爱；婚姻；孩子；施与；饮食；劳作；欢乐与忧愁；居室；衣服；买卖；罪与罚；法律；自由； 理性与热情；痛苦；自知；教育；友谊；言谈；时间；善与恶；祈祷；享乐；美；宗教；死亡；告别 The Coming of the Ship 船的来临 Almustafa, the chosen and the beloved, who was a dawn unto 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. 被选和被爱的艾勒·穆斯塔法，当代的曙光，已在奥法利斯城等候了十二年，期待着他的航船前来迎 他返回自己出生的岛屿。 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. 时值第十二载，“颐露”月的第七日，他登上没有城墙阻隔的山岗，眺望大海；他看到他的航船正从 雾霭中驶来。 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. 他的心胸豁然开朗，他的喜悦越过海面，流溢远方。他轻闭双眸，在灵魂的静默中祈祷。 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. 当他步下山岗时，却有一阵悲哀袭来。他心中默想：我怎能毫无愁绪、平静地告别？不，我无法离开 这座城市而不负任何精神创伤。 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? 在这城垣中，我度过了多少漫长的痛苦日子，又经历了多少漫长的孤寂夜晚；谁能够毫无眷恋地离开 他的痛苦和孤寂？ 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. 我曾将那么多心灵碎片撒落于这大街小巷，我曾有那么多希望之子赤裸地穿行于这丘陵山岗，我不能 没有负荷、没有痛苦地弃之而去。 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. 今天，我不是脱去一件罩衣，而是用自己的手撕裂一层肌肤。我留在身后的不是一种思绪。而是一颗 因饥渴而甜蜜的心。 Yet I cannot tarry longer. The sea that calls all things unto her calls me, and I must embark. For to stay, though the hours burn in the night, is to freeze and crystallize and be bound in a mould. 但我却无法再滞留。那召唤一切的大海在召唤我，我必须登舟了。因为尽管时光在夜晚燃烧，但留下 却意味着冻结，被禁烟于铸模。 Fain would I take with me all that is here. But how shall I? 多么希望将这里的一切带到身边，但我怎么能够？ A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that give it wings. Alone must it seek the ether. 声音无法带走赋予它翅翼的唇舌，它只能独自寻找天空。 And alone and without his nest shall the eagle fly across the sun. 苍鹰不携巢禾，才能独自飞越太阳。 Now when he reached the foot of the hill, he turned again towards the sea, and he saw his ship approaching the harbour, and upon her prow the mariners, the men of his own land. 他行至山脚，再次面向大海，看到他的航船已驶近港湾，船头是来自故乡的水手。 And his soul cried out to them, and he said: 于是他的灵魂向他们发出呼唤，说道： Sons of my ancient mother, you riders of the tides, 我古老母亲的子孙，你们这弄潮的健儿， How often have you sailed in my dreams. And now you come in my awakening, which is my deeper dream. 多少次你们沉浮于我的梦境。如今你们驶入我的清醒，也就是我更深的梦境。 Ready am I to go, and my eagerness with sails full set awaits the wind. 我已整装待发，我的希望与扬起的帆一起等待着风起。 Only another breath will I breathe in this still air, only another loving look cast backward, 只想再呼吸一口这宁静的气息，再回首投下深情的一瞥。 Then I shall stand among you, a seafarer among seafarers. 然后我就会加入到你们的中间，宛如水手在水手中间。 And you, vast sea, sleepless mother, Who alone are peace and freedom to the river and the stream, 而你，浩渺的大海，不眠的母亲，江河溪流唯一的安宁与自由， 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. 等这溪流再绕过一道弯，林中空地再传来一阵温偏低语，我就会投入你的慈怀，犹如无穷之水滴融入 无穷之大海。 And as he walked he saw from afar men and women leaving their fields and their vineyards and hastening towards the city gates. 行走间，他远远地看到男人们和妇女们离开了农田与果园，纷纷涌向城门。 And he heard their voices calling his name, and shouting from the field to field telling one another of the coming of the ship. 他听到他们呼唤着自己的名字，在田野奔走相告航船到达的消息。 And he said to himself: 他问自己： Shall the day of parting be the day of gathering? 莫非分别的一刻也是相聚的时分？ And shall it be said that my eve was in truth my dawn? 难道我的夜晚实际是我的黎明？ 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? 我能为那些放下耕田犁体、停下酿酒转轮的人们奉献什么？ Shall my heart become a tree heavy-laden with fruit that I may gather and give unto them? 是以心灵为树，采摘累累果实与他们分享？ And shall my desires flow like a fountain that I may fill their cups? 还是将渴望化作涌泉，倾满他们的杯盏？ Am I a harp that the hand of the mighty may touch me, or a flute that his breath may pass through me? 