第43章 月亮看见的 What the Moon Saw 第十一晚到第二十晚（1/2）

第十一个晚上

ELEVENth EVENING

“我要给你一幅庞贝的图画。” 月亮说。“我在郊区，在他们所谓的墓道上，在那些美丽的纪念碑矗立的地方，在很多年前，那些快乐的年轻人，头上戴着玫瑰花环，和莱伊斯的美丽姐妹们一起跳舞的地方。现在，死亡的寂静笼罩着四周。为那不勒斯效劳的德国雇佣兵在站岗、打牌和掷骰子；一群来自山那边的陌生人在一名哨兵的陪同下进入了这座城市。

“I will give you a picture of popeii,” said the oon. “I wasthe suburb ireet of tobs, as they call it, where the fair os stand,the spot where, ages ago, the rry youths, their teples bound with rosy wreaths, danced with the fair sisters of Lais. Now, the stillness of death reigned around. Geran raries,the Neapolitan service, kept guard, pyed cards, and diced; and a troop of strangers fro beyond the ountas ca to the toanied by a sentry.

他们想看看这座从坟墓中崛起、被我的光芒照亮的城市；我给他们看铺着宽阔熔岩板的街道上的车辙；我给他们看门上的名字和仍然挂在那里的标志：他们在小院子里看到喷泉的水池，用贝壳装饰着；但是没有水柱向上喷涌，从绘有华丽壁画、有铜狗看门的房间里也没有传出歌声。

they wao see the city that had risen fro the grave iled by y beas; and I showed the the wheel-ruts ireets paved with broad va sbs; I showed the the nas on the doors, and the signs that hung there yet: they saw itle urtyard the bass of the fountas, ored with shells; butof water ghed uards, no songs sounded forth fro the richly-pated chabers, where the bronze dog kept the door.

“这是一座死亡之城；只有维苏威火山轰鸣着它永恒的赞美诗，人们把它的每一节单独的诗句都称为一次喷发。我们去了用洁白大理石建造的维纳斯神庙，高高的祭坛在宽阔的台阶前面，哭泣的柳树在柱子间重新长出嫩绿的枝叶。空气透明而湛蓝，黑色的维苏威火山构成了背景，火焰不断从它那里喷出，就像松树的树干。在它上方，寂静的夜空中伸展着烟雾般的云彩，像松树的树冠，但却是血红色的光亮。在这群人中有一位女歌手，一位真正的、伟大的歌手。我在欧洲最大的城市里目睹了人们对她的敬意。当他们来到这座悲剧剧场时，他们都坐在圆形露天剧场的台阶上，于是这座剧场的一小部分被观众占据了，就像几个世纪以前一样。

“It was the city of the dead; only Vesuvi thundered forth his everstg hyn, each separate verse of which is called by n aion. we went to the teple of Ven, built of snow-white arble, with its high altarfront of the broad steps, and the weepg willows sproutg freshly forth aong the pilrs. the air was transparent and be, and bck Vesuvi ford the background, with fire ever shootg forth fro it, like the ste of the piree. Above it stretched the soky cloudthe silence of the night, like theof the pe, buta blood-red ilation. Aong the pany was a dy sger, a real and great sger. I have withe hoage paid to herthe greatest cities of Europe. when they ca to the tragic theatre, they all sat down on the aphitheatre steps, and th a sall part of the hoe was oupied by an audience, as it had been auries ago.

