《月亮看见的》，1840 年
what the moon Saw, 1840.
引言
INtRodUctIoN
这是一件奇怪的事情，当我感受最强烈、最深刻的时候，我的手和我的舌头似乎都被束缚住了，以至于我不能恰当地描述或准确地描绘出我内心涌起的想法；然而我是一个画家；我的眼睛告诉了我这一点，所有看过我的素描和幻想的朋友也都这么说。
It is a strange thing, when I feel most fervently and most deeply, my hands and my tongue seem alike tied, so that I cannot rightly describe or accurately portray the thoughts that are rising within me; and yet I am a painter; my eye tells me as much as that, and all my friends who have seen my sketches and fancies say the same.
我是一个穷孩子，住在最狭窄的一条小巷里；但我并不缺少光，因为我的房间在房子的高处，可以眺望到邻近屋顶的广阔景色。
I am a poor lad, and live in one of the narrowest of lanes; but I do not want for light, as my room is high up in the house, with an extensive prospect over the neighbouring roofs.
在我刚到这个城镇生活的头几天里，我感到非常沮丧和孤独。我看到的不再是昔日的森林和青山，而只有一片烟囱林立的 “森林”。然后我一个朋友也没有；没有一张熟悉的面孔向我打招呼。
during the first few days I went to live in the town, I felt low-spirited and solitary enough. Instead of the forest and the green hills of former days, I had here only a forest of chimney-pots to look out upon. And then I had not a single friend; not one familiar face greeted me.
于是，一天晚上，我心情沮丧地坐在窗前；不一会儿，我打开窗户向外望去。哦，我的心是多么欢快地跳动起来！终于看到了一张熟悉的面孔 —— 一张圆圆的、友好的脸，一张我在家乡认识的好朋友的脸。事实上，是月亮在看着我。他一点也没变，亲爱的老月亮，和他过去透过荒野上的柳树向下看着我的时候一模一样的脸。
So one evening I sat at the window, in a desponding mood; and presently I opened the casement and looked out. oh, how my heart leaped up with joy! here was a well-known face at last — a round, friendly countenance, the face of a good friend I had known at home. In, fact, it was the mooN that looked in upon me. he was quite unchanged, the dear old moon, and had the same face exactly that he used to show when he peered down upon me through the willow trees on the moor.
我一次又一次地向他飞吻，当他远远地照进我的小房间时；而他呢，作为回报，向我保证，每天晚上他出来的时候，都会来看我一会儿。他忠实地遵守了这个诺言。
I kissed my hand to him over and over again, as he shone far into my little room; and he, for his part, promised me that every evening, when he came abroad, he would look in upon me for a few moments. this promise he has faithfully kept.
可惜的是，他每次来只能停留很短的时间。每当他出现时，他都会告诉我前一晚或者当天晚上他看到的这样或那样的事情。
It is a pity that he can only stay such a short time when he es. whenever he appears, he tells me of one thing or another that he has seen on the previous night, or on that same evening.
“就把我描述给你的场景画下来”—— 这是他对我说的话 ——“你就会有一本非常漂亮的图画书了。”
“Just paint the scenes I describe to you” — this is what he said to me— “and you will have a very pretty picture-book.”
很多个晚上我都听从了他的嘱咐。我可以用我自己的方式，从这些图画中编出一本新的《一千零一夜》，但毕竟数量可能太多了。
I have followed his injunction for many evenings. I could make up a new “thousand and one Nights,” in my own way, out of these pictures, but the number might be too great, after all.
这里给出的图画不是随意挑选的，而是按照他向我描述的顺序排列的。
the pictures I have here given have not been chosen at random, but follow in their proper order, just as they were described to me.
如果哪位有天赋的画家，或者诗人、音乐家愿意的话，可以从这些图画中创造出更多的东西；我这里给出的只是仓促的素描，匆忙地画在纸上，还夹杂着一些我自己的想法；因为月亮并不是每天晚上都来找我 —— 有时一片云会遮住他的脸不让我看到。
Some great gifted painter, or some poet or musician, may make something more of them if he likes; what I have given here are only hasty sketches, hurriedly put upon the paper, with some of my own thoughts, interspersed; for the moon did not e to me every evening — a cloud sometimes hid his face from me.
第一个晚上
FIRSt EVENING.
“昨晚”—— 我引用月亮自己的话 ——“昨晚我在万里无云的印度天空中滑行。
“Last night” — I am quoting the moon’s own words— “last night I was gliding through the cloudless Indian sky.
我的脸映照在恒河的水面上，我的光芒努力穿透我下方像龟壳一样拱起的茂密交织的香蕉树枝。
my face was mirrored in the waters of the Ganges, and my beams strove to pierce through the thick intertwining boughs of the bananas, arching beneath me like the tortoise’s shell.
从灌木丛中轻快地走出一个印度少女，像瞪羚一样轻盈，像夏娃一样美丽。这个印度斯坦的女儿站在那里，如幻影般空灵，却又在周围的阴影中轮廓分明：我能从她精致的额头上看出把她引到这里来的想法。
Forth from the thicket tripped a hindoo maid, light as a gazelle, beautiful as Eve. Airy and etherial as a vision, and yet sharply defined amid the surrounding shadows, stood this daughter of hindostan: I could read on her delicate brow the thought that had brought her hither.
