泰戈尔《新月集》第26期:长者 SUPERIOR

《新月集》 (The Crescent Moon，1903)是印度诗人、作家泰戈尔创作的诗集，主要译自1903年出版的孟加拉文诗集《儿童集》，也有的是用英文直接创作的。 诗集里着力描绘的是一个个天真可爱的儿童。诗人塑造了一批神形兼备、熠熠闪光的天使般的儿童艺术形象。

 

 

 

26 长者 SUPERIOR

MOTHER, your baby is silly! She is so absurdly childish!

妈妈，你的孩子真傻!她是那末可笑地不懂得事!她不知道路灯和星星的分别。

She does not know the difference between the lights in the streets and the stars.

当我们玩着把小石子当食物的游戏时，她便以为它们真是吃的东西，竟想放进嘴里去。

When we play at eating with pebbles, she thinks they are real food, and tries to put them into her mouth.

当我翻开一本书，放在她面前，在她读a，b，c时，她却用手把书页撕了，无端快活地叫起来，你的孩子就是这样做功课的。

When I open a book before her and ask her to learn her a, b, c, she tears the leaves with her hands and roars for joy at nothing; this is your baby's way of doing her lesson.

当我生气地对她摇头，骂她，说她顽皮时，她却哈哈大笑，以为很有趣。

When I shake my head at her in anger and scold her and call her naughty, she laughs and thinks it great fun.

谁都知道爸爸不在家，但是，如果我在游戏时高声叫一声“爸爸”，她便要高兴地四面张望，以为爸爸真是近在身边。

Everybody knows that father is away, but if in play I call aloud "Father," she looks about her in excitement and thinks that father is near.

当我把洗衣人带来载衣服回去的驴子当做学生，并且警告她说，我是老师，她却无缘无故地乱叫起我哥哥来。

When I hold my class with the donkeys that our washerman brings to carry away the clothes and I warn her that I am the schoolmaster, she will scream for no reason and call me d?d?. [elder brother]

你的孩子要捉月亮。

Your baby wants to catch the moon. She is so funny; she calls Ganesh G?nush. [Ganesh, a common name in India, also that of the god with the elephant's head.]

她是这样的可笑;她把格尼许①唤作琪奴许。

Mother, your baby is silly, she is so absurdly childish!

妈妈，你的孩子真傻，她是那末可笑地不懂事! ①格尼许(Ganesh)是毁灭之神湿婆的儿子，象头人身。同时也是现代印度人所最喜欢用来做名字的第一个字。