英语美文欣赏：《沙与沫》节选

Sand and Foam

by Kahlil Gibran

整部诗集内容富有哲理充满智慧，是一本关于生命、艺术、爱情、人性的格言书，值得反复品读。除了哲理以外，诗集还富于音韵之美，宛如天籁，传达出生命的爱和真谛，让那些困顿彷徨的人们，都能得到慰藉和鼓舞!诗文超越了时空、国界的限制，字句中蕴含深刻的哲理，体现了人类共同的情感，满足了不同心灵的不同需求。

“一花一世界，一沙一天国”，在纪伯伦的故事里，四季流转，云朵变幻。生命的解答蕴藏其中，只要你善于发掘。《沙与沫》与泰戈尔的《飞鸟集》可称双璧，二者都以简短而寓意隽永的诗句，一点一滴地深入读者的心灵，而纪伯伦的《沙与沫》比起《飞鸟集》的灵动洒脱，则更显端庄大气，更具丰富的想象力，比起泰戈尔对一花一草的关注，纪伯伦往往将目光投向更显得深邃而遥远的宇宙。“对于从银河的窗户里下望的人，空间就不是地球与太阳之间的空间了。”《沙与沫》也是纪伯伦最著名的作品之一。

I am forever walking upon these shores,

Betwixt the sand and the foam,

The high tide will erase my foot-prints,

And the wind will blow away the foam.

But the sea and the shore will remain

Forever.

Once I filled my hand with mist.

Then I opened it and lo, the mist was a worm.

And I closed and opened my hand again, and behold there was a bird.

And again I closed and opened my hand, and in its hollow stood a man with a sad face, turned upward.

And again I closed my hand, and when I opened it there was naught but mist.

But I heard a song of exceeding sweetness.

It was but yesterday I thought myself a fragment quivering without rhythm in the sphere of life.

Now I know that I am the sphere, and all life in rhythmic fragments moves within me.

They say to me in their awakening, "You and the world you live in are but a grain of sand upon the infinite shore of an infinite sea."

And in my dream I say to them, "I am the infinite sea, and all worlds are but grains of sand upon my shore."

我永远在沙岸上行走，

在沙土和泡沫的中间。

高潮会抹去我的脚印，

风也会把泡沫吹走。

但是海洋和沙岸

却将永远存在。

我曾抓起一把烟雾。

然后我伸掌一看，哎哟，烟雾变成一个虫子。

我把手握起再伸开一看，手里却是一只鸟。

我再把手握起又伸开，在掌心里站着一个容颜忧郁，向天仰首的人。

我又把手握起，当我伸掌的时候，除了烟雾以外，一无所有。

但是我听到了一支绝顶甜柔的歌曲。

仅仅在昨天，我认为我自己只是一个碎片，无韵律地在生命的穹苍中颤抖。

现在我晓得，我就是那穹苍，一切生命都是在我里面有韵律地转动的碎片。

他们在觉醒的时候对我说："你和你所居住的世界，只不过是无边海洋的无边沙岸上的一粒沙子。"

在梦里我对他们说："我就是那无边的海洋，大千世界只不过是我的沙岸上的沙粒。"

Only once have I been made mute. It was when a man asked me, "Who are you?"

The first thought of God was an angel.

The first word of God was a man.

We were fluttering, wandering, longing creatures a thousand thousand years before the sea and the wind in the forest gave us words.

Now how can we express the ancient of days in us with only the sounds of our yesterdays?

只有一次把我窘得哑口无言，就是当一个人问我"你是谁?"的时候。

想到神的第一个念头是一个天使。

说到神的第一个字眼是一个人。

我们是有海洋以前千万年的扑腾着、飘游着、追求着的生物，森林里的风把语言给予了我们。

那么我们怎能以昨天的声音来表现我们心中的远古年代呢?

The Sphinx spoke only once, and the Sphinx said, "A grain of sand is a desert, and a desert is a grain of sand; and now let us all be silent again."

I heard the Sphinx, but I did not understand.

斯芬克斯只说过一次话。斯芬克斯说："一粒沙子就是一片沙漠，一片沙漠就是一粒沙子;现在再让我们沉默下去吧。"

我听到了斯芬克斯的话，但是我不懂得。

Long did I lie in the dust of Egypt, silent and unaware of the seasons.

Then the sun gave me birth, and I rose and walked upon the banks of the Nile,

Singing with the days and dreaming with the nights.

And now the sun threads upon me with a thousand feet that I may lie again in the dust of Egypt.

But behold a marvel and a riddle!

The very sun that gathered me cannot scatter me.

Still erect am I, and sure of foot do I walk upon the banks of the Nile.

Remembrance is a form of meeting.

Forgetfulness is a form of freedom. 我在埃及的沙土上躺了很久，沉默着而且忘却了季节。

然后太阳把生命给了我，我起来在尼罗河岸上行走。

和白天一同唱歌，和黑夜一同做梦。

现在太阳又用一千只脚在我身上践踏，让我再在埃及的沙土上躺下。

但是，请看一个奇迹和一个谜吧!

那个把我集聚起来的太阳，不能把我打散。

我依旧挺立着，我以稳健的步履在尼罗河岸上行走。

记忆是相会的一种形式。

遗忘是自由的一种形式。

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