第十一个晚上

ELEVENth EVENING

“我要给你一幅庞贝的图画。” 月亮说。“我在郊区，在他们所谓的墓道上，在那些美丽的纪念碑矗立的地方，在很多年前，那些快乐的年轻人，头上戴着玫瑰花环，和莱伊斯的美丽姐妹们一起跳舞的地方。现在，死亡的寂静笼罩着四周。为那不勒斯效劳的德国雇佣兵在站岗、打牌和掷骰子；一群来自山那边的陌生人在一名哨兵的陪同下进入了这座城市。

“I will give you a picture of pompeii,” said the moon. “I was in the suburb in the Street of tombs, as they call it, where the fair monuments stand, in the spot where, ages ago, the merry youths, their temples bound with rosy wreaths, danced with the fair sisters of Lais. Now, the stillness of death reigned around. German mercenaries, in the Neapolitan service, kept guard, played cards, and diced; and a troop of strangers from beyond the mountains came into the town, acpanied by a sentry.

他们想看看这座从坟墓中崛起、被我的光芒照亮的城市；我给他们看铺着宽阔熔岩板的街道上的车辙；我给他们看门上的名字和仍然挂在那里的标志：他们在小院子里看到喷泉的水池，用贝壳装饰着；但是没有水柱向上喷涌，从绘有华丽壁画、有铜狗看门的房间里也没有传出歌声。

they wanted to see the city that had risen from the grave illumined by my beams; and I showed them the wheel-ruts in the streets paved with broad lava slabs; I showed them the names on the doors, and the signs that hung there yet: they saw in the little courtyard the basins of the fountains, ornamented with shells; but no jet of water gushed upwards, no songs sounded forth from the richly-painted chambers, where the bronze dog kept the door.

“这是一座死亡之城；只有维苏威火山轰鸣着它永恒的赞美诗，人们把它的每一节单独的诗句都称为一次喷发。我们去了用洁白大理石建造的维纳斯神庙，高高的祭坛在宽阔的台阶前面，哭泣的柳树在柱子间重新长出嫩绿的枝叶。空气透明而湛蓝，黑色的维苏威火山构成了背景，火焰不断从它那里喷出，就像松树的树干。在它上方，寂静的夜空中伸展着烟雾般的云彩，像松树的树冠，但却是血红色的光亮。在这群人中有一位女歌手，一位真正的、伟大的歌手。我在欧洲最大的城市里目睹了人们对她的敬意。当他们来到这座悲剧剧场时，他们都坐在圆形露天剧场的台阶上，于是这座剧场的一小部分被观众占据了，就像几个世纪以前一样。

“It was the city of the dead; only Vesuvius thundered forth his everlasting hymn, each separate verse of which is called by men an eruption. we went to the temple of Venus, built of snow-white marble, with its high altar in front of the broad steps, and the weeping willows sprouting freshly forth among the pillars. the air was transparent and blue, and black Vesuvius formed the background, with fire ever shooting forth from it, like the stem of the pine tree. Above it stretched the smoky cloud in the silence of the night, like the crown of the pine, but in a blood-red illumination. Among the pany was a lady singer, a real and great singer. I have witnessed the homage paid to her in the greatest cities of Europe. when they came to the tragic theatre, they all sat down on the amphitheatre steps, and thus a small part of the house was occupied by an audience, as it had been many centuries ago.

舞台依然没有变化，有带围墙的侧景和背景中的两个拱门，观众透过拱门看到的是和古代一样的景色 —— 一幅大自然自己绘制的景色，即索伦托和阿马尔菲之间的山脉。歌手欢快地登上古老的舞台，唱起歌来。这个地方给了她灵感，她让我想起一匹狂野的阿拉伯马，鼻孔喷气、鬃毛飞扬地向前猛冲 —— 她的歌声如此轻快却又如此坚定。不一会儿，我想到了在各各他十字架下哀悼的母亲，她的痛苦表情是如此深刻。就像几千年前一样，现在掌声和欢呼声充满了剧院。“快乐的、有天赋的人！” 所有的听众都赞叹道。五分钟后，舞台空了，人群消失了，再也听不到一点声音 —— 所有人都走了。但是废墟依然没有变化，几百年后它们还会这样矗立着，那时没有人会知道这短暂的掌声和美丽的女歌手的胜利；当一切都被遗忘、消失的时候，甚至对我来说，这一刻也将只是一个过去的梦。”