多刺的蔓生植物扯破了她的凉鞋，但尽管如此，她还是快步向前。来河边喝水的鹿受惊地跳开了，因为少女手里拿着一盏点亮的灯。
the thorny creeping plants tore her sandals, but for all that she came rapidly forward. the deer that had e down to the river to quench her thirst, sprang by with a startled bound, for in her hand the maiden bore a lighted lamp.
我能看到她纤细指尖的血，她把手指张开挡在摇曳的火焰前。她来到河边，把灯放在水面上，让它漂走。火焰来回摇曳，似乎随时都会熄灭；但灯仍在燃烧，女孩乌黑闪亮的眼睛，长长的丝质睫毛半掩着，热切而专注地凝视着它。
I could see the blood in her delicate finger tips, as she spread them for a screen before the dancing flame. She came down to the stream, and set the lamp upon the water, and let it float away. the flame flickered to and fro, and seemed ready to expire; but still the lamp burned on, and the girl’s black sparkling eyes, half veiled behind their long silken lashes, followed it with a gaze of earnest intensity.
她知道只要这灯在她视线内一直燃烧着，她的未婚夫就还活着；但如果灯突然熄灭了，他就死了。灯勇敢地燃烧着，她跪下来祈祷。在她旁边的草丛里躺着一条有斑点的蛇，但她没有注意到 —— 她心里只想着婆罗门和她的未婚夫。
She knew that if the lamp continued to burn so long as she could keep it in sight, her betrothed was still alive; but if the lamp was suddenly extinguished, he was dead. And the lamp burned bravely on, and she fell on her knees, and prayed. Near her in the grass lay a speckled snake, but she heeded it not — she thought only of bramah and of her betrothed.
‘他活着！’ 她高兴地喊道，‘他活着！’ 从山间传来回声回应她，‘他活着！’”
‘he lives!’ she shouted joyfully, ‘he lives!’ And from the mountains the echo came back upon her, ‘he lives!’”
第二个晚上
SEcoNd EVENING
“昨天，” 月亮对我说，“我俯瞰着一个被房屋四面环绕的小院子。院子里坐着一只咯咯叫的母鸡和十一只小鸡；一个漂亮的小女孩在它们周围跑着跳着。母鸡受了惊，尖叫起来，展开翅膀护住小鸡们。然后女孩的父亲走了出来，责骂了她；我飘然而去，不再去想这件事。
“Yesterday,” said the moon to me, “I looked down upon a small courtyard surrounded on all sides by houses. In the courtyard sat a clucking hen with eleven chickens; and a pretty little girl was running and jumping around them. the hen was frightened, and screamed, and spread out her wings over the little brood. then the girl’s father came out and scolded her; and I glided away and thought no more of the matter.
“但是今晚，就在几分钟前，我又向下看了同一个院子。一切都很安静。但不一会儿小女孩又出来了，悄悄地溜到鸡舍旁，推开门闩，溜进了母鸡和小鸡的住处。它们大声叫着，惊慌失措地从栖木上飞下来，四处乱跑，小女孩在后面追着它们。我看得很清楚，因为我透过鸡舍墙上的一个洞往里看。我对这个任性的孩子很生气，当她父亲走出来，比昨天更严厉地责骂她，粗暴地抓住她的胳膊时，我感到很高兴；她低下头，蓝色的眼睛里满是大大的泪珠。‘你在这儿干什么？’他问。她哭着说，‘我想亲亲母鸡，为昨天吓到它而向它道歉；但我不敢告诉你。’”
“but this evening, only a few minutes ago, I looked down into the same courtyard. Everything was quiet. but presently the little girl came forth again, crept quietly to the hen-house, pushed back the bolt, and slipped into the apartment of the hen and chickens. they cried out loudly, and came fluttering down from their perches, and ran about in dismay, and the little girl ran after them. I saw it quite plainly, for I looked through a hole in the hen-house wall. I was angry with the willful child, and felt glad when her father came out and scolded her more violently than yesterday, holding her roughly by the arm; she held down her head, and her blue eyes were full of large tears. ‘what are you about here?’ he asked. She wept and said, ‘I wanted to kiss the hen and beg her pardon for frightening her yesterday; but I was afraid to tell you.’
“父亲亲吻了这个无辜孩子的额头，而我亲吻了她的嘴和眼睛。”
“And the father kissed the innocent child’s forehead, and I kissed her on the mouth and eyes.”
第三个晚上
thIRd EVENING
“在那边拐角处的狭窄街道上 —— 街道非常狭窄，我的光芒只能在房屋的墙壁上停留一分钟，但在那一分钟里我看到的足以让我了解世界是由什么构成的 —— 在那条狭窄的街道上我看到一个女人。十六年前这个女人还是个孩子，在乡下牧师住宅的花园里玩耍。玫瑰树篱很旧了，花儿也凋谢了。它们杂乱地蔓延在小路上，参差不齐的树枝长进了苹果树的树枝间；这儿那儿还有几朵玫瑰仍在绽放 —— 不像花中之王通常看起来那么美丽，但它们仍有颜色和香气。在我看来，牧师的小女儿就像一朵更可爱的玫瑰，她坐在杂乱的树篱下的凳子上，抱着并抚摸着她那有着破旧纸板脸颊的洋娃娃。
“In the narrow street round the corner yonder — it is so narrow that my beams can only glide for a minute along the walls of the house, but in that minute I see enough to learn what the world is made of — in that narrow street I saw a woman. Sixteen years ago that woman was a child, playing in the garden of the old parsonage, in the country. the hedges of rose-bush were old, and the flowers were faded. they straggled wild over the paths, and the ragged branches grew up among the boughs of the apple trees; here and there were a few roses still in bloom — not so fair as the queen of flowers generally appears, but still they had colour and scent too. the clergyman’s little daughter appeared to me a far lovelier rose, as she sat on her stool under the straggling hedge, hugging and caressing her doll with the battered pasteboard cheeks.
