Subject: Longfellow: The birds of Killingworth

From: [email-masked] (XiaoFei Wang)
Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1993 07:33:55 GMT

H W LONGFELLOW -- THE BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH
亨　瓦　朗费罗　--基陵沃思的鸟儿

It was the season, when through all the land
季节到了，到处有山鸟和画眉
  The merle and mavis build, and biulding sing
　营建新巢，一边干活一边唱；
Those lovely lyrics, written by His hand,
它们所唱的抒情诗，作者是谁？
  Whom Saxon Caedmon calls the Blithe-heart King;
　便是开蒙所说的“慈爱之王”；
  When on the boughs the purple buds expand,
树枝上紫红的花蕾绽苞吐
  The banners of the vanguard of the Spring,
　象是春神的先遣队，旗帜飘扬；
And rivulets, rejoicing, rush and leap,
兴高采烈的小溪，奔腾欢跳，
And wave their fluttering signals from the steep.
从峭壁跃下，浪花闪闪如信号。

The robin and the bluebird, piping loud,
红襟鸟，蓝色知更鸟，尖声啭鸣，
  Filled all the blossoming orchards with their glee;
　使花枝招展的果园喜气洋溢；
The sparrows cirpled as if they still were proud
麻雀叽喳叫，仿佛也知道《圣经》
  Their race in Holy Writ should mentioned be;
　提到过他们，因此自鸣得意；
And hungry crows, assembled in a crowd,
饥肠辘辘的乌鸦聚集成群，
  Clamored their piteous prayer incessantly,
　没完没了的叫唤，哀哀求乞，
Knowing who hears the ravens cry, and said:
知道上帝听得见它们啼叫，
"Give us, O lord, this day, our daily bread!"
祷告着：“主啊，今天让我们吃饱！”

Across the Sound the birds of passage sailed,
穿越过这些声音，飞来了候鸟，
  Speaking some unknown language strange and sweet
带着远方热带岛屿的口音--
Of tropic isle remote, and passing hailed
陌生，却悠扬悦耳；它们一飞到
  The village with the cheers of all their fleet;
　便全队齐鸣，向眼底的村庄致敬；
Or quarrelling together, laughed and railed
有时也互相嘲笑、抱怨或争吵，
  Like foreign sailors, landed in the street
　象一群外国水手，在海港城镇
Of seaport town, and with outlandish noise
上岸逛街叽哩咕噜地喧哗，
Of oaths and gibberish frightening girls and boys.
用洋话骂人吓唬男孩和女娃。

Thus came the jocund Spring in Killingworth,
百八年以前，有传奇色彩的年代里，
  In fabulous days, some hundred years ago;
　在基陵沃思，快乐的春天有来到；
And thrifty farmers, as they tilled the earth,
简朴的农夫正忙着耕田种地，
  Heard with alarm the cawing of the crow,
　惊慌地听到乌鸦哇哇乱叫，
That mingled with the universal mirth,
这惊慌搅动了大地回春的欢喜，
  Cassandra-like, prognosticating woe;
象卡珊德拉的话，是不详之兆；
They shook their heads, and doomed with dreadful words
　农夫们摇头皱脸，骂得挺凶，
To swift destrution the whole race of birds.
咒骂所有的鸟儿都快快绝种。

And a town-meeting was convened straight-way
决定了，全镇大会要立即举行，
  To set a price upon the guilty heads
　悬赏缉拿这些掠夺者，罪犯；
Of these marauders, who in lieu of pay,
这些鸟儿们，从来也不掏分文，
Levied black-mail upon the garden beds
　只会向农田，果园横征暴敛；
And cornfields, and beheld without dismay 
满不在乎地瞅着田里的稻草人，
  The awful scarecrow, with his fluttering shreds;
　瞅着他身上的破布条随风摇颤；
The skeleton that waited at their feast.
他象个骷髅，伺候着鸟儿的宴会，
Whereby their sinful pleasure was increased.
有了他，它们吃得津津有味。

Then from his house, a temple painted white,
从一座漆成白色的华丽圣殿
  With fluted columns, and a roof of read,
　(有凹园饰柱，还有朱红的屋顶)，
The Squire came forth, august and splendid sight!
治安官走了出来，步履庄严，
  Slowly descending, with majestic tread,
　缓缓下阶，好一派威风凛凛！
Three flights of steps, nor looking left nor right,
他连下三级，不斜视左边、右边，
  Down the long treet he walked, as one who said,
　沿长街走去，神情仿拂在表明：
"A twon that boasts inhabitants like me
“本城既然住下了我这号人物，
Can have no lack of good society!"
社会名流就定然不在少数！”

