博尔赫斯：两首英文诗

Two English Poems

两首英文诗

博尔赫斯


张祈 译


献给贝阿特丽斯·比维洛尼·韦伯斯特·德布尔里奇

I

The useless dawn finds me in a deserted street-
无用的黎明在一个荒凉的街角
corner; I have outlived the night.
发现了我；我比夜晚活得更长久。
Nights are proud waves; darkblue topheavy waves
夜晚是傲慢的波浪；深蓝、头重的波浪
laden with all the hues of deep soil, laden with
装载着土壤深处的一切色调，装载着
things unlikely and desirable.
不可能的、称心如意的事物。
Nights have a habit of mysterious gifts and refusals,
夜晚有着神秘的赠予与拒绝的习惯，
of things half given away, half withheld,
它把一半东西分发掉，一半留下，
of joys with a dark hemisphere. Nights act
它带着那个黑暗半球的快乐。夜晚喜欢
that way, I tell you.
那样做，我对你说。
The surge, that night, left me the customary shreds
那巨浪，那个夜晚，留给我习惯的碎片
and odd ends: some hated friends to chat
和奇数的结尾：和几个讨厌的朋友聊天，
with, music for dreams, and the smoking of
适于做梦的音乐，以及痛苦灰烬的
bitter ashes. The things my hungry heart
烟雾。那些我饥饿的心
has no use for.
不需要的事。
The big wave brought you.
那片大浪带来了你。
Words, any words, your laughter; and you so lazily
词语，任何词语，你的笑声；你的慵懒
and incessantly beautiful. We talked and you
而不间断的美丽。 我们谈话，而你
have forgotten the words.
已经忘记了言辞。
The shattering dawn finds me in a deserted street
震颤的黎明发现了我，在我的城市的
of my city.
一个荒凉的街角。
Your profile turned away, the sounds that go to
你的侧影转开，那声音去制造
make your name, the lilt of your laughter:
你的名字，你轻快的笑声：
these are the illustrious toys you have left me.
这是你留给我的了不起的玩具。
I turn them over in the dawn, I lose them, I find
我在黎明中把它们打翻，我丢失它们，我找到
them; I tell them to the few stray dogs and
它们；我把这些讲给几只流浪的狗
to the few stray stars of the dawn.
与黎明中几颗迷路的星星。
Your dark rich life ...
你黑暗而富饶的生命……
I must get at you, somehow; I put away those
不知为什么，我必须了解你； 我放好那些
illustrious toys you have left me, I want your
你留给我的了不起的玩具，我渴望
hidden look, your real smile -- that lonely,
你隐蔽的注视，你真实的笑容——你冰冷的镜子
mocking smile your cool mirror knows.
知道的，那种孤独，嘲弄的微笑。

II

What can I hold you with?
我用什么才能留住你？
I offer you lean streets, desperate sunsets, the
我给你倾斜的街道，绝望的落日，
moon of the jagged suburbs.
凸凹不平的市郊的月亮。
I offer you the bitterness of a man who has looked
我给你一个男人的苦涩，他长久、长久地凝望着
long and long at the lonely moon.
那孤独的月亮。
I offer you my ancestors, my dead men, the ghosts
我给你我的祖先，那些死者，那些活着的幽灵
that living men have honoured in bronze:
拥有着青铜般的光荣：
my father's father killed in the frontier of
我祖父被杀死在布宜诺斯艾利斯
Buenos Aires, two bullets through his lungs,
的边境，两颗子弹穿透了他的肺，
bearded and dead, wrapped by his soldiers in
他死时有胡须，他的士兵们用牛皮
the hide of a cow; my mother's grandfather
包裹着他；我母亲的祖父
--just twentyfour-- heading a charge of
——只有二十四岁—— 在秘鲁领导了一次
three hundred men in Peru, now ghosts on
三百人的冲锋，现在那些幽灵
vanished horses.
依然骑在消失的战马上。
I offer you whatever insight my books may hold,
我给你我的书册中可能拥有的任何洞察力，
whatever manliness or humour my life.
还有我生活里的坚毅和幽默。
I offer you the loyalty of a man who has never
我给你一个男人的忠诚，他从来没有如此
been loyal.
忠诚。
I offer you that kernel of myself that I have saved,
我没有理由地给你我保存起来的
somehow --the central heart that deals not
我自己的本质，那没有用词语
in words, traffics not with dreams, and is
交易过，没有被梦境运输过，没有被
untouched by time, by joy, by adversities.
时间、欢乐与不幸触碰过的心脏的中心。
I offer you the memory of a yellow rose seen at
我给你夕阳下一朵黄玫瑰的记忆，
sunset, years before you were born.
在你还未出生的年代。
I offer you explanations of yourself, theories about
我给你关于你自己的解说，你自己的理论，
yourself, authentic and surprising news of
以及关于你自己的可信而惊讶的
yourself.
消息。
I can give you my loneliness, my darkness, the
我能给你我的寂寞，我的黑暗，
hunger of my heart; I am trying to bribe you
我心底的欲望；我在试着用
with uncertainty, with danger, with defeat.
无常、危险和失败把你收买。

- Jorge Luis Borges (1934)

[ 本帖最后由 张祈 于 2011-2-14 10:15 编辑 ]