌机22架。参与了数次其他战役后,劳阿尔因伤无法继续参战。他回到英国,成为了一个飞行教练,然后历任外交官、情报官,同时从事写作。


这样出生入死的经历,足够让这位身高近两米的文学家成为所有孩子的偶像。这里我们要读的,是他写给孩子父母们的劝他们少让孩子看电视的一首简单通俗的诗--《电视机》


(当然,从电视机发明到现在,电视节目的变化很大,就拿澳大利亚政府资助的儿童台ABC4Kids来说,上面的很多节目如Playschool、LazyTown、Mr Maker,还有一些优秀的动画片如Peppa Pig、Banana in Pajamas、Thomas and Friends等等,这些专门为儿童制作的节目,没有任何商业气息,节目气氛亲切友善,知识性和娱乐性都好,是非常值得推荐的。就拿我女儿来说,由于她常常在玩累了以后看这些节目,学到的东西很多,最典型的是社交礼仪。她的动手能力也强,而且,她的英语是幼儿园中所有不说英语的家庭里出来的孩子里边最好的。所以,电视机也不一定像诗人说的那样恐怖。不过,尽管如此,多读书少看电视,还是一个值得参考的原则。)


Television

by Roald Dahl


The most important thing we've learned,

So far as children are concerned,

Is never, NEVER, NEVER let

Them near your television set --

Or better still, just don't install

The idiotic thing at all.

In almost every house we've been,

We've watched them gaping at the screen.

They loll and slop and lounge about,

And stare until their eyes pop out.

(Last week in someone's place we saw

A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)

They sit and stare and stare and sit

Until they're hypnotised by it,

Until they're absolutely drunk

With all that shocking ghastly junk.

Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,

They don't climb out the window sill,

They never fight or kick or punch,

They leave you free to cook the lunch

And wash the dishes in the sink --

But did you ever stop to think,

To wonder just exactly what

This does to your beloved tot?

IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!

IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!

IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!

IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND

HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND

A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!

HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!

HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!

HE CANNOT THINK -- HE ONLY SEES!

'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,

'But if we take the set away,

What shall we do to entertain

Our darling children? Please explain!'

We'll answer this by asking you,

'What used the darling ones to do?

'How used they keep themselves contented

Before this monster was invented?'

Have you forgotten? Don't you know?

We'll say it very loud and slow:

THEY ... USED ... TO ... READ! They'd READ and READ,

AND READ and READ, and then proceed

To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!

One half their lives was reading books!

The nursery shelves held books galore!

Books cluttered up the nursery floor!

And in the bedroom, by the bed,

More books were waiting to be read!

Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales

Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales

And treasure isles, and distant shores

Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,

And pirates wearing purple pants,

And sailing ships and elephants,

And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,

Stirring away at something hot.

(It smells so good, what can it be?

Good gracious, it's Penelope.)

The younger ones had Beatrix Potter

With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,

And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,

And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-

Just How The Camel Got His Hump,

And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,

And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,

There's Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole-

Oh, books, what books they used to know,

Those children living long ago!

So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,

Go throw your TV set away,

And in its place you can install

A lovely bookshelf on the wall.

Then fill the shelves with lots of books,

Ignoring all the dirty looks,

The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,

And children hitting you with sticks-

Fear not, because we promise you

That, in about a week or two

Of having nothing else to do,

They'll now begin to feel the need

Of having something to read.

And once they start -- oh boy, oh boy!

You watch the slowly growing joy

That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen

They'll wonder what they'd ever seen

In that ridiculous machine,

That nauseating, foul, unclean,

Repulsive television screen!

And later, each and every kid

Will love you more for what you did.



电视机

欧阳京译


我们学到最重要的事,

关于孩子

就是绝对、绝对、绝对不要让

他们靠近电视机--

或者,干脆不要装

那个白痴的东西


几乎所有的家里,

都看到他们盯着电视

靠着、歪着、瞪着眼珠

目光呆滞


(上周某个地方

我们就看到十多双眼珠坐在地上)


盯着,坐着,坐着,盯着

痴醉如痴

神魂颠倒

为那些恐怖惊人的垃圾


是的,它让孩子们安静

不会爬出窗子

不再打闹、踢人、推搡

好让你把午餐预备

洗刷碟碗


可你是否停下来想想

这对你孩子到底有什么影响?

它朽坏了理智!

抹杀了想象!

梗塞了心灵!

让孩子沉闷迷茫!

他不再懂得

仙境、幻想!

头脑软的像奶酪一样!

不再思考,只是看到!