“the stage still stood unchanged, with its walled side-scenes, and the two arches in the background, through which the beholders saw the same scene that had been exhibited in the old times — a scene painted by nature herself, namely, the mountains between Sorento and Amalfi. the singer gaily mounted the ancient stage, and sang. the place inspired her, and she reminded me of a wild Arab horse, that rushes headlong on with snorting nostrils and flying mane — her song was so light and yet so firm. Anon I thought of the mourning mother beneath the cross at Golgotha, so deep was the expression of pain. And, just as it had done thousands of years ago, the sound of applause and delight now filled the theatre. ‘happy, gifted creature!’ all the hearers exclaimed. Five minutes more, and the stage was empty, the pany had vanished, and not a sound more was heard — all were gone. but the ruins stood unchanged, as they will stand when centuries shall have gone by, and when none shall know of the momentary applause and of the triumph of the fair songstress; when all will be forgotten and gone, and even for me this hour will be but a dream of the past.”

第十二个晚上

twELFth EVENING

“我透过一位编辑的窗户向里看。” 月亮说。“那是在德国的某个地方。我看到漂亮的家具、很多书和一堆杂乱的报纸。

“I looked through the windows of an editor’s house,” said the moon. “It was somewhere in Germany. I saw handsome furniture, many books, and a chaos of newspapers.

有几个年轻人在那里：编辑本人站在他的书桌旁，可以看到两本小书，都是年轻作者写的。“这本是寄给我的。” 他说。“我还没读呢；你觉得内容怎么样？”“哦，” 被问到的人说 —— 他自己也是个诗人 ——“还不错；当然有点浅显；但是，你知道，作者还年轻。诗句本可以更好，这是肯定的；思想是正确的，尽管其中肯定有很多陈词滥调。但你还能要求什么呢？你不可能总是得到新东西。我不相信他会写出什么伟大的作品，但你可以放心地赞扬他。他学识渊博，是一位杰出的东方学者，判断力也很强。就是他写了那篇对我的《家庭生活随想》的精彩评论。我们必须对这个年轻人宽容些。”

Several young men were present: the editor himself stood at his desk, and two little books, both by young authors, were to be noticed. ‘this one has been sent to me,’ said he. ‘I have not read it yet; what think you of the contents?’ ‘oh,’ said the person addressed — he was a poet himself— ‘it is good enough; a little broad, certainly; but, you see, the author is still young. the verses might be better, to be sure; the thoughts are sound, though there is certainly a good deal of mon-place among them. but what will you have? You can’t be always getting something new. that he’ll turn out anything great I don’t believe, but you may safely praise him. he is well read, a remarkable oriental scholar, and has a good judgment. It was he who wrote that nice review of my ‘Reflections on domestic Life.’ we must be lenient towards the young man.”

“‘但他完全是个平庸之辈！’另一位先生提出异议。‘诗歌中没有比平庸更糟糕的了，而他肯定没有超越这一点。’”

“‘but he is a plete hack!’ objected another of the gentlemen. ‘Nothing worse in poetry than mediocrity, and he certainly does not go beyond this.’

“‘可怜的家伙，’第三个人说道，‘而且他的姑妈还为他那么高兴呢。编辑先生，就是她为您上次的译着拉来了那么多订户。’

“‘poor fellow,’ observed a third, ‘and his aunt is so happy about him. It was she, mr. Editor, who got together so many subscribers for your last translation.’

