初读《荒原》是在一个失眠的夜里，满纸都是断句、引语和忽然切换的说话人。后来源源不断读下去，才觉出它其实是一整片废墟上的合唱：神话、宗教、情欲、战后的空虚，全被艾略特揉进了五个乐章。这是二十世纪最有影响力的英文长诗之一，原作 1922 年发表。下面录全文中英对照，译文尽量求信、达、雅——不逐字硬对，而以中文的节奏与意象去接住原诗的裂缝与回响。《荒原》的翻译工作所耗时间甚久，其中无数典故、多语种引文委实对翻译工作造成了不小的考验，且对诗歌本身内容的理解和注释千人千面，需要进行大量交叉验证；如遇到任何问题，欢迎各位批评指正。

The Waste Land

By T.S. Eliot

一、The Burial of the Dead

死者的葬礼

April is the cruellest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

四月是最残忍的月份，从死地里

催生丁香，把记忆与欲望

混在一起，又用春雨

搅动那些迟钝的根。

Winter kept us warm, covering

Earth in forgetful snow, feeding

A little life with dried tubers.

冬天倒把我们裹得暖和，用遗忘的雪

盖住大地，拿干瘪的块茎

喂养着一点点残生。

Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee

With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,

And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,

And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.

夏天冷不防来了，越过施塔恩贝格湖

带来一阵骤雨；我们在柱廊下停一停，

又走进阳光里，进了霍夫花园，

喝着咖啡，聊了整整一个钟头。

Bin gar keine Russin, stamm’ aus Litauen, echt deutsch.

我根本不是俄国人，我是从立陶宛来的，真正的德国人。

And when we were children, staying at the arch-duke’s,

My cousin’s, he took me out on a sled,

And I was frightened. He said, Marie,

Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.

In the mountains, there you feel free.

I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.

小时候我们在大公家里作客，

在我表哥家，他把我拉上雪橇，

我吓坏了。他说，玛丽，

玛丽，抓紧了。我们就这么滑下去。

在山里，你会觉得自由。

我大半宿都在读书，冬天就往南方走。

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow

Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,

You cannot say, or guess, for you know only

A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,

And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,

And the dry stone no sound of water. Only

There is shadow under this red rock,

(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),

And I will show you something different from either

Your shadow at morning striding behind you

Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;

I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

是什么样的根须抓住这堆石砾，什么样的枝条

从这石头垃圾里长出来？人子啊，

你说不出，也猜不着，因为你只知道

一堆破碎的形象，烈日当头，

枯树给不了荫蔽，蟋蟀给不了慰藉，

干石上也听不见水声。只有

这块红岩底下有一片阴影，

（到这块红岩的阴影下来吧），

我会让你看见一样东西，既不同于

清晨在你身后大步追赶的你的影子，

也不同于傍晚起身迎向你的你的影子；

我要让你看见一把尘土里的恐惧。

Frisch weht der Wind

Der Heimat zu

Mein Irisch Kind,

Wo weilest du?

风儿吹得清新

吹向故乡

我那爱尔兰的孩子，

你在何处逗留？

“You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;

“They called me the hyacinth girl.”

—Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,

Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not

Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither

Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,

Looking into the heart of light, the silence.

　　「头一年你先送过我风信子；

　　他们叫我风信子女郎。」

——可是那天我们从风信子花园回来，已经晚了，

你怀里抱满花，头发还是湿的，我说不出话，

眼睛也看不见了，我既不是

活的也不是死的，什么都不知道，

只是望着光的中心，那片寂静。

Od’ und leer das Meer.

大海荒芜而空洞。

Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante,

Had a bad cold, nevertheless

Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe,

With a wicked pack of cards. Here, said she,

Is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor,

(Those are pearls that were his eyes. Look!)

Here is Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks,

The lady of situations.

Here is the man with three staves, and here the Wheel,

And here is the one-eyed merchant, and this card,

Which is blank, is something he carries on his back,

Which I am forbidden to see. I do not find

The Hanged Man. Fear death by water.

I see crowds of people, walking round in a ring.

Thank you. If you see dear Mrs. Equitone,

Tell her I bring the horoscope myself:

One must be so careful these days.