“十年后我又看到了她。我在一个华丽的舞厅里看到了她：她是一个富商的美丽新娘。我为她的幸福而高兴，在宁静的夜晚寻找她 —— 啊，没人会想到我明亮的眼睛和默默的凝视！唉！我的玫瑰变得狂野了，就像牧师住宅花园里的玫瑰树篱一样。日常生活中有悲剧，今晚我看到了其中一个的最后一幕。
“ten years afterwards I saw her again. I beheld her in a splendid ballroom: she was the beautiful bride of a rich merchant. I rejoiced at her happiness, and sought her on calm quiet evenings — ah, nobody thinks of my clear eye and my silent glance! Alas! my rose ran wild, like the rose bushes in the garden of the parsonage. there are tragedies in every-day life, and tonight I saw the last act of one.
“她躺在那条狭窄街道上一所房子的床上：她病得快要死了，残忍的房东走了进来，扯掉了单薄的被单，那是她抵御寒冷的唯一依靠。‘起来！’他说，‘你的脸足以把人吓一跳。起来穿好衣服，给我钱，不然我就把你扔到街上去！快点 —— 起来！’她回答说，‘唉！死亡正在吞噬我的心。让我休息吧。’但他强迫她起来洗了脸，在她头发上戴了一个玫瑰花环；他把她放在靠窗的一把椅子上，旁边点着一支蜡烛，然后就走了。
“She was lying in bed in a house in that narrow street: she was sick unto death, and the cruel landlord came up, and tore away the thin coverlet, her only protection against the cold. ‘Get up!’ said he; ‘your face is enough to frighten one. Get up and dress yourself, give me money, or I’ll turn you out into the street! quick — get up!’ She answered, ‘Alas! death is gnawing at my heart. Let me rest.’ but he forced her to get up and bathe her face, and put a wreath of roses in her hair; and he placed her in a chair at the window, with a candle burning beside her, and went away.
“我看着她，她一动不动地坐着，双手放在膝上。风刮开了敞开的窗户，砰地一声关上了，一块玻璃哗啦一声碎了下来；但她仍然一动不动。窗帘着了火，火焰在她脸上跳动；我看到她死了。敞开的窗户边坐着那个死去的女人，在宣讲一篇反对罪恶的布道 —— 我那来自牧师住宅花园里可怜的、凋谢的玫瑰！”
“I looked at her, and she was sitting motionless, with her hands in her lap. the wind caught the open window and shut it with a crash, so that a pane came clattering down in fragments; but still she never moved. the curtain caught fire, and the flames played about her face; and I saw that she was dead. there at the open window sat the dead woman, preaching a sermon against sin — my poor faded rose out of the parsonage garden!”
第四个晚上
FoURth EVENING
“今晚我看了一场德国戏剧的演出。” 月亮说。“是在一个小镇上。一个马厩被改成了一个剧院；也就是说，马厩还在那里，被改成了私人包厢，所有的木结构都贴上了彩色纸。
“this evening I saw a German play acted,” said the moon. “It was in a little town. A stable had been turned into a theatre; that is to say, the stable had been left standing, and had been turned into private boxes, and all the timber work had been covered with coloured paper.
一个小铁吊灯挂在天花板下面，为了能像在大剧院里那样，一听到提示员的铃声就消失在天花板里，就在它的正上方放了一个大倒置的桶。
A little iron chandelier hung beneath the ceiling, and that it might be made to disappear into the ceiling, as it does in great theatres, when the ting-ting of the prompter’s bell is heard, a great inverted tub has been placed just above it.
“‘叮 - 叮！’小铁吊灯突然升起来至少半码高，消失在桶里；这就表示演出要开始了。一位年轻的贵族和他的夫人正好路过这个小镇，也来看演出，因此剧场里挤满了人。但是在吊灯下面有一块像小火山口一样的空地：没有一个人坐在那里，因为牛脂蜡烛在往下滴，滴答，滴答！我什么都看见了，因为里面很暖和，每个通风口都打开了。男仆和女仆们站在外面，透过裂缝往里看，尽管里面有一个真正的警察，拿着警棍威胁他们。在乐队附近可以看到这对高贵的年轻夫妇坐在两把旧扶手椅里，这两把椅子通常是市长和他夫人坐的；但是今天他们不得不满足于坐在木凳子上，就好像他们是普通市民一样；这位夫人平静地自言自语道，‘现在可以看出，人是分等级的。’这件事给整个场面增添了一种格外喜庆的气氛。
“‘ting-ting!’ and the little iron chandelier suddenly rose at least half a yard and disappeared in the tub; and that was the sign that the play was going to begin. A young nobleman and his lady, who happened to be passing through the little town, were present at the performance, and consequently the house was crowded. but under the chandelier was a vacant space like a little crater: not a single soul sat there, for the tallow was dropping, drip, drip! I saw everything, for it was so warm in there that every loophole had been opened. the male and female servants stood outside, peeping through the chinks, although a real policeman was inside, threatening them with a stick. close by the orchestra could be seen the noble young couple in two old arm-chairs, which were usually occupied by his worship the mayor and his lady; but these latter were to-day obliged to content themselves with wooden forms, just as if they had been ordinary citizens; and the lady observed quietly to herself, ‘one sees, now, that there is rank above rank;’ and this incident gave an air of extra festivity to the whole proceedings.
