The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
《阿尔福瑞德·普鲁弗洛克的情歌》
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
假如我认为，我是回答，
A persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
一个能转回阳世间的人，
Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
那么，这火焰就不会再摇闪。
Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo
但既然，如我听到的果真。
Non torno vivo alcun, s'i'odo il vero,
没有人能活着离开这深渊，
Senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
我回答你就不必害怕流言。
Let us go then, you and I,
那么我们走吧，你我两个人，
When the evening is spread out against the sky
正当朝天空慢慢铺展着黄昏。
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
好似病人麻醉在手术桌上;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
我们走吧，穿过一些半清冷的街，
The muttering retreats
那儿休憩的场所正人声喋喋;
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
有夜夜不宁的下等歇夜旅店.
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
和满地蚌壳的铺锯末的饭馆;
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
街连着街，好象一场讨厌的争议.
Of insidious intent
带着阴险的意图.
To lead you to an overwhelming question ...
要把你引向一个重大的问题……
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
唉，不要问，“那是什么？”
Let us go and make our visit.
让我们快点去作客。
In the room the women come and go
在客厅里女士们来回地走，
Talking of Michelangelo.
谈着画家米开朗基罗。
The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
黄色的雾在窗玻璃上擦着它的背，
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes,
黄色的烟在窗玻璃上擦着它的嘴，
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
把它的舌头舐进黄昏的角落，
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
徘徊在快要干涸的水坑上;
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
让跌下烟囱的烟灰落上它的背，
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
它溜下台阶，忽地纵身跳跃，
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
看到这是一个温柔的十月的夜，
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.
于是便在房子附近蜷伏起来安睡。
And indeed there will be time
呵，确实地，总会有时间。
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
看黄色的烟沿着街滑行，
Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;
在窗玻璃上擦着它的背;
There will be time, there will be time
总会有时间，总会有时间。
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
装一副面容去会见你去见的脸;
There will be time to murder and create,
总会有时间去暗杀和创新，
And time for all the works and days of hands
总会有时间让举起问题又丢进你盘里的
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
双手完成劳作与度过时日;
Time for you and time for me,
有的是时间，无论你，无论我，
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
还有的是时间犹豫一百遍，
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
或看到一百种幻景再完全改过，
Before the taking of a toast and tea.
在吃一片烤面包和饮茶以前。
In the room the women come and go
在客厅里女士们来回地走，
Talking of Michelangelo.
谈着画家米开朗基罗。
And indeed there will be time
呵，确实地，总还有时间。
To wonder, “Do I dare? " and, “Do I dare?"
来疑问，“我可有勇气？”“我可有勇气？”
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
总还有时间来转身走下楼梯，
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair--
把一块秃顶暴露给人去注意——
(They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!“)
（她们会说:“他的头发变得多么稀！”）
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
我的晨礼服，我的硬领在腭下笔挺，
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin--
我的领带雅致而多彩，用一个简朴的别针固定——
(They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!“)
（她们会说:“可是他的胳膊腿多么细！”）
Do I dare
我可有勇气
Disturb the universe?
搅乱这个宇宙？
In a minute there is time
在一分钟里总还有时间。
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.
决定和变卦，过一分钟再变回头。
For I have known them all already, known them all:
因为我已经熟悉了她们，熟悉了她们所有的人——
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,
熟悉了那些黄昏，和上下午的情景，
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
我是用咖啡匙子量走了我的生命;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
我熟悉每当隔壁响起了音乐
Beneath the music from a farther room.
话声就逐渐低微而至停歇。
So how should I presume?
所以我怎么敢开口？
And I have known the eyes already, known them all--
而且我已熟悉那些眼睛，熟悉了她们所有的眼睛——
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,
那些眼睛能用一句成语的公式把你盯住，
And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,
当我被公式化了，在别针下趴伏，
When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
那我怎么能开始吐出
Then how should I begin
那我怎么能开始吐出。
To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?
我的生活和习惯的全部剩烟头？
And how should I presume?
我又怎么敢开口？
And I have known the arms already, known them all--
而且我已经熟悉了那些胳膊，熟悉了她们所有的胳膊——
Arms that are braceleted and white and bare
那些胳膊带着镯子，又袒露又白净。
(But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!)
（可是在灯光下，显得淡褐色毛茸茸！）
Is it perfume from a dress
是否由于衣裙的香气，
That makes me so digress?