“那好吧!”你喊着。“那好吧!”你说

如果我们拿走电视机

我们用什么来娱乐

亲爱的孩子!


为了回答你我先问一个问题

亲爱的孩子们以前怎么过的?

没有电视这个怪物以前

他们如何保持满意?

难道你忘了?难道你们不知?

让我慢慢地大声告诉你


以-前-他-们-读-书,读-了-又-读

读-了-又-读,读了一本

再来一本,天呐!上帝!

他们一半的时间,都在读!

儿童房的柜子,就是书架!

地上散落的也满是书!

卧室里,床头柜上

还有更多的书可读!


多么奇妙精致的故事

恐龙、吉普赛人、鲸鱼和女王

金银岛,遥远的海岸

走私贩偷偷地划着桨

穿紫色裤子海盗

帆船,大象


食人族围着大锅蹲着

热气腾腾搅着,

闻起来好香,那是什么?

天啊,那是佩涅罗珀!(奥德赛美丽的妻子)


小点的就读碧翠丝

《松鼠纳特金》,《温吞小猪》

《提姬.温克尔太太》

《托德先生》那个泥腿子

骆驼为何有驼

猴子为何没有屁股

或者《蟾蜍先生》,

老天保佑,老鼠和鼹鼠

哦,书,熟悉的书,

从前的孩子都爱书!


所以,我祈求你、请求你、哀求你、

扔掉你的电视机。

在那空白的墙上,

装一个可爱的书柜

再把书架填满书籍

别在乎书的新旧和外表

别怕孩子们的叫喊和咬踢,

或者用棍子打你。

因为我们可以保证,

过了一两个星期的

无所事事

他们一定会想起

要把书来读

一旦开始了--哇!

你看快乐就开始慢慢

填满他们们的心房,

随着他们越来越热衷于阅读

你会感叹

他们都从那个可笑的机器

恶心、肮脏、罪恶

讨厌的电视屏幕

都学到了些什么!


译注:


诗里说的这些书都是绘本,和Roald的书,以及其他书本一起,散落在我家各个房间,闺女爱读书,读得尤其快,一个上午可以读完一本哈利波特,读完到处乱扔。尤其值得一提的是,碧翠丝的书朗朗顺口,非常有节奏感和少许诗意,适合家庭朗读。


十三、


提到读书,我不免又想起Emily的另一首豪放派的诗。诗书,在中国是从来不分的,但读书眼累,读诗心轻。中国是诗意国家,岂能不读诗?


正如电影《死亡诗社》引用惠特曼的话:


We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. So medicine, law, business, engineering... these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love... these are what we stay alive for.”


There is no Frigate like a Book

By Emily Dickinson


There is no Frigate like a Book

To take us Lands away

Nor any Coursers like a Page

Of prancing Poetry—


This Traverse may the poorest take

Without oppress of Toll—

How frugal us the chariot

That bears a human soul


沒有哪艘船像书

欧阳京译


沒有哪艘船像书

帶我们到遥远的异国

沒有哪匹战马

比得上一页奔腾的诗歌--


最穷的人也可以旅行

不为路费焦灼

它是多么经济

这人类灵魂的马车!


十四、


真理就是美?美就是真理?艾米莉的哲理诗本身就很美:


艾米莉的诗“I DIED for beauty”:


I DIED for beauty

----By Emily Dickinson


I DIED for beauty, but was scarce

Adjusted in the tomb,

When one who died for truth was lain

In an adjoining room.


He questioned softly why I failed?

“For beauty,” I replied.

“And I for truth,—the two are one;

We brethren are,” he said.


And so, as kinsmen met a night,

We talked between the rooms,

Until the moss had reached our lips,

And covered up our names.



我为美而死,

---欧阳京译


我为美而死,

可入土尚未长眠,

一个为真理而死的人,

就躺到我的坟墓旁边.


他轻轻地问我为何失败

我回答:“为了美。”

“而我为了真理,----二者是一,”

他说,“我们是兄弟。”


于是晚聚,兄弟一般

我们隔着房间谈心

直到,苔藓爬上我们的嘴唇

覆盖了彼此的姓名


十五、


艾米莉另一首关于死亡的诗,是《苏菲的选择》里被引用过的,作为学习英语,让英语成为你生命一部分的引子:


Because I could not stop for Death –

---By Emily Dickinson


Because I could not stop for Death –

He kindly stopped for me –

The Carriage held but just Ourselves –

And Immortality.