舞台依然没有变化，有带围墙的侧景和背景中的两个拱门，观众透过拱门看到的是和古代一样的景色 —— 一幅大自然自己绘制的景色，即索伦托和阿马尔菲之间的山脉。歌手欢快地登上古老的舞台，唱起歌来。这个地方给了她灵感，她让我想起一匹狂野的阿拉伯马，鼻孔喷气、鬃毛飞扬地向前猛冲 —— 她的歌声如此轻快却又如此坚定。不一会儿，我想到了在各各他十字架下哀悼的母亲，她的痛苦表情是如此深刻。就像几千年前一样，现在掌声和欢呼声充满了剧院。“快乐的、有天赋的人！” 所有的听众都赞叹道。五分钟后，舞台空了，人群消失了，再也听不到一点声音 —— 所有人都走了。但是废墟依然没有变化，几百年后它们还会这样矗立着，那时没有人会知道这短暂的掌声和美丽的女歌手的胜利；当一切都被遗忘、消失的时候，甚至对我来说，这一刻也将只是一个过去的梦。”

“the stage still stood unged, with its walled side-ses, and the o archesthe background, through which the beholders saw the sa se that had been exhibitedthe old tis — a se pated by nature herself, naly, the ountaiween Sorento and Aalfi. the sger gaily ouhe a stage, and sang. the pspired her, and she rededof a wild Arab horse, that rhes headlong on with sn nostrils and flyg ane — her song was so light a so fir. Anon I thought of theother beh the cross at Golgotha, so deep was the expression of pa. And, jt as it had dohoands of years ago, the sound of appe and delight now filled the theatre. ‘happy, gifted creature!’ all the hearers excid. Five utes ore, and the stage ty, the pany had vanished, and not a sound ore was heard — all were gone. but the rus stood unged, as they will stand wheuries shall have gone by, and when none shall know of the ontary appe and of the triuph of the fair songstress; when all will be fotten and gone, and even forthis hour will be but a drea of the past.”

第十二个晚上

ELFth EVENING

“我透过一位编辑的窗户向里看。” 月亮说。“那是在德国的某个地方。我看到漂亮的家具、很多书和一堆杂乱的报纸。

“I looked through the dows of aor’s hoe,” said the oon. “It was serany. I saw handso furniture, any books, and a chaos of neers.

有几个年轻人在那里：编辑本人站在他的书桌旁，可以看到两本小书，都是年轻作者写的。“这本是寄给我的。” 他说。“我还没读呢；你觉得内容怎么样？”“哦，” 被问到的人说 —— 他自己也是个诗人 ——“还不错；当然有点浅显；但是，你知道，作者还年轻。诗句本可以更好，这是肯定的；思想是正确的，尽管其中肯定有很多陈词滥调。但你还能要求什么呢？你不可能总是得到新东西。我不相信他会写出什么伟大的作品，但你可以放心地赞扬他。他学识渊博，是一位杰出的东方学者，判断力也很强。就是他写了那篇对我的《家庭生活随想》的精彩评论。我们必须对这个年轻人宽容些。”

Several young n were present: the editor hiself stood at his desk, and o little books, both by young authors, were to be noticed. ‘this one has beeo ,’ said he. ‘I have not read it yet; what thk you of the tents?’ ‘oh,’ said the person addressed — he oet hiself— ‘it is good enough; a little broad, certaly; but, you see, the author is still young. the verses ight be better, to be sure; the thoughts are sound, though there is certaly a good deal of on-pce aong the. but what will you have? You ’t be always gettg sothihat he’ll turn out anythg great I don’t believe, but you ay safely praise hi. he is well read, a rearkable oriental schor, and has a good judgnt. It was he who wrote that nice review of y ‘Refles on dostic Life.’ we t be leowards the young an.”

“‘但他完全是个平庸之辈！’另一位先生提出异议。‘诗歌中没有比平庸更糟糕的了，而他肯定没有超越这一点。’”

“‘but he is a plete hack!’ objected another of the gentlen. ‘Nothg worse iry than diocrity, and he certaly does not go beyond this.’

“‘可怜的家伙，’第三个人说道，‘而且他的姑妈还为他那么高兴呢。编辑先生，就是她为您上次的译着拉来了那么多订户。’

“‘poor fellow,’ observed a third, ‘and his aunt is so happy about hi. It was she, r. Editor, who got together so any subscribers for your st transtion.’

