The Rhodora 《紫杜鹃》爱默生作

诗琳外语

The Rhodora, On Being Asked, Whence Is the Flower

Ralph Waldo Emerson

In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,

I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,

Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,

To please the desert and the sluggish brook.

The purple petals fallen in the pool

Made the black water with their beauty gay;

Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,

And court the flower that cheapens his array.

Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why

This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,

Tell them, dear, that, if eyes were made for seeing,

Then beauty is its own excuse for Being;

Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!

I never thought to ask; I never knew;

But in my simple ignorance suppose

The self-same power that brought me there, brought you.

《紫杜鹃——答问此花何来》

爱默生 作

谢诗琳 译

五月，海风刺破山野孤寂，

林间忽见初绽的紫杜鹃，

在阴湿幽隅绽开无叶繁花，

取悦荒原，安抚潺湲的小溪。

紫色花瓣飘入幽深潭水，

明艳花色染亮一汪黑水；

红雀飞来，舒展羽翼纳凉，

倾心此花，自愧翎羽黯然无光。

紫杜鹃啊！倘若哲人向你追问为何

绝色芳华空付天地荒丘，

亲爱的，告诉他们：双目生来为观万象，

美，自身便是存在的缘由。

哦，玫瑰的对手啊，你为何在此盛放？

我不曾追问，也无从深究；

只凭一颗质朴本心猜想，

引我至此的天地神力，同样孕育了你。

作者简介

拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生（Ralph Waldo Emerson，1803—1882）美国超验主义领袖、思想家、散文家，被林肯誉为“美国的孔子”，代表作《论自助》《美国学者》。

谢诗琳，江西南昌人，退休英语副教授，曾任南昌大学人武学院外语系主任。独创“美颜翻译理论”，专攻英美文学翻译，正式出版《莎士比亚十四行诗全集》《培根随笔全集》双语译本，多次开展翻译学术讲座，同时从事双语文学创作。