We slowly drove – He knew no haste

And I had put away

My labor and my leisure too,

For His Civility –


We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess – in the Ring –

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –

We passed the Setting Sun –


We paused before a House that seemed

A Swelling of the Ground –

The Roof was scarcely visible –

The Cornice – but a mound–


Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet

Feels shorter than the Day

I first surmised the Horses' Heads

Were toward Eternity –


因为我不能为死神止步 -

他就好意为我停留 -

马车上除了我们 -

还有不朽。


我们缓缓前行 - 唯知从容

我也已经撇开

我的劳苦和我的悠闲,

为他的礼仪 -


我们路过学校,孩子们追逐嬉戏

课间休息 - 操场里 -

我们路过注目的麦田 -

我们路过落日 -


我们暂停于一所房子

突出的大地 -

屋顶依稀可见 -

房檐 - 不过隆起 -


那已是 - 几个世纪之前 - 然而

感觉比那天更短

当我开始意识到

马首朝着永恒 -


当然,如果真要去更深度地理解这让很多人沉迷的死亡之思考。伯格曼的电影《第七封印》值得一看。


十六、


聂鲁达最负盛名的情诗集应该是他那本20岁时写就、被誉为“情诗圣经”的薄薄集子----《二十首情诗和一首绝望的歌》。


这本一共销售了100多万册的诗集是他的成名之作。他还写了一部《爱情十四行诗一百首》,关于爱情这个老掉牙且泛滥成灾的主题,能变着花样写出一百首十四行诗来,而且还能顶着斯大林主义者的恶名拿到诺贝尔文学奖,可见聂鲁达的写情诗的功力让人不得不服。


现在,让我们再读他一首独特的情诗,好对此有所体会:(当然,不是经过深刻爱情的过来人,乍读此诗,也许会觉得荒谬可笑,例如第一句“不是出于爱你,我不会爱你”就会让人觉得无聊。好比未经世事的人,在高中的时候,装模作样捧着聂鲁达的《我承认,我曾经历尽沧桑》,读着一头雾水。)



I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You (Sonnet LXVII)

By Neruda


I do not love you except because I love you;

I go from loving to not loving you,

From waiting to not waiting for you

My heart moves from cold to fire.


I love you only because it's you the one I love;

I hate you deeply, and hating you

Bend to you, and the measure of my changing love for you

Is that I do not see you but love you blindly.


Maybe January light will consume

My heart with its cruel

Ray, stealing my key to true calm.


In this part of the story I am the one who

Dies, the only one, and I will die of love because I love you,

Because I love you, Love, in fire and blood.



不是出于爱你,我不会爱你 (《爱情十四行诗一百首》第66首)

欧阳京译


不是出于爱你,我不会爱你

从爱到不爱

从等待到不再等待

我的心从冰冷到火热


爱你,只因为你是我的唯一

深深地恨你,恨着你

却屈服于你,对你的爱不可测度

不顾一切,盲目地爱你


也许一月的阳光,会

残忍地将我的心燃成灰

从此永无宁日


当爱已成往事,

我将是唯一的死者,因为爱你,死于爱你

因为我爱你,在火与血中,爱你


十七、


威廉 .恩内斯特.亨利(1849 – 1903)是一位有影响力的诗人,编辑,文艺批评家,对后维多利亚时代的英国文学影响很大。但是最为人称道的是他的诗----Invictus(拉丁文----不可征服)。此诗是为南非自由事业奋斗不止的曼德拉的最爱,在27年的监狱生活中,他曾反复朗读。此诗激励着他永不放弃,直到出狱成为南非第一位民选总统。(著名电影演员克林特.伊斯特伍德将曼德拉的经历拍成电影,电影名就是这首诗Invictus《不可征服》 。)


威廉从12岁开始受骨结核的折磨,直到26岁时,“笑声如歌、机智开朗、身材魁梧,肩膀宽阔,留着红胡子”的他不得接受截肢。在漫长两年的住院期间,作者写下许多诗歌,《不可征服》就是其中之一。


Invictus

By William Ernest Henley


Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.


In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.


Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.


It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.


不可征服

--欧阳京译


黑夜笼罩着我,

地狱般黑色,南极到北极

感谢那些神灵

赋予我不可征服的意志


在逆境的困苦里,

我不曾退缩,或者大哭

在命运的打击下,

我满头鲜血,却绝不屈服。


怒火与泪水之上

炼狱的恐惧突兀

然而多年欺凌之后

我依然毫无畏惧


无论戒律之罚如何深重

无论命运之门如何狭窄

我是我命运的主人

我是我灵魂的统帅


十八、

玛娅·安吉洛(Maya Angelou,英语发音:/ˈmaɪ.ə ˈændʒəloʊ/),原名Marguerite Ann Johnson,生于1928年4月4日。作为一位黑人作家、诗人、舞蹈家、演员和歌唱家,她出版了7本自传、三本散文、数部诗集,并为许多戏剧、电影和电视节目当过编剧,其写作生涯超过50年。她获得了众多的奖项和超过30个荣誉博士学位。最出名的是她的系列自传,叙述她的童年和成年早期的经验。