吊灯跳动了几下，人们的指关节被敲了一下，而我，月亮，自始至终都在观看这场演出。”
the chandelier gave little leaps, the crowd got their knuckles rapped, and I, the moon, was present at the performance from beginning to end.”
第五个晚上
FIFth EVENING
“昨天，” 月亮开始说道，“我俯瞰着巴黎的喧嚣。我的目光穿透了卢浮宫的一个房间。一位衣衫褴褛的老妇人 —— 她属于工人阶级 —— 跟着一个仆人走进了那间空荡荡的宏大的王座厅，因为这是她想看的房间 —— 她决心要看一看；她费了不少小代价，说了不少哄人的话，才得以进到这里。她双手合十，带着崇敬的神情环顾四周，仿佛置身于一座教堂。
“‘就是这里！’她说，‘这里！’然后她走近王座，王座上垂着镶着金边的华丽天鹅绒。‘那儿，’她叫道，‘那儿！’然后她跪下来亲吻紫色的地毯。我想她实际上是在哭泣。
“Yesterday,” began the moon, “I looked down upon the turmoil of paris. my eye penetrated into an apartment of the Louvre. An old grandmother, poorly clad — she belonged to the working class — was following one of the under-servants into the great empty throne-room, for this was the apartment she wanted to see — that she was resolved to see; it had cost her many a little sacrifice, and many a coaxing word, to penetrate thus far. She folded her thin hands, and looked round with an air of reverence, as if she had been in a church. ‘here it was!’ she said, ‘here!’ and she approached the throne, from which hung the rich velvet fringed with gold lace. ‘there,’ she exclaimed, ‘there!’ and she knelt and kissed the purple carpet. I think she was actually weeping.
“‘但这不是原来的那块天鹅绒！’仆人说道，脸上露出一丝微笑。‘的确不是，但就是这个地方，’老妇人回答，‘而且它肯定看起来就跟这个一样。’‘看起来是这样，但其实不是，’仆人说，‘窗户被打破了，门从铰链上掉了下来，地上还有血。’‘不管你怎么说，我的孙子是死在了法国的王座上。死了！’老妇人悲伤地重复道。我想他们没再说别的话，很快就离开了大厅。
‘but it was not this very velvet!’ observed the footman, and a smile played about his mouth. ‘true, but it was this very place,’ replied the woman, ‘and it must have looked just like this. ‘It looked so, and yet it did not,’ observed the man: ‘the windows were beaten in, and the doors were off their hinges, and there was blood upon the floor.’ ‘but for all that you can say, my grandson died upon the throne of France. died!’ mournfully repeated the old woman. I do not think another word was spoken, and they soon quitted the hall.
傍晚的暮色渐渐消退，我的光芒更加明亮地照在覆盖着法国王座的华丽天鹅绒上。
the evening twilight faded and my light shone doubly vivid upon the rich velvet that covered the throne of France.
“现在你认为这个可怜的女人是谁呢？听着，我给你讲个故事。
“Now who do you think this poor woman was? Listen, I will tell you a story.
“事情发生在七月革命中，在那个最为辉煌胜利的日子的傍晚，那时每一所房子都是一座堡垒，每一扇窗户都是一处胸墙。人们攻打了杜伊勒里宫。在战斗者中甚至能看到妇女和孩子。他们冲进了宫殿的房间和大厅。一个穿着破烂上衣、还未成年的可怜男孩在年长的起义者中战斗。他被几刺刀刺成重伤，倒了下去。这发生在王座厅。他们把流血的年轻人放在法国的王座上，用天鹅绒裹住他的伤口，他的血流淌在皇家紫色的布料上。那是一幅画面！宏伟的大厅，战斗的人群！地上一面撕破的旗帜，三色旗在刺刀上方飘扬，王座上躺着那个可怜的小伙子，脸色苍白却光彩照人，眼睛望着天空，四肢在死亡的痛苦中抽搐着，胸膛袒露着，他那可怜的破衣服有一半被绣着银百合花的华丽天鹅绒遮住。在这个男孩的摇篮边曾有过一个预言：‘他将死在法国的王座上！’母亲的心曾梦想着出现第二个拿破仑。
It happened, in the Revolution of July, on the evening of the most brilliantly victorious day, when every house was a fortress, every window a breastwork. the people stormed the tuileries. Even women and children were to be found among the batants. they penetrated into the apartments and halls of the palace. A poor half-grown boy in a ragged blouse fought among the older insurgents. mortally wounded with several bayonet thrusts, he sank down. this happened in the throne-room. they laid the bleeding youth upon the throne of France, wrapped the velvet around his wounds, and his blood streamed forth upon the imperial purple. there was a picture! the splendid hall, the fighting groups! A torn flag upon the ground, the tricolor was waving above the bayonets, and on the throne lay the poor lad with the pale glorified countenance, his eyes turned towards the sky, his limbs writhing in the death agony, his breast bare, and his poor tattered clothing half hidden by the rich velvet embroidered with silver lilies. At the boy’s cradle a prophecy had been spoken: ‘he will die on the throne of France!’ the mother’s heart dreamt of a second Napoleon.
