诗歌选读: The Bridge Builder 《造桥的人》

诗琳外语

The Bridge Builder

Will Allen Dromgoole

An old man, going a lone highway,

Came, at the evening, cold and gray,

To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide,

Through which was flowing a sullen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim;

The sullen stream had no fears for him;

But he turned, when safe on the other side,

And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim, near,

"You are wasting strength with building here;

Your journey will end with the ending day;

You never again must pass this way;

You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide—

Why build you a bridge at the eventide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head:

"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,

"There followeth after me today,

A youth, whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm, that has been naught to me,

To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;

Good friend, I am building the bridge for him."

造桥的人

威尔·艾伦·德罗姆古尔作

老者独行孤寂长路，

日暮天寒，暮色苍茫，

来到一处幽深宽阔的深谷，

谷底暗流奔涌，阴郁寒凉。

老者趁着昏暮安然渡岸，

湍急黑水早已难让他心慌；

安稳踏上对岸，他却转身回望，

筑一座长桥，横跨湍急滔浪。

身旁同路旅人开口相问：

“老人家，何苦在此耗费心神？

今日日暮，你的旅途便将告终，

此生再也不会途经此程。

幽深险谷你早已安然跨过，

暮色沉沉，为何还要造桥一座？”

造桥老人抬起花白头颅，缓缓作答：

“老友，我方才一路走来，

今日尚有少年跟在我身后，

他前行的脚步必经这条险道。

这深谷于我早已不足为惧，

对那青涩少年，却会是致命陷阱。

他也要在昏暗中涉水跋涉，

老友，这座桥，我是为他而造。”

威尔·艾伦·德罗姆古尔( Will Allen Dromgoole ，1860—1934），美国田纳西州女性诗人、作家、记者。一生创作八千余首诗歌与大量散文，曾任州参议院书记员、报刊专栏主笔，获南方桂冠诗人称号。作品多描绘南部乡土风物，文风质朴温婉。代表作叙事小诗《造桥的人》流传百年，以老者渡谷造桥的故事颂扬无私奉献精神，被多国教材收录，是其最经典传世之作。

译者简介:

谢诗琳，江西南昌人，原南昌大学人民武装学院外语系退休英语副教授，英美文学译者与翻译研究者，师从翻译名家庄绎传，独创美颜翻译理论。深耕英诗汉译，专注莎士比亚十四行诗、西方叙事小诗译介，主讲翻译鉴赏讲座。主张翻译以忠实为基、通顺为要、审美为核心，译作兼顾语义准确与中式诗意，代表作含《造桥的人》译本，长期开展多译本对比评析与翻译理论实践研究。