2014年5月28日,86岁的她,平静地去世于北卡罗琳娜Winston-Salem的家中。


这一首诗《非凡女人》是她诗歌代表作,非常受读者喜爱,因为它大胆、自信且不夸张做作,有女性作家中少见的那种豪迈气质。

读了此诗,你将明白“女人不是因为美丽而可爱,而是因为可爱而美丽”的真意。




Phenomenal Woman


Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size

But when I start to tell them,

They think I'm telling lies.

I say,

It's in the reach of my arms

The span of my hips,

The stride of my step,

The curl of my lips.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.


I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,

And to a man,

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees.

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees.

I say,

It's the fire in my eyes,

And the flash of my teeth,

The swing in my waist,

And the joy in my feet.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.


Men themselves have wondered

What they see in me.

They try so much

But they can't touch

My inner mystery.

When I try to show them

They say they still can't see.

I say,

It's in the arch of my back,

The sun of my smile,

The ride of my breasts,

The grace of my style.

I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.


Now you understand

Just why my head's not bowed.

I don't shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud.

When you see me passing

It ought to make you proud.

I say,

It's in the click of my heels,

The bend of my hair,

the palm of my hand,

The need of my care,

'Cause I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.


漂亮女人想知道我的秘密。

我长相并不迷人,也没有模特身样。

当我开始实话实说,

她们却以为我在说谎。

我说,

秘密在于我双臂直伸,

臀部宽展,

步姿豪迈,

朱唇微卷。

我是女人,

卓越巾帼。

非凡女人,

那就是我。


我步入房间,

冷静相怡。

走向某男,

余众站立或跪。

然而他们却将我簇拥,

像一群蜜蜂在飞。

我说,

秘密在于我明目似火,

皓齿如冰

腰肢摆动,

步履轻盈。

我是女人,

卓越巾帼。

非凡女人,

那就是我。


男人们自己也迷惑,

在我身上看到什么?

他们努力寻觅,

却总无法触及

我内在的秘密。

当我试图向他们表明,

他们仍然不知就里。

我说,

秘密在于我削肩直背,

笑脸如彤,

胸膛挺立,

举止雍容。

我是女人,

卓越巾帼。

非凡女人,

那就是我。


现在你们该明白

我为何不低垂头颅,

乱跳瞎叫,

或高声言语。

若见我走过,

你当志满踌躇。

我说,

秘密在于我脚跟踢踏,

秀发起伏,

手掌温厚,

予人呵护。


因为我是女人,

卓越巾帼。

非凡女人,

那就是我。


十九、


同样自信、豁达且富于力量与进取的,是她另一手脍炙人口的诗,《still I rise》,直译为《我仍升起》,其中读者可以看到作为黑人的作者对黑奴屈辱历史的回顾,例如《汤姆叔叔的小屋》在诗里一闪而过,给诗赋予了深刻的内涵与强大的力量。


Still I Rise

By Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may tread me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.


Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops.

Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I'll rise.


Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

Up from a past that's rooted in pain

I rise


I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.



我仍升起

欧阳京译


你可以将我写进历史

带着怨恨、扭曲的谎言,

你可以将我踩进泥土,

但是我仍升起,如尘烟

我的不屑让你不安吗?

为何你充满伤感?

因为我昂首阔步

仿佛客厅里有几口油井一般

正如太阳和月亮,

确定潮落潮涨,

正如希望高飞,

我必翱翔


你想看到我垮掉吗?

俯首低眉?

悲伤哭泣难自禁

弯腰驼背如泪垂?

我的高傲冒犯了你吗?

莫非你忍无可忍?

因为我仰天长笑,

仿佛后院有金矿在开垦。

你可以言语矢石,

你可以冷眼相伤

你可以害我以怨恨

但我仍升起,轻风飞扬


我的风情让你烦闷吗?