“‘啊，那个好心的女人！嗯，我已经简略地留意过那本书了。无疑是有才华的——一份受欢迎的作品——诗歌园地里的一朵鲜花——装帧精美——诸如此类。不过这另一本书——我猜作者是指望我去买它吧？我听说它受到了赞扬。

“‘Ah, the good woan! well, I have noticed the book briefly. Undoubted talent — a wele— a flowerthe garden of poetry — prettily brought out — and so on. but this other book — I suppose the author expectsto purchase it? I hear it is praised.

“他当然有天赋，你不这么认为吗？”

“he has geni, certaly: don’t you thk so?”

“‘是的，全世界都这么认为。’诗人回答，‘但结果却有些狂野。尤其是这本书的标点，非常古怪。’”

“‘Yes, all the world decres as uch,’ replied the poet, ‘but it has turned out rather wildly. the punctuation of the book,particur, is very etric.’

“‘如果我们把他批得一无是处，让他有点生气，这对他有好处，否则他会对自己评价过高。’”

“‘It will be good for hi if we pull hi to pieces, and anger hi a little, otherwise he will get too good an opion of hiself.’

“‘但那会不公平。’第四个人提出异议。‘我们不要挑剔小毛病，而要为我们在这里发现的真正而丰富的优点而高兴：他超越了其他人。’”

“‘but that would be unfair,’ objected the fourth. ‘Letnot carp at little faults, but rejoice over the real and abundant good that we fd here: he surpasses all the rest.’

“‘不是这样。如果他是真正的天才，他就能承受严厉的批评之声。有足够多的人会赞扬他。别让我们把他捧得太高。’”

“‘Not so. If he is a true geni, hebear the sharp voice of sure. there are people enough to praise hi. don’t letquite turn his head.’

“‘有明显的天赋，’编辑写道，‘但也一如既往地粗心。从第 25 页可以看出他会写出不正确的诗句，那里有两处格律错误。我们建议他学习古人等等。’”

“‘decided talent,’ wrote the editor, ‘with the ual carelessness. that hewrite rrect verses ay be seenpage 25, where there are o false quantities. we rend hi to study the as, etc.’

“我离开了，” 月亮继续说道，“透过那位姨妈家的窗户往里看。那位备受赞扬的诗人，温顺的那位，坐在那里；所有的客人都向他致敬，他很开心。”

“I went away,” tihe oon, “and looked through the dowsthe aunt’s hoe. there sat the be-praised poet, the ta one; all the guests paid hoage to hi, and he was happy.

“我去找另一位诗人，狂野的那位；我也在他赞助人的一个盛大聚会上找到了他，在那里人们正在讨论温顺诗人的书。”

“I sought the other poet out, the wild one; hi also I founda great assebly at his patron’s, where the ta poet’s book was beg discsed.

“‘我也会读你的书，’梅塞纳斯说，‘但说实话 —— 你知道我从不对你隐瞒我的看法 —— 我对它期望不高，因为你太狂野，太异想天开了。但必须承认，作为一个人，你非常值得尊敬。’”

“‘I shall read yours also,’ said aeas; ‘but to speak holy — you know I never hide y opion fro you — I don’t expect uch fro it, for you are uch too wild, too fantastic. but it t be allowed that, as a an, you are highly respectable.’

一个年轻女孩坐在一个角落里，她在一本书里读到这些话：

“‘在尘埃中躺着天才和荣耀，

但日常的才能会有回报。

这只是古老的故事，

但这一幕每天都在重演。’”

“A young girl sata er; and she reada book these words:

‘I lies geni and glory,

but ev’ry-day talent will pay.

It’s only the old, old story,

but the piece is repeated each day.’”