索索斯特里斯太太，著名的女相士，

重感冒了一场，可即便如此

仍公认是欧洲最聪明的女人，

带着一副刁钻的纸牌。这儿，她说，

是你的牌，淹死的腓尼基水手，

（那些珍珠曾是他的眼睛。看！）

这儿是贝拉朵娜，岩石上的夫人，

情形的夫人。

这儿是拿三根权杖的人，这儿是命运之轮，

这儿是独眼商人，还有这一张牌，

牌面是空白的，是他背在背上的什么东西，

不许我看。我没找到

那个吊死的人。小心淹死。

我看见成群的人，绕着圈子走。

谢谢。要是您见到亲爱的埃基托内太太，

请告诉她我把星象图亲自送来了：

这年头，真是什么都得小心。

Unreal City,

Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,

A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,

I had not thought death had undone so many.

Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,

And each man fixed his eyes before his feet.

Flowed up the hill and down King William Street,

To where Saint Mary Woolnoth kept the hours

With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine.

不真实的城，

在冬日破晓的黄雾下，

一群人涌过伦敦桥，这么多，

我没想到死亡毁了这么多。

叹息，短促而稀疏，被呼了出来，

每个人只盯着自己的脚前。

涌上山岗，又沿威廉王街而下，

到了圣玛丽吴尔诺斯教堂那里，

在九点的最后一声敲响里

发出一声死气沉沉的响。

There I saw one I knew, and stopped him, crying “Stetson!

“You who were with me in the ships at Mylae!

“That corpse you planted last year in your garden,

“Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year?

“Or has the sudden frost disturbed its bed?

“Oh keep the Dog far hence, that’s friend to men,

“Or with his nails he’ll dig it up again!

“You! hypocrite lecteur!—mon semblable,—mon frère!”

在那里我看见一个熟人，拦住他喊道：「史坦森！

「你可是当年在米拉伊船上和我一起的人！

「你去年埋进花园里的那具尸首，

「开始发芽了吗？今年会开花吗？

「还是说突如其来的霜冻扰了它的床铺？

「哦，要叫那条与人为善的狗离远点，

「否则它会用爪子再把它刨出来！

「你！虚伪的读者！——我的同类！——我的兄弟！」

二、A Game of Chess

一局棋

The Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne,

Glowed on the marble, where the glass

Held up by standards wrought with fruited vines

From which a golden Cupidon peeped out

(Another hid his eyes behind his wing)

Doubled the flames of sevenbranched candelabra

Reflecting light upon the table as

The glitter of her jewels rose to meet it,

From satin cases poured in rich profusion;

In vials of ivory and coloured glass

Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes,

Unguent, powdered, or liquid—troubled, confused

And drowned the sense in odours; stirred by the air

That freshened from the window, these ascended

In fattening the prolonged candle-flames,

Flung their smoke into the laquearia,

Stirring the pattern on the coffered ceiling.

她坐的那把椅子，像擦亮的御座，

在大理石上泛着光，镜子

由雕着果实藤蔓的支架托着，

一个小金爱神从缝里探出头

（另一个用翅膀遮住眼睛）

把七枝烛台的火焰映成两重，

反照在桌面上，而她

珠宝的闪光正好迎了上来；

缎盒里倾泻出的珠玉琳琅满目；

象牙的、彩玻璃的小瓶子

拔了塞子，藏着她那些古怪的合成香膏，

膏体、粉末，或流质——搅乱了，迷离了，

把感官溺毙在香气里；窗口进来的风

轻轻一动，这些香气便蒸腾起来，

把拉长的烛焰喂得更肥，

把烟掷向那藻井，

搅动了藻井天花板上的图案。

Huge sea-wood fed with copper

Burned green and orange, framed by the coloured stone,

In which sad light a carvèd dolphin swam.

Above the antique mantel was displayed

As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene

The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king

So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale

Filled all the desert with inviolable voice

And still she cried, and still the world pursues,

“Jug Jug” to dirty ears.

