散文漢譯英佳作賞析：朱自清《荷塘月色》

荷塘月色
Moonlight over the Lotus Pond

朱自清
Zhu Ziqing

這幾天心裏頗不寧睜。今晚在院子裏坐着乘涼，忽然想起日日走過的荷塘，在這滿月的光裏，總該另有一番樣子吧。月亮漸漸地升高了，牆外馬路上孩子們的歡笑，已經聽不見了；妻在屋裏拍着閏兒，迷迷糊糊地哼着眠歌。我悄悄地披了大衫，帶上門出去。
It has been rather disquieting these days. Tonight, when I was sitting in the yard enjoying the cool, it occurred to me that the Lotus Pond, which I pass by every day, must assume quite a different look in such moonlit night. A full moon was rising high in the sky; the laughter of children playing outside had died away; in the morn, my wife was patting the son, Run-er, sleepily humming a cradle song. Shrugging on an overcoat, quietly, 1 made my way out, closing the door behind me.

沿着荷塘.是一條曲折的小煤屑路。這是一條幽僻的路；白天也少人走，夜晚更加寂寞。荷塘四面，長着許多樹，翁翁鬱郁的。路的一旁，是些楊柳，和一些不知道名字的樹。沒有月光的晚上，這路上陰森森的，有些怕人。今晚卻很好，雖然月光也還是淡淡的。
Alongside the Lotus Pond nuns a small cinder footpath. It is peaceful and secluded here, a place not frequented by pedestrians even in the daytime; now at night, it looks mare solitary, in a lush, shady ambience of trees all around the pond. On the side where the path is, there are willows, interlaced with some others whose names I do not know. The foliage, which, in a moonless night, would loom somewhat frighteningly dark, looks very nice tonight, although the moonlight is not more than a thin, grayish veil.

路上只我一個人，揹着手踱着。這一片天地好像是我的；我也像超出了平常的自己，到了另一世界裏。我愛熱鬧，也愛冷靜；愛羣居，也愛獨處。像今晚上，一個人在這蒼茫的月下，什麼都可以想，什麼都可以不想，便覺是個自由的人。白天裏一定要做的事，一定要說的話，現在都可不理。這是獨處的妙處；我且受用這無邊的荷香月色好了。
I am on my own, strolling, hands behind my back. This bit of the universe seems in my possession now; and I myself seem to have been uplifted from my ordinary self into another world. 1 like a serene and peaceful life, as much as a busy and active one; I like being in solitude, as much as in company. As it is tonight, basking in a misty moonshine all by myself, I feel I am a free man, free to think of anything, or of nothing. All that one is obliged to do, or to say, in the daytime, can be very well cast aside now. That is the beauty of being alone. For the moment, just let me indulge in this profusion of moonlight and lotus fragrance.

曲曲折折的荷塘上面，彌望的是田田的葉子。葉子出水很高，像亭亭的舞女的裙。層層的葉子中間，零星地點綴着些白花，有嫋娜地開着的，有羞澀地打着朵兒的；正如一粒粒的明珠，又如碧天裏的星星，又如剛出浴的美人。微風過處，送來縷縷清香，彷彿遠處高樓上渺茫的歌聲似的。這時候葉子與花也有一絲的頗動，像閃電般.霎時傳過荷塘的那邊去了。葉子本是肩並肩密密地挨着，這便宛然有了一道凝碧的波痕。葉子底下是脈脈的流水，遮住了，不能見一些顏色;而葉子卻更見風致了。
All over this winding stretch of water, what meets the eye is a silken field of leaves, reaching rather high above the surface, like the skirts of dancing girls in all their grace. Here and there, layers of leaves are dotted with white lotus blossoms, some in demure bloom, others in shy bud, like scattering pearls, or twinkling stars, or beauties just out of the bath. A breeze stirs, sending over breaths of fragrance, like faint singing drifting from a distant building. At this moment, a tiny thrill shoots through the leaves and lilies, like, a streak of lightning, straight across the forest of lotuses. The leaves, which have been standing shoulder to shoulder, are caught shimmering in an emerald heave of the pond. Underneath, the exquisite water is covered from view, and none can tell its colour; yet the leaves on top project themselves all the more attractively.