The Parson, too, appeared, a man austere,
教区牧师也来了，板着一副脸，
  The instinct of whose nature was to kill;
　这家伙天赋的的本能便是要杀戮；
The wrath of God he preached from year to year,
他宣讲“神怒”“天罚”一年又一年，
  And read, with fervor, Edwards on the Will;
　他热心诵读爱德华的“意志书”；
His favorate pastime was to slay the deer
他特别嗜好的娱乐便是在夏天
  In Summer on some Adirondac hill;
　到阿迪朗达克山上去捕杀糜鹿；
E'en now, while walking down the rural lane,
就连这会儿，他走在乡间小路上，
He lopped the wayside lilies with his cane.
也挥舞拐棍，把路边百合花扫个光。

>From the Academy, whose belfry crowned
这边是专科学校，它那座钟楼
  The hill of Science with its vane of brass,
　耸立在科学山上，楼顶有风向标；
Came the Preceptor, gazing idly round,
校长度出来，懒洋洋环顾四周，
  Now at the clouds, and now at the green grass,
　抬头看看云，又低头看看绿草；
And all absorbed in reveries profound
都只为高年级标致的阿米拉小妞，
  Of fair Almira in the upper class,
　害得他白日做梦，神魂颠倒；
Who was, as in a sonnet he had said,
他写过一首十四行，把她夸赞，
As pure as water, and s good as bread.
说她比水还纯洁，比面包还解馋。

And next the Deacon issued from his door,
接着，教会执事从家门走出，
  In his voluminous neck-cloth, white as snow;
　雪白的肥大领饰围在脖子边；
A suit of sable bombazine he wore;
穿一套黑色邦巴辛毛葛衣服；
  His form was ponderous, and his step was slow;
　只见他形体笨重，步履蹒跚；
There never was so wise a man before;
他乃是智慧的化身，旷古所无：
  He seemed the incarnate ``Well, I told you so!''
　“我早就训示过你们，如此这般！”
And to perpetuate his great renown
想叫他鼎鼎大名永存不灭，
There was a street name after himin town.
还用他名字命名了本镇一条街。

These came together in the new town-hall,
这几位一并驾临新盖的会议厅，
  With sundry farmers from the region round.
　在就是来自近郊的农夫，乡下姥。
The Squire presided, dignified and tall,
尊严的治安官当主席，身材笔挺，
  His air impressive and his reasoning sound;
　一表不凡，发议论井井有条。
Ill fared it with the birds, both great and small;
鸟儿们(大鸟或小鸟)却不走运，
  Hardly a friend in all that crowd they found,
　整个人堆里，没有谁给他们撑腰；
But enemies enough, who every one
跟他们作对的可多了：个个都指责
Charged them with all of the crimes beneath the sun. 
他们在光天化日下的罪恶。

When they had ended, from his place apart
大伙儿全都讲完了，校长便起立，
  Rose the preceptor, to redress the wrong,
　离开座位，来纠正众人的错误；
And, trembling like a steed before the start,
象出发前的骏马，总有些战栗，
  Looked round bewildered on the expectant throng;
　他面对这么多观众，也有点发怵；
Then thought of fair Almira, and took heart
想起了美人儿阿米拉，便鼓足勇气，
  To speak out what was in him, clear and strong,
　说出了心里的想法，毫不含糊；
Alike regardless of their smile or frown,
他决定：对听众的喜怒不以为意，
And quite determinded not to be laughed down. 
不管听众怎么笑，也坚持讲到底。

``Plato, anticipating the Reviewers, 
“早在评论家以前，柏拉图
  From his Republic banished without pity
　就从他的理想国赶走了诗人；
The Poets; in this little town of yours,
你们打算靠一个委员会的帮助，
  You put to death, by means of a Committee,
　打算在你们这座小小的城镇，
The ballad-singers and the Troubadours,
把这些吟游诗人、民谣歌手，
  The street musicians of the heavenly city,
　这些天国的乐师--鸟儿们都杀尽！
The birds, who make sweet music for us all
当我们受苦时，是他们演奏乐章
In our dark hours, as David did for Saul. 
安慰了我们，象大卫对扫罗那样。

