第九首
在月光照耀的荒原和冷清的河岸
On Moonlit Heath and Lonesome Bank
英国 A. E. 豪斯曼原著
Alfred Edward Housman (1859 – 1936)
徐家祯翻译
On moonlit heath and lonesome bank
The sheep beside me graze;
And yon the gallows used to clank
Fast by the four cross ways.
A careless shepherd once would keep
The flocks by moonlight there,1
And high amongst the glimmering sheep
The dead man stood on air.
They hang us now in Shrewsbury jail:
The whistles blow forlorn,
And trains all night groan on the rail
To men that die at morn.
There sleeps in Shrewsbury jail to-night,
Or wakes, as may betide,
A better lad, if things went right,
Than most that sleep outside.
And naked to the hangman’s noose
The morning clocks will ring
A neck God made for other use
Than strangling in a string.
And sharp the link of life will snap,
And dead on air will stand
Heels that held up as straight a chap
As treads upon the land.
So here I’ll watch the night and wait
To see the morning shine,
When he will hear the stroke of eight
And not the stroke of nine;
And wish my friend as sound a sleep
As lads’ I did not know,
That shepherded the moonlit sheep
A hundred years ago.
在月光照耀的荒原和冷清的河岸,
羊群在我身边吃草;
靠近四条路交叉的路口,
绞架曾叮叮当当地吵闹。
无忧无虑的牧童,
以前在月光下照看羊群,
微光下的羊群之间,
在空中高高站着个死人。
现在他们在许罗斯堡监狱吊死我们:
明早就要死去的那些罪犯,
听着汽笛绝望地鸣叫,
火车彻夜在铁轨上哀叹。
今晚在许罗斯堡监狱睡着个少年,
也许他根本没有入眠,
要是他一切都顺顺利利,
会比大多睡在外边的人更好一点。
早晨钟声敲响的时候,
他会光着膀子套进刽子手的绳圈,
上帝造出脖子有别的用处,
不是为了掐死在绞索里边。
一下子生命就此中断,
直挺挺地在空中站立,
脚后跟伸得笔直,
就像汉子走在地上那么神气。
所以今晚我要在此守夜,
等着朝阳的初升,
他会听见钟敲八下,
可不会听见九点的钟声。
我愿我的朋友长眠安息,
就像我不认识的那些少年,
他们在月光下牧着羊群,
远在一百年之前。
二0二二年六月十日
译于澳大利亚刻来佛寺爱闲堂