《伊萨卡 Ithaka》- 我最爱的一首诗
《伊萨卡》
作者：康斯坦丁·卡瓦菲斯
翻译：黄灿然
当你出发去伊萨卡，
祝你的旅途漫长，
并充满历险和发现。
莱斯梯戈尼亚人、独眼巨人、
还有愤怒的波塞冬——你不要害怕他们：
只要你心气高昂，
只要还有一种罕见的兴奋
激荡着你的身心，
你就决不会碰到那样的事情。
莱斯梯戈尼亚人、独眼巨人、
愤怒的波塞冬——你不会遇上他们，
除非你把他们带在你的心上，
除非你的心把它们摆在你的面前。
祝你的旅途漫长。
愿你有许多夏日的早晨，
带着何等的欢欣，莫名的喜乐，
进入你第一次见到的港口；
愿你在腓尼基的贸易古栈上逗留，
买一点稀奇的物品，
珠母和珊瑚，玛瑙和乌木，
还有各种催情的香膏——
你能买到的一切催情的香料；
也愿你造访埃及的城市，
拜那里的学者为师，继续你的深造。
你要把伊萨卡永远记在心上。
到那里去，是你的命中所定。
但是，请不要匆匆地到达，
最好要走很多年，
这样，当你登上那个岛屿，你已经老去，
满载着一生积累的财富，
而不要指望伊萨卡让你富有。
伊萨卡给了你神奇的旅程。
没有她，你就不会去远行。
而现在，她已经没有什么留下给你，
如果你发现她清贫，她就并没有骗你。
那时，你早已满是智慧和历练，
你一定会明白，伊萨卡对你意味着什么。
《Ithaka》
As you set out for Ithaka hope the voyage is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians and Cyclops, angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them: you’ll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body. Laistrygonians and Cyclops, wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope the voyage is a long one. May there be many a summer morning when, with what pleasure, what joy, you come into harbors seen for the first time; may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind— as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you are destined for. But do not hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so you are old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you have gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you would not have set out. She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
