带来一篇旧译见故人玄槲。

因你而译。 感念你的友情和湖上的“船”。

 

1. The Coming of the Ship

 

船来了

纪伯伦
云天 译

Almustafa, the chosen and the beloved, who was a dawn onto his own day, had waited twelve years in the city of Orphalese for his ship that was to return and bear him back to the isle of his birth.

阿穆斯特法,

他被拣选和被爱戴,

是那个年代的曙光,

在奥法利斯城等了十二年,

等着他的船归返,

载他回出生的小岛.

And in the twelfth year, on the seventh day of Ielool, the month of reaping, he climbed the hill without the city walls and looked seaward; and he beheld the ship coming with the mist.

在第十二年, 收获月的第七天,

他爬上城外无墙的山坡,

眺望大海,

看到雾霭里驶来的船.

Then the gates of his heart were flung open, and his joy flew far over the sea. And he closed his eyes and prayed in the silences of his soul.

他的心扉豁然敞开,

他的欢乐飞向远方的大海.

闭上双目,

在灵魂的寂静里祷告.


But he descended the hill, a sadness came upon him, and he thought in his heart:
How shall I go in peace and without sorrow? Nay, not without a wound in the spirit shall I leave this city.

 

而当他走下山丘,

一股悲伤却袭来,

他心中想道:
我怎样才能平静离去,  没有忧伤?

不, 离开这个城市时，难免会有精神上的伤痛.

Long were the days of pain I have spent within its walls, and long were the nights of aloneness; and who can depart from his pain and his aloneness without regret?
Too many fragments of the spirit have I scattered in these streets, and too many are the children of my longing that walk naked among these hills, and I cannot withdraw from them without a burden and an ache.

 

在城墙之内,

我度过了漫长痛苦的白昼,

而黑夜又何其寂寞无边；

谁又能不无遗憾地与痛苦告别?

 

在这些街巷上,

我抛散过许多灵魂的碎片;

在这些山岗上,

有许多我牵挂的孩童们，

他们在那里赤裸行走;

与他们分手，我怎能不承载重负和痛苦.

It is not a garment I cast off this day, but a skin that I tear with my own hands.
Nor is it a thought I leave behind me, but a heart made sweet with hunger and with thirst.

Yet I cannot tarry longer.

The sea that calls all things unto her calls me, and I must embark.

 

今天, 我抛开的不是一件衣裳,

而是亲手撕开的一块皮肤.
它不是我留在身后的一缕思绪,

而是一颗饥渴醸成的甜蜜的心.
可是我却不能再耽搁了.
呼唤一切的大海正向我召唤,

我必须登船.

For to stay, though the hours burn in the night, is to freeze and crystallize and be bound in a mould.
Fain would I take with me all that is here. But how shall I?

A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that give it wings. Alone must it seek the ether.
And alone and without his nest shall the eagle fly across the sun.

因为, 虽然时间在夜里燃烧,

留下意味着冻结,僵化,拘囿于模子中.

我愿快乐地带走这里的一切.

但我又如何能够呢?

声音无法承载给它羽翼的唇舌.

它必须独自找寻天空.
飞鹰应离开巢窝,

独自掠过太阳.

Now when he reached the foot of the hill, he turned again towards the sea, and he saw his ship approaching the harbor, and upon her prow the mariners, the men of his own land.

现在，他走到山脚下,

再度转身，面向大海,

看见他的船正靠近港湾,

船头站着水手们,

那些来自他故土的人们.

And his soul cried out to them, and he said:
Sons of my ancient mother, you riders of the tides,

How often have you sailed in my dreams. And now you come in my awakening, which is my deeper dream.

 

他的灵魂向他们呼喊, 他说:
我远古母亲的儿子们,

你们这些弄潮儿,
多少次你们在我梦里航行.

此刻你们在我梦醒时来了,

这是我更深邃的梦.

Ready am I to go, and my eagerness with sails full set awaits the wind.
Only another breath will I breathe in this still air, only another loving look cast backward,
Then I shall stand among you, a seafarer among seafarers.

 

我就绪待发,

我期盼的船帆已张满,

殷切期待海风到来.

只要再吸一口寂静的空气,

只要再留恋地回望一眼,
我将站到你们当中,

成为水手中的一员.

And you, vast sea, sleepless mother,
Who alone are peace and freedom to the river and the stream,

Only another winding will this stream make, only another murmur in this glade,

And then shall I come to you, a boundless drop to a boundless ocean.

而你, 宽阔的大海啊, 不眠的母亲,

唯有你才能赋予河流溪水以平安与自由,
只等小溪再转一道弯,

在林间空地再低语一声,
我将来到你面前,

化做无边海洋中一滴自由的水珠.

And as he walked he saw from afar men and women leaving their fields and their vineyards and hastening towards the city gates.
And he heard their voices calling his name, and shouting from the field to field telling one another of the coming of the ship.

 

他继续走着,

看到远处的男人妇女都离开田野和匍萄园,

匆匆走向城门.
他听到他们在呼喊他的名字,

从一片田到另一片,

彼此转告船来的消息.

And he said to himself:
Shall the day of parting be the day of gathering?

And shall it be said that my eve was in truth my dawn?

And what shall I give unto him who has left his plough in midfurrow, or to him who has stopped the wheel of his winepress?

Shall my heart become a tree heavy-laden with fruit that I may gather and give unto them?

