选自《草叶集》上册(人民文学出版社1994 年版)。楚图南译。
惠特曼(1819—1892),美国诗人。著有《给一个遭到挫败的欧洲革命者》《我听见美洲在歌唱》等诗歌。
《自己之歌》共52 节,这里选的是第31 节。
我相信一片草叶所需费的工程不会少于星星,
“I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.”
一只蚂蚁、一粒沙和一个鹪鹩[1]的卵都是同样地完美,
“And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren.”
雨蛙也是造物者的一种精工的制作,
“The tree-toad is a chef-d’œuvre for the highest.”
藤蔓四延的黑莓可以装饰天堂里的华屋,
“The running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven.”
我手掌上一个极小的关节可以使所有的机器都显得渺小可怜!
“The narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery.”
母牛低头啮草的样子超越了任何的石像,
“The cow crunching with depressed head surpasses any statue.”
一个小鼠的神奇足够使千千万万的异教徒吃惊。
“A mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels.”
我看出我是和片麻石、煤、藓苔、水果、谷粒、可食的菜根混合在一起,
“I see I am in the pieces of granite, and the coal, and the moss of the long-lived trees, and the fruits, and the grains, and the roots eatable.”
并且全身装饰着飞鸟和走兽,
“I am stucco’d with quadrupeds and birds all over.”
虽然有很好的理由远离了过去的一切,
“Though I have studied many times, I refuse to be modest.”
但需要的时候我又可以将任何东西召来。
“Yet when I need to I can call on any thing.”
逃跑或畏怯是徒然的,
“Running away or being afraid is useless.”
火成岩喷出了千年的烈火来反对我接近是徒然的,
“The eruption of the pent-up fires from thousand years to rage against me is useless.”
爬虫退缩到它的灰质的硬壳下面去是徒然的,
“The insect hiding itself under its hard shell is useless.”
事物远离开我并显出各种不同的形状是徒然的,
“All things separate from me and show themselves in various forms is useless.”
海洋停留在岩洞中,大的怪物偃卧在低处是徒然的,
“The ocean staying within the cave, the leviathan lying low, is useless.”
鹰雕背负着青天翱翔是徒然的,
“The eagle soaring over the mountains is useless.”
蝮蛇在藤蔓和木材中间溜过是徒然的,
“The snake gliding away through the brushwood is useless.”
麋鹿居住在树林的深处是徒然的,
“The moose hanging in the deep forest is useless.”
尖嘴的海燕向北飘浮到拉布多是徒然的,
“The sharp-billed sea-gull swaying northward to Labrador is useless.”
我快速地跟随着,我升到了绝岩上的罅隙中的巢穴。
“I follow quickly, I ascend to the nest in the fissure of the cliff.”
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://sites.google.com/view/pkuschool/xbz000/%e7%ac%ac%e5%9b%9b%e5%8d%95%e5%85%83/%e8%87%aa%e5%b7%b1%e4%b9%8b%e6%ad%8c%e8%8a%82%e9%80%89-%e6%83%a0%e7%89%b9%e6%9b%bc
-
〔鹪鹩〕jiāoliáo一种小型鸣禽,体长约10 厘米,羽毛赤褐色,略有黑褐色斑点。多在灌木丛中活动,吃昆虫等。
↩︎
Last edited by @suen 2024-08-18T02:41:29Z