Refugee Blues 难民怨曲

W. H. Auden 郑远涛译

Say this city has ten million souls, Some are living in mansions, some are living in holes: Yet there’s no place for us, my dear, yet there’s no place for us.

也许这城市有一千万个灵魂， 一些住着豪宅，一些住着窝棚： 却没有地方给你我，亲爱的，却没有地方给你我。

Once we had a country and we thought it fair, Look in the atlas and you’ll find it there: We cannot go there now, my dear, we cannot go there now.

我们曾经有国家，心目中很美的国家， 翻翻地图册，你就能找到它： 我们回不去了，亲爱的，我们回不去了。

In the village churchyard there grows an old yew, Every spring it blossoms anew; Old passports can’t do that, my dear, old passports can’t do that.

村里教堂的墓地那儿长着一棵老紫杉， 年年春天都重新花开灿烂： 旧护照做不到，亲爱的，旧护照做不到。

The consul banged the table and said: ‘If you’ve got no passport, you’re officially dead’; But we are still alive, my dear, but we are still alive.

领事敲着桌子说话： “没护照，政府眼里你们跟死了也没差”： 但我们还活着，亲爱的，但我们还活着。

Went to a committee; they offered me a chair; Asked me politely to return next year: But where shall we go today, my dear, but where shall we go today?

去找一个委员会，他们指指椅子请我坐， 明年再来吧，又客气地告诉我； 但我们今天该去哪儿，亲爱的，但我们今天该去哪儿？

Came to a public meeting; the speaker got up and said: ‘If we let them in, they will steal our daily bread’; He was talking of you and me, my dear, he was talking of you and me.

参加一个公共集会；有人站起身陈词： “放他们进来，他们就要和我们抢食”； 他说的是我和你，亲爱的，他说的是我和你。

Thought I heard the thunder rumbling in the sky; It was Hitler over Europe, saying: ‘They must die’; We were in his mind, my dear, we were in his mind.

我想我听见了雷声在天空隆隆响过； 是希特勒凌驾于欧洲，在说：“他们不可以活”； 我们被他惦记着，亲爱的，我们被他惦记着。

Saw a poodle in a jacket fastened with a pin, Saw a door opened and a cat let in: But they weren’t German Jews, my dear, but they weren’t German Jews.

见到一条贵宾犬裹着外套再用扣针固定， 见到一个门打开，对一只猫相迎： 但它们不是德国犹太人，亲爱的，但它们不是德国犹太人。

Went down the harbour and stood upon the quay, Saw the fish swimming as if they were free: Only ten feet away, my dear, only ten feet away.

走上了海港站到码头， 见鱼儿在水中悠悠地游： 才十呎之外，亲爱的，才十呎之外。

Walked through a wood, saw the birds in the trees; They had no politicians and sang at their ease: They weren’t the human race, my dear, they weren’t the human race.

穿过一片树林，看见鸟雀栖在枝柯， 它们没有政客，轻轻松松唱着歌； 它们不是人类，亲爱的，它们不是人类。

Dreamed I saw a building with a thousand floors, A thousand windows and a thousand doors; Not one of them was ours, my dear, not one of them was ours.

梦见一座建筑有一千个楼层， 一千扇窗，一千道门； 没有一处属于我们，亲爱的，没有一处属于我们。

Stood on a great plain in the falling snow; Ten thousand soldiers marched to and fro: Looking for you and me, my dear, looking for you and me.

March 1939

站在大平原上白雪簌簌； 一万名士兵来回行步： 搜寻着我和你，亲爱的，搜寻着我和你。

一九三九年三月

Kris 摄