“‘啊，那个好心的女人！嗯，我已经简略地留意过那本书了。无疑是有才华的——一份受欢迎的作品——诗歌园地里的一朵鲜花——装帧精美——诸如此类。不过这另一本书——我猜作者是指望我去买它吧？我听说它受到了赞扬。

“‘Ah, the good woman! well, I have noticed the book briefly. Undoubted talent — a wele offering — a flower in the garden of poetry — prettily brought out — and so on. but this other book — I suppose the author expects me to purchase it? I hear it is praised.

“他当然有天赋，你不这么认为吗？”

“he has genius, certainly: don’t you think so?”

“‘是的，全世界都这么认为。’诗人回答，‘但结果却有些狂野。尤其是这本书的标点，非常古怪。’”

“‘Yes, all the world declares as much,’ replied the poet, ‘but it has turned out rather wildly. the punctuation of the book, in particular, is very eccentric.’

“‘如果我们把他批得一无是处，让他有点生气，这对他有好处，否则他会对自己评价过高。’”

“‘It will be good for him if we pull him to pieces, and anger him a little, otherwise he will get too good an opinion of himself.’

“‘但那会不公平。’第四个人提出异议。‘我们不要挑剔小毛病，而要为我们在这里发现的真正而丰富的优点而高兴：他超越了其他人。’”

“‘but that would be unfair,’ objected the fourth. ‘Let us not carp at little faults, but rejoice over the real and abundant good that we find here: he surpasses all the rest.’

“‘不是这样。如果他是真正的天才，他就能承受严厉的批评之声。有足够多的人会赞扬他。别让我们把他捧得太高。’”

“‘Not so. If he is a true genius, he can bear the sharp voice of censure. there are people enough to praise him. don’t let us quite turn his head.’

“‘有明显的天赋，’编辑写道，‘但也一如既往地粗心。从第 25 页可以看出他会写出不正确的诗句，那里有两处格律错误。我们建议他学习古人等等。’”

“‘decided talent,’ wrote the editor, ‘with the usual carelessness. that he can write incorrect verses may be seen in page 25, where there are two false quantities. we remend him to study the ancients, etc.’

“我离开了，” 月亮继续说道，“透过那位姨妈家的窗户往里看。那位备受赞扬的诗人，温顺的那位，坐在那里；所有的客人都向他致敬，他很开心。”

“I went away,” continued the moon, “and looked through the windows in the aunt’s house. there sat the be-praised poet, the tame one; all the guests paid homage to him, and he was happy.

“我去找另一位诗人，狂野的那位；我也在他赞助人的一个盛大聚会上找到了他，在那里人们正在讨论温顺诗人的书。”

“I sought the other poet out, the wild one; him also I found in a great assembly at his patron’s, where the tame poet’s book was being discussed.

“‘我也会读你的书，’梅塞纳斯说，‘但说实话 —— 你知道我从不对你隐瞒我的看法 —— 我对它期望不高，因为你太狂野，太异想天开了。但必须承认，作为一个人，你非常值得尊敬。’”

“‘I shall read yours also,’ said maecenas; ‘but to speak honestly — you know I never hide my opinion from you — I don’t expect much from it, for you are much too wild, too fantastic. but it must be allowed that, as a man, you are highly respectable.’

一个年轻女孩坐在一个角落里，她在一本书里读到这些话：

“‘在尘埃中躺着天才和荣耀，

但日常的才能会有回报。

这只是古老的故事，

但这一幕每天都在重演。’”

“A young girl sat in a corner; and she read in a book these words:

‘In the dust lies genius and glory,

but ev’ry-day talent will pay.

It’s only the old, old story,

but the piece is repeated each day.’”