当我轻舞一场,

让你料想未及,

举手投足如珠玉放光。

从历史屈辱的小屋中,

我脱困而出

从痛苦深埋的过去里,

我挺身而出


我是深黑的大海,宽广跳跃

波涛翻腾,潮水突涨

我将恐惧的黑夜留在身后

我必翱翔

飞进黎明奇迹般的清亮中

我必翱翔

带着先辈赐予的智慧,

我是奴隶的希望和梦想

我必翱翔

我必翱翔

我必翱翔。


二十、


说道希望,艾米莉也有一首“轻灵”的诗:


'Hope' is the thing with feathers

Emily Dickinson


'Hope' is the thing with feathers—

That perches in the soul—

And sings the tune without the words—

And never stops—at all—


And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—

And sore must be the storm—

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm—


I've heard it in the chillest land—

And on the strangest Sea—

Yet, never, in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.



希望长着翅膀

--欧阳京译


希望长着翅膀

在灵魂中守望

它吟唱着无言的歌

从不停止飞翔


狂风里听到它的甜美

暴雨中它也一样

让多少人保持温暖

再痛也从未怯场


无论最冰冷的冻原

还是最险恶的海洋,

哪怕在绝境

也不索取丝毫报偿


廿一、


朗斯顿·休斯是另一位美国黑人诗人、小说家、剧作家、社会活动家、专栏作家。他是20世纪初以反种族歧视为主旨的哈莱姆文艺复兴运动的领袖之一。哈莱姆文艺复兴作品的特点是表现黑人民族自豪感,它通过文学、艺术、音乐中的作品向逐渐在社会上弥漫的种族主义气氛和成规旧俗发出挑战,追求黑人社会的公民社会参与、政治平等、经济文化自我决定意识,以此来促进进步主义或者社会主义政治的发展,以及民族融合和社会融合。所以哈莱姆文艺复兴运动也被称为新黑人运动。


例如朗斯顿在所谓的新潮黑人时代(十九世纪二十年代,The Negro was in Vogue)所写的诗“My People”就是这样一个作品,节选如下:


"My People" (October 1923)


The night is beautiful,

So the faces of my people.


The stars are beautiful,

So the eyes of my people


Beautiful, also, is the sun.

Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.


黑夜美,

我们的脸也美


星星美,

我们的眼睛也美


美,属于太阳,

美,也属于我们的灵魂


老实说,除了强烈的种族意识,朗斯顿的诗应该说是乏善可陈,除了他的一首短小有力的诗《梦想》:


Dreams


Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.


Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.



抓紧梦想

如果梦想死亡

生命就如折翅的鸟

不会飞翔


抓紧梦想

如果梦想离开

生命就像贫瘠的荒原

冰封雪盖


廿二、


美国作家、诗人、文学批评家埃德加.爱伦.坡一生可谓时运艰难。


他一岁时被父亲抛弃,2岁亡母成为孤儿。成年后虽然继承了一大笔钱却挥霍无度且赌博输钱无数,因贫穷大学只读了一个学期,然后虚报年龄假名入伍,同时开始出版作品。进入西点军校后,却因厌倦故意让学校除名。然后专注于文学杂志与期刊,以文学批评著名,他经常批评的对象,是华德华斯.朗费罗,例如他指责朗费罗剽窃。不过他却准确地预言了朗费罗的名声和诗歌风格的衰落,他说:“朗费罗的作品质量很高,可惜没有前途。”


作为侦探小说的文艺体裁的发明者,他纯粹靠写作为生,却终于穷困潦倒。26岁时,他和小他13岁的表妹Virginia Clemm结婚。1845年他发表了引起轰动的诗作《渡鸦》(The Raven),让他声名鹊起, 立即取得了成功。两年后,他24岁的爱妻Virginia因病亡故。不久,1849年,40岁的艾伦坡在巴尔的摩去世。死因未知,却引起了种种猜测,例如酗酒、脑瘤、霍乱、自杀、药物滥用等等,特别是因为他的传记作者造谣杜撰,将爱伦坡形容成一个道德败坏者、酒徒、瘾君子、疯子,更是让他的死因神秘化了。


这里,我们欣赏的是他为英年早逝的亡妻Virginia创作的一首让人心痛彻骨的悼亡诗,《安娜贝尔.李》,此诗想象丰富、结构精致、情感深厚,让人读了柔肠百结。特别是最后一段,精彩的句中押韵与句间押韵,让整个段落完整优美如璞玉无瑕,读来余音绕梁。这一段是任何中文诗歌都无法相比的,也因此无从翻译。记得我中学熟读此诗原文,最后一段至今不忘,可见其文采让人刻骨铭心。



Annabel Lee


By Edgar Allan Poe


It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

By the name of ANNABEL LEE;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

Than to love and be loved by me.


I was a child and she was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea;

But we loved with a love that was more than love-

I and my Annabel Lee;

With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven

Coveted her and me.


