The Crescent Moon
The Home
I paced alone on the road across the field while the sunset was hiding its last gold like a miser.
The daylight sank deeper and deeper into the darkness, and the widowed land, whose harvest had been reaped, lay silent.
Suddenly a boy’s shrill voice rose into the sky. He traversed the dark unseen, leaving the track of his song across the hush of the evening.
His village home lay there at the end of the waste land, beyond the sugar-cane field, hidden among the shadows of the banana and the slender areca-palm, the coconut and the dark green jack-fruit trees.
I stopped for a moment in my lonely way under the starlight, and saw spread before me the darkened earth surrounding with her arms countless homes furnished with cradles and beds, mothers’ hearts and evening lamps, and young lives glad with a gladness that knows nothing of its value for the world.
我独自走在穿越田地的小路上,夕阳像一个吝啬鬼,正藏起它最后的一点儿金子。
白昼渐渐地没入深深的黑暗之中,那收割后的田野,孤寂、沉默地躺在那里。
突然,一个男孩尖锐的歌声划破了天空,他穿越看不见的黑暗,留下他的歌声回荡在静谧的黄昏里。
他的家就在荒地边缘的村落里,穿过甘蔗园,隐匿在香蕉树和瘦长的槟榔树,以及椰子树和深绿色的榴莲的阴影里。
星光下,我独自行走着,途中停留了片刻,看着幽暗的大地在我的面前展开,正用她的双臂拥抱着无数的家庭,那里有摇篮和床铺,有母亲们的心和夜晚的灯光,还有年轻的生命,自然而欢乐,却全然不知这欢乐对于世界的价值。
On The Seashore
On the seashore of endless world children meet.
The infinite sky is motionless overhead and the restless water is boisterous. On the seashore of endless world the children meet with shouts and dances.
They build their houses with sand, and they play with empty shells. With withered leaves they weave their boats and smilingly float them on the vast deepsea. Children have their play on the seashore of world.
They know not how to swim, they know not how to cast nets. Pearl-fishers dive for pearls, merchants sail in their ships, while children gather pebbles and scatter them again. They seek not for hidden treasures, they know not how to cast nets.
The sea surges up with laughter, and pale light gleams the smile of the sea-beach. Death-dealing waves sing meaningless ballads to the children, even like the lullaby while rocking her baby’s cradle. The sea plays with children, and pale light gleams the smile of the sea-beach.
On the seashore of endless world children meet. Tempest roams in the pathless sky, ships are wrecked in the trackless water, death is abroad and children play. On the seashore of endless world is the great meeting of children.
海边
孩子们相聚在无垠世界的海边。
辽阔的穹隆在头上静止,不息的海水在脚下汹涌澎湃。孩子们相聚在无垠世界的海边,欢叫着手舞足蹈。
他们用沙来筑屋,玩弄着空空的贝壳。他们用落叶编成船,笑着让它们漂浮在深海里。孩子们在世界的海边自娱自乐。
他们不懂得怎样游泳,也不晓得怎样撒网。采珠的人潜水寻找宝珠,商人在船上航行,孩子们却把鹅卵石拾起又扔掉。他们不找宝藏,也不知道怎样撒网。
大海欢笑着翻腾浪花,而海滩的微笑则泛着暗淡的光。凶险的惊涛骇浪,对孩子们唱着没有意义的曲子,仿佛母亲在晃悠婴儿入睡时哼的。大海和孩子们一同玩耍,而海滩的微笑则泛着暗淡的光。
孩子们相聚在无垠世界的海边。暴风骤雨在广袤的天穹中怒吼,航船沉寂在无垠的大海里,死亡临近,孩子们却在玩耍。在无垠世界的海边,有着孩子们盛大的聚会。
The Source
The sleep that flits on baby’s eyes, does anybody know from where it comes? Yes, there is a rumor that it has its dwelling where, in the fairy village among shadows of the forest dimly lit with glowworms, there hang two shy buds of enchantment. From there it comes to kiss baby’s eyes.
