泰戈爾《新月集》第26期:長者 SUPERIOR

《新月集》 (The Crescent Moon，1903)是印度詩人、作家泰戈爾創(chuàng)作的詩集，主要譯自1903年出版的孟加拉文詩集《兒童集》，也有的是用英文直接創(chuàng)作的。 詩集里著力描繪的是一個個天真可愛的兒童。詩人塑造了一批神形兼?zhèn)?、熠熠閃光的天使般的兒童藝術(shù)形象。

 

 

 

26 長者 SUPERIOR

MOTHER, your baby is silly! She is so absurdly childish!

媽媽，你的孩子真傻!她是那末可笑地不懂得事!她不知道路燈和星星的分別。

She does not know the difference between the lights in the streets and the stars.

當(dāng)我們玩著把小石子當(dāng)食物的游戲時，她便以為它們真是吃的東西，竟想放進(jìn)嘴里去。

When we play at eating with pebbles, she thinks they are real food, and tries to put them into her mouth.

當(dāng)我翻開一本書，放在她面前，在她讀a，b，c時，她卻用手把書頁撕了，無端快活地叫起來，你的孩子就是這樣做功課的。

When I open a book before her and ask her to learn her a, b, c, she tears the leaves with her hands and roars for joy at nothing; this is your baby's way of doing her lesson.

當(dāng)我生氣地對她搖頭，罵她，說她頑皮時，她卻哈哈大笑，以為很有趣。

When I shake my head at her in anger and scold her and call her naughty, she laughs and thinks it great fun.

誰都知道爸爸不在家，但是，如果我在游戲時高聲叫一聲“爸爸”，她便要高興地四面張望，以為爸爸真是近在身邊。

Everybody knows that father is away, but if in play I call aloud "Father," she looks about her in excitement and thinks that father is near.

當(dāng)我把洗衣人帶來載衣服回去的驢子當(dāng)做學(xué)生，并且警告她說，我是老師，她卻無緣無故地亂叫起我哥哥來。

When I hold my class with the donkeys that our washerman brings to carry away the clothes and I warn her that I am the schoolmaster, she will scream for no reason and call me d?d?. [elder brother]

你的孩子要捉月亮。

Your baby wants to catch the moon. She is so funny; she calls Ganesh G?nush. [Ganesh, a common name in India, also that of the god with the elephant's head.]

她是這樣的可笑;她把格尼許①喚作琪奴許。

Mother, your baby is silly, she is so absurdly childish!

媽媽，你的孩子真傻，她是那末可笑地不懂事! ①格尼許(Ganesh)是毀滅之神濕婆的兒子，象頭人身。同時也是現(xiàn)代印度人所最喜歡用來做名字的第一個字。