双语 ● The Thread of Permanence 永恒之脉
The Thread of Permanence 永恒之脉
◎ William Zorach
It is strange how certain things make a great impression on us in childhood. I remember these verses by Longfellow:
奇怪的是，童年的某些事情总会给我们留下深刻的印象。我记得朗费罗的一首诗：
“Life is real! Life is earnest!
“真实又真诚的生活啊！
And the grave is not its goal;
最终的归宿绝不会是坟墓；
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
你本是尘土，必将回归尘土，
Was not spoken of the soul.”
这并非指你的灵魂。”
And again:
诗中还说：
“Lives of great men all remind us
“伟人的一生提醒我们
We can make our lives sublime,
我们能让生活变得高尚，
And departing, leave behind us
并在逝去的时候
Footprints on the sands of time.”
在时间的沙滩上留下脚印。”
Of course, my generation was much more sentimental than today’s youth but whether this was great poetry, it communicated in simple language a message, and made a lasting impression on a small boy.
当然，我们这代人远比现在的年轻一代来得多愁善感。但不管这首诗是不是上乘之作，它都用简朴的语言传递一个道理，在一个小男孩的脑海中留下不可磨灭的印象。
When I was fifteen I had an imaginary guardian angel and when I went to the country to sketch on Sundays, I asked for guidance, praying that someday I would be a fine artist and paint nature as beautiful as she really is. What this little ceremony brought me was faith in the world and a belief in myself.
我15岁时，心中住着一位守护天使。每当周日去乡间写生时，她就成了我的向导。我祈祷自己有朝一日能成为一个伟大的艺术家，画出真正的自然美景。这些祈祷让我更加坚信世界、坚信自己。
My faiths and beliefs have been badly strained. The Atomic Age has caught us in a web of fear. Our lives seem so impermanent and uncertain. There is such a waste of human potential, of things worth while in people which never find expression. I sometimes think it’s a miracle that anything survives. Yet I believe that a thread of permanence runs through everything from the beginning of time, and the most valuable residue will survive.
我的信仰和信心正面临着挑战。原子时代让我们陷入一阵恐慌。我们的生活变得无常、多变。人类的潜力、人性的闪光点找不到施展的舞台，只能白白浪费。我有时想，世间万物能够存在简直就是一种奇迹。然而，我坚信永恒之脉贯穿世间万物，最宝贵的遗产将会永存。
I believe everybody has an urge to somehow spin his own life into a thread of permanence. It is the impulse of life. Some would call it the drive to immortality. Whatever it is, I think it is good because it gives purpose to existence. But purpose is not enough. Artists are supposed to be notoriously impractical, but for myself, I found I had to make decisions and plans if I were to try to create anything. I realized that I must approach life not only with a sensitivity, a perception of beauty, but with a feeling of humility and reverence.
我相信，每个人都渴望汇入这个永恒之脉。这是生活的冲动。有些人称之为生命的动力。不管它是什么，我相信它是一种积极向上的东西，它让我们有了生存的目的。可只有目的是不够的。艺术家总被认为是不切实际的。但是对我而言，任何艺术创作都是诞生在我的决定和安排之后。我意识到，在生活面前，光有敏感和对美好事物的感知是远远不够的，还需要一颗谦卑的心。
My creed as an artist is to love life and liberty and the world of people. A man who works and loves his work is often a man dreaming, and the spirit of his dreams will find forms and symbols to express that dream. It is a wonderful feeling to create something. But today, I think there is a lack of power of communication. If people, not just artists, but all kinds of people, could only open their hearts and express their sorrow, their happiness, their fears and hopes, they would discover they had an identity with the main stream of life which they never saw before.
作为一名艺术家，我的宗旨是：爱生活、爱自由、爱世人。一个懂得干一行爱一行的人通常都是有梦想的人，而他的梦想也会通过一种形式和符号表达出来。创作是一种美妙绝伦的经历。可我认为，如今缺少的是一种沟通的能力。如果所有人，而不仅仅是艺术家，都愿意敞开心扉诉说各自的伤悲、幸福、眼泪和希望，就会发现自己已然汇入生活这条大河，这是他们以前从未见过的。
Sometimes fear and cynicism so grip our minds that we lose heart. Then I try to remember how the great artists of the ages had the power of expressiveness. Theirs was the power to communicate, to exalt, to move the observer to joy or tears, to strike terror and awe in the hearts of men; not just to decorate or merely entertain.
偶尔的恐惧和嘲讽也会让人失去信心。那么，我会拼命回想古往今来那些伟大的艺术家是如何拥有非凡的表现力。他们的表现力能与人沟通，催人奋进，是一股让旁听者或喜或悲、或怕或敬的力量，而不只是一种摆设和消遣。
If we can expand the boundaries of men’s thoughts and beliefs, we will discover we all have creative possibilities—talents to make ourselves real identities as individuals, with a hold on the thread of immortality. If we can awaken ourselves to it, I am convinced we shall find that this is an alive and exciting age of adventure and experimentation from which a new beauty and a finer world will emerge.
如果我们能扩大视野、拓宽思路，我们会发现每个人都有创作的天分。它赋予了每个生命不同的个性。它让每个人在永恒之脉上占有一席之地。如果我们唤醒心中的它，我敢肯定我们将生活在一个活力四射、惊险刺激而又充满革新精神的时代里。它将引领我们走向更美好的世界。