``The thrush that carols at the dawn of the day
”松树林子里，从那碧绿的树梢，
  From the green steeples of the piny wood;
　　天一亮，就想起画眉欢快的颂歌；
The roiole in the elm; the noisy jay,
榆树上有黄莺，还有欢快的坚鸟
  Jargoning like a foreigner at his food;
　边吃边叫唤，腔调象异邦来客；
The bluebird balanced on some topmost spray,
蓝色知更鸟，在最高的枝上摇呀摇
  Flooding with melody the neighborhood;
　动听的歌曲把邻近的地区都淹没；
Linner and meadow-lark, and all the throng
红雀、野百灵，以及世界上所有
That dwell in nests, and have the gift of song. 
在巢里安家的才华天纵的歌手。

``You slay them all! and wherefore? for the gain
“你们却要把它们杀光！为哪条？
  Of a scant handful more or less of wheat,
　　他们在下雨以后，脚儿勤快，
Or rye, or barley, or some other grain.
去寻找毛虫、象鼻虫，却偶然找到
  Scratched up at random by industrious feet,
　不足一把的小麦，或大麦、黑麦，
Searching for worm or weevil after rain!
或其他谷粒，因此便法网难逃？
  Or a few cherries, that are not so sweet
　还是怪它们把几颗樱桃啄坏？
As are the songs these uninvited guests
那樱桃虽也甜美，怎么比得上
Sing at their feast with comfortable breasts. 
这些小客人会餐时恰意的吟唱？

``Do you ne'er think what wondrous beings these?
”想过吗，它们是何等奇妙的生灵？
  Do you ne'er think who made them, and who taught 
　　想过吗，是谁的巨手把他们造出？
The dialect they speak, where melodies
谁教会它们语言--在这种语言中，
  Alone are the interpreters of thought?
　思想只能用美妙的乐曲来表述？
Whose household words are songs in many keys,
它们的家常话是五音繁会的歌声，
  Sweeter than instrument of man e'er caught!
　那甜美，人间的乐器是远远不如！
Whose habitations in the tree-tops even
它们建立在绿树顶上的家园
Are the-half way houses on the road to heaven!
便是从尘世前往天国的中途站！

``Think, every morning when the sun peeps through
“想想吧，每天清早，在幽暗的林地，
  The dim, leaf-latticed windows of the grove,
　　当阳光窥探绿叶织成的格子窗，
How jubilant the happy birds renew
心花怒放的鸟儿们又一次唱起
  Their old, melodious madrigals of love!
　古老的迷人的情歌，该多么欢畅！
And when you think of this, remember too
还得要记住：不论哪个时辰里，
  'T is always morning somewhere, and above
　世界上总有些地方刚刚天亮，
The awakening continents, from shore to shore,
大洋两岸，被晨光唤醒的地域中，
Somewhere the birds are singing evermore. 
永远有鸟儿的歌声响彻长空。

``Think of your woods and orchards without birds!
”想想吧：树林里，果园里，鸟儿都绝迹！
  Of empty nests that cling to boughs and beams
　　树枝上，屋梁上，鸟巢都空空荡荡，
As in an idiot's brain remembered words
象个傻小子模糊记得的几个字，
  Hang empty 'mid the cobwebs of his dreams!
　白白挂在脑瓜里一团乱丝上！
Will bleat of flocks or bellowing of herds
当你们的牲口把粮食拉回家里，
  Make up for the lost music, when your teams 
　在没有会飞的拾惠者跟在车旁，
Drag home the stingy harvest, and no more
是不是就让羊叫牛鸣的合奏
The feathered gleaners follow to your door?
来补偿那一去不返的妙曲仙喉？

``What! would you rather see the incessant stir
“难道你们情愿去欣赏昆虫
  Of insects in the windrows of the hay,
　　在干草中嗡嗡不息的吵闹？
And hear the locust and the grasshopper
难道你们情愿听蚂蚱、蚱蜢
  Their melancholy hurdy-gurdies play?
　弹琴奏曲，发出凄切的哀叫？
In this more pleasant to you than the whir
难道这些更好听，胜过野百灵
  Of meadow-lark, and her sweet roundelay,
　飞过的嗖艘声，和柔婉动人的歌调？
Or twitter of little field-fares, as you take
胜过小小鸫鸟的叽叽喳喳，
Your nooning in the shade of bush and brake?
当你们中午歇息在树荫之下？

