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(诗歌翻译)山姆莫奇的火葬 ROBERT SERVICE

(2015-02-01 22:52:34) 下一个

There are strange things done in the midnight sun

By the men who moil for gold;

The Arctic trails have their secret tales

That would make your blood run cold;

The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,

But the queerest they ever did see

Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge

I cremated Sam McGee.

 

午夜阳光下,忙碌淘金人,多有怪异事

北极小径上的神秘传说,让人毛骨悚然

北极光见过太多稀奇古怪,然而最诡秘怪异的

是那个夜晚,在拉巴奇湖畔, 我火葬了山姆莫奇

 

Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows.

Why he left his home in the South to roam 'round the Pole, God only knows.

He was always cold, but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell;

Though he'd often say in his homely way that "he'd sooner live in hell."

 

山姆莫奇来自田纳西,美丽的田纳西哟,到处绽放棉桃花

为什么他要离开南方温暖的家来到这冰天雪地的北极呐,天晓得

他总是冷得发抖,但地下的黄金,像魔咒一样把他萦绕

他经常用家乡话说,“我很快就要去地狱喽”

 

On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson trail.

Talk of your cold! through the parka's fold it stabbed like a driven nail.

If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn't see;

It wasn't much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee.

 

圣诞节那一天,我和山姆踏上归乡之路的多森小径

天气可真冷啊,似有无数钢针纷纷穿透我们的外套

闭上眼睛,睫毛立刻就冻住啦,就什么都看不见啦

这不好玩呢,山姆莫奇喃喃自语

 

And that very night, as we lay packed tight in our robes beneath the snow,

And the dogs were fed, and the stars o'erhead were dancing heel and toe,

He turned to me, and "Cap," says he, "I'll cash in this trip, I guess;

And if I do, I'm asking that you won't refuse my last request."

 

夜晚,我俩紧紧挤在一起,身上落满厚厚的雪

狗儿们已经喂过, 天空繁星点点,热闹非凡

“兄弟,”他说,“我快撑不住了

要是真的这样, 我有一个最后的请求,你可千万别拒绝啊”

 

Well, he seemed so low that I couldn't say no; then he says with a sort of moan:

"It's the cursèd cold, and it's got right hold, till I'm chilled clean through to the bone.

Yet 'tain't being dead — it's my awful dread of the icy grave that pains;

So I want you to swear that, foul or fair, you'll cremate my last remains."

 

他的声音如此低沉可怕,我无法说不

他呻吟着说,“ 我冷,我太他妈的冷啦,冷到骨缝里去啦

我快冻死啦,我真的很害怕啊, 那冰窟一样的坟墓,会冻得我很疼呵

真的也好,假的也罢,你得向我起誓, 你一定要烧掉我的尸体”

 

A pal's last need is a thing to heed, so I swore I would not fail;

And we started on at the streak of dawn; but God! he looked ghastly pale.

He crouched on the sleigh, and he raved all day of his home in Tennessee;

And before nightfall a corpse was all that was left of Sam McGee.

 

垂死之人的请求不能拒绝,我向他发誓我一定烧掉他的尸体

黎明的曙光里我们又出发了,上帝哟,他的脸如死人般惨白

他蜷缩在雪橇上,念叨他那田纳西的家

夜幕降临,留下一具僵尸,他是山姆莫奇

 

There wasn't a breath in that land of death, and I hurried, horror-driven,

With a corpse half hid that I couldn't get rid, because of a promise given;

It was lashed to the sleigh, and it seemed to say: "You may tax your brawn and brains,

But you promised true, and it's up to you, to cremate those last remains."

 

这地充满死亡气息,巨大恐惧使我驾橇狂奔

我不能抛弃这尸体,我发过誓的啊

躺在飞奔的雪橇上,它仿佛说,我知道我已经变成你的累赘

但你起过誓要烧掉我,你就自己瞧着办吧”

 

Now a promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code.

In the days to come, though my lips were dumb, in my heart how I cursed that load.

