在《新月集》中,詩人書寫了孩子純凈的心靈。孩子們喜歡玩簡單的小游戲,且樂此不疲。“他們用沙子建造房屋,他們用空貝殼游戲。”“孩子,你多么快樂,整個早晨坐在塵土里,玩著一根折斷的小樹枝。”孩子們有著奇妙的想象,“如果我鬧著玩兒,變成一朵金香木花,長在那樹的高枝上,在風(fēng)中笑得搖搖擺擺,在新生嫩葉上跳舞,媽媽,你認得出是我嗎?”此外,《新月集》也描寫了孩子和母親的感情。“他知道慈母心中小小一角就可以容納無窮的歡樂,被母親逮住了緊抱在她慈愛的雙臂里,遠比自由甜蜜。”在詩人的筆下,詩中的母親帶有一種圣潔的光輝。
WHEN the gong sounds ten in the morning and I walk to school by our lane,
早晨,鐘敲十下的時候,我沿著我們的小巷到學(xué)校去。
Every day I meet the hawker crying, "Bangles, crystal bangles!"
每天我都遇見那個小販,他叫道:“鐲子呀,亮晶晶的鐲子!”
There is nothing to hurry him on, there is no road he must take, no place he must go to, no time when he must come home.
他沒有什么事情急著要做,他沒有哪條街一定要走,他沒有什么地方一定要去,他沒有什么時間一定要回家。
I wish I were a hawker, spending my day in the road, crying, "Bangles, crystal bangles!"
我愿意我是一個小販,在街上過日子,叫著:“鐲子呀,亮晶晶的鐲子!”
When at four in the afternoon I come back from the school,
下午四點,我從學(xué)校里回家。
I can see through the gate of that house the gardener digging the ground.
從一家門口,我看得見一個園丁在那里掘地。
He does what he likes with his spade, he soils his clothes with dust, nobody takes him to task if he gets baked in the sun or gets wet.
他用他的鋤子,要怎么掘,便怎么掘,他被塵土污了衣裳,如果他被太陽曬黑了或是身上被打濕了,都沒有人罵他。
I wish I were a gardener digging away at the garden with nobody to stop me from digging.
我愿意我是一個園丁,在花園里掘地。誰也不來阻止我。
Just as it gets dark in the evening and my mother sends me to bed,
天色剛黑,媽媽就送我上床。
I can see through my open window the watchman walking up and down.
從開著的窗口,我看得見更夫走來走去。
The lane is dark and lonely, and the street-lamp stands like a giant with one red eye in its head.
小巷又黑又冷清,路燈立在那里,像一個頭上生著一只紅眼睛的巨人。
The watchman swings his lantern and walks with his shadow at his side, and never once goes to bed in his life.
更夫搖著他的提燈,跟他身邊的影子一起走著,他一生一次都沒有上床去過。
I wish I were a watchman walking the streets all night, chasing the shadows with my lantern.
我愿意我是一個更夫,整夜在街上走,提了燈去追逐影子。