巨大的海上漂木，浸着铜绿，

烧出青绿与橙黄，镶在彩色石框里，

在这忧伤的光中，一尾雕成的海豚在游。

古董壁炉架上方挂着一幅画，

仿佛一扇窗开向林中景致：

那是翡绿眉拉的变形，被野蛮的王

粗暴地凌辱；可夜莺在那里

仍用不可侵犯的歌声灌满整片荒野，

她仍在叫，世界仍在追赶，

把「啾格　啾格」灌进肮脏的耳朵。

And other withered stumps of time

Were told upon the walls, staring forms

Leaned out, leaning, hushing the room enclosed.

Footsteps shuffled on the stair.

Under the firelight, under the brush, her hair

Spread out in fiery points

Glowed into words, then would be savagely still.

还有别的一些时间留下的枯根

被历历讲述在墙上，盯着看的形影

探出身来，俯着，让这封闭的房间静下来。

楼梯上拖着细碎的脚步。

在炉火下，在发刷下，她的头发

散开来，化作火红的尖点

燃成言语，然后又野蛮地静止。

“My nerves are bad tonight. Yes, bad. Stay with me.

“Speak to me. Why do you never speak? Speak.

“What are you thinking of? What thinking? What?

“I never know what you are thinking. Think.”

　　「今晚我神经不对劲。是啊，不对劲。陪陪我。

　　跟我说说话。你为什么从不说话。说话。

　　你在想什么？想什么？想什么？

　　我从不知道你在想什么。想啊。」

I think we are in rats’ alley

Where the dead men lost their bones.

　　我想我们正在老鼠巷里，

　　死人们在那里丢掉了白骨。

“What is that noise?”

“The wind under the door.”

“What is that noise now? What is the wind doing?”

“Nothing again nothing.”

　　「那是什么声音？」

　　「门底下的风。」

　　「现在那又是什么声音？风在干什么？」

　　「什么也没有。又是什么也没有。」

“Do

“You know nothing? Do you see nothing? Do you remember

“Nothing?”

　　「你

　　什么都不知道吗？什么都没看见吗？什么也

　　想不起来吗？」

I remember

Those are pearls that were his eyes.

　　我想起来了

　　那些珍珠曾是他的眼睛。

“Are you alive, or not? Is there nothing in your head?”

　　「你还活着，还是没有？你脑子里就什么也没有吗？」

But

O O O O that Shakespeherian Rag—

It’s so elegant

So intelligent

　　可是

　　哦哦哦哦，那段莎士比亚式的碎拍——

　　真是优雅

　　真是机灵

“What shall I do now? What shall I do?”

“I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street

“With my hair down, so. What shall we do tomorrow?

“What shall we ever do?”

　　「我现在该怎么办？我该怎么办？」

　　「我就这样冲出去，走上街去，

　　让头发就这么披着。我们明天干什么？

　　我们到底要干什么？」

The hot water at ten.

And if it rains, a closed car at four.

And we shall play a game of chess,

Pressing lidless eyes and waiting for a knock upon the door.

　　十点钟有热水。

　　要是下雨，四点钟有轿车。

　　我们还要下一局棋，

　　按着没有眼睑的眼睛，等待叩门的一声。

When Lil’s husband got demobbed, I said—

I didn’t mince my words, I said to her myself,

HURRY UP PLEASE IT’S TIME

Now Albert’s coming back, make yourself a bit smart.

He’ll want to know what you done with that money he gave you

To get yourself some teeth. He did, I was there.

You have them all out, Lil, and get a nice set,

He said, I swear, I can’t bear to look at you.

And no more can’t I, I said, and think of poor Albert,

He’s been in the army four years, he wants a good time,

And if you don’t give it him, there’s others will, I said.

Oh is there, she said. Something o’ that, I said.

Then I’ll know who to thank, she said, and give me a straight look.

HURRY UP PLEASE IT’S TIME

If you don’t like it you can get on with it, I said.

Others can pick and choose if you can’t.

But if Albert makes off, it won’t be for lack of telling.

You ought to be ashamed, I said, to look so antique.

And her only thirty-one.

I can’t help it, she said, pulling a long face,

It’s them pills I took, to bring it off, she said.

(She’s had five already, and nearly died of young George.)

The chemist said it would be alright, but I’ve never been the same.

You are a proper fool, I said.

Well, if Albert won’t leave you alone, there it is, I said,

What you get married for if you don’t want children?

