123,123,123

I

一

First Love

初戀

Though nurtured like the sailing moon

是美色的孕育，

In beauty's murderous brood,

她美如滑行的月亮，

She walked awhile and blushed awhile

在我的小徑上漫步，

And on my pathway stood

臉上時而泛起紅暈，

Until I thought her body bore

我曾以為她的胸口里

A heart of flesh and blood.

藏著一顆血肉的心。

But since I laid a hand thereon

但我伸手過去，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)

And found a heart of stone

她的心有如石鑄，從此

I have attempted many things,

我的一切事情

And not a thing is done,

再不順?biāo)?，因?/td>

For every hand is lunatic

若伸手在月亮上摸索，

That travels on the moon.

定是神經(jīng)出了問題。

She smiled and that transfigured me

她的微笑改變了我的面容，

And left me but a lout,

自她去后，我如戲中的丑角，

Maundering here, and maundering there,

來回踱步，

Emptier of thought

內(nèi)心荒蕪，

Than the heavenly circuit of its stars

還不如群星在天上的軌跡自月亮離開之后。

Ⅱ

二

Human Dignity

人的尊嚴(yán)

Like the moon her kindness is,

她的好意就像那月亮，

If kindness I may call

若我可以

What has no comprehension in't,

把其中捉摸不透的、而對所有人

But is the same for all

都一樣的東西稱作好意，

As though my sorrow were a scene

好像我的憂傷只是一個劇中場景，

Upon a painted wall.

襯著身后裝飾過的墻壁。

So like a bit of stone I lie

于是我躺倒，像一塊石頭

Under a broken tree.

躺倒在枯樹下邊。

I could recover if I shrieked

若能

My heart's agony

把心中痛苦向著

To passing bird, but I am dumb

掠過的鳥兒嘶喊，

From human dignity.

或許我才能平復(fù)一些，但我無言，

When the moon sails out.

出于人的尊嚴(yán)。

Ⅲ

三

The Mermaid

美人魚

A mermaid found a swimming lad,

美人魚發(fā)現(xiàn)一位游水的少年，

Picked him for her own,

便捉他來，做自己的情郎，

Pressed her body to his body,

緊緊擁抱著他的身體，

Laughed;and plunging down

恣意地笑著，潛入水底；

Forgot in cruel happiness

卻忘記了啊，在殘忍的歡娛里，

That even lovers drown.

便是有情人也會溺斃。

Ⅳ

四

The Death of the Hare

野兔之死

I have pointed out the yelling pack,

我指出那狂吠的犬群所在，

The hare leap to the wood,

好讓野兔跳入樹林，

And when I pass a compliment

當(dāng)我對那低垂的眼眸致意時，

Rejoice as lover should

對那漲紅的臉兒致意時，

At the drooping of an eye,

便有了戀人的歡愉。

At the mantling of the blood.

Then suddenly my heart is wrung

突然間，我心絞痛，

By her distracted air

因她失神的容顏，

And I remember wildness lost

遂憶起那野性早失，

And after, swept from there,

便被推離，我站在

Am set down standing in the wood

那片樹林里，

At the death of the hare.

站在那野兔死去的地方。

V

五

The Empty Cup

空杯

A crazy man that found a cup,

瘋子找到了一只杯子，

When all but dead of thirst,

在焦渴的時候

Hardly dared to wet his mouth

卻不敢沾唇，

Imagining, moon-accursed,

心在迷亂，怕著

That another mouthful

若喝上一口，

And his beating heart would burst.

那狂跳的心就會爆裂。

October last I found it too

去年十月我找到了那只杯子，

But found it dry as bone,

卻發(fā)現(xiàn)它已是一只空杯，

And for that reason am I crazed

我因此而瘋癲，

And my sleep is gone.

因此而疏遠(yuǎn)了睡眠。

VI

六

His Memories

他的回憶

We should be hidden from their eyes,

我們應(yīng)該遠(yuǎn)離他們的目光，

Being but holy shows

只如圣靈般出現(xiàn)，

And bodies broken like a thorn

身軀碎裂如荊棘，

Whereon the bleak north blows,

任由凜冽的北風(fēng)吹打，

To think of buried Hector

想想已死的赫克托爾吧，他的名字

And that none living knows.

如今已再無人知。

The women take so little stock

我的所言所行

In what I do or say

女人們并不關(guān)注，

They'd sooner leave their cosseting

她們寧可離座

To hear a jackass bray;

去聽驢子的歌聲，

My arms are like the twisted thorn

而我那荊棘般的手臂，

And yet there beauty lay;

也曾有位美人枕過。

The first of all the tribe lay there

那是整個部落里最美的人兒，

And did such pleasure take—

與我歡愉——

She who had brought great Hector down

她曾使偉大的赫克托爾威風(fēng)掃地，

And put all Troy to wreck—

還毀滅了一座特洛伊，

That she cried into this ear,

而她，“若我尖叫就再用力些吧，”

‘Strike me if I shriek.'

——曾在我耳邊這樣私語。

VII

七

The Friends of His Youth

他青年時代的朋友們

Laughter not time destroyed my voice

是笑聲而非時光

And put that crack in it,

沙啞了我的聲音，

And when the moon's pot-bellied

每到月圓的時候

I get a laughing fit,

我陷入笑的痙攣，

For that old Madge comes down the lane,

因老梅吉從小巷走來，

A stone upon her breast,

抱著一塊石頭，

And a cloak wrapped about the stone,

一塊裹了斗篷的石頭，

And she can get no rest

她嘴里喃喃著不停，

With singing hush and hush-a-bye;

唱著催眠的歌兒，

She that has been wild

她曾狂野過，如今

And barren as a breaking wave

卻如碎裂的浪花，無力生育

Thinks that the stone's a child.

