| I LONG to go over there to the further bank of the river, |
我渴想到河的对岸去。 |
| Where those boats are tied to the bamboo poles in a line; |
在那边，好些船只一行儿系在竹杆上； |
| Where men cross over in their boats in the morning with ploughs on their shoulders to till their far-away fields; |
人们在早晨乘船渡过那边去，肩上扛着犁头，去耕耘他们的远处的田； |
| Where the cowherds make their lowing cattle swim across to the riverside pasture; |
在那边，牧人使他们鸣叫着的牛游泳到河旁的牧场去； |
| Whence they all come back home in the evening, leaving the jackals to howl in the island overgrown with weeds, |
黄昏的时候，他们都回家了，只留下豺狼在这满长着野草的岛上哀叫。 |
| Mother, if you don't mind, I should like to become the boatman of the ferry when I am grown up. |
妈妈，如果你不在意，我长大的时候，要做这渡船的船夫。 |
| They say there are strange pools hidden behind that high bank, |
据说有好些古怪的池塘藏在这个高岸之后。 |
| Where flocks of wild ducks come when the rains are over, and thick reeds grow round the margins where waterbirds lay their eggs; |
雨过去了，一群一群的野鹜飞到那里去，茂盛的芦苇在岸边四围生长，水鸟在那里 生蛋； |
| Where snipes with their dancing tails stamp their tiny footprints upon the clean soft mud; |
竹鸡带着跳舞的尾巴，将它们细小的足印印在洁净的软泥上； |
| Where in the evening the tall grasses crested with white flowers invite the moonbeam to float upon their waves. |
黄昏的时候，长草顶着白花，邀月光在长草的波浪上浮游。 |
| Mother, if you don't mind, I should like to become the boatman of the ferryboat when I am grown up. |
妈妈，如果你不在意，我长大的时候，要做这渡船的船夫。 |
| I shall cross and cross back from bank to bank, and all the boys and girls of the village will wonder at me while they are bathing. |
我要自此岸至彼岸，渡过来，渡过去，所有村中正在那儿沐浴的男孩女孩，都要诧异地望着我。 |
| When the sun climbs the mid sky and morning wears on to noon, I shall come running to you, saying, "Mother, I am hungry!" |
太阳升到中天，早晨变为正午了，我将跑到你那里去，说道：“妈妈，我饿了！” |
| When the day is done and the shadows cower under the trees, I shall come back in the dusk. |
一天完了，影子俯伏在树底下，我便要在黄昏中回家来。 |
| I shall never go away from you into the town to work like father. |
我将永不同爸爸那样，离开你到城里去作事。 |
| Mother, if you don't mind, I should like to become the boatman of the ferryboat when I am grown up. |
妈妈，如果你不在意，我长大的时候，要做这渡船的船夫。 |