是作一架强者之手可以弹拨的竖琴，还是一管他们呼吸可以穿过我身躯的长笛？ A seeker of silences am I, and what treasure have I found in silences that I may dispense with confidence? 我是个寻求寂寞的人，我在寂寞中究竟觅得了什么宝藏，使我得以自信地施与？ If this is my day of harvest, in what fields have I sowed the seed, and in what unrembered seasons? 如果今天是收获的日子，那么我是在哪个被遗忘的季节和哪片土地上播撒的种子？ If this indeed be the our in which I lift up my lantern, it is not my flame that shall burn therein. 如果此刻的确是我举起明灯的时候，那灯中燃烧的并不是我点燃的焰火。 Empty and dark shall I raise my lantern, 我举起的灯空虚而晦暗， And the guardian of the night shall fill it with oil and he shall light it also. 夜的守护者将为它添上油，点起火。 These things he said in words. But much in his heart remained unsaid. For he himself could not speak his deeper secret. 他用语言倾诉了这些，但还有许多未说出的话藏在心间。因为他自己也无法表达自己更深的秘密。 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. 他回到城中，人们纷纷迎上来。他们异口同声地呼唤着他。 And the elders of the city stood forth and said: 城中的老者趋前说道： Go not yet away from us. 请不要就这样离开我们。 A noontide have you been in our twilight, and your youth has given us dreams to dream. 你一直是我们黄昏中的正午，你的青春引导我们的梦幻进入梦幻。 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. 你并不是我们中间的陌生者，也不是过客，你是我们的儿子，我们诚挚爱戴的人。不要让我们的眼睛 因渴望见到你的面容而酸楚。 And the priests and the priestesses said unto him: 男女祭司对他说道： Let not the waves of the sea separate us now, and the years you have spent in our midst become a memory. 请不要现在就让海浪将我们分开，让你在我们中间度过的岁月成为回忆。 You have walked among us a spirit, and your shadow has been a light upon our faces. 你似精魂在我们之中行走，你的身影是映在我们脸上的光辉。 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. 我们一直如此热爱着你。但我们的爱曾悄然无语，被面纱遮掩。如今她大声呼唤你，坦然无饰地面对 你。 And ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation. 爱直到分别的时刻，才知道自己的深度。 And others came also and entreated him. 其他人也走上前挽留他。 But he answered them not. He only bent his head; and those who stood near saw his tears falling upon his breast. 但他没有作答。他低首不语，身边的人看到眼泪坠落到他的胸前。 And he and the people proceeded towards the great square before the temple. And there came out of the sanctuary a woman whose name was Almitra. And she was a seeress. 他与大家一起走向圣殿前的广场。一位名叫艾尔梅特拉的女子迎出圣殿。她是一位女预言家。 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. 他用无比温柔的目光看着她，因为正是她在他到达这座城市的第一天就追随他，笃信他。 And she hailed him, saying: Prophet of God, in quest for the uttermost, long have you searched the distances for your ship. 她向他致贺，说道：上帝的先知，为了寻求终极，你很久以来一直计算着你的航船的行程， And now your ship has come, and you must needs go. 如今船只已到，你必须离去了。 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. 你是如此深切地向往着你记忆的土地和你更大希冀之所；我们的爱不会羁绊你，我们的需要也不能滞 留你。 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. 不过，请你在离去之前对我们谈谈，为我们言说真理。我们将把它传给我们的子孙，他们再传给他们 的后代，使它永不湮灭。 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. 你在孤独中审视过我们的白昼，在清醒中倾听过我们梦中的哭泣与欢笑。 Now therefore disclose us to ourselves, and tell us all that has been shown you of that which is between birth and death. 因此现在请向我们披露我们自己，告诉我们你所知道的生与死之间的一切。 And he answered, 他回答道： People of Orphalese, of what can I speak save of that which is even now moving your souls? 奥法利斯城的民众啊，除了此刻激荡于你们灵魂中的事物外，我还能说些什么呢！ On Love 爱 Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love." 于是艾尔梅特拉说，请给我们谈谈爱吧。 And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them. And with a great voice he said: 他抬头望着众人，人群一片寂静。他用洪亮的声音说道： When love beckons to you follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep. 