《夜莺的爱巢》翻译之旅犹如一次激动人心的在森林中探寻夜莺的爱巢之经历

诗琳外语

按语: 克莱尔的The Nightingale's Nest，是用质朴的语言写就的自然赞歌，藏着最本真的自然共情与生态敬畏；谢诗琳的《夜莺的爱巢》，则是用中文的审美语言完成的一次完美的诗歌转译。译者以美颜翻译理论为指引，在每一个翻译环节都做到 “保真为基，美颜为翼”：标题的增译锚定情感核心，词汇的处理兼顾精准与美感，句式的节奏贴合原诗的叙事抒情，意境的拟人化贴合中式审美，而最核心的，是始终守住了克莱尔农民诗人的质朴风格与诗歌的自然敬畏主题。

1.原作:

THE NIGHTINGALE'S NEST

by John Clare

UP this green woodland-ride let's softly rove,

And list the nightingale — she dwells just here.

Hush! let the wood-gate softly clap, for fear

The noise might drive her from her home of love;

For here I've heard her many a merry year—

At morn, at eve, nay, all the live-long day,

As though she lived on song. This very spot,

Just where that old-man's-beard all wildly trails

Rude arbours o'er the road, and stops the way —

And where that child its blue-bell flowers hath got,

Laughing and creeping through the mossy rails—

There have I hunted like a very boy,

Creeping on hands and knees through matted thorn

To find her nest, and see her feed her young.

And vainly did I many hours employ:

All seemed as hidden as a thought unborn.

And where those crimping fern-leaves ramp among

The hazel's under boughs, I've nestled down,

And watched her while she sung ; and her renown

Hath made me marvel that so famed a bird

Should have no better dress than russet brown.

Her wings would tremble in her ecstasy,

And feathers stand on end, as 'twere with joy,

And mouth wide open to release her heart

Of its out-sobbing songs. The happiest part

Of summer's fame she shared, for so to me

Did happy fancies shapen her employ;

But if I touched a bush, or scarcely stirred,

All in a moment stopt. I watched in vain:

The timid bird had left the hazel bush,

And at a distance hid to sing again.

Lost in a wilderness of listening leaves,

Rich Ecstasy would pour its luscious strain,

Till envy spurred the emulating thrush

To start less wild and scarce inferior songs;

For while of half the year Care him bereaves,

To damp the ardour of his speckled breast;

The nightingale to summer's life belongs,

And naked trees, and winter's nipping wrongs,

Are strangers to her music and her rest.

Her joys are evergreen, her world is wide—

Hark! there she is as usual— let's be hush—

For in this black-thorn clump, if rightly guest,

Her curious house is hidden. Part aside

These hazel branches in a gentle way,

And stoop right cautious 'neath the rustling boughs,

For we will have another search to day,

And hunt this fern-strewn thorn-clump round and round;

And where this reeded wood-grass idly bows,

We'll wade right through, it is a likely nook:

In such like spots, and often on the ground,

They'll build, where rude boys never think to look—

Aye, as I live! her secret nest is here,

Upon this white-thorn stump! I've searched about

For hours in vain. There! put that bramble by—

Nay, trample on its branches and get near.

How subtle is the bird! she started out,

And raised a plaintive note of danger nigh,

Ere we were past the brambles; and now, near

Her nest, she sudden stops — as choking fear,

That might betray her home. So even now

We'll leave it as we found it: safety's guard

Of pathless solitudes shall keep it still.

See there! she's sitting on the old oak bough,

Mute in her fears; our presence doth retard

Her joys, and doubt turns every rapture chill.

Sing on, sweet bird! may no worse hap befall

Thy visions, than the fear that now deceives.

We will not plunder music of its dower,

Nor turn this spot of happiness to thrall;

For melody seems hid in every flower,

That blossoms near thy home. These harebells all

Seem bowing with the beautiful in song;

And gaping cuckoo-flower, with spotted leaves,

Seems blushing of the singing it has heard.

How curious is the nest; no other bird

Uses such loose materials, or weaves

Its dwelling in such spots: dead oaken leaves

Are placed without, and velvet moss within,

And little scraps of grass, and, scant and spare,

What scarcely seem materials, down and hair;

For from men's haunts she nothing seems to win.

