沙与沫 Sand and Foam
卡里·纪伯伦/Kahlil Gibran
I am forever walking upon these shores. Betwixt the sand and the foam. The high tide will erase my foot-prints. And the wind will blow away the foam. But the sea and the shore will remain forever.
Once I f?illed move hand with mist. Then I opened it and look, the mist was a worm. And I closed and opened my hand again, and behold there was a bird. And again I closed and opened my hand, and in its hollow stood a man with a sad face, turned upward. And again I closed my hand, and when I opened it there was naught mist. But I heard a song of exceeding sweetness.
It was but yesterday I thought myself a fragment quivering without rhythm in the sphere of life. Now I know that I am the sphere and all life in rhythmic fragments moves within me.
They say to me in their awakening,“You and the world you live in are but a grain of sand upon the inf?inite shore of an inf?inite sea.”And in my dream I say to them,“I am the inf?inite sea, and all worlds are but grains of sand upon my shore.”
Only once have I been made mute. It was when a man asked me.“Who are you?”The f?irst thought of God was an angel. The f?irst word of God was a man.
We were f?luttering, wandering, longing creatures a thousand thousand thousand years before the sea and the wind in the forest gave us words. Now how can we express the ancient of days in us with only the sounds of our yesterdays?
The Sphinx spoke only once, and the Sphinx said,“A grain of sand is a desert, and a desert is a grain of sand;and now let us all be silent again.”I heard the Sphinx, but I did not understand.
Long did I lie in the dust of Egypt, silent and unaware of the seasons. Then the sun gave me birth, and I rose and walked upon the banks of the Nile, singing with the days and dreaming with the nights. And now the sun threads upon me with a thousand feet that I may lie again in the dust of Egypt. But behold a marvel and a riddle!The very sun that gathered me cannot scatter me. Still erect am I, and sure of foot do I walk upon the banks of the Nile.
Remembrance is a form of meeting. Forgetfulness is a form of freedom.
We measure time according to the movement of countless suns;and they measure time by little machines in their little pockets.
Now tell me, how could we ever meet at the same place and the same time?
Space is not space between the earth and the sun to one who looks down from the windows of the Milky Way.
Humanity is a river of light running from the ex-eternity to eternity.
我永远漫步在这海岸,在细沙和泡沫之间。高涨的潮水抹去我的足迹,海风也将泡沫拂走,但是,海与岸将会永恒。
我的手中曾经握满薄霭。然后,我伸开手掌,哦,薄霭变成了小虫。我将手握了又展,手中却是一只小鸟。我再次将手握紧又展开,掌心上伫立一人,满面愁容,昂首向天。再一次,我握起了手,张开却一无所有,除了一片薄霭。然而,我听到了一首无比柔美的歌。
就在昨天,我还以为自己只是碎屑-片,在生命的苍穹之中毫无韵律地颤抖。如今我却明白,我就是那苍穹,整个生命是我怀中富有节奏而悸动的碎片。
他们醒来时,对我说道:“你和你居住的世界,只是无涯之海和无边之岸的沙粒。”
在睡梦中,我对他们说道:“我正是那无涯之海,世界万物不过是我海岸上那颗颗沙粒。”
独有一次,我被迫缄默无语。“你是谁?”那是有人这样问我时。
上帝的第一个念头是天使。上帝的第一个词汇是人。
在海洋和森林中的风声赋予我们语之言前的千万年间,我们是在漂泊、徘徊、孜孜不倦地追求着的一群生物。而现在,我们怎能仅用我们那昨天的声音来描述心中的远古时光呢?
斯芬克斯仅说过一次话。他说:“一粒沙子是一片沙漠,一片沙漠是一粒沙子。现在就让我们再次沉默吧。”我听到了斯芬克斯的话,却毫不理解。
我长久地躺在埃及的漫天沙尘里,沉默着,忘却了季节。直到太阳赐予我生命,我站起身来,沿着尼罗河岸行走。我与白昼一起唱歌,又与黑夜一起遐想。而今,太阳又用千万只脚在我身上践踏,让我再次躺在埃及的漫天沙尘里。然而请记住那个奇迹和谜语吧!将我凝聚的太阳也无法将我驱散。我依然伫立,依然踩着稳健的步子走在尼罗河岸上。
记忆是一种相聚,忘却亦是一种自由。
我们依据无限的阳光的运动估测时间,他们则用口袋里小小的器具估测时间。请告诉我,我们如何能同时同地相聚?
在一个从银河之窗俯瞰的人眼里,宇宙不只是地球与太阳之间的一方空间。
人性是一条光河,从永恒之前向永恒流淌。
词汇笔记
naught[n?:t]n.零;乌有;泡影
All his labour has come to naught.
他的一切劳动都成泡影。
fragment['fr?ɡm?nt]n.碎片;片段,未完成的部分
There's a fragment of glass in the ground.
地上有玻璃碎片。
scatter['sk?t?]v.(使)散开,(使)分散,驱散
When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.
“树倒猴狲散。”
remembrance[r?'membr?ns]n.回想,回忆;纪念品;记忆,记忆力
So let us mark this day with remembrance.
让我们为这一天打上标记吧。
小试身手
高涨的潮水抹去我的足迹,海风也将泡沫拂走,但是,海与岸将会永恒。
译______________________________
再一次,我握起了手,张开却一无所有,除了一片薄霭。
译______________________________
我长久地躺在埃及的漫天沙尘里,沉默着,忘却了季节。
译______________________________
短语家族
Long did I lie in the dust of Egypt, silent and unaware of the seasons.
unware of:不知,无知觉
造______________________________
We measure time according to the movement of countless suns;and they measure time by little machines in their little pockets.
according to:根据,基于
造______________________________