莎士比亚：凰鸠和鸣（傅正明译）

傅正明译著《莎士比亚的诗歌纪念碑》

（唐山出版社，2016）选载

 

William Shakespeare
The Phonix And The Turtle

威廉•莎士比亚
 
凰鸠和鸣 1
 
                傅正明译
 
LET the bird of loudest lay,
On the sole Arabian tree,
Herald sad and trumpet be,
To whose sound chaste wings obey.
 
有鸣禽兮歌喉高亢无比， 
请高飞兮上独秀之佳树，2 
传讣告兮奏角笳之哀乐， 
百鸟鸣兮皆相和而协律。
 
But thou shrieking harbinger,                                         5
Foul precurrer of the fiend,
Augur of the fever's end,
To this troop come thou not near!
 
惟枭鸟兮声尖锐而刺耳， 
在魔道兮乃邪恶之使节， 
在冥土兮乃热病之鬼使， 
请退避兮勿与殡仪为伍。 

From this session interdict
Every fowl of tyrant wing,                                          10
Save the eagle, feather'd king:
Keep the obsequy so strict.
 
凡猛禽兮借羽翼而跋扈， 
伸禁令兮不容趋近葬礼， 
惟雄鹰兮乃羽族之君主： 
请遥控兮促仪式之依序。 

Let the priest in surplice white,
That defunctive music can,
Be the death-divining swan,                                        15
Lest the requiem lack his right.
 
请牧师兮着白绒之法衣， 
奏圣乐兮配哀诔之词曲， 
效天鹅兮起临终之绝唱， 
为引领兮作弥撒之献祭。 

And thou treble-dated crow,
That thy sable gender makest
With the breath thou givest and takest,
'Mongst our mourners shalt thou go.                                 20
 
请乌鸦兮示尔长寿之象， 
披丧服兮亮尔天赋之衣， 
气吐纳兮施舍即是受取，3
请飞来兮同我辈共追思。

Here the anthem doth commence:
Love and constancy is dead;
Phoenix and the turtle fled
In a mutual flame from hence.
 
哀辞起兮请君侧耳细听： 
悲爱情兮携忠贞而生死； 
伤凰鸟兮与斑鸠之同行,
由此地兮化烈焰之冷灰。 

So they loved, as love in twain                                     25
Had the essence but in one;
Two distincts, division none:
Number there in love was slain.
 
忆两情兮曾挚爱而比翼， 
常双飞兮精髓合而为一； 
虽两人兮无两分之抵牾， 
二之为数兮引颈而就戮。4
 
Hearts remote, yet not asunder;
Distance, and no space was seen                                     30
'Twixt the turtle and his queen:
But in them it were a wonder.
 
心远去兮两心并未离散， 
路迢迢兮云路不见间距，
影迷迷兮斑鸠携其皇后， 
惟惊叹兮无人解此奇迹。 

So between them love did shine,
That the turtle saw his right
Flaming in the phoenix' sight;                                     35
Either was the other's mine.
 
羡两情兮爱之光华闪现， 
鸠所见兮乃其挚爱所值， 
焰之光兮耀于凰之眼前，
他即我兮两者无分彼此。 

Property was thus appalled,
That the self was not the same;
Single nature's double name
Neither two nor one was called.                                      40
 
事之怪兮物性竟然如此， 
理之乖兮自我并非同一， 
单为一兮单一却有重名， 
二非二兮一二均难符实。 

Reason, in itself confounded,
Saw division grow together,
To themselves yet either neither,
Simple were so well compounded,
 
求名学兮问道理，
理自乱兮难诠释， 
凰非凰兮鸠非鸠，5
单非单兮双合一。 

That it cried, How true a twain                                     45
Seemeth this concordant one!
Love hath reason, reason none,
If what parts can so remain.
 
叹稀奇兮人诧异：
“名为二兮实为一！ 
爱有理兮理无理，
情之理兮乱难理。” 

Whereupon it made this threne
To the phoenix and the dove,                                       50
Co-supremes and stars of love,
As chorus to their tragic scene.
 
作挽歌兮缘于此， 
凰兮鸠兮和鸣时， 
天之星兮人之旗， 
何凄美兮一悲剧。 

Threnos
 
Beauty, truth, and rarity,
Grace in all simplicity,
Here enclosed, in cinders lie.                                    55
 
Death is now the phoenix' nest
And the turtle's loyal breast
To eternity doth rest,
 
Leaving no posterity:
'Twas not their infirmity,                                         60
It was married chastity.
 
Truth may seem, but cannot be:
Beauty brag, but 'tis not she;
Truth and beauty buried be.
 
To this urn let those repair                                       65
That are either true or fair
For these dead birds sigh a prayer.
 
乱曰（哀歌） 

美与真兮共珍奇与文秀， 
质本洁兮却同化为劫灰。
 
悲凰巢兮思斑鸠之胸襟， 
此一去兮得永恒之安息。 

无后嗣兮非体弱之缘故， 
虽婚嫁兮童身如珪如璧。 

真为象兮不见本质之象， 
美多假兮伤真美之葬仪。
 
见骨瓮兮有匡时之功效，
请默祷兮为离禽而嘘唏。
 
译注
 
1  诗题中的Phoenix 原本是埃及神话中的长生鸟，turtle不是指海龟，而是指斑鸠(turtledove)。诗题通译为「凤凰和斑鸠」，但汉语之凤凰，雄曰凤，雌曰凰。莎士比亚诗中的长生鸟是雌性「女皇」。诗中描绘渲染的理想之爱根植于柏拉图式的精神恋爱或文艺复兴时期的新柏拉图主义的哲学，同时与基督教的人神合一的精神信仰有关。在更广泛的意义上，它表现了通过爱来超越生死的可能性。然诗无达诂，寓意难以范限。在多种穿凿附会的解释中，流行的观点是，凰是伊丽莎白女王一世的象征，鸠是罗伯特•德弗罗，艾塞克斯伯爵二世（Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex）的象征，这位伯爵因为发动一场未遂宫廷政变而被处死。原诗采用扬抑格4音步（trochaic tetrameter），前13节韵式为abba，后5节哀歌韵式为aaa。中译骚体，韵式有变通。
2  此处原意为阿拉伯树。“长生鸟”一词，在希腊文中同时指棕榈树，因此有些英诗注家把它解读为棕榈树。在中国神话中，凤凰非梧桐不栖。 
3 古人认为乌鸦以喙交配和下蛋，呼吸“吐纳”隐含交配和鸣之意。
4 有些数学家认为一不是一个数，合二为一，无异于杀死了“二”这个数之后就没有数了。
5  这一行原文的意思是，（凰和鸠）两者的每一方在这种合一的关系中都无法得到明确的表述，都不单纯地作为其自身而存在了。