LESSON 79

THE SONG OF THE POTTER

陶工之歌

Turn, turn, my wheel! Turn round and round,

Without a pause, without a sound:

So spins the flying world away!

This clay, well mixed with marl and sand,

Follows the motion of my hand;

For some must follow, and some command,

Though all are made of clay!

Turn, turn, my wheel! All things must change

To something new, to something strange;

Nothing that is can pause or stay;

The moon will wax, the moon will wane,

The mist and cloud will turn to rain,

The rain to mist and cloud again,

To-morrow be to-day.

Turn, turn, my wheel! All life is brief;

What now is bud will soon be leaf,

What now is leaf will soon decay;

The wind blows east, the wind blows west;

The blue eggs in the robin’s nest

Will soon have wings and beak and breast,

And flutter and fly away.

Turn, turn, my wheel! This earthen jar

A touch can make, a touch can mar;

And shall it to the Potter say,

What makest thou? Thou hast no hand?

As men who think to understand

A world by their Creator planned,

Who wiser is than they.

Turn, turn, my wheel! ’Tis nature’s plan

The child should grow into the man,

The man grow wrinkled, old, and gray;

In youth the heart exults and sings,

The pulses leap, the feet have wings;

In age the cricket chirps, and brings

The harvest home of day.

Turn, turn, my wheel! The human race,

Of every tongue, of every place,

Caucasian, Coptic, or Malay,

All that inhabit this great earth,

Whatever be their rank or worth,

Are kindred and allied by birth,

And made of the same clay.

Turn, turn, my wheel! What is begun

At daybreak must at dark be done,

To-morrow will be another day;

To-morrow the hot furnace flame

Will search the heart and try the frame,

And stamp with honor or with shame

These vessels made of clay.

Stop, stop, my wheel! Too soon, too soon

The noon will be the afternoon,

Too soon to-day be yesterday;

Behind us in our path we cast

The broken potsherds of the past,

And all are ground to dust at last,

And trodden into clay.

(Longfellow)

【中文阅读】

转啊，转，我的轮子！转过来转过去，

一声不响，不停歇：

就这样，让这个飞逝的世界转动！

这块陶土，混合了泥灰和沙土

随着我手而动；

有的人听命，有的人发号施令，

全都是为了制成陶土。

转啊，转，我的轮子！手上的一切必须

焕然一新，让人陌生；

没有什么能停下来或保持原样；

月有圆缺，

大雾和阴云会化成大雨，

雨又化成雾和云，

今日去时待明朝。

转啊，转，我的轮子！万物一夕间；

此刻是蓓蕾，彼时即绿叶，

此刻是绿叶，彼时即枯萎；

风儿向东吹，风儿向西吹；

知更鸟巢里待敷的蛋，

顷刻间就长出了翅膀、喙和胸膛，

振翅远去了。

转啊，转，我的轮子！这个陶罐

磨之能成，碰之即破；

陶工会说，

你磨成了什么？你没有手吗？

这么思考的人会明白

由他们的造物主创造的世界心里盘算，

谁比他们更聪明。

转啊，转，我的轮子！这是大自然的造化

小孩会长成大人，

大人会布满皱纹，满头花白又衰朽；

年轻时意气风发歌声高亢，

脉搏劲跳，脚上长了翅膀；

年老时耳鸣眼花，

正是人生的收获之秋。

转啊，转，我的轮子！

人类说形形色色语言，来自各个地方，

高加索、科普特或马来，

都生活在这个大星球上，

不论他们属于什么社会阶层，闻达也好无名也罢，

从出生就有亲缘和联系，

由同样的泥土而成。

转啊，转，我的轮子，

在拂晓开始做的事情，必须在天黑完成，

明天那熔炉的火焰

会搜寻心灵，把束缚摆脱，

用荣誉或者羞耻之心

在泥做的器皿上盖上封印。

停吧，停，我的轮子！太快了，太快了，

中午转瞬午后，

今朝既成往昔；

我们身后自己走过的路上

昨日陶瓷碎片一地，

所有的一切终将化为尘土，

踩进泥里。

（朗费罗）