``You call them thieves and pillagers; but know,
”你们说它们是小偷、强盗；其实
  They are the winged wardens of your farms,
　　它们象卫兵，把你们的农田看守；
Who from the cornfields drive the insidious foe,
是它们使庄稼免遭上百种损失，
  And from your harvests keep a hundred harms;
　是它们赶走麦地里暗藏的敌寇；
Even the blackest of them all, the crow,
就连最黑的鸟儿--乌鸦，也是
  Renders good service as your man-at-arms,
　你们的兵丁，为你们效劳奔走：
Crushing the beetle in his coat of mail,
他啄食甲虫，劈开那坚硬的外套，
And crying havoc on the slug and snail. 
象蜗牛、鼻涕虫发出毁灭的警告。

``How can I teach your children gentleness,
“想想吧：我历来教育你们的孩子
  And mercy to the week, and reverence
　　要温和，要怜惜弱者，要敬畏生命--
For life, which in its weakness or excess,
只要是生命，强也好，若也好，它总是
  Is still a gleam of God's omnipotence,
　全能的上帝赐予的一线光明；
Or Death, which, seeming darkness, is no less
也敬畏死亡--死亡虽黑暗，其实
  The selfsame light, although averted hence,
　正面也明亮，我们所见的是背影
When by your laws, your actions, and your speech,
你们的言行、法令若与此相反，
You contradict the very things I teach?''
今后我对孩子的教育怎么办？”

With this he closed; and through the audience went
他的话说完了，这时，在听众中间
  A murmur, like the rustle of dead leaves;
　响起了一阵低语声，象枯叶作响；
The farmers laughed and nodded, and some bent
农夫们嘲笑着，低着头，脖子朝下弯，
  Their heads together like their sheaves;
　黄头发凑拢到一块，向麦捆一样；
Men have no faith in fine-spun sentiment
满脑子只想着牛排牛肉的粗汉
  Who put their trust in bullocks and beeves.
　不相信那一套温文尔雅的名堂。
The birds were doomed; and, as the record shows,
鸟儿们横糟判决；大会还规定：
A bounty offered for the heads of crows.
谁交来乌鸦脑袋，就发给奖金。

There was another audience out of reach,
有一批未到会的听众(制定法律时
  Who had no voice nor vote in making laws,
　他们无权表决也无法说话)，
But in the papers read his little speech,
在报上读到了校长简短的言词，
  And crowned his modest temples with applause;
　向他的屋舍欢呼把心意表达；
They made him conscious, each one more than each,
他们一个比一个更使他深知：
  He still was victor, vanquished in their cause.
　会上虽输了他却是真正的赢家。
Sweetest of all the applause he won from thee,
欢呼中最甜蜜的欢呼，他得之于你--
O fair Almira at the Academy!
标志的阿米拉小妞在专科学校里！

And so the dreadful massacre began;
随后，在果园、田野，在山顶、树林，
  O'er fields and orchards, and o'er woodland crests,
　可怖的大规模屠杀悍然开始；
The ceaseless fusillade of terror ran.
鸟儿们掉下来，死去，胸有血痕；
  Dead fell the birds, with blood-stains on their breasts,
　暴行似连珠排炮，无休无止；
Or wounded crept away from sight of man,
有一些鸟儿受了伤，逃离人群，
  While the young died of famine in their nests;
　巢中留下的幼雏便活活饿死；
A slaughter to be told in groans, not words,
这是鸟类的圣巴托罗缪惨祸，
The very St. Bartholomew of Birds!
不是用言语，而是用悲啼来诉说。

The summer came, and all the birds were dead;
夏天来了，鸟儿们都以死光；
  The days were like hot coals; the very ground
　天气象烧红的煤炭，土地烧成灰；
Was burned to ashes; in the orchards fed
一座座果园把无数毛虫喂养，
  Myriads of caterpillars, and around
　成群的昆虫爬动着，贪吃着美味，
The cultivated fields and garden beds
挤满了农田、花圃的四面八方；
  Hosts of devouring insects crawled, and found
　发现再没有敌人跟它们作对，
No foe to check their march, till they had made
便尽情大嚼，把大地变成荒野，
The land a desert without leaf ot shade. 
不剩下一点凉荫，一片绿叶。