HURRY UP PLEASE IT’S TIME

Well, that Sunday Albert was home, they had a hot gammon,

And they asked me in to dinner, to get the beauty of it hot—

HURRY UP PLEASE IT’S TIME

HURRY UP PLEASE IT’S TIME

Goonight Bill. Goonight Lou. Goonight May. Goonight.

Ta ta. Goonight. Goonight.

Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night.

莉儿的丈夫退伍回来，我跟她说——

我没绕弯子，我自己当面跟她说，

快点啊　时间到了

现在艾伯特要回来了，你收拾得精神点。

他要知道你把他给你的那笔钱花哪儿去了，

那可是叫你去装牙的。他真给了，我当时在场。

莉儿，你干脆全拔了，镶一副好的，

他说，我发誓，我真没法看你那副样子。

我也受不了，我说，你想想可怜的艾伯特，

他在部队待了四年，他想过得开心点，

要是你不给他，有的是人会给，我说。

哦，是吗，她说。差不多是这么回事，我说。

那我就知道该谢谁了，她说，还直直地瞪了我一眼。

快点啊　时间到了

你要是不喜欢，你就好好过下去，我说。

你要是不能挑，别人还挑呢。

可是艾伯特要是甩了你，可不能怪没人提醒过你。

你真丢人，我说，把自己弄成这副老相。

（她才三十一。）

我也没办法，她说，拉长了脸，

都怪我吃的那些药，为的是把它弄掉，她说。

（她已经弄掉五个了，小乔治差点要了她的命。）

药剂师说没事的，可我再也不是原来的我了。

你真是个蠢货，我说。

好吧，要是艾伯特不放过你，那也没办法，我说，

不想要孩子，你结什么婚？

快点啊　时间到了

好啦，那个星期天艾伯特在家，他们吃了热火腿，

他们请我过去吃饭，图的是趁热吃个好味道——

快点啊　时间到了

快点啊　时间到了

晚安，比尔。晚安，露。晚安，梅。晚安。

回见。晚安。晚安。

晚安，女士们，晚安，亲爱的女士们，晚安，晚安。

三、The Fire Sermon

火诫

The river’s tent is broken: the last fingers of leaf

Clutch and sink into the wet bank. The wind

Crosses the brown land, unheard. The nymphs are departed.

Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.

The river bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers,

Silk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes, cigarette ends

Or other testimony of summer nights. The nymphs are departed.

And their friends, the loitering heirs of city directors;

Departed, have left no addresses.

河的帐篷破了：残叶最后的手指

抓住河岸，又沉进潮湿的泥里。风

掠过褐色的大地，听不见。宁芙们都走了。

可爱的泰晤士，轻轻地流，直到我把歌唱完。

河上再没有空瓶子，三明治纸，

丝手帕，硬纸盒，烟蒂

或别的夏夜的证物。宁芙们都走了。

还有她们的朋友，那些游荡的董事们的继承人；

也走了，没留下地址。

By the waters of Leman I sat down and wept…

Sweet Thames, run softly till I end my song,

Sweet Thames, run softly, for I speak not loud or long.

But at my back in a cold blast I hear

The rattle of the bones, and chuckle spread from ear to ear.

A rat crept softly through the vegetation

Dragging its slimy belly on the bank

While I was fishing in the dull canal

On a winter evening round behind the gashouse

Musing upon the king my brother’s wreck

And on the king my father’s death before him.

White bodies naked on the low damp ground

And bones cast in a little low dry garret,

Rattled by the rat’s foot only, year to year.

在莱芒湖畔我坐下来哭泣……

可爱的泰晤士，轻轻地流，直到我把歌唱完，

可爱的泰晤士，轻轻地流，因为我说得不响也不长。

可是在我背后，一阵冷风里我听见

白骨的咔嗒声，笑声从这颗头颅传到那颗头颅。

一只老鼠轻手轻脚地爬过水草

把黏滑的肚子拖在河岸上，

而我正在沉闷的运河上垂钓，

冬日的傍晚，绕到煤气厂后面，

沉思我兄长、那国王的沉船，

又沉思先于他而死的我父王、那国王的死亡。

赤裸的白色肉体摊在低洼潮湿的地上，

骨头则被扔进低矮干枯的小阁楼，

年复一年，只有老鼠的爪子在上面咔嗒作响。

But at my back from time to time I hear

The sound of horns and motors, which shall bring

Sweeney to Mrs. Porter in the spring.