当爱挥手召唤你们时，跟随着他，尽管他的道路艰难而险峻。 And when his wings enfold you yield to him, Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. 当他展翼拥抱你们时，依顺着他，尽管他羽翼中的利刃会伤害你们。 And when he speaks to you believe in him, Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden. 当他对你们说话时，要相信他，尽管他的声音会击碎你的梦，像狂风尽扫园中的花。 For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.. 爱虽可为你们加冕，也能将你们钉上十字架。 Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. 他虽可助你们成长，也能将你们削砍剪刈。 Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, 他会攀至你们的高处，轻抚你们在阳光下颤动的最柔嫩的枝条， So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth. 他也会降至你们的根柢，动摇你们紧紧依附着大地的根须。 Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself. 爱把你们像麦捆般聚拢在身边。 He threshes you to make you naked. 他将你们脱粒，使你们赤裸。 He sifts you to free you from your husks. 他将你们筛选，使你们摆脱麸糠。 He grinds you to whiteness. 他碾磨你们，直至你们清白。 He kneads you until you are pliant; 他揉捏你们，直至你们柔顺。 And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast. 尔后，他把你们交与圣火，让你们成为上帝圣宴上的圣饼。 All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart. 这一切都是爱为你们所做，使你们或许能从中领悟自己心中的秘密，从而成为生命之心的一小部分。 But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure, 但是如果你们出于畏惧只去寻求爱的和美与爱的欢乐， Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor, 那你们最好掩起自己的赤裸，离开爱的打谷场， Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears. 踏入那没有季节的世界，在那里，你会开怀，但不是尽情欢笑；你会哭泣，但不是尽抛泪水。 Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. 爱除了自身别无所予，除了自身别无所取。 Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love. 爱不占有，也不被占有；因为爱有了自己就足够了。 When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, I am in the heart of God." 当你爱了，你不应说“上帝在我心中”，而应说“我在上帝心中”。 And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. 别以为你可以指引爱的方向，因为爱，如果他认为你配，将指引你的方向。 Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself. 爱别无他求，只求成全自己。 But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires: 但如果你爱了，又必定有所渴求，那就让这些成为你的所求吧： To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. 融化为一道奔流的溪水，在夜晚吟唱自己的清曲。 To know the pain of too much tenderness. 体会太多温柔带来的痛苦。 To be wounded by your own understanding of love; 被自己对爱的体会所伤害。 And to bleed willingly and joyfully. 心甘情愿地淌血。 To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving; 清晨，带着一颗生翼的心醒来，感谢又一个充满爱的日子； To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy; 午休，沉思爱的心醉神怡； To return home at eventide with gratitude; 黄昏，带着感激归家； And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips. 睡前，为你心中的挚爱祈祷，唇间吟诵着赞美诗。 On Marriage 婚姻 Then Almitra spoke again and said, "And what of Marriage, master?" 艾尔梅特拉又开口问道：婚姻又是怎样的呢，大师？ And he answered saying: 他回答道： You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. 你们一同降生，你们将永远相依。 You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days. 当死神的白色羽翼驱散你们的日子，你们也应在一起。 Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. 的确，你们始终相守，即使在上帝的记忆中。 But let there be spaces in your togetherness, 但在聚守中你们要保留空间， And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. 让空中的风在你们之间飞舞。 Love one another but make not a bond of love: 彼此相爱，但不要让爱成为束缚； Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. 让爱成为奔流于你们灵魂海岸间的大海。 Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. 盛满彼此的杯盏，但不要只从一只杯盏中取饮。 Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. 彼此互赠面包，但不要只向一块面包取食。 Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, 一起欢歌曼舞，但要保持各自的独立。 Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. 