And this was the reason that, long ago,

In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

My beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her highborn kinsman came

And bore her away from me,

To shut her up in a sepulchre

In this kingdom by the sea.


The angels, not half so happy in heaven,

Went envying her and me-

Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,

In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.


But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we-

Of many far wiser than we-

And neither the angels in heaven above,

Nor the demons down under the sea,

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.


For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,

In the sepulchre there by the sea,

In her tomb by the sounding sea.

安娜贝尔.李

欧阳京译


很多很多年以前,

在一个海边的王国里,

住着一位少女,你或许知道

她名叫安娜贝尔·李;

这位少女的活着没有其他念头

除了爱我和被我珍惜。


那时我们都还年少,

在这个海边的王国里,

但是我们的爱比爱更强烈 -

我和我的安娜贝尔·李;

这爱让天上的六翼天使

都充满恨嫉。


这就是为什么,很久以前,

在这个海边的王国里,

一阵冷风从云中吹来,

冻僵了我美丽的安娜贝尔·李;

她高贵的先辈从天而下,

将她从我身边带离,

把她关进一座墓庐

在这个海边的王国里。


那些天使,没有我们一半幸福

就把我们来妒忌——

对!——就是这原因(这谁都明白,

在这个海边的王国里)

那阵风从云中寅夜降下,

冻死了我的安娜贝尔·李。


但是我们的爱,

远比年长者的爱——

也比睿智者的爱,更坚毅——

无论是天堂使者

还是恶魔深藏海底,

都无法将我们的灵魂相隔——

我和我美丽的安娜贝尔·李。


只要月光洒下,我就梦见

美丽的安娜贝尔·李;

只要星星升起,我就看见她明亮的双眸

美丽的安娜贝尔·李;

所以,每当夜里潮起,我都躺在

我亲爱的——亲爱的——我的生命----我的新娘身边,

在海边的墓庐里,

在喧嚣海边她的坟墓里。


廿三、


“不是我忘记了过去,相反,记忆如此深刻,我绝不想让它再次发生。”


艾伦坡的另一首诗《梦中之梦》,显然还没有人正确且优美地翻译过的。就像艾伦坡的悲惨身世,此诗也伤感悲催,然而情感复杂微妙,从绝望到怀疑,从坚定到动摇,如果不细细体会,很容易落入“再创作”的陷阱。


原诗如下:

A Dream Within A Dream

By Edgar Allan Poe


Take this kiss upon the brow!

And, in parting from you now,

Thus much let me avow--

You are not wrong, who deem

That my days have been a dream;

Yet if hope has flown away

In a night, or in a day,

In a vision, or in none,

Is it therefore the less gone?

All that we see or seem

Is but a dream within a dream.


I stand amid the roar

Of a surf-tormented shore,

And I hold within my hand

Grains of the golden sand--

How few! yet how they creep

Through my fingers to the deep,

While I weep--while I weep!

O God! can I not grasp

Them with a tighter clasp?

O God! can I not save

One from the pitiless wave?

Is all that we see or seem

But a dream within a dream?

A Dream Within A Dream


梦中之梦


让我轻吻你的额际

从此与你别过

让我郑重地告诉你

没错,

过去我就是在梦里

若希望飞去

在黑夜,还是在白昼

在盼望,或者无望

多少已不再重要?

因为我们一切所见所感

不过是梦里的梦一场。


站在海风怒吼

大浪淘尽的海滩

我捧起一抔细沙

粒粒金黄--

一点点,穿过指缝

潜入大海深处

当我痛哭--当我痛哭!

哦上帝!为什么不让我

将它们紧紧抓获?

哦上帝!为什么不让我

在无情浪花中挽留一朵?

难道我们一切所见所感,

真的是梦里的梦一场?


廿四、


英国小说家、诗人、记者、儿童文学大家、童子军创办人之一鲁德亚德·吉卜林(Rudyard Kipling),生于印度孟买。作为最年轻的1907年诺贝尔文学奖获得者,他尤其长于短篇小说创作。 他一生享有很多荣誉,但非常有趣的是他居然决绝了英国桂冠诗人(Poet Laureate)和骑士的称号。


在他创作初期,他作为一名记者一面周游印度,一面写短篇小说和诗歌。其中最著名小说例如著名的短篇小说集"The Man Who Would Be King" 和著名的诗歌《东西方民谣》(The Ballad of East and West)就在这个时期完成。


他的儿童文学作品也非享有盛名。经典作品如《原来如此·吉卜林故事集》(Just So Stories for Little Children),和《基姆》(Kim)。