“我的光芒亲吻过他坟墓上的不朽花环，今晚它们亲吻了这位老妇人的额头，而在她的梦中，浮现出你可以描绘的画面 —— 那个可怜的男孩坐在法国的王座上。”
“my beams have kissed the wreath of immortelles on his grave, and this night they kissed the forehead of the old grandame, while in a dream the picture floated before her which thou mayest draw — the poor boy on the throne of France.”
第六个晚上
SIxth EVENING
“我到过乌普萨拉。” 月亮说，“我俯瞰着长满粗草的广袤平原和荒芜的田野。我把脸映在蒂里斯河中，这时汽船把鱼赶进了芦苇丛。在我下方，波浪涌动，在所谓的奥丁、托尔和弗丽嘉的坟墓上投下长长的影子。在覆盖着山坡的稀疏草地上，刻着名字。这里没有纪念碑，没有旅行者可以让人把自己名字刻上去的纪念物，没有可以让人把名字画上去的石壁；所以游客们为了这个目的把草皮割掉。赤裸的泥土以巨大的字母和名字的形式显露出来；这些在整个山上形成了一个网络。这里有一种不朽，一直持续到新草长出！
“I’ve been in Upsala,” said the moon: “I looked down upon the great plain covered with coarse grass, and upon the barren fields. I mirrored my face in the tyris river, while the steamboat drove the fish into the rushes. beneath me floated the waves, throwing long shadows on the so-called graves of odin, thor, and Friga. In the scanty turf that covers the hill-side names have been cut. there is no monument here, no memorial on which the traveller can have his name carved, no rocky wall on whose surface he can get it painted; so visitors have the turf cut away for that purpose. the naked earth peers through in the form of great letters and names; these form a network over the whole hill. here is an immortality, which lasts till the fresh turf grows!
“山上站着一个人，一个诗人。他喝干了有着宽宽银边的蜜酒角杯，低声念出一个名字。他请求风不要出卖他，但我听到了那个名字。我知道那个名字。一个伯爵的冠冕在它上方闪耀，因此他没有把它说出来。我笑了，因为我知道诗人的桂冠装饰着他自己的名字。埃莉诺拉?德?埃斯特的高贵与塔索的名字联系在一起。我也知道美丽之花在哪里绽放！”
“Up on the hill stood a man, a poet. he emptied the mead horn with the broad silver rim, and murmured a name. he begged the winds not to betray him, but I heard the name. I knew it. A count’s coronet sparkles above it, and therefore he did not speak it out. I smiled, for I knew that a poet’s crown adorns his own name. the nobility of Eleanora d’Este is attached to the name of tasso. And I also know where the Rose of beauty blooms!”
月亮这样说着，一片云彩飘过来挡在了我们中间。愿没有云彩把诗人和玫瑰分开！
thus spake the moon, and a cloud came between us. may no cloud separate the poet from the rose!
第七个晚上
SEVENth EVENING
“沿着海岸边伸展着一片冷杉和山毛榉树林，这片树林清新而芳香；每年春天都有数百只夜莺飞来这里。紧挨着它的是大海，变幻无常的大海，在两者之间是宽阔的大路。一辆辆马车从上面驶过；但我没有跟着它们，因为我的目光最喜欢停留在一个地方。那里有一个匈奴人的坟墓，黑刺李和野李子在石头间茂盛地生长着。这里有大自然中真正的诗意。
“Along the margin of the shore stretches a forest of firs and beeches, and fresh and fragrant is this wood; hundreds of nightingales visit it every spring. close beside it is the sea, the ever-changing sea, and between the two is placed the broad high-road. one carriage after another rolls over it; but I did not follow them, for my eye loves best to rest upon one point. A hun’s Grave lies there, and the sloe and blackthorn grow luxuriantly among the stones. here is true poetry in nature.
“你认为人们是怎样欣赏这种诗意的呢？我来告诉你我昨晚和夜里在那里听到的。
And how do you think men appreciate this poetry? I will tell you what I heard there last evening and during the night.
“首先，两个富有的地主驾车经过。‘那些树真美！’第一个人说。‘当然；每棵树能出十车柴火呢，’另一个人说，‘今年冬天会很冷，去年我们一车柴火卖十四美元。’—— 然后他们就走了。‘这里的路真糟糕。’另一个驾车路过的人说。‘这都怪那些讨厌的树，’他的邻居回答说，‘没有畅通的气流；风只能从海上来。’—— 然后他们就走了。驿车嘎嘎地驶过。在这个美丽的地方，所有的乘客都睡着了。赶车的吹着喇叭，但他只想着，‘我吹得真棒。在这里听起来很不错。’
First, two rich landed proprietors came driving by. ‘those are glorious trees!’ said the first. ‘certainly; there are ten loads of firewood in each,’ observed the other: ‘it will be a hard winter, and last year we got fourteen dollars a load’ — and they were gone. ‘the road here is wretched,’ observed another man who drove past. ‘that’s the fault of those horrible trees,’ replied his neighbour; ‘there is no free current of air; the wind can only e from the sea’ — and they were gone. the stage coach went rattling past. All the passengers were asleep at this beautiful spot. the postillion blew his horn, but he only thought, ‘I can play capitally. It sounds well here.’
