108. As I Walked Out One Evening

——W. H. Auden

As I walked out one evening,

Walking down Bristol Street,

The crowds upon the pavement

Were fields of harvest wheat.

And down by the brimming river

I heard a lover sing

Under an arch of the railway:

“Love has no ending.

“I'll love you, dear, I'll love you

Till China and Africa meet,

And the river jumps over the mountain

And the salmon sing in the street,

“I'll love you till the ocean

Is folded and hung up to dry

And the seven stars go squawking

Like geese about the sky.

“The years shall run like rabbits,

For in my arms I hold

The Flower of the Ages,

And the first love of the world.”

But all the clocks in the city

Began to whirr and chime:

“O let not Time deceive you,

You cannot conquer Time.

“In the burrows of the Nightmare

Where Justice naked is,

Time watches from the shadow

And coughs when you would kiss.

“In headaches and in worry

Vaguely life leaks away,

And Time will have his fancy

Tomrrow or Today.

“Into many a green valley

Drifts the appalling snow;

Time breaks the threaded dances

And the diver's brilliant bow.

“O plunge your hands in water,

Plunge them in up to the wrist;

Stare, stare in the basin

And wonder what you've missed.

“The glacier knocks in the cupboard,

The desert sighs in the bed,

And the crack in the teacup opens

A lane to the land of the dead.

“Where the beggars raffle the banknote

And the Giant is enchanting to Jack,

And the Lily-white Boy is a Roarer,

And Jill goes down on her back.

“O look, look in the mirror,

O look in your distress;

Life remains a blessing

Although you cannot bless.

“O stand, stand at the window

As the tears scald and start;

You shall love your crooked neighbor

With your crooked heart.”

It was late, late in the evening,

The lovers they were gone;

The clocks had ceased their chiming,

And the deep river ran on.

美国部分

108　一天傍晚，我走出家门

奥登[1]

一天傍晚，我走出家门，

沿着布里斯托大街前行，

人行道两旁鳞次栉比，

是一片片成熟的麦田。

在河水满溢的岸边，

铁路桥的桥墩下面，

我听见一个恋人在歌吟：

“我的爱没有终点。

“我爱你，亲爱的，我爱你，

直到中国与非洲接壤，

直到河水跃上山顶，

大马哈鱼在街上歌唱。

“我爱你，直到海洋被折起，

悬挂空中被太阳晒干，

直到七颗星成了鹅鸭，

在空中鸣叫着飞翔。

“直到岁月兔子般奔跑，

因为我把你拥在怀中，

你是千古不朽的一朵花，

你是我人世间的初恋。”

但城里所有的大钟

都气呼呼地开口申诉：

“哟，别让时间欺骗你，

也别妄想把时间征服。

“正义如今已赤身裸体，

在噩梦的洞窟幽囚，

时间在黑暗中监视，

你一亲吻，它就咳嗽。

“生活是一片混沌，

流失于病痛和焦虑，

时间有自己的幻想，

今天和明天，不分早迟。

“令人震惊的鹅毛大雪

飘向青翠的群山幽谷；

时间打断交织的舞蹈

和潜水者优雅的鞠礼。

“把你的双手伸入水中，

让水浸过你的手腕，

然后朝水盆仔细看看，

为你的所失而迷惶。

“冰川叩击你的食品柜，

沙漠在你的床上哀叹，

茶杯上显现一道裂痕，

是指向死亡的小巷。

“乞丐在那里博彩，

巨人施魔法将杰克迷惑，

纯洁的少年成了暴徒，

吉尔下山，已体无完肤。[2]

“哟，看看吧，看看镜子，

留意你自己的不幸；

虽然你不能赐福予人，

但生活仍是一种幸福。

“哟，站住吧，站在窗口边，

让伤心的泪夺眶而出；

你的那颗心已经扭曲，

就该去爱扭曲的邻居。”

天色已经很晚，很晚，

情人们都已散去；

时钟闭上了嘴巴，

但河水仍流淌不止。

* * *

[1]温斯坦·休·奥登（Wynstan Hugh Auden，1907—1973），诗人。出生于英国约克郡的一个医生家庭，15岁开始写诗，在牛津大学就读时，已有许多爱好诗歌的青年追随他，人称“奥登派”。一度信仰过马克思主义，与德国法西斯作过勇敢的斗争，并同情中国的抗日战争。1939年定居美国，皈依基督教，世界观从此发生变化。1946年加入美国国籍。曾任教于美国多所大学。诗集有《短诗集》《长诗集》。

[2]杰克和吉尔，是童谣中两个上山取水的孩子，民间故事中也通常用这两个名字代替“小伙子”和“姑娘”。

美国部分