他的作品带有太多的政治色彩,吉卜林在对印度殖民地生活的描绘中,经常表露出对殖民主义的支持,他认为没有英国,印度等殖民地国家就不能生存。这种很有点种族主义的味道,例如他的小说开篇就说“他像东方人一样说谎”(He could lie like an Oriental),因此备受争议,例如乔治奥威尔就把他称为“大英帝国的先知。”


吉卜林对印度文化的影响很大,例如的诗歌《东西方民谣》第一句:OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,让我想起当初住在澳大利亚Ringwood的时候,路边有一个印度杂货店,取了一个让人印象深刻的名字,叫做Where West Meet East。


当然,印度文化对吉卜林的影响也不小。例如他广为流传的写给儿子约翰吉卜林的励志诗《If》也被认为更像一首英语版的薄伽梵歌。


这里,有必要谈一下吉卜林的儿子之死。吉卜林大力鼓励儿子参加一战,尽管儿子近视很严重,多次体检不过关被拒绝,吉卜林却通过自己的私人关系,把儿子”办“进了爱尔兰近卫军。不久,约翰在战壕中脸部负伤痛苦地死去,尸骨无存。


儿子死后,虽然吉卜林仍然作品不断,但他一直负疚深重,最后不得不以给妻女大声朗读简奥斯丁的作品来缓解伤痛。


读了此诗,也许读者会对吉卜林这一奇怪的做法多一点理解。



If

by Rudyard Kipling


If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too:

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;


If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;

If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same:.

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;


If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings,

And never breathe a word about your loss:

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"


If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much:

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!



《如果》

欧阳京译


如果你在众人六神无主

无端指责之时,沉着冷静;

如果你在众人猜疑之时,

坚定自信,且容忍猜疑;

如果你可以等待,不为等待所累;

被人欺骗,却不从事欺骗;

被人忌恨,却不让步于忌恨,

即不故作善良,也不自作聪明;


如果你有梦想,却不耽于梦想

如果你善于思索,却不止于思索

如果你胜不骄,败不馁,

成功失败,一视同仁

哪怕听到恶棍扭曲事实愚弄他人

你也一样坚持真理

或者看到所珍惜的事物破碎毁灭

不过埋头苦干重建一切;


如果你敢于将成就孤注一掷,

哪怕一切化为乌有;

即使失败,也能从头开始;

毫不在意,仿佛从不曾失手:

如果你把所有的精力和头脑

用于你的目标,哪怕精力不再

直到你失去一切,仍不放弃,

只有意志依然高喊:”坚守!“


如果你能与匹夫交谈而不失品德

与君王散步而不惊慌失色;

如果敌人和挚友都无法伤害你;

如果你看重所有人,却不依赖任何一个:

如果你能把生命的每一分钟

都用充实的六十秒填满,

那么,天地一切都属于你,

更重要的是---你就是真正的男子汉,

我的儿子!


廿五、


THE FLIGHT OF YOUTH


By Richard Henry Stoddard


There are gains for all our losses,

There are balms for all our pain:

But when youth, the dream, departs

It takes something from our hearts,

And it never comes again.


We are stronger, and are better,

Under manhood's sterner reign:

Still we feel that something sweet

Followed youth, with flying feet,

And will never come again.


Something beautiful is vanished,

And we sigh for it in vain;

We behold it everywhere,

On the earth, and in the air,

But it never comes again!



飞逝的青春

欧阳京 译

所失必有所得

苦尽必定甘来

然而梦想之青春

从心灵深处飞去

永不复返


成年恪守的信条

使我们更为强壮、优秀

可是那些甜蜜的感觉

随着青春如飞的步伐

一去再不复返


美丽已经调零

我们却枉自叹息

那在泥土中生长

在空气里荡漾的青春

从此一去永不复返



廿六、


Song

Christina Rossetti


When I am dead, my dearest,

Sing no sad songs for me;

Plant thou no roses at my head,

Nor shady cypress tree:

Be the green grass above me

With showers and dewdrops wet:

And if thou wilt, remember,

And if thou wilt, forget.


I shall not see the shadows,

I shall not feel the rain;

I shall not hear the nightingale

Sing on as if in pain:

And dreaming through the twilight

That doth not rise nor set,

Haply I may remember,

And haply may forget.


