月亮和六便士 第2章(3)

 　　Who now, for example, thinks of George Crabbe?  譬如说，今天还有谁想得到乔治·克莱布【乔治·克莱布（1754—1832），英国诗人】呢？

　　He was a famous poet in his day,and the world recognised his genius with a unanimity   在他生活的那一时代，他是享有盛名的，
　　which the greater complexity 1 of modern life has rendered infrequent.  当时所有的人一致承认他是个伟大的天才，这在今天更趋复杂的现代生活中是很罕见的事了。
　　He had learnt his craft at the school of Alexander Pope, and he wrote moral stories in rhymed couplets.  他写诗的技巧是从亚历山大·蒲柏【亚历山大·蒲柏（1688—1744），英国诗人】派那里学习来的，他用押韵的对句写了很多说教的故事。
　　Then came the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, and the poets sang new songs.  后来爆发了法国大革命和拿破仑战争，诗人们唱起新的诗歌来。
　　Mr. Crabbe continued to write moral stories in rhymed couplets.  克莱布先生继续写他的押韵对句的道德诗。
　　I think he must have read the verse of these young men who were making so great a stir in the world,  我想他一定读过那些年轻人写的风靡一时的新诗，
　　but I fancy he found it poor stuff. Of course, much of it was.  但是我还想他一定认为这些诗不堪卒读。当然，大多数新诗确实是这样子的。
　　But the odes of Keats and of Wordsworth, a poem or two by Coleridge, a few more by Shelley,  但是象济慈同华兹华斯写的颂歌，柯勒律治的一两首诗，雪莱的更多的几首，
　　discovered vast realms of the spirit that none had explored before.  确实发现了前人未曾探索过的广阔精神领域。
　　Mr. Crabbe was as dead as mutton, but Mr. Crabbe continued to write moral stories in rhymed couplets.  克莱布先生已经陈腐过时了，但是克莱布先生还是孜孜不倦地继续写他的押韵对句诗。
　　I have read desultorily 2 the writings of the younger generation.  我也断断续续读了一些我们这一时代的年轻人的诗作。
　　It may be that among them a more fervid 3 Keats, a more ethereal Shelley, has already published numbers the world will willingly remember.  他们当中可能有一位更炽情的济慈或者更一尘不染的雪莱，而且已经发表了世界将长久记忆的诗章，
　　I cannot tell.  这我说不定。
　　I admire their polish—their youth is already so accomplished 4 that it seems absurd to speak of promise—I marvel 5 at the felicity of their style; 我赞赏他们的优美词句——尽管他们还年轻，却已才华横溢，因此如果仅仅说他们很有希望，就显得荒唐可笑了——，我惊叹他们精巧的文体；
　　but with all their copiousness 6 (their vocabulary suggests that they fingered Roget's Thesaurus in their cradles) they say nothing to me:  但是虽然他们用词丰富（从他们的语汇看，倒仿佛这些人躺在摇篮里就已经翻读过罗杰特的《词汇宝库》了），却没有告诉我们什么新鲜东西。
　　to my mind they know too much and feel too obviously;  在我看来，他们知道的太多，感觉过于肤浅；
　　I cannot stomach the heartiness 7 with which they slap me on the back or the emotion with which they hurl 8 themselves on my bosom;  对于他们拍我肩膀的那股亲热劲儿同闯进我怀抱时的那种感情，我实在受不了。
　　their passion seems to me a little anaemic and their dreams a trifle dull.  我觉得他们的热情似乎没有血色，他们的梦想也有些平淡。
　　I do not like them. I am on the shelf. I will continue to write moral stories in rhymed couplets.  我不喜欢他们。我已经是过时的老古董了。我仍然要写押韵对句的道德故事。
　　But I should be thrice a fool if I did it for aught but my own entertainment. 但是如果我对自己写作除了自娱以外还抱有其它目的，我就是个双料的傻瓜了。