O the moon shone bright on Mrs. Porter

And on her daughter

They wash their feet in soda water

Et, O ces voix d’enfants, chantant dans la coupole!

可是在我背后，不时地我听见

号角与马达的声音，它们会在春天

把斯威尼送到波特太太那里。

哦，月亮照在波特太太身上多亮

也照在她的女儿身上

她们用苏打水洗脚

哦，那些孩子们在圆顶下歌唱的声音！

Twit twit twit

Jug jug jug jug jug jug

So rudely forc’d.

Tereu

叽叽　叽叽　叽叽

啾格　啾格　啾格　啾格　啾格　啾格

被如此粗暴地强暴。

泰雷乌

Unreal City

Under the brown fog of a winter noon

Mr. Eugenides, the Smyrna merchant

Unshaven, with a pocket full of currants

C.i.f. London: documents at sight,

Asked me in demotic French

To luncheon at the Cannon Street Hotel

Followed by a weekend at the Metropole.

不真实的城

在冬日正午的黄雾下

欧根尼德斯先生，士麦那来的商人

没刮胡子，口袋里装满葡萄干

到岸价伦敦：见票即付的单据，

用大白话法语请我

到坎农街饭店吃午饭，

之后去大都会饭店过个周末。

At the violet hour, when the eyes and back

Turn upward from the desk, when the human engine waits

Like a taxi throbbing waiting,

I Tiresias, though blind, throbbing between two lives,

Old man with wrinkled female breasts, can see

At the violet hour, the evening hour that strives

Homeward, and brings the sailor home from sea,

The typist home at teatime, clears her breakfast, lights

Her stove, and lays out food in tins.

Out of the window perilously spread

Her drying combinations touched by the sun’s last rays,

On the divan are piled (at night her bed)

Stockings, slippers, camisoles, and stays.

I Tiresias, old man with wrinkled dugs

Perceived the scene, and foretold the rest –

I too awaited the expected guest.

He, the young man carbuncular, arrives,

A small house agent’s clerk, with one bold stare,

One of the low on whom assurance sits

As a silk hat on a Bradford millionaire.

The time is now propitious, as he guesses,

The meal is ended, she is bored and tired,

Endeavours to engage her in caresses

Which still are unreproved, if undesired.

Flushed and decided, he assaults at once;

Exploring hands encounter no defence;

His vanity requires no response,

And makes a welcome of indifference.

(And I Tiresias have foresuffered all

Enacted on this same divan or bed;

I who have sat by Thebes below the wall

And walked among the lowest of the dead.)

Bestows on final patronising kiss,

And gropes his way, finding the stairs unlit…

在紫罗兰色的时辰，当眼睛和腰背

从写字台上抬起来，当人的引擎等候着

像出租车一样颤动着等候，

我，提瑞西阿斯，虽然瞎了，却在两条生命之间悸动，

长着皱缩乳房的老头，能看见

在紫罗兰色的时辰，那奋力归家的黄昏时辰，

水手被带回家，远离海，

打字员小姐在茶点时分回家，清掉早餐，点上

炉子，把罐头食品摆出来。

窗外危险地晾着

她的连体内衣，被落日最后的光线拂过，

长沙发上堆着（夜里就当床）

长袜、拖鞋、衬裙和紧身褡。

我，提瑞西阿斯，长着皱缩乳房的老头

看透了这一幕，并预言了余下的事——

我也在等那位意料中的客人。

他，那个长满粉刺的年轻人，来了，

一个房产小职员，带着一道大胆的瞪视，

一个把自信穿在身上、满不在乎的下等人

像布拉德富翁头上的丝礼帽。

时机正好，他这样猜，

饭吃完了，她厌倦而疲惫，

他便动手动脚去纠缠她，

那些爱抚尚无人责备，即使并不受欢迎。

脸一红、心一横，他立刻进攻；

摸索的手遇不上抵抗；

他的虚荣不需要回应，

把冷淡也当成了欢迎。

（我，提瑞西阿斯，早已预先受尽了

在同一张沙发或床上上演的一切；

我曾在底比斯城墙下枯坐，

也在最低贱的死人中间走过。）

最后赐给她一个居高临下的吻，

摸索着走出去，楼梯上没有灯……

She turns and looks a moment in the glass,

Hardly aware of her departed lover;

Her brain allows one half-formed thought to pass:

‘Well now that’s done: and I’m glad it’s over.’

