【古诗英译】《好了歌》清·曹雪芹

无心剑

好了歌

Nothing Gold Can Stay

曹雪芹

by Cao Xueqin

世人都晓神仙好，
惟有功名忘不了！
古今将相在何方？
荒冢一堆草没了。

To be divine all men know is so wonderful,
But they still hanker after wealth and fame!
Where are those heroes once so powerful?
O in the forlorn grassy graves all the same!

译于2009年12月16日。
【自娱自乐译本】
For the immortality all sentient beings long,
Yet a lust for the worldly stuff so strong.
Where did the elite men of old now throng?
Whiz, to the long green grass all belong!

To be an immortal each and everyone desires,
Yet refuses to let go of the earthly lust.
Where are the elite men of the past empires?
Alas, they all turn into the weeds and dust.

To be an immortal everyone desires
Yet still greedy for the worldly needs.
Where are the VIPs of all empires?
All in the graves amongster weeds!

Everybody knows how wonderful to be a god,
But for the earthly fame one still craves,
Where are the great men who were once awed?
Lo, weeds creep over their forlorn graves.
============
【杨宪益译本】
A Good Thing Must End
All men have to be immortals.
Yet to riches and rank each aspires.
The great ones of old, where are they now?
Their graves are a mass of briars.

【霍克斯译本】
Won-Done Song
Men all know that salvation should be won,
But with ambition won't have done, have done.
Where are the famous ones of days gone by?
In grassy graves they lie now, every one.

金沙文字

“世人都晓神仙好”意思是都想“做神仙好”“当神仙好”“超凡脱俗好”，不是说“神仙本身好坏”。霍克斯的salvation应该最准确。

周道模

“荒冢一堆草没了”：基本上都是“意译”，失去了“意象”和“动感”的汉诗美。

自娱自乐

世人都晓神仙好，
惟有功名忘不了！
古今将相在何方？
荒冢一堆草没了。
For the immortality all sentient beings long,
Yet a lust for the wordly stuff so strong.
Where did the elite men of old now throng?
Whiz, to the grassy graves they all belong!

自娱自乐

霍克斯把 好了歌 译为 “won-done song“，原因是用‘won‘  和 ‘done‘  来对 “好” 和 “了“。

无心剑

自娱兄一韵到底，绝了。
For immortality all sentient beings long,
Yet the lust for worldly stuffs so strong.
Where do the past elite men now throng?
Whiz, to the long weeds they all belong!

自娱自乐

谢谢无心君斧正。
不过这个‘stuff' 不需要复数的，呵呵呵
我初稿用‘they'，后来改为‘they all', 再后来嫌其罗嗦就去‘they' 单留个 'all'.
从语法角度看，光这句句子，单用‘all' 肯定错，可是，这句是和上一句对话的，所以我个人认为‘all’ 得指代应该不成问题。但是动词成问题了。
你一定会唱‘平安夜’- Silent night 吧？
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

自娱自乐

原帖由 无心剑 于 2009-12-14 9:02:00 发表

世人都晓神仙好，
惟有功名忘不了！
古今将相在何方？
荒冢一堆草没了。

To be immortals all people long,
But the worldly lust is so strong!
Where are great heroes of past?
O just under long weeds at last!

Bravo,  great stuff, man!

自娱自乐

Ok, here comes another version for fun...hehehe
To be an immortals each and everyone desires,
Yet refuses to let go of the earthly lust.
Where are the elite men of the past empires?
Alas, they all turn into the weeds and dust.

无心剑

自娱兄又给出一个漂亮译本，欣赏学习。
第一行的"immortals"是否应改为单数"an immortal”呢？因为这句话主语"each and every one”是单数。