《西羅普郡一少年》
XIII
第十三首
當我二十一歲時
英國 A. E. 豪斯曼原著
Alfred Edward Housman (1859 – 1936)
徐家禎翻譯
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.
當我二十一歲時,
聽見一位智者這麽講:
“可以拋棄基尼、克朗和金鎊,
可決不能將心出讓;
可以拋棄寶石和珍珠,
可必須保存自由的幻想。”
而那時我二十一歲,
這樣的話對我毫無用場。
當我二十一歲時,
我又聽見他這麽講:
“要想取得那顆心,
決不可能白白地得自胸膛;
你得付出無數的歎息,
還要花費無窮的懊喪。”
現在我已二十二歲,
喔,正是這樣!正是這樣!
上世紀七0年前後譯於
上海江蘇路安定坊僦居
二0一四年七月三十一日改譯於
澳大利亞刻來佛寺新紅葉山莊