鲁特琴的琴弦也彼此分开，即使它们为同一首乐曲震颤。 Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. 奉献你们的心，但不要让对方保管。 For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. 因为只有生命之手才能接纳你们的心。 And stand together, yet not too near together: 站立在一起，但不要靠得太近； For the pillars of the temple stand apart, 因为殿宇的支柱总是彼此分立的， And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow. 橡树和松柏也不在彼此的阴影下生长。 On Children 孩子 And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children." 一位怀抱婴儿的妇女说，请给我们讲讲孩子。 And he said: 他说道： Your children are not your children. 你们的孩子并不是你们的孩子。 They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. 他们是生命对自身的渴求的儿女。 They come through you but not from you, 他们借你们而来，却不是因你们而来。 And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. 尽管他们在你们身边，却并不属于你们。 You may give them your love but not your thoughts. 你们可以把你们的爱给予他们，却不能给予思想， For they have their own thoughts. 因为他们有自己的思想。 You may house their bodies but not their souls, 你们可以建造房舍荫庇他们的身体，但不是他们的心灵， For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. 因为他们的心灵栖息于明日之屋，即使在梦中，你们也无缘造访。 You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. 你们可努力仿效他们，却不可企图让他们像你。 For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. 因为生命不会倒行，也不会滞留于往昔。 You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. 你们是弓，你们的孩子是被射出的生命的箭矢。 The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. 那射者瞄准无限之旅上的目标，用力将你弯曲，以使他的箭迅捷远飞。 Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; 让你欣然在射者的手中弯曲吧； For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable. 因为他既爱飞驰的箭，也爱稳健的弓。 On Giving 施与 Then said a rich man, "Speak to us of Giving." 一位富人接下来说，请为我们讲施与。 And he answered: 他答道： You give but little when you give of your possessions. 当你们拿出自己的财产时，你们的施与微不足道。 It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. 你们奉献自己时，才是真正的施与。 For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow? 因为你们的财产不就是一些你们担心明天可能需要才占有、才保护的东西吗？ And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city? 而明天，明天又能给那谨小慎微追随朝圣者，而又把骨头埋藏在荒沙里的狗带来什么？ And what is fear of need but need itself? 除了需要本身，你们还需要什么呢？ Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, thirst that is unquenchable? 当井水满溢，你对干渴的恐惧岂不就是一种无法解脱的干渴？ There are those who give little of the much which they have -- and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome. 有些人只捐弃自己财产中的一点一些——他们是为得到认可而施与，而他们隐藏的欲望使他们的馈赠 不成为美。 And there are those who have little and give it all. 也有一些人，他们拥有甚少，却全部付出。 These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty. 他们相信生命和生命的赠礼，他们的储柜从不空虚。 There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward. 有些人快乐地施与，这快乐就是他们的回报。 And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism. 有些人痛苦地施与，这痛苦就是他们的洗礼。 And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue; 还有一些人，给予时并不觉得痛苦，也不是为了寻求快乐，或布善施德； They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space. 他们施与，就像山谷那边的桃金娘散发芳香。 Though the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth. 上帝通过这些人之手施教，透过他们的双眸向大地微笑。 It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding; 被祈求时施与固然很好，但更高的境界是通过体察，在别人开口前相赠。 And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving. 对于慷慨的人，能找到乐于接受馈赠的人较之施与本身是更深的快乐。 And is there aught you would withhold? 你有什么不能舍弃的呢？ All you have shall some day be given; 总有一天，你所有的一切都将留与他人； Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors'. 所以现在就馈赠吧，把奉献的时机留给你自己，而不是你的继承人。 You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving."