When lovely woman stoops to folly and

Paces about her room again, alone,

She smoothes her hair with automatic hand,

And puts a record on the gramophone.

她在镜子里望了一小会儿，

几乎不觉得情人已经走了；

脑子里放过一个半成形的念头：

「这下可算完了：我还真高兴它结束了。」

当可爱的女人屈身做了傻事，又

独自在房里踱来踱去，

她用机械的手顺一顺头发，

在留声机上放一张唱片。

‘This music crept by me upon the waters’

And along the Strand, up Queen Victoria Street.

O City city, I can sometimes hear

Beside a public bar in Lower Thames Street,

The pleasant whining of a mandoline

And a clatter and a chatter from within

Where fishmen lounge at noon: where the walls

Of Magnus Martyr hold

Inexplicable splendour of Ionian white and gold.

「这音乐贴着水面爬到我身边」

又沿着河岸街，上了维多利亚女王街。

城啊，城啊，我有时能听见

在下泰晤士街一家酒馆旁，

曼陀铃那好听的呜咽，

还有里面的碰杯与说笑，

打鱼的中午在那里闲逛：在那儿

马格努斯殉道者的墙里

藏着爱奥尼亚式白与金的、不可解的辉煌。

The river sweats

Oil and tar

The barges drift

With the turning tide

Red sails

Wide

To leeward, swing on the heavy spar.

The barges wash

Drifting logs

Down Greenwich reach

Past the Isle of Dogs.

Weialala leia

Wallala leialala

河在出汗

油和焦油

驳船漂着

随着涨落的潮水

红帆

宽大

偏向下风，在沉重的圆材上摆动。

驳船冲下

漂着的圆木

顺格林威治河段

过了狗岛。

薇啊啦啦　蕾啊

娃啊啦啦　蕾啊啦啦

Elizabeth and Leicester

Beating oars

The stern was formed

A gilded shell

Red and gold

The brisk swell

Rippled both shores

Southwest wind

Carried down stream

The peal of bells

White towers

Weialala leia

Wallala leialala

伊丽莎白与莱斯特

桨声拍打着

船尾做成

一只镀金的贝壳

红与金

轻快的涌浪

把两岸荡出涟漪

西南风

顺流送下

钟声的齐鸣

白色的塔

薇啊啦啦　蕾啊

娃啊啦啦　蕾啊啦啦

“Trams and dusty trees.

Highbury bore me. Richmond and Kew

Undid me. By Richmond I raised my knees

Supine on the floor of a narrow canoe.”

「电车和蒙尘的树。

海伯里生了我。里士满和裘园

又把我毁了。在里士满我抬起双膝

仰面躺在一条窄窄的独木舟底上。」

“My feet are at Moorgate, and my heart

Under my feet. After the event

He wept. He promised ‘a new start’.

I made no comment. What should I resent?”

「我的脚在摩尔门，我的心

在我的脚下。事情过后

他哭了。他答应「重新开始」。

我没有说什么。我有什么可怨的？」

“On Margate Sands.

I can connect

Nothing with nothing.

The broken fingernails of dirty hands.

My people humble people who expect

Nothing.”

　　「在马盖特沙滩上。

　　我什么也

　　连不上什么。

　　那些脏手的断指甲。

　　我的人民，卑微的人，什么

　　也不期待。」

la la

啦　啦

To Carthage then I came

Burning burning burning burning

O Lord Thou pluckest me out

O Lord Thou pluckest

burning

于是我来到了迦太基

燃烧　燃烧　燃烧　燃烧

主啊，你把我拔出来

主啊，你拔

燃烧

四、Death by Water

水里的死亡

Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead,

Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell

And the profit and loss.

