The Prophet

先知



Kahlil Gibran

哈利勒•纪伯伦



The Coming of the Ship

船来了





Almustafa, the chosen and the beloved, who was a dawn unto his own day, had waited twelve years in the city of Orphalese for his ship that was to return and bear him back to the isle of his birth.

埃玛斯塔法--上天所眷爱的，是他那年代的曙光，他在奥非里斯城等待了十二年，等着载他返乡的船，载他回到他诞生的小岛。



And in the twelfth year, on the seventh day of Ielool, the month of reaping, he climbed the hill without the city walls and looked seaward; and he beheld the ship coming with the mist.

在第十二年，艾伊鲁--收割月的第七天，他登上城墙外的小山丘，眺望海面，遥见他的船在轻雾中忽隐忽现。



Then the gates of his heart were flung open, and his joy flew far over the sea. And he closed his eyes and prayed in the silences of his soul.

他的心情豁然开朗起来，喜悦之情远飘过大海，他闭上双眼在灵魂的静默之中祈祷。



But as he descended the hill, a sadness came upon him, and he thought in his heart:

但当他下山，忧愁悄然而至，他心中想着：



How shall I go in peace and without sorrow? Nay, not without a wound in the spirit shall I leave this city.

我怎能平静离去而不感到有一点忧伤呢？不，离开这城镇，我岂会不伤痛？



Long were the days of pain I have spent within its walls, and long were the nights of aloneness; and who can depart from his pain and his aloneness without regret?

在这城内，我曾度过漫长痛苦的白昼，以及捱过了无数孤独的夜晚。有谁能因为挥别痛苦和孤单而不心伤的呢？



Too many fragments of the spirit have I scattered in these streets, and too many are the children of my longing that walk naked among these hills, and I cannot withdraw from them without a burden and an ache.

我曾有太多心灵的碎片散落在这里的街头，在这些山丘之间，有着无数我所钟爱的孩子赤身踏过的足迹，我那能无所牵挂的远离他们，而不感到心痛呢？



It is not a garment I cast off this day, but a skin that I tear with my own hands.

今天我脱掉的不是一件外衣，而是用自己的双手撕下一层皮。



Nor is it a thought I leave behind me, but a heart made sweet with hunger and with thirst.

我留下的不是一个念头，而是一颗因饥渴而变得甜蜜的心。



Yet I cannot tarry longer.

但我再也不能迟疑了。



The sea that calls all things unto her calls me, and I must embark.

召唤一切的大海，正在召唤我，我必须上船启航了。



For to stay, though the hours burn in the night, is to freeze and crystallize and be bound in a mould.

因为留下来只会被冰冻，结成块状，尽管深夜的时光正如火炙。



Fain would I take with me all that is here. But how shall I?

我很想带走这里的一切，但我怎么能够？



A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that gave it wings. Alone must it seek the ether.

声音无法带走那赐予羽翼的舌和唇，它必须独自去寻找苍穹。



And alone and without his nest shall the eagle fly across the sun.

苍鹰也得独自离巢，才能飞掠过太阳。



Now when he reached the foot of the hill, he turned again towards the sea, and he saw his ship approaching the harbour, and upon her prow the mariners, the men of his own land.

现在当他到达山麓时，再向海回望，他看见他的船航近港口，船上的水手，都是故乡的人。



And his soul cried out to them, and he said:

他的灵魂向他们呼唤，他说：



Sons of my ancient mother, you riders of the tides,

我祖先的子民们，你们这些弄潮者啊！



How often have you sailed in my dreams. And now you come in my awakening, which is my deeper dream.

多少次你们船航行入我梦中。这一次你们在我清醒时刻航行而来，那又是我另一个更深远的梦。



Ready am I to go, and my eagerness with sails full set awaits the wind.

我已准备启程，我张满了帆，满腔热切，等待风起。



Only another breath will I breathe in this still air, only another loving look cast backward,

且让我再吸一口这里宁静的空气，再一次依恋的回顾。



And then I shall stand among you, a seafarer among seafarers.

然后我将站在你们之间，一个航海者站在许多航海者之间。



And you, vast sea, sleepless mother,

而你，浩瀚的海啊，不寐的母亲。



Who alone are peace and freedom to the river and the stream,

对于河流和溪川，唯有你是和平与自由。



Only another winding will this stream make, only another murmur in this glade,

这条小溪只能再蜿蜒一次，在沼地里再低吟一回。



And then shall I come to you, a boundless drop to a boundless ocean.

然后我便奔向你，有如一滴无痕的水珠落入一片无垠的大海。



And as he walked he saw from afar men and women leaving their fields and their vineyards and hastening towards the city gates.

当他行走着，他遥见男男女女离开他们的田地和葡萄园，匆匆走向城门去。



And he heard their voices calling his name, and shouting from field to field telling one another of the coming of the ship.

他听到人们呼唤他的名字的声音，阡陌间互传着--他的船来了的讯息。



And he said to himself:

他自言自语着：



Shall the day of parting be the day of gathering?

离别的日子是否也是相聚的日子？



And shall it be said that my eve was in truth my dawn?

我的黄昏其实也该说是我的黎明？



And what shall I give unto him who has left his plough in midfurrow, or to him who has stopped the wheel of his winepress?

