最近，读到两本诗集中非马先生的诗作与译作：诗作《有一次我要一只鸟唱歌》被收入《中国现代诗一百首》（汉英对照），中国对外翻译出版公司、商务印书馆（香港）有限公司；1993年12月第1版；厐秉钧、闵福德、高尔登编译。译作I Walked in a Desert（《我走在沙漠上……》）与In the Desert ...（《在沙漠……》）被收入《经典英语诗歌：汉英对照》，世界图书出版西安公司；2008年3月第1版；薛小杰分册主编。

 

有一次我要一只鸟唱歌

非马

 

它说我唱

不出来也不想唱

这不是春天

 

我捏著它的脖子

说

唱呀唱呀

不唱歌算什么鸟

 

它挣扎著

但终于没唱成

 

我现在想

其实鸟没错

又不是诗人

哪能一年到头

说唱就唱

 

但那时候我只一心

要它唱歌

竟没注意到

春天就在我手里

微颤著

断气

 

Once I Forced a Bird to Sing

Fei Ma

 

It said, “I can’t,

I don’t want to,

It isn’t spring.”

 

I pinched it by the neck.

“Come on, sing:

What kind of bird are you

If you won’t sing?”

 

It struggled in my hand,

But to the end refused.

 

Now when I think of it,

The bird was really right.

It was no poet.

How could it sing to order

All year round?

 

But I was too intent

For it to sing

To notice

That spring was in my hand,

Quivering

Its last breath.

（庞秉钧、闵福德、高尔登 译）

 

 

附：非马先生自译：

 

ONCE I ASKED A BIRD TO SING

William Marr

 

he said no, I can’t

and I won’t

it’s not spring

 

I grasped his neck

and yelled

SING! SING!

WHAT KIND OF BIRD ARE YOU IF YOU DON’T SING

he gasped and struggled

but to the end he did not utter

one single note

 

I now realize

it really wasn’t his fault

not being a poet

he could not sing

uninspired

 

but possessed by a burning passion

I insisted on his singing then and there

and did not notice in my hand

spring had expired in agony

 

 

 

I Walked in a Desert

Stephen Crane

 

I walked in a desert.

And I cried,

“Ah, God, take me from this place!”

A voice said, “It is no desert.”

I cried, “Well, but —

“The sand, the heat, the vacant horizon.”

A voice said, “It is no desert.”

 

我走在沙漠上……

 

我走在沙漠上，

我大叫，

“啊，上帝，带我离开这地方！”

一个声音说，“这不是沙漠。”

我大叫，“哦，可是——

“这沙，这热，这空无一物的地平线。”

一个声音说，“这不是沙漠。”

（非马 译）

 

 

In the Desert …

Stephen Crane

 

In the desert

I saw a creature, naked, bestial,

Who, squatting upon the ground,

Held his heart in his hands,

And ate of it.

I said, “Is it good, friend?”

“It is bitter — bitter,” he answered;

“But I like it

“Because it is bitter,

“And because it is my heart.”

 

在沙漠……

 

在沙漠

我看到一个生物，赤条条，象只野兽

蹲在地上，

手里捧著他的心，

在吃。

我说，“好吃吗，朋友？”

“很苦——很难吃，”他回答；

“但我喜欢它

“因为它苦，

“因为它是我的心。”

（非马 译）