A current under sea

Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell

He passed the stages of his age and youth

Entering the whirlpool.

Gentile or Jew

O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,

Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.

腓尼基人弗莱巴斯，死了已经两星期，

忘了海鸥的鸣叫，深海的涌动，

忘了盈亏得失。

一股海底的暗流

在低语中拣拾他的白骨。当他浮起又沉下

他走过了自己老与少的各个阶段，

进入漩涡。

外邦人或犹太人

哦，你们这些转动舵轮、朝迎风面张望的人，

想想弗莱巴斯吧，他也曾和你一样英俊高大。

五、What the Thunder Said

雷霆的话

After the torchlight red on sweaty faces

After the frosty silence in the gardens

After the agony in stony places

The shouting and the crying

Prison and palace and reverberation

Of thunder of spring over distant mountains

He who was living is now dead

We who were living are now dying

With a little patience

火把红光映在汗津津的脸上

花园里是霜冻般的寂静

石砌之地的剧痛之后

是喊叫和哭泣

监牢和宫殿，以及远处山间

春天的雷声在回荡

那个曾经活着的现在死了

我们这些曾经活着的现在正在死去

只需再有一点耐心

Here is no water but only rock

Rock and no water and the sandy road

The road winding above among the mountains

Which are mountains of rock without water

If there were water we should stop and drink

Amongst the rock one cannot stop or think

Sweat is dry and feet are in the sand

If there were only water amongst the rock

Dead mountain mouth of carious teeth that cannot spit

Here one can neither stand nor lie nor sit

There is not even silence in the mountains

But dry sterile thunder without rain

There is not even solitude in the mountains

But red sullen faces sneer and snarl

From doors of mudcracked houses

If there were water

这里没有水，只有岩石

只有岩石，没有水，还有那条沙路

在山间盘旋而上的路

而那些山也是没有水的石头山

若是有水，我们就会停下来喝

在岩石中间，人不能停也不能想

汗已干，脚陷在沙里

要是岩石中间有一口水就好了

死山的嘴，龋蚀的牙，吐不出东西

在这里人站不住，躺不下，也坐不成

山里连寂静也没有

只有干涩的、不雨的闷雷

山里连孤独也没有

只有红肿的脸在讪笑、在龇牙

从泥墙上裂了口子的门口

若是有水

And no rock

If there were rock

And also water

And water

A spring

A pool among the rock

If there were the sound of water only

Not the cicada

And dry grass singing

But sound of water over a rock

Where the hermit-thrush sings in the pine trees

Drip drop drip drop drop drop drop

But there is no water

也没有岩石

若是有岩石

还有水

还有水

一泓清泉

岩石间的一池水

若只有水的声音

不是蝉鸣

也不是枯草的吟唱

而是水声漫过岩石

在那松林里隐士鸫歌唱的地方

滴　答　滴　答　答　答　答

可是没有水

Who is the third who walks always beside you?

When I count, there are only you and I together

But when I look ahead up the white road

There is always another one walking beside you

Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded

I do not know whether a man or a woman

—But who is that on the other side of you?

始终走在你身边的第三个人是谁？

我一数，只有你和我并肩

可当我望向前面那条白色大路

总有另一个人走在你身边

裹着褐色斗篷，兜着头，滑行着

我不知道是男是女

——可是你那边那个人又是谁？

What is that sound high in the air

Murmur of maternal lamentation

Who are those hooded hordes swarming

Over endless plains, stumbling in cracked earth

Ringed by the flat horizon only

What is the city over the mountains

Cracks and reforms and bursts in the violet air

Falling towers

Jerusalem Athens Alexandria

Vienna London

Unreal

高天之上那是什么声音

是母亲们喃喃的哀号

那些成群结队、兜着头的人又是谁

涌过无尽的平原，在龟裂的大地上踉跄

四面只围着一道平坦的地平线

山那边是什么城

在紫罗兰色的空气里裂开、重组、爆裂

倾颓的高塔

耶路撒冷　雅典　亚历山大

维也纳　伦敦

不真实

A woman drew her long black hair out tight

And fiddled whisper music on those strings

And bats with baby faces in the violet light

Whistled, and beat their wings

And crawled head downward down a blackened wall

And upside down in air were towers

Tolling reminiscent bells, that kept the hours

And voices singing out of empty cisterns and exhausted wells.