Devoured by worms, like Herod, was the town,
这城镇，象希律一样，被虫子吃掉，
  Because, like Herod, it has ruthlessly
　因为它，象希律一样，也滥杀无辜。
Slaughtered the Innocents. From the trees spun down
在枯木朽枝中间，有游丝悬吊，
  The cranker-worms upon the passers-by,
　尺蠖落到过路人脸上，黏糊糊，
Upon each women's bonnet, shawl, and gown,
也落向太太们的软帽、披巾、长袍，
  Who shook the terror off with just a little cry;
　她们赶紧抖掉它还发出惊呼；
They were the terror of each favorite walk,
谁出去走走，总有这虫子捣乱，
The endless theme of all of the village talk. 
乡下人都在叨咕它，没了没完。

The farmers grew impatient, but a few 
农夫们焦躁起来，其中有几位
  Confessed their error, and would not complain,
　晓得是自己错了，没有发牢骚；
For after all, the best thing one can do
天要下雨，你能有什么作为？
  When it is raining, is to let it rain. 
　要下让他下--只有这么办最好。
Then they repealed the law, although they knew
当局又宣布：把那道法令作废；
  It would not call the dead to life again;
　心里也明白：死了的在也活不了。
As school-boys, finding mistake too late,
象学童终于发现题目已做错，
Draw a wet sponge across the accusing slate. 
赶快拿起湿海绵把石板涂抹。

That year in Killingworth the Autumn came
基陵沃思的秋天来了，这时节
  Without the light of his majestic look,
　在也见不到往年的壮丽景象：
The wonder of the falling tongues of flame,
见不到火舌般满天飞舞的红叶，
  The illuminated pages of his Diim's-Day book. 
　象《土地全书》，一页页被霞光照亮。
A few lost leaves blushed crimson with their shame,
几片残存的叶子，羞红了脸色，
  And drowned themselves despairing in the brook,
　绝望地委身于河沟，随波逐浪；
While the wild wind went moaning everywhere,
凄厉的秋风奔走着，呜咽唏嘘，
Lamenting the dead children of the air. 
哀悼苍天的那些夭逝的儿女！

But the next Spring a stranger sight was seen,
可是第二年春天又出了奇迹--
  A sight that never yet by bard sung,
　这奇迹，从来不曾有诗人唱过他；
As great a wonder as it would have been 
若问世上什么事能和它相比？
  If some dumb animal had found a tongue!
　怕只有哑畜生居然开口说话！--
A wagon, overarched with evergreen,
驶来了一辆车，车顶用冬青枝盖起，
  Upon whose boughs were wicker cages hung,
　一架架柳条鸟笼悬挂在枝下，
All full of singing birds, came down the street,
笼里装满了各色各样的鸣禽，
Filling the air with music wild and sweet. 
空间充满了甜美潦亮的乐音。

>From all the country round these birds were brought,
奉本镇命令，从四处乡间野外
  By order of the town, with anxious quest,
　搜罗到这些鸟儿，送来此处；
And, loosened from their wicker prisons, sought
然后把它们的柳条笼打开，
  In woods and fields and places they love best,
让它们到树林、田野去寻求乐土；
Singing loud canticles, which many thought
它们高唱的颂歌，很多人听来
  Were satire to the authorities addressed, 
　象是在嘲讽本镇的当权人物；
While others, listening in green lanes, averred
有些人，在绿色小径上倾听良久，
Such lovely music never had been heard!
说这样迷人的乐曲自古未有。

But blither still and louder carolled they
到了第二天，歌声更高、更欢畅，
  Upon the morror, for they seemed to know
　看来，鸟儿们仿拂也欣然知悉
It was the fair Almira's wedding-day,
美人儿阿米拉这一天要作新娘；
  And everywhere, around, above, below,
　当校长眉开眼笑，带走娇妻，
When the Preceptor bore his bride away,
只听得前后左右，上下四方，
  Their songs burst forth in joyous overflow,
　鸟儿们歌喉齐吐，欢情洋溢；
And a new heaven bent over a new earth
在基陵沃思阳光照耀的田野里，
Amid the sunny farms of Killingworth. 
如今又是一片崭新的天地。

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline and selected tales and poems, 
                            New American Library, 1964. 
杨德豫译，朗费罗诗选，人民文学出版社，一九八五。
植字：王笑飞 [email-masked]