《西罗普郡一少年》
XIII
第十三首
当我二十一岁时
英国 A. E. 豪斯曼原著
Alfred Edward Housman (1859 – 1936)
徐家祯翻译
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
“Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;
Give pearls away and rubies
But keep your fancy free.”
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me.
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard him say again,
“The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
’Tis paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue.”
And I am two-and-twenty,
And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.
当我二十一岁时,
听见一位智者这么讲:
“可以抛弃基尼、克朗和金镑,
可决不能将心出让;
可以抛弃宝石和珍珠,
可必须保存自由的幻想。”
而那时我二十一岁,
这样的话对我毫无用场。
当我二十一岁时,
我又听见他这么讲:
“要想取得那颗心,
决不可能白白地得自胸膛;
你得付出无数的叹息,
还要花费无穷的懊丧。”
现在我已二十二岁,
喔,正是这样!正是这样!
上世纪七0年前后译于
上海江苏路安定坊僦居
二0一四年七月三十一日改译于
澳大利亚刻来佛寺新红叶山庄