一个女人把她的长黑发拉紧

在那些弦上拉着低语的音乐

紫罗兰的光里，长着娃娃脸的蝙蝠

吹着哨，扑打着翅膀

头朝下，爬下熏黑的墙

空气里是颠倒的高塔

敲着令人怀想的钟，报着时辰

歌声从空水池、从枯井里飘出来

In this decayed hole among the mountains

In the faint moonlight the grass is singing

Over the tumbled graves, about the chapel

There is the empty chapel, only the wind’s home.

It has no windows, and the door swings,

Dry bones can harm no one.

Only a cock stood on the rooftree

Co co rico co co rico

In a flash of lightning. Then a damp gust

Bringing rain

在群山中间这个腐朽的洞里

淡淡的月光下，青草在歌唱

围着倾颓的坟茔，绕着小教堂

有一座空教堂，只是风的家。

它没有窗，门来回晃，

枯骨伤不了人。

只有一只公鸡站在屋脊上

咯咯哩咯　咯咯哩咯

在一道闪电里。然后一阵潮润的风

带来雨

Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves

Waited for rain, while the black clouds

Gathered far distant, over Himavant.

The jungle crouched, humped in silence.

Then spoke the thunder

恒河沉下去了，疲软的叶子

等待着雨水，而乌云

在远方聚拢，越过喜马万特。

丛林蹲伏着，在寂静里隆起背脊。

于是雷霆开口了

DA

Datta: what have we given?

My friend, blood shaking my heart

The awful daring of a moment’s surrender

Which an age of prudence can never retract

By this, and this only, we have existed

Which is not to be found in our obituaries

Or in memories draped by the beneficent spider

Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor

In our empty rooms

答

施与：我们给了什么？

我的朋友，鲜血摇撼着我的心

那一瞬间交出自己的可怕勇气

是整整一个审慎的年代再也收不回的

靠这个，只靠这个，我们存在过

这在我们的讣告里找不到

也不在仁慈的蜘蛛织成的帘幕下

也不在精瘦的律师拆开的火漆下

在我们空荡荡的房间里

DA

Dayadhvam: I have heard the key

Turn in the door once and turn once only

We think of the key, each in his prison

Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison

Only at nightfall, aetherial rumours

Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus

答

同情：我听见钥匙

在门里只转了一下，也只转那么一下

我们各自想着钥匙，各在各的牢里

想着钥匙，每个人都坐实了一座牢

只有在黄昏时分，以太的传闻

才把一个破碎的科利奥兰纳斯唤醒片刻

DA

Damyata: The boat responded

Gaily, to the hand expert with sail and oar

The sea was calm, your heart would have responded

Gaily, when invited, beating obedient

To controlling hands

答

克制：船欢快地回应

回应那只善于使帆操桨的手

海面平静，你的心也会欢快地回应

当被召唤时，顺从地跳动

响应那掌控的手

I sat upon the shore

Fishing, with the arid plain behind me

Shall I at least set my lands in order?

London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down

Poi s’ascose nel foco che gli affina

Quando fiam ceu chelidon—O swallow swallow

Le Prince d’Aquitaine à la tour abolie

These fragments I have shored against my ruins

Why then Ile fit you. Hieronymo’s mad againe.

Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.

Shantih shantih shantih

我坐在岸边

垂钓，身后是干旱的平原

我至少该把我的国土整顿一下吧？

伦敦桥塌下来了塌下来了塌下来了

于是他藏进把他炼净的火里

我何时能像燕子一样？——哦，燕子，燕子

阿基坦的王子，那座倾圮的塔

这些碎片我用来支撑我的废墟

好啊，那我就成全你。希罗尼莫又疯了。

施与。同情。克制。

平安　平安　平安

文本来源

英文原文校勘据 Poetry Archive 所载 T. S. Eliot The Waste Land 五章（该站文本出自 Collected Poems 1909–1962, Faber & Faber, 1974）：

中文译文为本站自译，力求信、达、雅；专名与关键意象参通行译法，但不依傍既有中译本。译校过程中得到了 MiMo 的部分帮助。