In the long, long night, by the lone firelight, while the huskies, round in a ring,

Howled out their woes to the homeless snows — Oh God! how I loathed the thing.

 

誓言变成了没有偿还的债,这冰天雪地的小路也有它自己严酷的法则

一连数天,我默默无语,但在心里, 我狠狠诅咒这沉重的负荷

漫漫长夜呵,篝火孤独,茫茫雪海哟,狗儿哀鸣

上帝啊,我憎恨这一切

 

And every day that quiet clay seemed to heavy and heavier grow;

And on I went, though the dogs were spent and the grub was getting low;

The trail was bad, and I felt half mad, but I swore I would not give in;

And I'd often sing to the hateful thing, and it hearkened with a grin.

 

每一天这尸体都在加重

我设法控制狗儿们的喂饲, 粮食愈来愈少

小路极其难走,我几近疯颠,但我誓言绝不妥协

我对着尸体唱歌,他诡笑着倾听

 

Till I came to the marge of Lake Lebarge, and a derelict there lay;

It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice it was called the "Alice May."

And I looked at it, and I thought a bit, and I looked at my frozen chum;

Then "Here," said I, with a sudden cry, "is my cre-ma-tor-eum."

 

这一天,来到拉巴奇湖畔,我看见一艘废弃的蒸汽船

她的名字叫“五月爱丽丝”

我打量着,思量着,再瞧瞧我那冻得硬帮帮的夥伴

“就这儿了,” 我突然嚎啕大哭, “是 - - - - - - - 地”

 

Some planks I tore from the cabin floor, and I lit the boiler fire;

Some coal I found that was lying around, and I heaped the fuel higher;

The flames just soared, and the furnace roared — such a blaze you seldom see;

And I burrowed a hole in the glowing coal, and I stuffed in Sam McGee.

 

我拆下一些舱板,点燃船上的锅炉,然后把煤加进去

熊熊大火燃起来,劈叭作响,火苗乱窜

这样的烈焰,真不多见啊

我在炭火中扒开一个洞穴,把山姆塞进去

 

Then I made a hike, for I didn't like to hear him sizzle so;

And the heavens scowled, and the huskies howled, and the wind began to blow.

It was icy cold, but the hot sweat rolled down my cheeks, and I don't know why;

And the greasy smoke in an inky cloak went streaking down the sky.

 

我立刻走开,我不想听见火舌吞噬尸体的“嘶嘶”声

起风了,天空阴沉,狗儿悲鸣

天气冷极了,但我汗流浃背

墨蓝的穹窿下,油腻腻的黑烟爬出烟囱,曲曲弯弯升向天空

 

I do not know how long in the snow I wrestled with grisly fear;

But the stars came out and they danced about ere again I ventured near;

I was sick with dread, but I bravely said: "I'll just take a peep inside.

I guess he's cooked, and it's time I looked"; ... then the door I opened wide.

 

我不知道在旷野的雪地里徘徊了多久,我内心恐惧纠织

夜幕降临,群星闪现

我勇敢地对自己说, “他已经焚化了,我该看看了,就瞄一眼 ......

我打开了锅炉的门

 

And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar;

And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and said: "Please close that door.

It's fine in here, but I greatly fear, you'll let in the cold and storm —

Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, it's the first time I've been warm."

 

啊, 那儿, 山姆坐在火焰中央, 他平静祥和,面带灿灿微笑

“请关上门好吗,这里暖和极了

我真的很害怕你放冷空气进来

自从离开田纳西杏树镇的家,这是第一次, 第一次我感觉温暖呀”

 

There are strange things done in the midnight sun

By the men who moil for gold;

The Arctic trails have their secret tales

That would make your blood run cold;

The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,

But the queerest they ever did see

Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge

I cremated Sam McGee.

 

午夜阳光下,忙碌淘金人,多有怪异事

北极小径上的神秘传说,让人毛骨悚然

北极光见过太多希奇古怪,然而最诡秘怪异的

是那个夜晚,在拉巴奇湖畔, 我火葬了山姆莫奇

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