《西罗普郡一少年》: 23: 几百个少年去鲁德娄集市

《西罗普郡一少年》

XXIII

第二十三首

几百个少年去鲁德娄集市

The Lads in Their Hundreds to Ludlow Come in for the Fair

英国 A. E. 豪斯曼原著

Alfred Edward Housman (1859 – 1936)

徐家祯翻译

The lads in their hundreds to Ludlow come in for the fair,

There’s men from the barn and the forge and the mill and the fold,

The lads for the girls and the lads for the liquor are there,

And there with the rest are the lads that will never be old.

There’s chaps from the town and the field and the till and the cart,

And many to count are the stalwart, and many the brave,

And many the handsome of face and the handsome of heart,

And few that will carry their looks or their truth to the grave.

I wish one could know them, I wish there were tokens to tell

The fortunate fellows that now you can never discern;

And then one could talk with them friendly and wish them farewell

And watch them depart on the way that they will not return.

But now you may stare as you like and there’s nothing to scan;

And brushing your elbow unguessed-at and not to be told

They carry back bright to the coiner the mintage of man,

The lads that will die in their glory and never be old.

几百个少年去鲁德娄集市，

他们来自羊圈和谷仓，铁铺和磨坊，

有的少年来找姑娘，有的少年为酒而到场，

其余剩下的是永远不老的少年郎。

还有些家伙来自城镇和农庄，赶车的或做账房，

很多小伙子既勇敢又健壮，

很多年轻人长得漂亮又心地善良，

可惜很少有人能把美貌和美德带到坟场。

我希望有人认识他们，也希望有预兆

能知道哪些是幸运儿 —— 现在却还不知分晓；

于是，他就可以友好地告诉他们，跟他们告别，

与他们分手，看他们走上一去不返的那条道。

可现在，你能随意盯着他们看，却无法分辨；

你与他们擦肩而过，而无人能够预先通告，

谁会把自己当作闪闪发亮的硬币送回制币者手中，

哪些少年会英年早逝，永不衰老。

二 0 二二年六月十二日

译于澳大利亚刻来佛寺爱闲堂

* 豪斯曼的这首诗，在诗集《西罗普郡一少年》中的编号为第 23 首。豪斯曼的这首诗大约写于第一次世界大战前二十年，但是似乎他已经预见将来大战的到来，而且知道有成千上万的英国青少年将牺牲在战场上。

这首诗中描写了来鲁德娄集市赶集的少年来自各行各业、四面八方，赶集的目的也不一样。但是诗人预言:他们中有一部分，将会“是永远不老的少年郎”，也就是说，他们会年纪轻轻就战死疆场。

诗的第二节，诗人还把这些将要早死的青年称之为“幸运儿”。诗人在第三节和最后一节，都感叹可惜事先无法得知每个少年将来的命运，否则，将可以“跟他们告别，与他们分手，看他们走上一去不返的那条道”。诗人也在诗的最后一节，用钱币做比喻，说那些年轻时夭折的少年，就如同“闪闪发亮的硬币”一样，回到了制币者 —— 上帝 — — 手中。

原诗四节，每节四句。译诗头两节双句押 [ang]韵，后两节押 [ao/iao] 韵。