Yet Nature is the builder, and contrives

Homes for her children's comfort, even here;

Where Solitude's disciples spend their lives

Unseen, save when a wanderer passes near

That loves such pleasant places. Deep adown,

The nest is made a hermit's mossy cell.

Snug lie her curious eggs in number five,

Of deadened green, or rather olive brown;

And the old prickly thorn-bush guards them well.

So here we'll leave them, still unknown to wrong,

As the old woodland's legacy of song.

2.谢诗琳的译文:

夜莺的爱巢

约翰・克莱尔 著

沿着这条绿草茵茵的林间小道，咱们款款而行，

去倾听夜莺的歌声吧—夜莺就栖息在树林里。

嘘！任柴扉轻轻地合上，免得

关门声把夜莺从爱巢中惊起飞走；

因为多年来就在这里我曾听她欢快地歌唱—

在黎明、在夜间，不，整整一天，无时不刻，

好像她靠歌唱活着。就在此处，

就在流苏树沿路疯长蔓延的地方。

小路上藤蔓无序漫延，阻挡着前进的道路—

就在那儿，小孩摘来了蓝铃花，

欢笑着蹑手蹑脚地穿过长满苔藓的轨道—

就在那儿，我曾像稚童一样追嬉探寻，

手脚并用地在纠缠的荆棘中爬行穿越

目的是找到她的爱巢，看她喂养宝宝。

我白白地浪费了许多时光：

一切就像未诞生的意图一样隐秘。

而在那些卷曲的蕨叶蔓延的地方，

在榛树的矮枝下，我蹲在那里，

并在她歌唱时注视着她；她的声望

竟让我惊叹：这般声名远扬的夜莺

最美丽的服装就是她赤褐色羽毛。

她在歌唱最动情时会扇动翅膀，

而且羽毛会竖起，好像满心欢喜，

她的喙张得大大的，释放她心里

那些如泣如诉的歌声。最快乐的歌声

莫过于她分享的夏日声名，因为对我而言

愉快的幻想的确塑造了她的职业；

但倘若我碰一下树枝，或者轻微地动一动，

剎那間，她会停止歌唱。我只好眼睁睁地看着：

这只羞怯的鸟儿飞离了榛树丛，

而且在远处隐藏起来，再次歌唱。

消失在摇曳倾听的茫茫树叶中，

浓郁的狂喜将倾泻出其甘美的旋律，

直到嫉妒激起了模仿的画眉鸟

开始唱出不那么狂野却绝不逊色的歌曲；

只因半年岁月里，烦忧将它缠磨，

浇熄那斑斓胸脯下的一腔炽情。

夜莺属于夏季的生命，

光秃秃的树，和冬季刺骨寒意的不适，

对她的音乐和她的休憩一无所知。

她的欢乐如常青树般持久，她的世界广阔无垠 ——

听着！她像往常一样在那儿 —— 咱们安静点 ——

因为在这黑刺丛，倘若猜测不错的话，

她那令人好奇的屋子藏起来了。轻轻地

把这些榛树枝条拨开

然后小心翼翼地在沙沙作响的树枝下俯身，

因为我们今天还要再一次进行搜寻，

在这片布满蕨类和荆棘丛的地方四处搜寻；

而在这片长着悠闲摇曳芦苇状木草的地方，

我们将径直蹚水过去，这很可能是一个僻静处：

在如此般僻静之地，而且往往在地面上，

夜莺会筑爱巢，这是粗鲁男孩永远忽视的地方——

哎，千真万确！她的秘密爱巢就在这儿，

就在这根白荆棘树桩上！我四处搜寻

白白浪费了好几个小时。那儿！把荆棘推到一边 ——

不对，是踩踏荆棘的枝条并挨着荆棘筑巢。

这只夜莺多么机警啊！她开始

发出了一声哀怨的、预示着危险临近的调子，

不等我们穿过荆棘丛；此刻，就在

她的爱巢附近，她突然停止哀叫——如恐惧而窒息，

哀叫一定会暴露她的爱巢。所以即使是现在

我们会让它保持原样：安全的爱巢

在人迹罕至的孤寂之地安然留存的爱巢。

看那儿！她正栖息在古橡树树枝上，

因恐惧而沉默；我们的出现的确会遏制

她的喜悦，而疑虑让每一份狂喜都变得冰冷。

继续歌唱吧，可爱的鸟儿！愿灾祸不再降临

你的视野，你最大的劫难不过是此刻欺人的恐惧。

我们不会掠夺音乐的天赋嫁妆，

也不要将这方幸福之地变为奴役之所；

因为旋律仿佛藏在每一朵花卉里，

这些花盛开在你家附近，所有这些蓝铃花

好似在歌声中翩翩起舞；

还有斑斓绿叶衬托的、盛开的布谷鸟花，

好像因听到这歌声而羞红了脸。

这样的鸟巢多么奇特啊！没有别的鸟

使用这类松散的材料，或者编织

自己的窝在这样的地方：枯橡树叶

置于外侧，而天鹅绒般的苔藓在内侧，

还有少量的的草屑，零零星星，稀稀落落，

那些几乎算不上材料的东西 —— 羽绒和毛发；

只因从世人的居所，她似乎一无所获。

然而，大自然才是建造者，精心设计着

舒适的家园，为了她的孩子们，在这里；

孤独的信徒们度过一生的地方

无人知晓，除非游子从附近经过