“我想知道里面的人会不会喜欢这里？”—— 然后驿车消失了。接着两个年轻人骑着马飞驰而来。“这里的人充满青春活力！” 我想；的确，他们微笑着看着长满青苔的小山和茂密的森林。“我不介意和磨坊主的克里斯汀在这里散散步。” 一个人说 —— 然后他们疾驰而过。
“I wonder if those in there like it?’ — and the stage coach vanished. then two young fellows came gallopping up on horseback. there’s youth and spirit in the blood here! thought I; and, indeed, they looked with a smile at the moss-grown hill and thick forest. ‘I should not dislike a walk here with the miller’s christine,’ said one — and they flew past.
“花儿散发着香气；每一丝空气都寂静无声；大海仿佛是高悬在深谷之上的天空的一部分。一辆马车驶过。里面坐着六个人。四个人睡着了；第五个人在想着他的新夏装，那衣服会非常适合他；第六个人转向车夫，问他那边那堆石头有没有什么特别之处。“没有，” 车夫回答，“那只是一堆石头；不过那些树很特别。”“怎么特别？”“哦，我来告诉你它们为什么特别。你看，冬天的时候，雪积得很深，把整条路都盖住了，什么都看不见，那些树就成了我的路标。我根据它们来调整方向，以免开到海里去；你看，这就是那些树特别的地方。”
“the flowers scented the air; every breath of air was hushed; it seemed as if the sea were a part of the sky that stretched above the deep valley. A carriage rolled by. Six people were sitting in it. Four of them were asleep; the fifth was thinking of his new summer coat, which would suit him admirably; the sixth turned to the coachman and asked him if there were anything remarkable connected with yonder heap of stones. ‘No,’ replied the coachman, ‘it’s only a heap of stones; but the trees are remarkable.’ ‘how so?’ ‘why I’ll tell you how they are very remarkable. You see, in winter, when the snow lies very deep, and has hidden the whole road so that nothing is to be seen, those trees serve me for a landmark. I steer by them, so as not to drive into the sea; and you see that is why the trees are remarkable.’
“这时来了一个画家。他一句话也没说，但眼睛发亮。他开始吹口哨。听到口哨声，夜莺叫得比以往任何时候都响亮。“闭嘴！” 他不耐烦地叫道；然后他仔细地记录下所有的颜色和过渡 —— 蓝色、淡紫色和深褐色。
“Now came a painter. he spoke not a word, but his eyes sparkled. he began to whistle. At this the nightingales sang louder than ever. ‘hold your tongues!’ he cried testily; and he made accurate notes of all the colours and transitions — blue, and lilac, and dark brown.
“那会成为一幅美丽的画。” 他说。他就像镜子摄取景色一样把它摄入画中；他一边作画一边吹着罗西尼的进行曲。最后来了一个可怜的女孩。她放下肩头的重担，在匈奴人的坟墓上坐下来休息。她苍白美丽的脸倾着，全神贯注地倾听着森林的声音。她的眼睛发亮，热切地凝视着大海和天空，双手合十，我想她在祈祷，“我们在天上的父。” 她自己也不明白涌上心头的这种感觉，但我知道这一刻以及这美丽的自然景色会在她的记忆里留存多年，远比画家能用颜料在纸上描绘得更加生动、真实。我的光芒一直追随着她，直到黎明的曙光亲吻她的额头。”
‘that will make a beautiful picture,’ he said. he took it in just as a mirror takes in a view; and as he worked he whistled a march of Rossini. And last of all came a poor girl. She laid aside the burden she carried, and sat down to rest upon the hun’s Grave. her pale handsome face was bent in a listening attitude towards the forest. her eyes brightened, she gazed earnestly at the sea and the sky, her hands were folded, and I think she prayed, ‘our Father.’ She herself could not understand the feeling that swept through her, but I know that this minute, and the beautiful natural scene, will live within her memory for years, far more vividly and more truly than the painter could portray it with his colours on paper. my rays followed her till the morning dawn kissed her brow.”
第八个晚上
EIGhth EVENING
乌云遮住了天空，月亮根本没有露面。我站在我的小房间里，比以往任何时候都更加孤独，抬头望着天空，他本应该在那里出现。我的思绪飘向远方，飞到我的好朋友那里，他每天晚上都给我讲那么美妙的故事，给我看图画。是的，他确实有过一段经历。他滑过大洪水的水面，对着诺亚方舟微笑，就像他最近俯视着我一样，带来了一个将从旧世界中诞生的新世界的安慰和希望。
“heavy clouds obscured the sky, and the moon did not make his appearance at all. I stood in my little room, more lonely than ever, and looked up at the sky where he ought to have shown himself. my thoughts flew far away, up to my great friend, who every evening told me such pretty tales, and showed me pictures. Yes, he has had an experience indeed. he glided over the waters of the deluge, and smiled on Noah’s ark just as he lately glanced down upon me, and brought fort and promise of a new world that was to spring forth from the old.
