威斯坦·休·奥登诗选

戴盛莲

                          威斯坦·休·奥登诗选

                                  吕志鲁译

威斯坦·休·奥登(Wystan Hugh Auden 1907—1973)美籍英国诗人

                            （一）
                         船长水手之歌

 乔的铺子邋遢，狄克的小店肮脏，
 我们喝酒不挑地方；
 挽着玛吉，搂着凯蒂，
 大家上楼结对成双；
 又像馋猫，又像老鼠，
 流浪汉把家的滋味品尝。
 水手之友，阔气的梅格，
 眼睛大大，玛莲姑娘，
 我拒绝走进她们的房间，
 尽管她们向我张开臂膀；
 我不想去寻找囚笼，
 我不愿老来呆坐那个牢房。
 母亲们果园中的夜莺，
 一只只全都哀哀歌唱；
 我们的心早已破碎，
 还总让别人痛断肝肠；
 泪珠滚圆，大海深邃，
 泪洒水中，进入梦乡。

Song Of The Master And Boatswain

At Dirty Dick's and Sloppy Joe's
We drank our liquor straight,
Some went upstairs with Margery,
And some, alas, with Kate;
And two by two like cat and mouse
The homeless played at keeping house.
There Wealthy Meg, the Sailor's Friend,
And Marion, cow-eyed,
Opened their arms to me but I
Refused to step inside;
I was not looking for a cage
In which to mope my old age.
The nightingales are sobbing in
The orchards of our mothers,
And hearts that we broke long ago
Have long been breaking others;
Tears are round, the sea is deep:
Roll them overboard and sleep.
                         （二）
                        我无法让你知晓

时光无语但我有一言相告,
我们付出的代价唯有时光知道；
不是我不愿意，是我无法让你知晓。
假如小丑演戏我们就泪水轻抛,
假如乐师演奏我们莫名其妙；
时光无语我却会让你知晓。
尽管命运无法预示征兆,
只因我对你的爱难以言表,
只要我有办法，我定会让你知晓。
风生风起方向总可寻找,
落叶枯萎原因也能明了；
时光无语我却会让你知晓。
也许玫瑰真想长高,
也许留下梦幻确有必要；
不是我不愿意，是我无法让你知晓。
假如所有勇士都起身走掉,
假如所有河流与士兵都在逃跑；
难道时光无语我却将此话相告?
不是我不愿意，是我无法让你知晓。

      If I Could Tell You

Time will say nothing but I told you so,
Time only knows the price we have to pay;
If I could tell you I would let you know.
If we should weep when clowns put on their show,
If we should stumble when musicians play,
Time will say nothing but I told you so.
There are no fortunes to be told, although,
Because I love you more than I can say,
If I could tell you I would let you know.
The winds must come from somewhere when they blow,
There must be reasons why the leaves decay;
Time will say nothing but I told you so.
Perhaps the roses really want to grow,
The vision seriously intends to stay;
If I could tell you I would let you know.
Suppose all the lions get up and go,
And all the brooks and soldiers run away;
Will Time say nothing but I told you so?
If I could tell you I would let you know.

                        （三）

                    名人志

一先令买来的传记，
有他一览无余的事迹：
如何遭到父亲殴打，
如何从家庭逃离，
青年时代的种种奋斗，
最终怎样出人头地：
拔山、涉水、熬夜、苦战，
抱病跨越颠峰在所不惜。
考证说这大海的命名者与常人相同，
为了爱他也会洒泪悲泣。
评论家们都表示惊讶，
荣誉满身他却只为一人叹息，
那人闲居家中，杂事娴熟，
口哨驱赶枯座的孤寂；
常在花园游荡，偶而写封回信，
把他洋洋洒洒的家书全都丢弃。

          Who's Who

A shilling life will give you all the facts:
How Father beat him, how he ran away,
What were the struggles of his youth, what acts
Made him the greatest figure of his day;
Of how he fought, fished, hunted, worked all night,
Though giddy, climbed new mountains; named a sea;
Some of the last researchers even write
Love made him weep his pints like you and me.
With all his honours on, he sighed for one
Who, say astonished critics, lived at home;
Did little jobs about the house with skill
And nothing else; could whistle; would sit still
Or potter round the garden; answered some
Of his long marvellous letters but kept none.

                         （四）

                    你是否能懂

与爱人相聚的疼，
与爱人离别的痛，
差别何在，众说纷纭互不相同：
为何总是至亲至爱入梦，
真真切切把五官触动，
醒来时唯有自己的幻影空空。
只要感到孤独无助，
水仙也无法辨认湖水里自己的面容：
相知相识才会情有独锺。
磐石、烈火、瀑布、孩童，
总是随心把人们作弄，
可是对于宇宙无不认同。
普鲁斯特这类长者，
把爱看成主观幻影空穴来风，
爱得越深孤独之感越重。
尽管看法互不相同，
人们各有所爱藏在心中，
或许我们从未感到孤独，
其中的原因谁会不懂。
      Are You There?

Each lover has some theory of his own
About the difference between the ache
Of being with his love, and being alone.
Why what, when dreaming, is dear flesh and bone
That really stirs the senses, when awake,
Appears a simulacrum of his own.
Narcissus disbelieves in the unknown;
He cannot join his image in the lake
So long as he assumes he is alone.
The child, the waterfall, the fire, the stone,
Are always up to mischief, though, and take
The universe for granted as their own.
The elderly, like Proust, are always prone
To think of love as a subjective fake;
The more they love, the more they feel alone.
Whatever view we hold, it must be shown
Why every lover has a wish to make
Some kind of otherness his own:
Perhaps, in fact, we never are alone.

                      （五）

                     那 一 夜

那一夜我们初次交欢,
激情充满每一根血管；
不惧有枪口对准我们,
只等黎明好双双赴难。
可是黎明把我们饶恕,
从此一天天心情舒缓；
忘却令人紧张的嘲笑,
盲目地相信一切平安。
周围的世界多么广大,
这独立王国无人侵犯；
爱的望远镜能望多远?
两人的世界地阔天宽!

     “枪口对准”、“双双赴难”是写实还是描述心情?这对恋人之间有何经历?心理有何变化? “望远镜”有何寓意”?这个比喻反应怎样一种人生哲理?

  That Night When Joy Began

 That night when joy began
 Our narrowest veins to flush,
 We waited for the flash
 Of morning’s leveled gun．
 But morning let us pass,
 And day by day relief
 Outgrew his nervous laugh,
 Grows credulous of peace．
 As mile by mile is seen
 No trespasser’s reproach,
 And love’s best glasses reach
 No fields but are his own．

                  （六）

                暴君墓志铭
               
         完美无缺的梦幻任由他追求，
         简单肤浅的诗歌但凭他编造；
         愚弄世人是每天烂熟的把戏，
         动用武力是毕生最大的嗜好；
         显赫的僚属会陪他笑逐颜开，
         街头的儿童总死于他的呼叫。

Epitaph on a Tyrant

Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after,
And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;
He knew human folly like the back of his hand,
And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;
When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,
And when he cried the little children died in the streets.

来自圈子: 译诗

唐凯

三个帖子看了半天，翻译得相当不易，赞一个。

金沙文字

译文流畅 自成风格