使得我这样话离本题？
Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl.
那些胳膊或围着肩巾，或横在案头。
And should I then presume?
那时候我该开口吗？
And how should I begin?
可是我怎么开始？
Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrowstreets
是否我说，我在黄昏时走过窄小的街，
And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes
看到孤独的男子只穿着衬衫，
Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out ofwindows? ...
倚在窗口，烟斗里冒着袅袅的烟？……
I should have been a pair of ragged claws
那我就会成为一对蟹螯，
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.
急急爬过沉默的海底。
And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully!
啊，那下午，那黄昏，睡得多平静！
Smoothed by long fingers,
被纤长的手指轻轻抚爱，
Asleep ... tired ... or it malingers,
睡了……倦慵的……或者它装病，
Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me.
躺在地板上，就在你我脚边伸开。
Should I, after tea and cakes and ices,
是否我，在用过茶、糕点和冰食以后，
Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?
有魄力把这一刻推到紧要的关头？
But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,
然而，尽管我曾哭泣和斋戒，哭泣和祈祷，
Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter,
尽管我看见我的头（有一点秃了）用盘子端了进来，
I am no prophet--and here's no great matter;
我不是先知——这也不值得大惊小怪;
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
我曾看到我伟大的时刻闪烁，
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,
我曾看到那永恒的“侍者”拿着我的外衣暗笑，
And in short, I was afraid.
一句话，我有点害怕。
And would it have been worth it, after all,
而且，归根到底，是不是值得
After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,
当小吃、果子酱和红茶已用过，
Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,
在杯盘中间，当人们谈着你和我，
Would it have been worth while,
是不是值得以一个微笑
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
把这件事情一口啃掉，
To have squeezed the universe into a ball
把整个宇宙压缩成一个球，
To roll it toward some overwhelming question,
使它滚向某个重大的问题，
To say: “I am Lazarus, come from the dead,
说道:“我是拉撒路，从冥界
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all“--
来报一个信，我要告诉你们一切。”——
If one, settling a pillow by her head,
万一她把枕垫放在头下一倚，
Should say: “That is not what I meant at all;
说道:“唉，我意思不是要谈这些;
That is not it, at all.“
不，我不是要谈这些。”
And would it have been worth it, after all,
那么，归根到底，是不是值得，
Would it have been worth while,
是否值得在那许多次夕阳以后，
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
在庭院的散步和水淋过街道以后，
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor--
在读小说以后，在饮茶以后，在长裙拖过地板以后，——
And this, and so much more?--
说这些，和许多许多事情？——
It is impossible to say just what I mean I
要说出我想说的话绝不可能！
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
仿佛有幻灯把神经的图样投到幕上:
Would it have been worth while
是否还值得如此难为情，
If one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl,
假如她放一个枕垫或掷下披肩，
And turning toward the window, should say:
把脸转向窗户，甩出一句:
“That is not it at all,
“那可不是我的本意，
That is not what I meant, at all.”
那可绝不是我的本意。”
No I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
不！我并非哈姆雷特王子，当也当不成;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
我只是个侍从爵士，为王家出行，
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
铺排显赫的场面，或为王子出主意，
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
就够好的了;无非是顺手的工具，
Deferential, glad to be of use,
服服帖帖，巴不得有点用途，
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
细致，周详，处处小心翼翼;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
满口高谈阔论，但有点愚鲁;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous--
有时候，老实说，显得近乎可笑，
Almost, at times, the Fool.
有时候，几乎是个丑角。
I grow old ... I grow old ...
呵，我变老了……我变老了……
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.
我将要卷起我的长裤的裤脚。
Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
我将把头发往后分吗？我可敢吃桃子？
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
我将穿上白法兰绒裤在海滩上散步。
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
我听见了女水妖彼此对唱着歌。
I do not think that they will sing to me.
我不认为她们会为我而唱歌。
I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
我看过她们凌驾波浪驶向大海，
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
梳着打回来的波浪的白发，
When the wind blows the water white and black.
当狂风把海水吹得又黑又白。
We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
我们留连于大海的宫室，
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
被海妖以红的和棕的海草装饰，
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.
一旦被人声唤醒，我们就淹死。
作者：托马斯·斯特恩斯·艾略特，诗人、散文家、出版商、剧作家、文学评论家和编辑。他被认为是20世纪的主要诗人之一，是英语现代主义诗歌的中心人物。
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