有才又好色的智利诗人聂鲁达,带来拉丁美洲味的诗歌《只有死神》
今天翻译了智利诗人巴勃罗·聂鲁达的Nothing But Death(《只有死神》)。
巴勃罗·聂鲁达(1904-1973),智利当代著名诗人,1971年获得诺贝尔文学奖,原名内夫塔利·里卡多·雷耶斯·巴索阿尔托(外国人的名字就是长~),聂鲁达是诗人取的笔名。聂鲁达出生于火车司机家庭,童年困苦,早年丧母,父亲为火车司机,常年外出,因此他的性格沉默寡言,热爱沉思,对大自然和外部世界有向往。对文学的热爱伴随着聂鲁达的成长,他13岁开始发表作品。
幼年聂鲁达
聂鲁达的诗歌创作大致可以分为三个阶段。
第一阶段(1917-1926)主要书写大自然,代表作有《二十首情诗和一支绝望的歌》。第二阶段(1927-1934)诗歌创作虚幻晦涩,代表作有《地球上的居所》。第三阶段(1935-1973)是聂鲁达诗歌创作的鼎盛时期,他创作了大量的诗歌。这一时期有反法西斯的诗歌、歌颂人民的诗歌、描绘拉丁美洲图景的诗歌等,代表作有《西班牙在我心中》、《漫歌集》等。
聂鲁达及其作品《二十首情歌和一首绝望的歌》
聂鲁达是一位非常有才华的诗人,也许与他才华“匹配”的是他的好色。
聂鲁达曾担任过外交官,据说,他以外交官的身份在泰国、马来西亚、印度、法国、墨西哥等地皆有遗留爱情史,有的爱情还有私生子。当然,聂鲁达老年、获得诺奖、功成名就之时,回忆往事,倍感悔恨,还曾雇侦探寻找在墨西哥遗留的私生子,希望可以弥补过去的过错。
聂鲁达与妻子
《只有死神》这首诗歌是聂鲁达对死亡的思考,诗歌意象丰富,极具画面感,使我联想到绚丽多彩的拉丁美洲。
由于知识所限,在翻译过程中,有一些句子和意象我还是无法理解,比如“我们像从皮肤滑落到灵魂中一样活过”(as though we lived falling out of the skin into the soul)?为什么河流是深紫色的(the river of dark purple)?死神的脸和给人的印象是碧绿的(green)?
聂鲁达
Nothing But Death
by Pablo Neruda
只有死神
作者:巴勃罗·聂鲁达
译者:山今
There are cemeteries that are lonely,
graves full of bones that do not make a sound,
the heart moving through a tunnel ,
in it darkness, darkness, darkness,
like a shipwreck we die going into ourselves,
as though we were drowning inside our hearts,
as though we lived falling out of the skin into the soul.
那些孤独的坟墓,
墓穴中满是静默的白骨,
心穿过墓道,
里面是黑暗,黑暗,黑暗,
我们像下沉的船走向归宿般死去,
我们像溺死在自己的心里,
我们像从皮肤滑落到灵魂中一样活过。
And there are corpses ,
feet made of cold and sticky clay ,
death is inside the bones,
like a barking where there are no dogs,
coming out from bells somewhere, from graves somewhere,
growing in the damp air like tears of rain.
那些尸首,
身下是冰冷、湿粘的土,
死神藏在白骨中,
就像没有狗却能听到狗吠,
来自某个地方的钟声,或某个地方的坟墓,
像雨滴一样在潮湿空气中增长。
Sometimes I see alone
coffins under sail ,
embarking with the pale dead, with women that have dead hair,
with bakers who are as white as angels,
and pensive young girls married to notary publics,
caskets sailing up the vertical river of the dead,
the river of dark purple,
moving upstream with sails filled out by the sound of death,
filled by the sound of death which is silence.
有时我看见孤独的
棺材在航行,
装着苍白的死者,或头发枯萎的女人,
或洁白得像天使的面包师,
或与公证人结婚的忧郁年轻女孩,
棺材在笔直的河流中航行,
这深紫色的河流,
有帆船逆流而上,填满了死神的声音,
填满了死神寂静之声。
Death arrives among all that sound
like a shoe with no foot in it, like a suit with no man in it,
comes and knocks, using a ring with no stone in it, with no finger in it,
comes and shouts with no mouth, with no tongue, with no throat.
Nevertheless its steps can be heard
and its clothing makes a hushed sound, like a tree.
死神会降临在所有人中,它的声音
像一只没有脚穿的鞋,或没有人穿的外套,
它来了,敲门了,用不带宝石的戒指,其中并没有手指,
它来了,呼喊了,但不用嘴,不用舌头,不用喉咙,
不过,依然可以听到它的脚步声
和它衣服发出的细微声音,像树一样。
I’m not sure, I understand only a little, I can hardly see,
but it seems to me that its singing has the color of damp violets ,
of violets that are at home in the earth,
because the face of death is green,
and the look death gives is green,
with the penetrating dampness of a violet leaf
and the somber color of embittered winter.
我不确定,只懂得一点,几乎难以看到,
于我而言,它的歌声中有湿润的紫罗兰色,
那紫罗兰生长在家中的土地上,
因为死神的面孔是碧绿的,
所以,死神给人的印象也是碧绿的,
带着紫罗兰叶片散发的湿气
和严冬阴沉的颜色。
But death also goes through the world dressed as a broom ,
lapping the floor, looking for dead bodies,
death is inside the broom,
the broom is the tongue of death looking for corpses ,
it is the needle of death looking for thread.
但是死神也像扫帚一样在这世界横行,
清扫每一寸地面,寻找死者的躯体,
死神就藏在扫帚里,
扫帚就是死神的喉舌,寻找着死尸,
这是死神之针去寻找死人之线。
Death is inside the folding cots :
it spends its life sleeping on the slow mattresses ,
in the black blankets, and suddenly breathes out:
it blows out a mournful sound that swell s the sheets,
and the beds go sailing toward a port
where death is waiting, dressed like an admiral.
死神就在可折叠的帆布床中:
它睡在缓缓展开地床垫中度过它的生命,
在黑暗的毯子里,它突然吹了一口气:
它吹来的悲伤之声让床单膨胀,
然后床就扬帆起航,驶向港口
在这里,穿得像船长一样的死神在等待着。
Translated by Robert Bly(英文由伯特·勃莱翻译)
聂鲁达