天真的预兆
--威廉布雷克(1757-1827 )--
一颗沙里看出一个世界,一朵野花里一座天堂,
把无限放在你的手掌上,永恒在一剎那里收藏。
笼子里关着一只知更鸟,会引起天上神灵的怒恼。
鸽舍里挤满着快乐的鸽群,会使全地狱震荡不宁。
一只狗饿死在主人的门前,预示着整个国家的衰乱。
一匹马在路上受了虐待,呼吁上苍要人的血还债。
被追逐的野兔每一声惨叫,会把胸神经撕下一条。
一只百灵鸟伤了翅膀,小天使为着牠停止歌唱。
带铁巨的斗鸡准备厮杀,使上升的太阳感到害怕。
豺狼和狮子每大吼一声,唤起了地狱里一个魂灵。
野鹿自在地到处遨游,使人的灵魂也无挂无忧。
小羊被残害是骚乱的预兆,虽然它原谅宰杀牠的屠刀。
谁要伤害小小的鹪鹩,人们永不会和他友好。
谁要把一条牛激怒起来,永不会得到女人的垂爱。
淘气的孩子把苍蝇弄死,会感到蜘蛛对他的仇视。
谁要折磨金龟子的小生命,在无尽的黑夜里空造园亭。
叶子上的毛虫只给你重演你的母亲曾受过的苦难。
不要杀害飞蛾和蝴蝶,最后的审判近在眉睫。
谁要把马训练去作战,永不会渡过雪地冰川。
寡妇的猫和乞丐的狗,喂养牠们你也会长肉。
蝙蝠傍晚时飞去飞来,牠已离开无信仰的脑袋。
向黑夜祈求保佑的鸱枭,表示无信仰的人的惊忧。
蚊虫唱着夏天的歌曲,从诽谤者的舌头得来毒液。
蛇虺和蝾螈口里的毒涎是怀着妒心的人的脚汗。
采蜜的蜂儿尾上的毒刺正像艺术家所怀的情忌。
说真话倘若是存心不良为害性超过了弥天大谎。
乐与忧精密地交织在一起,恰巧做神经的灵魂的外衣;
每一种痛苦、每一次焦愁全都贯穿着快乐的丝缕。
这样的安排显然很不错, 因为人天生能苦又能乐;
这道理如果我们能了然,我们到哪儿都会很平安。
不要把襁褓当保了婴孩,凡是人类生存的所在,
工具是死的、手却是活的, 这道理每个农夫都明白。
我们眼睛里每一颗泪珠在永恒里变来一个孩子;
它被聪明的女性捉住,欢天喜地被送了回去。
牛鸣、羊叫,狮吼、狼嗥都是冲击着天岸的波涛。
在杖下哀哀啼哭的婴儿死了后仍要报复这责打。
谁要嘲笑儿童的信仰,老死时也落得被嘲笑的收场。
谁要使儿童丧失信心,会永在腐臭的坟墓沉沦。
谁要尊重儿童的信仰,会征服地狱并战胜死亡。
儿童的天真与老人的理智是两个季节所结的果实。
坐着问话的人不管多奸狡,怎样回答他永远不知道。
谁要答复怀疑者的发问:就是熄灭了知识的明灯。
一个谜语或唧唧虫鸣是对怀疑者最好的答应。
蚂蚁爬一寸、老鹰飞一里使蹩脚的哲学家微笑不已。
谁要怀疑他目睹的事情,无论怎样永不会有信心。
太阳和月亮如果也怀疑,它们会立刻热尽光熄。
王子的华服和乞丐的破衣同是守财奴门袋上的菌子。
乞丐的破衣在风中翻卷,把苍天也同样撕成碎片。
非洲海岸上所有的黄金,价值抵不到穷人的一文。
从劳动者手里得来的一文钱,可以买卖守财奴的田园;
如果得到上苍的保护,并可以买卖整个的国土。
兵丁威武地带着刀枪,使夏天的太阳惨淡无光。
古今来最猛烈毒药的来源是恺撒大将头上的桂冠。
没有东西比铁甲和钢盔更能使人类变成丑鬼。
到耕犁上都镶着金玉的时候,嫉妒者会向和平的技艺低头。
偶尔发脾气也许有好处,但不要心里常怀着愤怒。
娼妓和赌徒经政府批准,他们却决定国家的命运。
条条街道上有叫号的娼妓,为古老的英国织着尸衣。
输的人咒骂、赢的人高呼, 在死了的英国灵柩前跳舞。
每一天夜晚和每一天早晨,有些人生下来就陷入贫困。
每一天早晨和每一天夜晚,有些人生下来就幸福无边。
有些人生下来就幸福无边,有些人生下来就长夜漫漫。
我们很容易相信谎话,如果不用眼睛去观察;
谎话在一夜里自生自灭,当灵魂在一片光明里安歇。
对于生活在黑夜的可怜人,上帝现身为灿烂的光明;
但对于生活在白天的人,上帝显现着人的身形。
(梁宗岱译)
英诗原文如下:
Auguries of Innocence
--WilliamBlake(1757-1827 )--
To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all heaven in a rage.