The smile that flickers on baby’s lips when he sleeps, does anybody know where it was born?
Yes, there is a rumor that a young soft beam of a crescent moon touched the edge of a vanishing autumn cloud, and there the smile was first born in the dream of a dew-washed morning—the smile that flickers on baby’s lips when he sleeps.
The sweet, soft freshness that blooms on baby’s limbs — does anybody know where it was hidden so long?
Yes, when the mother was a young girl it lay pervading her heart in tender and silent mystery of love—the sweet, soft freshness that has bloomed on baby’s limbs.
起 源
掠过婴儿双目的睡眠,有谁知道它来自何方?是的,传说它来自森林阴影中,萤火虫的迷离之光照耀着的梦幻村落,在那里悬挂着两个腼腆而迷人的蓓蕾。它从那里飞来,轻吻着婴儿的双眸。
婴儿沉睡时唇边闪现着的微笑,有谁知道它来自何方?
是的,传说是新月那一丝青春的柔光,碰触到将逝的秋云边缘,于是微笑便乍现在沐浴露珠的清晨的梦中——当婴儿沉睡时,微笑便在他的唇边闪现。
甜美柔嫩的新鲜气息,如花朵般绽放在婴儿的四肢上——有谁知道它久久地藏匿在什么地方?
是的,当母亲还是少女时,它已在她的心间,在爱的温柔和静谧的神秘中潜伏——甜美柔嫩的新鲜气息,如花朵般绽放在婴儿的四肢上。
Baby’s Way
If only baby only wanted to, he could fly up to heaven this moment.
It is not for nothing that he does not leave us.
He loves to rest his head on mother’s bosom, and cannot ever bear to lose sight of her. Baby knows all manner of wise words, though few on earth can understand their meaning.
It is not for nothing that he never wants to speak.
The one thing he wants is to learn mother’s words from mother’s lips. That is why he looks so innocent. Baby had a heap of gold and pearls, yet he came like a beggar on to this earth.
It is not for nothing he came in such a disguise.
This dear little naked mendicant pretends to be utterly helpless, so that he may beg for mother’s wealth of love. Baby was so free from every tie in the land of the tiny crescent moon.
It was not for nothing he gave up his freedom.
He knows that there is room for endless joy in mother’s little corner of a heart, and it is sweeter far than liberty to be caught and pressed in her dear arms.
Baby never knew how to cry. He dwelt in the land of perfect bliss.
It is not for nothing he has chosen to shed tears.
Though with the smile of his dear face be draws mother’s yearning heart to him, yet his little cries over tiny troubles weave the double bond of pity and love.
婴儿之道
只要婴儿愿意,此刻他便可以飞上天堂。
他之所以没有离开我们,并非没有原因。
他喜欢把头靠在母亲的怀中,哪怕一刻没见到她也不行。
婴儿知道所有智慧的语言,尽管世上很少有人能知晓其含义。
他之所以不愿说话,并非没有原因。
他想做的事,就是要学从母亲嘴里说出来的话。
这就是为什么他看起来如此天真。
婴儿有成堆的金银珠宝,但他却像个乞儿一样来到这个世界。
他如此伪装,并非没有原因。
这个可爱的小乞儿裸着身子,装做完全无助的样子,是想乞求母亲爱的财富。
婴儿在纤细的新月之境,自由自在,无拘无束。
他放弃自由,并非没有原因。
他知道在母亲心房的小小角落里,有着无穷的欢乐,被搂在妈妈爱的臂弯里,其甜蜜远胜于自由。
婴儿从不知道怎样啼哭。
他住在极为幸福的国度里。
他流泪,并非没有原因。
虽然他那可爱的小脸上的微笑,系着母亲热切的心,然而他因小小麻烦而发出的啜泣,却织成了怜惜与关爱的双重绳索。
The Unheeded Pageant