第十三个晚上

thIRtEENth EVENING

月亮说：“在林间小道旁边有两座小农舍。门很低，有些窗户安装得很高，有些则靠近地面；白刺和伏牛花灌木丛生长在它们周围。每座房子的屋顶都长满了青苔、黄色的花朵和长生草。花园里只种着卷心菜和土豆，但树篱外长着一棵柳树，柳树下坐着一个小女孩，她眼睛盯着两座小屋之间的那棵老橡树。

“the oon said, “beside the woodnd path there are o sall far-hoes. the doors are low, and so of the doced quite high, and others close to the ground; and whitethorn and barberry bhes grow around the. the roof of each hoe is rown with oss and with yellow flowers and hoeleek. cabbage and potatoes are the only pnts cultivatedthe gardens, but out of the hedge there grows a willow tree, and uhis willow tree sat a little girl, and she sat with her eyes fixed upon the old oak tree beeewo huts.

“那是一根古老的、枯萎的树干。它的顶部被锯掉了，一只鹳在上面筑了巢；它站在巢里，用嘴拍打着。一个小男孩走过来站在女孩旁边：他们是兄妹。

“It was an old withered ste. It had been sawn off at the , and a stork had built hisupon it; aoodthiscppg with his beak. A little boy d stood by the girl’s side: they were brother and sister.

“‘你在看什么？’他问。

“‘what are you lookg at?’ he asked.

“‘我在看鹳。’她回答说，‘我们的邻居告诉我，今天它会给我们带来一个小弟弟或小妹妹；我们看着它来吧！’

“‘I’ watg the stork,’ she replied: ‘our neighbors toldthat he would brga little brother or sister to-day; letwatch to see it e!’

“‘鹳不会带来这样的东西。’男孩断言，‘你可以肯定这一点。我们的邻居也跟我这么说，但她说的时候笑了，所以我让她发誓‘以我的名誉担保’，可她做不到；我由此知道鹳送宝宝的故事不是真的，他们只是为了逗我们孩子才这么说的。’

“‘the stork brgs no such thgs,’ the boy decred, ‘you ay be sure of that.our neighbor toldthe sa thg, but she ughed when she said it, and so I asked her if she uld say ‘on y honor,’ and she uld not; and I know by that the story about the storks is not true, and that they only tell it tochildren for fun.’

“‘那宝宝是从哪儿来的呢？’女孩问。

“‘but where do babies e fro, then?’ asked the girl.

“哎呀，是一位来自天堂的天使把它们藏在他的斗篷下带来的，但是没人能看见他；这就是为什么我们永远不知道他什么时候把它们带来。”

“‘why, an angel fro heaven brgs the under his cloak, but no ansee hi; and that’s why we never know when he brgs the.’

“就在这时，柳树枝头沙沙作响，孩子们双手合十，面面相觑：肯定是送宝宝的天使来了。他们牵起彼此的手，就在这时，其中一间屋子的门打开了，邻居出现了。

“At that ont there was a rtlgthe branches of the willow tree, and the children folded their hands and looked at one another: it was certaly the angel g with the baby. they took each other’s hand, and at that ont the door of one of the hoes opened, and the neighbour appeared.

“‘进来吧，你们俩。’她说。‘看看鹳带来了什么。是个小弟弟呢。’

‘e , you o,’ she said. ‘See what the stork has brought. It is a little brother.’

“孩子们郑重地点点头，因为他们早就确信宝宝已经来了。”

“And the children nodded gravely at one another, for they had felt quite sure already that the baby was e.”

第十四个晚上

FoURtEENth EVENING

“我正掠过吕讷堡荒原。” 月亮说。“路边有一间孤零零的小屋，附近长着几棵稀疏的灌木，一只迷路的夜莺婉转地歌唱着。它在寒夜中死去：我听到的是它的告别之歌。

“I was glidg over the Luneburg heath,” the oon said. “A lonely hut stood by the wayside, a few sty bhes grew near it, and a nightgale who had lost his way sang sweetly. he diedthe ess of the night: it was his farewell song that I heard.

“黎明破晓，曙光微红。我看到一队移民农民家庭，他们要前往汉堡，在那里乘船去美国，在那里他们想象中的繁荣将会绽放。

“thedawn ca glirg red. I saw a caravan of eigrant peasant failies who were bound to haburgh, there to take ship for Arica, where fancied prosperity would bloo for the.

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