他自语道:

离别的日子会是相聚的日子吗?
可以说别离的前夕其实是我的拂晓吗?
对于那个中途抛开耕犁,

还有那个停下榨酒轮子的,

我该拿什么回报呢?
我的心会化做缀满果实的树,

把收获的果实回馈给他们吗?

And shall my desires flow like a fountain that I may fill their cups?
Am I a harp that the hand of the mighty may touch me, or a flute that his breath may pass through me?

我的愿望会如流淌的泉水,

斟满他们的杯子吗？

我会是一架竖琴,

让万能之神的手拨动吗？

抑或我是一支笛子,

任他的呼吸吹过我的身体?

A seeker of silences am I, and what treasure have I found in silences that I may dispense with confidence?
If this is my day of harvest, in what fields have I sowed the seed, and in what unremembered seasons?

我寻求寂静,

但我在静寂中能找到什么样的宝藏,

能让我自信地馈赠他人呢?

假如这是我收获的日子,

我曾在哪片地里洒过种子,

又是在哪个遗忘的季节里?

If this indeed be the hour in which I lift up my lantern, it is not my flame that shall burn therein.
Empty and dark shall I raise my lantern,

And the guardian of the night shall fill it with oil and he shall light it also.

假如这确是我举起灯笼的时辰,

那将燃烧的, 也不是我的光焰.

我举起的灯笼是空荡黑暗的,
夜的守护者将给它添满灯油, 点燃它.

These things he said in words. But much in his heart remained unsaid. For he himself could not speak his deeper secret.

这些事情是他说的话.

但更多的，留在心里没说出来.

因为他自己不能诉说心底的秘密.

And when he entered into the city all the people came to meet him, and they were crying out to him as with one voice.

当他走入城中,

所有的人都来迎接他,

他们同声高喊他.

And the elders of the city stood forth and said:

Go not yet away from us.

A noontide have you been in our twilight, and your youth has given us dreams to dream.

No stranger are you among us, nor a guest, but our son and our dearly beloved.

Suffer not yet our eyes to hunger for your face. Suffer not yet our eyes to hunger for your face.

城中长辈走向前, 说道:
请不要离开我们.
你是我们暮色中的正午,

你的青春给了我们梦想.
你不是我们当中的陌生人,

也不是客人,

而是我们的儿子和亲爱的人.
请不要让我们的眼睛因渴望你的面容而伤痛.

And the priests and the priestesses said unto him:
Let not the waves of the sea separate us now, and the years you have spent in our midst become a memory.
You have walked among us a spirit, and your shadow has been a light upon our faces.

Much have we loved you. But speechless was our love, and with veils has it been veiled.
Yet now it cries aloud unto you, and would stand revealed before you.

And ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.

 

祭司们和女祭司们对他说:

请不要让海浪现在把我们分离,

请不要让你在我们当中度过的岁月成为回忆.
你是走在我们当中的精灵,

你的影子是映照我们面孔的光亮.
我们非常爱你.

但我们的爱无以表达,

它被面纱所遮掩.
然而此刻它在向你高喊,

将站在你面前显现.
爱从来不知道它有多么深,

直到即将分离的那个时刻.

And others came also and entreated him.
But he answered them not. He only bent his head; and those who stood near saw his tears falling upon his breast.

And he and the people proceeded towards the great square before the temple.

别人也来恳求他.

但他不回答.

他只是低下头,

站在他身旁的人看到他的泪水落到胸前.
他同人们向神庙前的大广场走去.

And there came out of the sanctuary a woman whose name was Almitra. And she was a seeress.
And he looked upon her with exceeding tenderness, for it was she who had first sought and believed in him when he had been but a day in their city.

 

殿堂里走出一个女人,

名叫阿蜜翠. 是个女预言家.
他以无比的柔情注视着她,

因为在他到达他们这个城市的第一天,

是她第一个寻找他并且信任他.

And she hailed him, saying:
Prophet of God, in quest for the uttermost, long have you searched the distances for your ship.
And now your ship has come, and you must needs go.

Deep is your longing for the land of your memories and the dwelling place of your greater desires; and our love would not bind you nor our needs hold you.

Yet this we ask ere you leave us, that you speak to us and give us of your truth.

And we will give it unto our children, and they unto their children, and it shall not perish.

In your aloneness you have watched with our days, and in your wakefulness you have listened to the weeping and the laughter of our sleep.

Now therefore disclose us to ourselves, and tell us all that has been shown you of that which is between birth and death.

 

她向他行礼, 说道:

上帝的先知啊,

在追求最高信念的过程里,

你走过了漫长的路途,

寻找你的船.
现在你的船来了, 你必须离去.
你对记忆之地渴望深深,

你对更美的愿望之居盼望殷殷;

我们的爱和需求不该将你束缚.
但我们请求, 在你离开我们之前,

请给我们讲些话,

告诉我们你的真理.
我们将把它传给我们的孩子,

他们再传给他们的孩子,

真理将不会消亡.
在你孤寂中,

你护佑着我们的日子;

在你醒着时,

你倾听我们睡眠里的哭笑.
现在, 就请向我们昭示吧,

告诉我们在生死之间你所看见的一切.

And he answered,
People of Orphalese, of what can I speak save of that which is even now moving your souls?

他答道,

奥法利斯的人们,

除了此刻激荡你们灵魂的事物,

我还能说什么呢?

 

 

摄影：郎静山。  玄胡提供。

 

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