雙語賞析《新月集》第21期: 對岸 The further bank

I LONG to go over there to the further bank of the river,
Where those boats are tied to the bamboo poles in a line;
Where men cross over in their boats in the Morning with ploughs on their shoulders to till their far-away fields;
Where the cowherds make their lowing cattle swim across to the riverside pasture;
Whence they all come back home in the evening, leaving the jackals to howl in the island overgrown with weeds,
Mother, if you don't mind, I should like to become the boatman of the ferry when I am grown up.
They say there are strange pools hidden behind that high bank,
Where flocks of wild ducks come when the rains are over, and thick reeds grow round the margins where waterbirds lay their eggs;
Where snipes with their dancing tails stamp their tiny footprints upon the clean soft mud;
Where in the evening the tall grasses crested with white flowers invite the moonbeam to float upon their waves.
Mother, if you don't mind, I should like to become the boatman of the ferryboat when I am grown up.
I shall cross and cross back from bank to bank, and all the boys and girls of the village will wonder at me while they are bathing.
When the sun climbs the mid sky and morning wears on to noon, I shall come running to you, saying, "Mother, I am hungry!"
When the day is done and the shadows cower under the trees, I shall come back in the dusk.
I shall never go away from you into the town to work like father.
Mother, if you don't mind, I should like to become the boatman of the ferryboat when I am grown up.

我渴想到河的對岸去。
在那邊，好些船隻一行兒系在竹杆上；
人們在早晨乘船渡過那邊去，肩上扛着犁頭，去耕耘他們的遠處的田；
在那邊，牧人使他們鳴叫着的牛游泳到河旁的牧場去；
黃昏的時候，他們都回家了，只留下豺狼在這滿長着野草的島上哀叫。
媽媽，如果你不在意，我長大的時候，要做這渡船的船伕。
據說有好些古怪的池塘藏在這個高岸之後。
雨過去了，一羣一羣的野鶩飛到那裏去，茂盛的蘆葦在岸邊四圍生長，水鳥在那裏 生蛋；
竹雞帶着跳舞的尾巴，將它們細小的足印印在潔淨的軟泥上；
黃昏的時候，長草頂着白花，邀月光在長草的波浪上浮游。
媽媽，如果你不在意，我長大的時候，要做這渡船的船伕。
我要自此岸至彼岸，渡過來，渡過去，所有村中正在那兒沐浴的男孩女孩，都要詫異地望着我。
太陽升到中天，早晨變爲正午了，我將跑到你那裏去，說道：“媽媽，我餓了！”
一天完了，影子俯伏在樹底下，我便要在黃昏中回家來。
我將永不同爸爸那樣，離開你到城裏去作事。
媽媽，如果你不在意，我長大的時候，要做這渡船的船伕。