当以色列的孩子们坐在巴比伦河边哭泣的时候，他忧伤地望着柳树上挂着的寂静的竖琴。当罗密欧爬上阳台，真爱的承诺像小天使一样飘向天堂的时候，圆圆的月亮挂在清朗的夜空中，半隐在幽暗的柏树间。他看到圣赫勒拿岛上的被俘的巨人，从孤独的岩石上眺望辽阔的海洋，伟大的思想在他的灵魂中掠过。啊！月亮能讲出多少故事啊。对他来说，人类的生活就像一个故事。今晚我再也见不到你了，老朋友。今晚我无法画出你来访的记忆画面。当我神情恍惚地望着云彩的时候，天空亮了起来。一道闪光掠过，一束月光落在我身上。它又消失了，乌云飘过：但这仍然是一种问候，是月亮向我道的一声友好的晚安。
“when the children of Israel sat weeping by the waters of babylon, he glanced mournfully upon the willows where hung the silent harps. when Romeo climbed the balcony, and the promise of true love fluttered like a cherub toward heaven, the round moon hung, half hidden among the dark cypresses, in the lucid air. he saw the captive giant at St. helena, looking from the lonely rock across the wide ocean, while great thoughts swept through his soul. Ah! what tales the moon can tell. human life is like a story to him. to-night I shall not see thee again, old friend. tonight I can draw no picture of the memories of thy visit. And, as I looked dreamily towards the clouds, the sky became bright. there was a glancing light, and a beam from the moon fell upon me. It vanished again, and dark clouds flew past: but still it was a greeting, a friendly good-night offered to me by the moon.
第九个晚上
NINth EVENING
空气又清新了。几个晚上过去了，月亮处于上弦月状态。他又给了我一幅素描的轮廓。听听他告诉我的事情。
“the air was clear again. Several evenings had passed, and the moon was in the first quarter. Again he gave me an outline for a sketch. Listen to what he told me.
我曾跟随极地鸟和游动的鲸鱼来到格陵兰岛的东海岸。瘦骨嶙峋、冰雪覆盖的岩石和乌云笼罩着一个山谷，矮小的柳树和小檗丛身着绿装伫立在那里。盛开的剪秋罗散发着甜美的香气。我的光线微弱，我的脸像那从茎上被扯下、已随潮水漂流了数周的睡莲一样苍白。
I have followed the polar bird and the swimming whale to the eastern coast of Greenland. Gaunt ice-covered rocks and dark clouds hung over a valley, where dwarf willows and barberry bushes stood clothed in green. the blooming lychnis exhaled sweet odours. my light was faint, my face pale as the water lily that, torn from its stem, has been drifting for weeks with the tide.
形似王冠的北极光在天空中闪耀着强烈的光芒。它的光环很宽，光芒从它的圆周射出，像旋转的火柱一样划过整个天空，闪烁着从绿色到红色不断变化的光芒。那个冰雪之地的居民们正聚集起来准备跳舞和欢庆；但是，由于习惯了这壮丽的景象，他们几乎不屑去看它一眼。“让我们把死者的灵魂留给他们用海象的头玩球吧。”
the crown-shaped Northern Light burned fiercely in the sky. Its ring was broad, and from its circumference the rays shot like whirling shafts of fire across the whole sky, flashing in changing radiance from green to red. the inhabitants of that icy region were assembling for dance and festivity; but, accustomed to this glorious spectacle, they scarcely deigned to glance at it. ‘Let us leave the soul of the dead to their ball-play with the heads of the walruses,’
他们在迷信中这样想，然后把全部注意力都转向了歌声和舞蹈。在圆圈中央，一个格陵兰人脱去了他的毛皮披风，拿着一支小笛子，他吹奏并唱起了一首关于捕海豹的歌，周围的人齐声合唱着 “咿呀，咿呀，啊”。他们穿着白色的毛皮在圆圈里跳舞，直到你可能会以为这是一场北极熊的舞会。
they thought in their superstition, and they turned their whole attention to the song and dance. In the midst of the circle, and divested of his furry cloak, stood a Greenlander, with a small pipe, and he played and sang a song about catching the seal, and the chorus around chimed in with, ‘Eia, Eia, Ah.’ And in their white furs they danced about in the circle, till you might fancy it was a polar bear’s ball.
“现在一个法庭开庭了。那些有过争吵的格陵兰人走上前来，被冒犯的人随着笛子的声音和舞蹈的节奏即兴唱出对手的过错，尖锐地加以嘲讽。被告以同样尖锐的讽刺进行反驳，而观众们大笑并作出裁决。岩石摇晃，冰川融化，巨大的冰块和雪块轰然崩塌，坠落时碎成了片；这是一个格陵兰美丽的夏夜。
“And now a court of Judgment was opened. those Greenlanders who had quarrelled stepped forward, and the offended person chanted forth the faults of his adversary in an extempore song, turning them sharply into ridicule, to the sound of the pipe and the measure of the dance. the defendant replied with satire as keen, while the audience laughed, and gave their verdict. the rocks heaved, the glaciers melted, and great masses of ice and snow came crashing down, shivering to fragments as they fall; it was a glorious Greenland summer night.
一百步开外，在一张用兽皮搭成的敞篷下面，躺着一个病人。生命仍在他温暖的血液中流淌，但他还是要死了 —— 他自己感觉到了，围在他身边的所有人也都知道这一点；因此他的妻子已经在给他缝裹尸的毛皮，这样以后她就不必去触碰尸体了。她问道：“你想被葬在岩石上，在坚硬的积雪中吗？我会用你的皮艇和你的箭装饰那个地方，巫师会在上面跳舞。或者你更愿意被葬在海里？”“在海里。” 他低声说，带着悲伤的微笑点了点头。
“A hundred paces away, under the open tent of hides, lay a sick man. Life still flowed through his warm blood, but still he was to die — he himself felt it, and all who stood round him knew it also; therefore his wife was already sewing round him the shroud of furs, that she might not afterwards be obliged to touch the dead body. And she asked, ‘wilt thou be buried on the rock, in the firm snow? I will deck the spot with thy kayak, and thy arrows, and the angekokk shall dance over it. or wouldst thou rather be buried in the sea?’ ‘In the sea,’ he whispered, and nodded with a mournful smile.