月光如流水一般，靜靜地瀉在這一片葉子和花上。薄薄的青霧浮起在荷塘裏：葉子和花彷彿在牛乳中洗過一樣；又像籠着輕紗的夢。雖然是滿月，天上卻有一層淡淡的雲.所以不能朗照；但我以爲這恰是到了好處——酣眠固不可少，小睡也別有風味的。月光是隔了樹照過來的，高處叢生的灌木，落下參差的斑駁的黑影，峭愣愣如鬼一般；彎彎的楊柳的稀疏的倩影，卻又像是畫在荷葉上。塘中的月色並不均勻；但光與影有着和諧的旋律，如梵炯鈴上奏着的名曲。
The moon sheds her liquid light silently over the leaves and flowers, which, in the floating transparency of a bluish haze from the pond, look as if they had just been bathed in milk, or like a dream wrapped in a gauzy hood. Although it is a full moon, shining through a film of clouds, the light is not at its brightest; it is, however, just right for me -a profound sleep is indispensable, vet a snatched doze also has a savour of its own. The moonlight is streaming down through the foliage, casting bushy shadows on the ground from high above, jagged and checkered, as grotesque as a party of spectres; whereas the benign figures of the drooping willows, here and there, lank like paintings on the lotus leaves. The moonlight is not spread evenly over the pond, but rather in a harmonious rhythm of light and shade, like a famous melody played on a violin.

荷塘的四面，遠遠近近，高高低低都是樹，幾而楊柳最多。這些樹將一片荷塘重重圍住；只在小路一旁，漏着幾段空隙，像是特爲月光留下的。樹色一例是陰陰的，乍看像一團煙霧;但楊柳的丰姿，便在煙霧裏也辨得出。樹梢上隱隱約約的是一帶遠山，只有些大意罷了。樹縫裏也漏着一兩點路燈光，沒精打采的，是渴睡人的眼。這時候最熱鬧的，要數樹上的蟬聲與水裏的蛙聲；但熱鬧是它們的，我什麼也沒有。
Around the pond, far anti near, high and low, are trees. Most of them are willows. Only on the path side, can taro or three gap; he seen through the heavy fringe, as if specially reserved for the moon. The shadowy shapes of the leafage at first sight seem diffused into a mass of mist, against which, however, the charm of those willow trees is still discernible. Over the trees appear some distant mountains, but merely in sketchy silhouette. Through the branches are also a couple of lamps, as listless as sleepy eyes. The most lively creatures here, for the moment, must he the cicadas in the trees and the frogs in the pond. But the liveliness is theirs, I have nothing.

忽然想起採蓮的事情來了。採蓮是江南的舊俗。似乎很早就有，而六朝時爲盛；從詩歌裏可以約略知道。採蓮的是少年的女子，她們是蕩着小船，唱着豔歌去的。採蓮人不用說很多，還有看採蓮的人。那是一個熱鬧。的季節，也是一個風流的季節。梁元帝《採蓮斌》裏說得好：
Suddenly, something like lotus-gathering crosses my mind. It used to he celebrated as a folk festival in the South, probably dating very far hack in history, mast popular in the period of Six Dynasties. We can pick up some outlines of this activity in the poetry. It was young girls who went gathering lotuses, in sampans and singing love songs. Needless to say, there were a great number of them doing the gathering, apart from those who were watching. It was a lively season, brimming with vitality, and romance. A brilliant description can be found in lotus Gathering written by the Yuan Emperor of the liang Dynasty:

於是妖童破女，盪舟心許：鶴首徐回，兼傳羽杯；掉將移而藻掛，船欲動而萍開。爾其纖腰束素，遷延顧步；夏始春餘，葉嫩花初，恐沾裘而淺笑，畏傾船而斂裾。
So those charming youngsters rote their sampans, heart buoyant with tacit lone, pass on to each other cups of wire while their bird-shaped prows drift around. From throe to time their oars are caught in dangling alga, and duckweed flow apart the moment their boats are about to mote on. Their slender figures, girdled with plain silk, tread watchfully on board. This is the time when spring is grating into summer, the leaves a tender green and the flowers blooming - among which the girls are giggling when evading an out-reaching stem, their skirts tucked in for fear that the sampan might tilt.

可見當時嬉遊的光景了。這真是有趣的事，可惜我們現在早已無福消受了。
That is a glimpse of those merrymaking scenes. It must have been fascinating: but unfortunately we have long been denied such a delight.

於是又記起《西州曲》裏的句子：
Then I recall those lines in Ballad of Xizhou Island:

採蓮南塘秋，蓮花過人頭尹低頭弄蓮子，蓮子清如水。
Gathering the lotus, I ant in the South Pond, / The lilies in autumn reach over my head; / Lowering my head I toy with the laws seeds. / Look, they are as fresh as the waster underneath.

今晚若有采蓮人，這兒的蓮花也算得“過人頭”了；只不見一些流水的影子，是不行的；這令我到底惦着江南了——這樣想着，猛一擡頭，不覺已是自己的門前；輕輕地推門進去，什麼聲息也沒有，妻已睡熟好久了。
If there were somebody gathering lotuses tonight, she could tell that the lilies here are high enough to "reach over her head"; but, one would certainly miss the sight of the water. So my memories drift back to the South after in my thoughts, I looked up, just to find myself at the door of my own house. Gently I pushed the door open and walked in. Not a sound inside, my wife had been fast asleep for quite a while.

1927年7月，北京清華園
Qinghua Campus, Beijing July, 1927.