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)洹㈧陟陂W光的天使般的兒童藝術形象。

 

 

 

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.

當我們玩著把小石子當食物的游戲時，她便以為它們真是吃的東西，竟想放進嘴里去。

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.

當我把洗衣人帶來載衣服回去的驢子當做學生，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。