我能给他们什么？对于这些丢下犁锄或是把榨酒的机器停下来的人们。



Shall my heart become a tree heavy-laden with fruit that I may gather and give unto them?

我的心可否成为结实累累的树，好让我能采集果子分给他们？



And shall my desires flow like a fountain that I may fill their cups?

我的祈望应涌出如泉水，注满他们的杯？



Am I a harp that the hand of the mighty may touch me, or a flute that his breath may pass through me?

我是否是一只竖琴，能让有力的手所拨动？或是一根芦笛，能让他的气息所穿透？



A seeker of silences am I, and what treasure have I found in silences that I may dispense with confidence?

我是个探求宁静的人，在宁静中我能找到什么宝藏，可让我满怀自信分赠？



If this is my day of harvest, in what fields have I sowed the seed, and in what unremembered seasons?

假如这是我收成之日，试问我曾在那块田地里播种？那又是在一种什么样已被遗忘的季节里？



If this indeed be the hour in which I lift up my lantern, it is not my flame that shall burn therein.

假如这确实是我应高举灯笼的时刻，其中点燃的该不是我的火焰。



Empty and dark shall I raise my lantern,

我将举起空寂而黑暗的灯笼。



And the guardian of the night shall fill it with oil and he shall light it also.

夜的守护者将以灯油注满它并把它点亮。



These things he said in words. But much in his heart remained unsaid. For he himself could not speak his deeper secret.

这些是他说出的话，但他心里还留下更多话没有说。因为他自己不能说出他更深的秘密。



And when he entered into the city all the people came to meet him, and they were crying out to him as with one voice.

当他走进城时，所有人都来迎接他，他们异口同声呼唤他。



And the elders of the city stood forth and said:

城里的长者上前说：



Go not yet away from us.

请你不要从我们身边离开。



A noontide have you been in our twilight, and your youth has given us dreams to dream.

你曾是我们晦暗时刻的阳光，你的青春曾给了我们织梦的题材。



No stranger are you among us, nor a guest, but our son and our dearly beloved.

你在我们之中并非是陌生人，也非宾客，却是我们的孩子，我们所钟爱的。



Suffer not yet our eyes to hunger for your face.

请别让我们的眼睛因渴望见到你的面容而酸痛。



And the priests and the priestesses said unto him:

男女祭司们对他说：



Let not the waves of the sea separate us now, and the years you have spent in our midst become a memory.

不要让海洋的波浪阻隔我们，不要让我们共度的时光变成追忆。



You have walked among us a spirit, and your shadow has been a light upon our faces.

你的性灵与我们同行，你的影子宛如照亮我们脸上的光。



Much have we loved you. But speechless was our love, and with veils has it been veiled.

我们深爱着你，但我们的爱是含蓄而朦胧的无言之爱。



Yet now it cries aloud unto you, and would stand revealed before you.

而今它要向你大声呼唤，要显露在你面前。



And ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.

从来，爱都不知道有多深，非要等到别离的时刻。



And others came also and entreated him.

其他的人也来挽留他。



But he answered them not. He only bent his head; and those who stood near saw his tears falling upon his breast.

但他都没有回答，只是低着头，身旁的人看见他的泪水滴落在胸襟。



And he and the people proceeded towards the great square before the temple.

于是他和人们走向寺庙的广场。



And there came out of the sanctuary a woman whose name was Almitra. And she was a seeress.

圣殿之中走出一位名叫艾蜜特卡的女人，他是一位女先知。



And he looked upon her with exceedingtenderness, for it was she who had first sought and believed in him when he had been but a day in their city.

他非常温柔的看着她，因为当他才到这个城里的时候，她是第一个找到他并且相信他的人。



And she hailed him, saying:

她赞颂他说：



Prophet of God, in quest of the uttermost, long have you searched the distances for your ship.

上帝的先知，为了探求极致，你已竭尽所能搜寻你的船很久了。



And now your ship has come, and you must needs go.

现在你的船已到达，你必须得走了。



Deep is your longing for the land of your memories and the dwelling place of your greater desires; and our love would not bind you nor our needs hold you.

对于你深切渴望着记忆中的园地和你深藏其中伟大的愿望，我们的爱不能束缚你，我们的需要也不能留住你。



Yet this we ask ere you leave us, that you speak to us and give us of your truth.

然而在你离开我们之前，对我们说话，把你的真理传述给我们。



And we will give it unto our children, and they unto their children, and it shall not perish.

我们会把这些话传给我们的子女，而他们会再传给他们的孩子，真理将永不被消灭。



In your aloneness you have watched with our days, and in your wakefulness you have listened to the weeping and the laughter of our sleep.

你在孤独中观察我们的生活，你在清醒时聆听我们梦中的哭泣与欢笑。



Now therefore disclose us to ourselves, and tell us all that has been shown you of that which is between birth and death.

所以，现在请告诉我们，那曾显示给你，关于我们生与死之间一切的问题。



And he answered,

他回答说：



People of Orphalese, of what can I speak save of that which is even now moving within your souls?

奥非里斯城的人们啊！除了此刻仍在你们的灵魂之内游动的事物之外，我还能说些什么？
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