克里斯蒂娜 罗瑟蒂

翻译:欧阳京


当我死去,我的至爱,

不要唱忧伤的歌;

不要把玫瑰,种在头顶,

也不要青葱的柏树:

只要绿草如茵

被大雨和露珠润湿:

若你凋零,那就回忆,

若你凋零,那就忘记。


我将不再看到阴影,

不再感受雨滴;

不再听到夜莺

仿佛在痛苦中吟唱:

穿越黄昏的梦,

永不日落,

而我,偶尔回忆,

偶尔忘记。 廿七、



 这几日,独自带着儿子,上班、下班、做饭、洗衣、跑步,日子过得无比之充忙。然而,前些日子读艾略特,被这样的句子所感染:


Choruses from " The Rock "

- T. S. Eliot


The Eagle soars in the summit of Heaven,   The Hunter with his dogs pursues his circuit.   O perpetual revolution of configured stars,   O perpetual recurrence of determined seasons,   O world of spring and autumn, birth and dying   The endless cycle of idea and action,   Endless invention, endless experiment,   Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;   Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;   Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.   All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,   All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,   But nearness to death no nearer to GOD.   Where is the Life we have lost in living?   Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?   Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?   The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries   Bring us farther from GOD and nearer to the Dust.,



欧阳京译   苍鹰在天堂尖峰盘旋   猎手牵着猎狗追逐猎物   哦,列星永恒的斗转   哦,四季永恒的反复   哦,春秋生死的世界   无尽的思想和行动   无尽的发明和实验   带来的是---   关于运动的知识,而不是静止   关于语言的知识,而不是沉默   关于言辞的知识,而不是神的话   所有的知识,让我们更接近无知   所有的知识,让我们更接近死亡   接近死亡,而不是接近神   在生活中失去的生命在哪里?   在知识中失去的智慧在哪里?   在信息中失去的知识在哪里?   二十世纪的天堂回转   把我们带近尘土而不是永远的神   想起生活,犹如墨尔本的天气,冷暖难测;想起大洋那边,五味俱陈。人生起伏,唯有根基难忘,荣也好,辱也好,祖国二字,仿佛瞬间冰冻,让人凉透。   也罢,当小儿沉睡,安详宁静降临。总要从杂乱的媒体目录中左翻右翻,一边看书,一边杂七杂八地听上一耳朵的音乐。从通俗到古典,从经典到烂漫,还是巴洛克最适合在读书的时候听。可是一曲短短的帕赫贝尔的卡农,被岁月尘封的两百多年,久而弥香,轻轻响起,竟让人无法集中注意力读书,总是试图去分辨,到底三把小提琴,分别在演奏哪些个旋律,可是它们时分时合,配合得天衣无缝却扑朔迷离,精致细腻,让人回味无穷。以前听巴赫的赋格,被那些“象钟表一样准确的”音符组合弄得颠倒不已,一曲卡农,复杂程度尤其超过巴赫的赋格,让人想见作者把音乐当成精密仪器来弄的趣味。短短几分钟的曲子,竟让人如此痴迷。一日不听,便若有所失。   于是长叹,卡农、卡农,竟一时语塞,睡觉去也。



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2 comentários


ChocBrxwnie :3
ChocBrxwnie :3
09 de out. de 2022

29、


朗斯顿·休斯的另一首名诗是《Harlem》。Harlem是曼哈顿的一个黑人聚集区,1920年他搬入该区,做为现代美国文学艺术史的一个重要人物,他成为了 Harlem Renaissance哈莱姆文艺复兴的核心。


Harlem

BY LANGSTON HUGHES


What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore—

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over—

like a syrupy sweet?


Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.


Or does it explode?


迟到实现的梦会怎样?

它会干吗?

象阳光下的葡萄干?

或者象伤口

发炎扩散?


它会像腐肉发臭吗?

或者清脆

如枫树浆糖?


也许它只会消沉

如重担。


或者爆发,

象炸弹?


Curtir

ChocBrxwnie :3
ChocBrxwnie :3
04 de out. de 2022

廿八、


以一生的痛苦去换取成功,那么不如不成功。做任何事情都需要天赋,其中最重要的是长久追求一个东西而不感到厌倦,却总能发现新乐趣。


五十而知命,看不穿这个时代所谓的成功,这是另一种意义上的失败。 想起艾米丽迪金森的诗:


Success is counted sweetest


Success is counted sweetest By those who ne'er succeed. To comprehend a nectar Requires sorest need. Not one of all the purple Host Who took the Flag today Can tell the definition So clear of victory As he defeated – dying – On whose forbidden ear The distant strains of triumph Burst agonized and clear!


成功最为甜美

欧阳京译


只有在从未成功的眼里,

成功才最为甜美。

欲饮琼浆,

先把苦尝。


哪怕是浴血紫袍的士兵

最后扛起战旗

也不能说清

胜利的含义


而他 - 濒死的战败者,

耳朵里传来的

遥远胜利,紧张爆发

痛苦而清澈

Curtir
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