由于喜爱这般宜人的地方。在鸟巢深处，

巢穴筑成了隐士的长满苔藓的蜗居。

她下的五枚鸟蛋温暖而舒适地躺在鸟巢里，

鸟蛋呈现暗绿色，更确切地说，是橄榄棕色；

而古老多刺的荆棘丛好好守护着他们。

那么我们把他们留在这儿吧，永远不被坏人知晓，

如同那古老林地夜莺歌声的遗产。

3.About the author

John Clare (1793–1864) was a preeminent 19th-century English Peasant Poet and nature writer. Born into a poor farming family with little formal education, he drew inspiration from intimate observation of the Northamptonshire countryside. Writing in simple, colloquial language with unadorned realism and gentle empathy, he created classics like The Nightingale’s Nest and the existential lyric I Am (composed in asylums during his later mental struggles). Once marginalized, he was rediscovered in the 20th century and hailed as England’s greatest working-class poet, his work preserving vanishing rural beauty and anticipating modern ecological thought.

作者简介

约翰・克莱尔（1793–1864）是 19 世纪杰出的英国农民诗人和自然作家。他出生于一个贫穷的农民家庭，几乎没有接受过正规教育，从对北安普敦郡乡村的细致观察中汲取灵感。他以简洁、通俗的语言进行创作，风格质朴写实且饱含温柔的共情，创作了《夜莺的爱巢》等经典作品，以及存在主义抒情诗《我是》（这首诗是他晚年精神挣扎期间在精神病院创作的）。他曾一度被边缘化，20 世纪被重新发现，并被誉为英国最伟大的工人阶级诗人，其作品留存了正在消逝的乡村之美，还预示了现代生态思想。

4.译者简介

诗琳外语，谢诗琳，江西南昌三江人，前南昌大学人武学院外语系党支部书记、系主任、副教授，翻译出版了《莎士比亚十四行诗全集(英汉对照全译本)》和《培根随笔全集(英汉对照全译本)》，担任英语专业高年级主干课程教学工作，是全国大学生英语竞赛优秀指导教师。此外，创作了《十四行诗里的未寄情书》等多篇短篇小说和《春天颂》等原创双语诗歌。译著《莎士比亚十四行诗翻译与欣赏》即将出版。

About the translator:

Shilin Foreign Language, Xie Shilin, a native of Sanjiang, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, is a former Party Branch Secretary of CPC, Dean of the Foreign Languages’ Department of the People's Arms College of Nanchang University, and Associate Professor. He has translated and published The Complete Works of Shakespeare's Sonnets (A Complete Bilingual Chinese-English Translation) and The Complete Essays of Francis Bacon (A Complete Bilingual Chinese-English Translation). He teaches core courses for senior English majors and is an outstanding instructor for the National English Competition for College Students. In addition, she has written several short stories such as Unsent Love Letters in Sonnets and original bilingual poems like Ode to Spring. His translated work The Translation and Appreciation of Shakespeare's Sonnets is forthcoming.