把石頭當(dāng)作嬰兒。

And Peter that had great affairs

彼得是個精力過人的家伙，

And was a pushing man

有過非凡的種種情事，

Shrieks,‘I am King of the Peacocks,'

他高喊著以孔雀王自詡，

And perches on a stone;

在石上歇息；

And then I laugh till tears run down

而我大笑著直到淚水流下，

And the heart thumps at my side,

心臟的胸口急跳，

Remembering that her shriek was love

想起從前，她的尖叫是因為愛情，

And that he shrieks from pride.

他的叫喊是因為驕傲。

VIII

八

Summer and Spring

夏天和春天

We sat under an old thorn-tree

我們坐在一棵老棘樹下，

And talked away the night,

談了整整一晚，

Told all that had been said or done

談起我們有生之年

Since first we saw the light,

做過的事，說過的話；

And when we talked of growing up

我們談起成年的時候

Knew that we'd halved a soul

裂去了一個完整的靈魂，

And fell the one in t'other's arms

談到只有依偎在彼此的懷里

That we might make it whole;

那靈魂才能再度合一；

Then Peter had a murdering look,

彼得突然露出兇巴巴的表情，

For it seemed that he and she

因為他和她

Had spoken of their childish days

也是在這棵樹下

Under that very tree.

似曾同樣談起過他們共同的童年。

O what a bursting out there was,

啊，怎樣的萌芽初吐，

And what a blossoming,

怎樣的花團錦簇，

When we had all the summer-time

當(dāng)我們擁有著整個夏季，

And she had all the spring!

而她，擁有著全部的春天。

IX

九

The Secrets of the Old

老人的秘密

I have old women's secrets now

如今，我知曉了老婦的秘密，

That had those of the young;

知曉了她們年輕時的往事；

Madge tells me what I dared not think

梅吉告訴了我一位戀人溺死的經(jīng)過，

When my blood was strong,

她的話像一支古老的謠曲，

And what had drowned a lover once

那是我年輕時候

Sounds like an old song.

也不敢想象的事情。

Though Margery is stricken dumb

要是瑪格麗也在，

If thrown in Madge's way,

也會被這些故事驚得無言，

We three make up a solitude;

而我們雖然三人一起，卻只感到孤單；

For none alive to-day

因為，今天在世的人啊，

Can know the stories that we know

無一知曉我們所知的往事，

Or say the things we say：

無一知曉我們所說的故事。

How such a man pleased women most

在所有逝去的人當(dāng)中，

Of all that are gone,

有那么一個男人曾經(jīng)被女人們喜歡，

How such a pair loved many years

有那么一對戀人曾經(jīng)相愛多年，

And such a pair but one,

許許多多的故事，

Stories of the bed of straw

富貴，貧賤，

Or the bed of down.

不再流傳。

X

十

His Wildness

他的狂野

O bid me mount and sail up there

啊，讓我上馬，起程，

Amid the cloudy wrack,

在無數(shù)殘骸中穿行，

For Peg and Meg and Paris'love

因為年輕的

That had so straight a back,

佩格、麥格、帕里斯的戀人

Are gone away, and some that stay

都已逝去，而留下的人

Have changed their silk for sack.

用綢緞?chuàng)Q取了麻布。

Were I but there and none to hear

如果我在那里，無人知曉，

1'd have a peacock cry,

我會讓一只孔雀啼叫，

For that is natural to a man

因這對一個活在回憶中的男人

That lives in memory,

是件再自然不過的事情；

Being all alone I'd nurse a stone

在無比的孤獨里，我情愿照看一塊石頭，

And sing it lullaby.

給它唱催眠曲聽。

XI

十一

From‘Oedipus at Colonus'

出自《俄狄浦斯在科洛努斯》

Endure what life God gives and ask no longer span;

安于上天給予的生命，不要祈求長壽，

Cease to remember the delights of youth, travel-wearied aged man;

倦旅中的老者啊，別再回想往昔的歡愉，

Delight becomes death-longing if all longing else be vain.

若一切渴望都?xì)w于徒勞，歡愉即會變作對死亡的渴望。

Even from that delight memory treasures so,

甚至，從那為記憶所珍藏的歡愉里，

Death, despair, division of families, all entanglements of mankind grow,

也會生出死亡、絕望、家庭的分裂、種種人世的糾葛，

As that old wandering beggar and these God-hated children know.

一如這流浪的老丐與這些被上天厭棄的孩童所知。

In the long echoing street the laughing dancers throng,

在滿是回聲的長街上擁擠著跳舞的人群，

The bride is carried to the bridegroom's chamber through torchlight and tumultuous song;

在火把與喧鬧的歌聲中，新娘被領(lǐng)入新郎的臥房，

I celebrate the silent kiss that ends short life or long.

我贊美那結(jié)束短暫或漫長生命的沉默的親吻。

Never to have lived is best, ancient writers say;

如古代作家們所說，最好的事情莫過于從未活過，

Never to have drawn the breath of life, never to have looked into the eye of day;

莫過于從未汲取過生命的氣息，從未凝視過白晝的眼眸，

The second best's a gay goodnight and quickly turn away.

其次，才是一聲愉快的晚安和迅速的轉(zhuǎn)身離去。

雙語詩歌|葉芝：一個男人的青春與暮年 A Man Young and Old

A Man Young and Old

一個男人的青春與暮年