原作是五音步抑揚格體英文詩歌。前幾天，翻譯家陶誌健先生在<美語世界>論壇發表了其七言體中文翻譯，譯文優美，功力深厚，受益良多。這裏，我把它以現代詩歌體的形式翻譯過來，不拘泥於原作音步格律，用現代白話語言，不漏掉不壓縮不擴展隻照搬原作意境與意像，原位出現，力求品其原汁原味。粗糙匆就之作，期盼陶先生及眾網友批評指正。
The Rhodora
On Being Asked, Whence Is The Flower?
《紫杜鵑》
有人問，花從哪裏來？
by Ralph Waldo Emerson
作者：拉爾夫·沃爾多·愛默生
翻譯：忒綠
In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,
五月裏，當海風響徹穿透我們的靜謐，
I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,
我看見樹林裏新鮮的杜鵑，
Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,
無葉花朵在潮濕的角落裏綻放，
To please the desert and the sluggish brook.
讓荒漠和涓涓溪流感到歡暢。
The purple petals, fallen in the pool,
紫色花瓣，落進池塘，
Made the black water with their beauty gay;
它們的美麗讓黑水欣喜若狂；
Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,
紅鳥會來這裏浴翅乘涼，
And court the flower that cheapens his array.
並向令其自慚形穢的花朵傾訴衷腸。
Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why
紫杜鵑！如果聖賢問你何緣
This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,
把魅力拋灑耗費在天地之間，
Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,
告訴他們，親愛的，如果眼睛生來為了觀看，
Then Beauty is its own excuse for being:
那麽美麗就是杜鵑存在的因緣：
Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!
你為何生長在這裏，啊，與玫瑰爭妍！
I never thought to ask, I never knew:
我從沒過問，也無從明白：
But, in my simple ignorance, suppose
不過，以我膚淺之見，判斷
The self-same Power that brought me there brought you.
是帶我來到這裏的同一種力量也把你帶來。
