双语诗歌·孩　子　们

孩　子　们

Children

朗费罗

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

朗费罗（Henry Wadsworth Longfellow，1807-1882），美国十九世纪享有盛誉的诗人。他受英国和欧洲文化的影响很深，诗作中常流露出欧洲传统文化的因子，成为他诗歌的一个特色。他的诗以抒情见长，具有浪漫的气息和民谣的节奏，韵律和谐优美，语言自然平易，感情真切。在诗中他常常以物寄情，借景物描写抒发他对人生的慨叹和思考。《海华沙之歌》被认为是第一部印第安人的史诗。《孩子们》是他歌赞童心的名作。《箭与歌》是他脍炙人口的哲理诗。

到我这儿来吧，孩子们！

Come to me, O ye children!

我听见你们在嬉闹，

For I hear you at your play,

那些使我烦恼的问题

And the questions that perplexed me

顿时云散烟消。

Have vanished quite away.

你们打开东面的窗户吧，

Ye open the eastern windows

朝向升起的太阳，

That look towards the sun,

那儿，思念是呢喃的燕子，

Where thoughts are singing swallows

早晨的溪水流淌。

And the brooks of morning run.

你们的心中有小鸟阳光，

In your hearts are the birds and the sunshine,

思绪里有溪水流泻，

In your thoughts the brooklet 's flow,

我的头脑里却只有秋风，

But in mine is the wind of Autumn

加上初降的霜雪。

And the first fall of the snow.

啊！世界会变成什么样，

Ah! what would the world be to us

如果没有了新一代？

If the children were no more?

我们会害怕身后的荒漠——

We should dread the desert behind us

比面前的黑暗更厉害。

Worse than the dark before.

正如树叶把阳光和空气

What the leaves are to the forest,

当养料给森林带来，

With light and air for food,

树叶甜嫩的汁液还没有

Ere their sweet and tender juices

化为坚硬的木材，——

Have been hardened into wood, —

儿童对世界也是这样；

That to the world are children;

世界凭儿童而感受

Through them it feels the glow

明亮灿烂的光热，远胜过

Of a brighter and sunnier climate

树干承受的气候。

Than reaches the trunks below.

到我这儿来啊，孩子们！

Come to me, O ye children!

贴耳朵悄悄告诉我：

And whisper in my ear

在你们充满阳光的大气里

What the birds and the winds are singing

风和鸟唱的是什么。

In your sunny atmosphere .

我们的一切书本知识

For what are all our contrivings ,

和一切发明创造，

And the wisdom of our books,

怎能比得上你们的爱抚，

When compared with your caresses ,

你们的一脸甜笑？

And the gladness of your looks?

你们胜过世界上曾经

Ye are better than all the ballads

说唱的一切歌谣；

That ever were sung or said;

你们是活的诗篇，而其他

For ye are living poems,

全都是死的曲调。

And all the rest are dead.