“是的，大海是一个宜人的夏日帐篷。” 妻子说。“成千上万的海豹在那里嬉戏，海象会躺在你的脚下，狩猎将会安全而愉快！” 叫喊着的孩子们从窗户的洞口扯下展开的兽皮，以便把死者抬到大海，那波涛汹涌的大海，那在他活着的时候给他提供食物的大海，现在，在他死后，要给他一个安息之地。作为他的纪念碑，他有漂浮的、不断变化的冰山，海豹在上面睡觉，而风暴鸟在它们闪闪发光的山峰周围飞翔！”
‘Yes, it is a pleasant summer tent, the sea,’ observed the wife. ‘thousands of seals sport there, the walrus shall lie at thy feet, and the hunt will be safe and merry!’ And the yelling children tore the outspread hide from the window-hole, that the dead man might be carried to the ocean, the billowy ocean, that had given him food in life, and that now, in death, was to afford him a place of rest. For his monument, he had the floating, ever-changing icebergs, whereon the seal sleeps, while the storm bird flies round their gleaming summits!”
第十个晚上
tENth EVENING
“我认识一个老处女。” 月亮说。“每年冬天她都穿一件黄色缎面的披风，它总是崭新的，而且是她唯一遵循的时尚。夏天她总是戴同一顶草帽，我深信她穿的也是那件灰蓝色的连衣裙。
“I knew an old maid,” said the moon. “Every winter she wore a wrapper of yellow satin, and it always remained new, and was the only fashion she followed. In summer she always wore the same straw hat, and I verily believe the very same gray-blue dress.
她从不出门，除非是穿过街道去看望一位年老的女性朋友；后来几年，她甚至连这样的散步都不去了，因为那位老朋友已经去世了。在她的孤独中，我的老处女总是在窗边忙碌着，夏天窗户上装饰着漂亮的花朵，冬天则摆着种在毡垫上的水芹。在最后的几个月里，我不再在窗边看到她了，但她还活着。我知道这一点，因为我还没有看到她开始她常和她朋友谈起的 “漫长旅程”。
“She never went out, except across the street to an old female friend; and in later years she did not even take this walk, for the old friend was dead. In her solitude my old maid was always busy at the window, which was adorned in summer with pretty flowers, and in winter with cress, grown upon felt. during the last months I saw her no more at the window, but she was still alive. I knew that, for I had not yet seen her begin the ‘long journey,’ of which she often spoke with her friend.
“是的，是的，” 她习惯这么说，当我死的时候，我将进行一次比我一生走过的路程都要长的旅行。我们家的墓穴离这里有六英里。我将被运到那里，在我的家人和亲戚中间长眠。” 昨晚一辆运货马车在房子前停了下来。一口棺材被抬了出来，然后我知道她死了。他们在棺材周围放上稻草，马车开走了。那位安静的老妇人在那里安息了，她在过去的一年里一次都没有出过家门。马车轻快地驶出城门，就好像是去进行一次愉快的远足。在大路上，速度更快了。车夫不时紧张地四处张望 —— 我想他有点期望看到她穿着黄色缎面披风坐在棺材上。由于他受到了惊吓，他愚蠢地猛抽马匹，同时紧紧地抓着缰绳，以至于可怜的马儿口吐白沫：它们还年轻且性子烈。
‘Yes, yes,’ she was in the habit of saying, when I e to die I shall take a longer journey than I have made my whole life long. our family vault is six miles from here. I shall be carried there, and shall sleep there among my family and relatives.’ Last night a van stopped at the house. A coffin was carried out, and then I knew that she was dead. they placed straw round the coffin, and the van drove away. there slept the quiet old lady, who had not gone out of her house once for the last year. the van rolled out through the town-gate as briskly as if it were going for a pleasant excursion. on the high-road the pace was quicker yet. the coachman looked nervously round every now and then — I fancy he half expected to see her sitting on the coffin, in her yellow satin wrapper. And because he was startled, he foolishly lashed his horses, while he held the reins so tightly that the poor beasts were in a foam: they were young and fiery.
一只野兔跳过马路，吓了他们一跳，他们简直是跑掉了。这位多年来一直静静地在沉闷的圈子里转来转去的严肃的老处女，现在在死后，在公共大道上被颠簸着越过石块和土堆。棺材上盖着稻草，从马车里滚落出来，被留在了大路上，而马、车夫和马车则疯狂地疾驰而过。云雀从田野里飞起，欢快地唱着歌，在棺材上方啁啾着它的晨歌，不一会儿就栖息在上面，用嘴啄着稻草覆盖物，仿佛要把它啄开。云雀又飞起来，欢快地唱着歌，而我则躲到了红色的晨云后面。”
“A hare jumped across the road and startled them, and they fairly ran away. the old sober maiden, who had for years and years moved quietly round and round in a dull circle, was now, in death, rattled over stock and stone on the public highway. the coffin in its covering of straw tumbled out of the van, and was left on the high-road, while horses, coachman, and carriage flew past in wild career. the lark rose up carolling from the field, twittering her morning lay over the coffin, and presently perched upon it, picking with her beak at the straw covering, as though she would tear it up. the lark rose up again, singing gaily, and I withdrew behind the red morning clouds.”