第十三个晚上

thIRtEENth EVENING

月亮说：“在林间小道旁边有两座小农舍。门很低，有些窗户安装得很高，有些则靠近地面；白刺和伏牛花灌木丛生长在它们周围。每座房子的屋顶都长满了青苔、黄色的花朵和长生草。花园里只种着卷心菜和土豆，但树篱外长着一棵柳树，柳树下坐着一个小女孩，她眼睛盯着两座小屋之间的那棵老橡树。

“the moon said, “beside the woodland path there are two small farm-houses. the doors are low, and some of the windows are placed quite high, and others close to the ground; and whitethorn and barberry bushes grow around them. the roof of each house is overgrown with moss and with yellow flowers and houseleek. cabbage and potatoes are the only plants cultivated in the gardens, but out of the hedge there grows a willow tree, and under this willow tree sat a little girl, and she sat with her eyes fixed upon the old oak tree between the two huts.

“那是一根古老的、枯萎的树干。它的顶部被锯掉了，一只鹳在上面筑了巢；它站在巢里，用嘴拍打着。一个小男孩走过来站在女孩旁边：他们是兄妹。

“It was an old withered stem. It had been sawn off at the top, and a stork had built his nest upon it; and he stood in this nest clapping with his beak. A little boy came and stood by the girl’s side: they were brother and sister.

“‘你在看什么？’他问。

“‘what are you looking at?’ he asked.

“‘我在看鹳。’她回答说，‘我们的邻居告诉我，今天它会给我们带来一个小弟弟或小妹妹；我们看着它来吧！’

“‘I’m watching the stork,’ she replied: ‘our neighbors told me that he would bring us a little brother or sister to-day; let us watch to see it e!’

“‘鹳不会带来这样的东西。’男孩断言，‘你可以肯定这一点。我们的邻居也跟我这么说，但她说的时候笑了，所以我让她发誓‘以我的名誉担保’，可她做不到；我由此知道鹳送宝宝的故事不是真的，他们只是为了逗我们孩子才这么说的。’

“‘the stork brings no such things,’ the boy declared, ‘you may be sure of that.our neighbor told me the same thing, but she laughed when she said it, and so I asked her if she could say ‘on my honor,’ and she could not; and I know by that the story about the storks is not true, and that they only tell it to us children for fun.’

“‘那宝宝是从哪儿来的呢？’女孩问。

“‘but where do babies e from, then?’ asked the girl.

“哎呀，是一位来自天堂的天使把它们藏在他的斗篷下带来的，但是没人能看见他；这就是为什么我们永远不知道他什么时候把它们带来。”

“‘why, an angel from heaven brings them under his cloak, but no man can see him; and that’s why we never know when he brings them.’

“就在这时，柳树枝头沙沙作响，孩子们双手合十，面面相觑：肯定是送宝宝的天使来了。他们牵起彼此的手，就在这时，其中一间屋子的门打开了，邻居出现了。

“At that moment there was a rustling in the branches of the willow tree, and the children folded their hands and looked at one another: it was certainly the angel ing with the baby. they took each other’s hand, and at that moment the door of one of the houses opened, and the neighbour appeared.

“‘进来吧，你们俩。’她说。‘看看鹳带来了什么。是个小弟弟呢。’

‘e in, you two,’ she said. ‘See what the stork has brought. It is a little brother.’

“孩子们郑重地点点头，因为他们早就确信宝宝已经来了。”

“And the children nodded gravely at one another, for they had felt quite sure already that the baby was e.”

第十四个晚上

FoURtEENth EVENING

“我正掠过吕讷堡荒原。” 月亮说。“路边有一间孤零零的小屋，附近长着几棵稀疏的灌木，一只迷路的夜莺婉转地歌唱着。它在寒夜中死去：我听到的是它的告别之歌。

“I was gliding over the Luneburg heath,” the moon said. “A lonely hut stood by the wayside, a few scanty bushes grew near it, and a nightingale who had lost his way sang sweetly. he died in the coldness of the night: it was his farewell song that I heard.

“黎明破晓，曙光微红。我看到一队移民农民家庭，他们要前往汉堡，在那里乘船去美国，在那里他们想象中的繁荣将会绽放。

“the morning dawn came glimmering red. I saw a caravan of emigrant peasant families who were bound to hamburgh, there to take ship for America, where fancied prosperity would bloom for them.