中国文学英译絮谈

沙枫

曹操的诗与英译

“Chinese Literature”（《中国文学》）一九七五年三月号，刊登了曹操三首诗的英译，并配以一篇闻军写的介绍曹操及其诗歌的文章。

现介绍两首诗于后，第一首是《蒿里行》，原诗是：

关东有义士，兴兵讨群凶。
初期会盟津，乃心在咸阳。
军合力不齐，踌躇而雁行。
势利使人争，嗣还自相戕。
淮南弟称号，刻玺于北方。
铠甲生虮虱，万姓以死亡。
白骨露于野，千里无鸡鸣。
生民百遗一，念之断人肠。

诗中的“白骨露於野，千里无鸡鸣”这两句，是常常被人引用的。这首诗的英译如下：

East of the pass gallant knights,
Rise in arms to punish traitors.
First joining forces at Mengchin,
Their goal is Hsienyang.
But their allied armies are at odds,
Irresolute, they straggle like wild geese.
Bent on power and gain they fall out,
And are soon at each other's throats.
In Huainan one's brother has assumed the throne*,
And a seal is carved for monarch in the north.
Men long in arms grow lousy,
Countless those who have lost their lives.
White bones lie bleaching in the wildness,
For a thousand li not cock is heard to crow.
Of our people, only one in a hundred is left,
The thought of this breaks our hearts.

第二首是《步出夏门行•观沧海》：

东临碣石，以观沧海。
水何澹澹，山岛竦峙。
树木丛生，百草丰茂。
秋风萧瑟，洪波涌起。
日月之行，若出其中；
星汉灿烂，若出其里。
幸甚至哉，歌以咏志。

英译如下：

Come east of Chiehshih Cliff
I gaze out across the ocean.
Its rolling waves
Studded with rocks and islets.
Dense the tree and bushes here,
Rank the undergrowth.
The autumn wind is soughing,
Huge billows are breaking.
Son and moon take their course,
As if risen from the sea.
The bright galaxy of stars
Seems sprung from the deep.
And so, with joy in my heart,
I hum this song.

*（编者注）原作遗漏此句，编者补译。