A dove-house fill'd with doves and pigeons
Shudders hell thro' all its regions.
A dog starv'd at his master's gate
Predicts the ruin of the state.
A horse misused upon the road
Calls to heaven for human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted hare
A fibre from the brain does tear.
A skylark wounded in the wing,
A cherubim does cease to sing.
The game-cock clipt and arm'd for fight
Does the rising sun affright.
Every wolf's and lion's howl
Raises from hell a human soul.
The wild deer, wand'ring here and there,
Keeps the human soul from care.
The lamb misus'd breeds public strife,
And yet forgives the butcher's knife.
The bat that flits at close of eve
Has left the brain that won't believe.
The owl that calls upon the night
Speaks the unbeliever's fright.
He who shall hurt the little wren
Shall never be belov'd by men.
He who the ox to wrath has mov'd
Shall never be by woman lov'd.
The wanton boy that kills the fly
Shall feel the spider's enmity.
He who torments the chafer's sprite
Weaves a bower in endless night.
The caterpillar on the leaf
Repeats to thee thy mother's grief.
Kill not the moth nor butterfly,
For the last judgement draweth nigh.
He who shall train the horse to war
Shall never pass the polar bar.
The beggar's dog and widow's cat,
Feed them and thou wilt grow fat.
The gnat that sings his summer's song
Poison gets from slander's tongue.
The poison of the snake and newt
Is the sweat of envy's foot.
The poison of the honey bee
Is the artist's jealousy.
The prince's robes and beggar's rags
Are toadstools on the miser's bags.
A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.
It is right it should be so;
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.
Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.
The babe is more than swaddling bands;
Every farmer understands.
Every tear from every eye
Becomes a babe in eternity;
This is caught by females bright,
And return'd to its own delight.
The bleat, the bark, bellow, and roar,
Are waves that beat on heaven's shore.
The babe that weeps the rod beneath
Writes revenge in realms of death.
The beggar's rags, fluttering in air,
Does to rags the heavens tear.
The soldier, arm'd with sword and gun,
Palsied strikes the summer's sun.
The poor man's farthing is worth more
Than all the gold on Afric's shore.
One mite wrung from the lab'rer's hands
Shall buy and sell the miser's lands;
Or, if protected from on high,
Does that whole nation sell and buy.
He who mocks the infant's faith
Shall be mock'd in age and death.
He who shall teach the child to doubt
The rotting grave shall ne'er get out.
He who respects the infant's faith
Triumphs over hell and death.
The child's toys and the old man's reasons
Are the fruits of the two seasons.
The questioner, who sits so sly,
Shall never know how to reply.
He who replies to words of doubt
Doth put the light of knowledge out.
The strongest poison ever known
Came from Caesar's laurel crown.
Nought can deform the human race
Like to the armour's iron brace.
When gold and gems adorn the plow,
To peaceful arts shall envy bow.
A riddle, or the cricket's cry,
Is to doubt a fit reply.
The emmet's inch and eagle's mile
Make lame philosophy to smile.
He who doubts from what he sees
Will ne'er believe, do what you please.
If the sun and moon should doubt,
They'd immediately go out.
To be in a passion you good may do,
But no good if a passion is in you.
The whore and gambler, by the state
Licensed, build that nation's fate.
The harlot's cry from street to street
Shall weave old England's winding-sheet.
The winner's shout, the loser's curse,
Dance before dead England's hearse.
Every night and every morn
Some to misery are born,
Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.
We are led to believe a lie
When we see not thro' the eye,
Which was born in a night to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in beams of light.
God appears, and God is light,
To those poor souls who dwell in night;
But does a human form display
To those who dwell in realms of day.