纤云弄巧,飞星传恨,银汉迢迢暗度。
金风玉露一相逢,便胜却人间无数。
柔情似水,佳期如梦,忍顾鹊桥归路!
两情若是久长时,又岂在朝朝暮暮!
Clouds float like works of art;
Stars shoot with grief at heart.
Across the Milky Way the Cowherd meets the Maid
When Autumn’s Golden wind embraces Dew of Jades,
All the love scenes on earth,however many, fade
Their tender love flows like a stream;
This happy date seems but a dream.
Can they bear a separate homeward way?
If love between both sides can last for aye,
Why need they stay together night and day? (许渊冲 译)
翻译注释:
金风玉露
金风玉露其实就是指代秋天,许渊冲先生这里一句When Autumn’s Golden wind embraces Dew of Jades,就从字面来看,也还是很有意境很优美的。
忍顾鹊桥归路
鹊桥——在我们的语境中,“鹊桥”是个很有诗意的画面,而且又和七夕的传说联系在一起,但是文化差异的原因,magpie在英语中并没有什么美好的象征意义,而且老外对七夕的传说基本上也没什么深刻印象,哪怕对此有所了解,也未必就能对“鹊桥”这个词产生审美和诗意的联想。所以许渊冲先生在这里将“鹊桥”虚化成了homeward way:回家的路。其实这里这句“忍顾鹊桥归路”也翻译得相当简单:Can they bear a separate homeward way? 如何能忍受独自归家?就是这个意思。
两情若是久长时,又岂在朝朝暮暮
If love between both sides can last for aye,
Why need they stay together night and day?
这里last for aye中,aye意为“永远”,古英语,这里用看上去比forever要典雅。
欣赏完古诗中的深情,我们再来体会一下现代诗中的伟大爱情。
致橡树
作者:舒婷
我如果爱你——
绝不像攀援的凌霄花
借你的高枝炫耀自己;
我如果爱你——
绝不学痴情的鸟儿
为绿荫重复单调的歌曲;
也不止像泉源
常年送来清凉的慰藉;
也不止像险峰
增加你的高度,衬托你的威仪。
甚至日光。
甚至春雨。
不,这些都还不够!
我必须是你近旁的一株木棉,
作为树的形象和你站在一起。
根,紧握在地下
叶,相触在云里。
每一阵风过
我们都互相致意,
但没有人
听懂我们的言语。
你有你的铜枝铁干
像刀、像剑,
也像戟;
我有我的红硕的花朵
像沉重的叹息,
又像英勇的火炬。 我们分担寒潮、风雷、霹雳;
我们共享雾霭、流岚、虹霓。
仿佛永远分离,
却又终身相依。
这才是伟大的爱情,
坚贞就在这里:
爱——
不仅爱你伟岸的身躯,
也爱你坚持的位置,脚下的土地。
To the Oak Tree
By Shu Ting
If I love you --
I will never be a clinging trumpet creeper
Using your high boughs to show off my height
If I love you --
I will never be a spoony bird
Repeating a monotonous song for green shade
Or be a spring
Bringing cool solace all year long
Or be a steep peak
Increasing your stature, reflecting your eminence
Even the sunlight
Even the spring rain
No, all these are not enough
I must be a ceiba tree beside you
Be the image of a tree standing together with you
Our roots, entwined underground
Our leaves, touching in the clouds
With each gust of wind
We greet each other
But nobody
Can understand our words
You'll have your copper branches and iron trunk
Like knives, like swords, like halberds, too
I'll have my crimson flowers
Like heavy sighs
And valiant torches
We'll share cold spells, storms and thunder
We'll share mists, hazes and rainbows
Seemingly always apart
But also forever interdependent
Only this can be great love
The loyalty is here
Love --
I love not only your strapping stature
But also your firm stand, the earth beneath you
(Johanna Yueh根据网络英译修改版)