28)The Farewel(l離別)

The Prophet(先知)
Kahlil Gibran(哈利勒‧紀伯倫)

28)The Farewell(離別)

And now it was evening.
現在已是黃昏時分了。
And Almitra the seeress said, Blessed be this day and this place and your spirit that has spoken.
於是女先知艾蜜特卡說︰祝福這一天，這個地方和你說話的心靈。
And he answered, Was it I who spoke? Was I not also a listener?
他回答說︰是我說的嗎？我不也是個聆聽者？
Then he descended the steps of the Temple and all the people followed him.
他接著走下廟宇的石階，所有的人都跟隨著他，
And he reached his ship and stood upon the deck.
隨後他上了他的船站立在甲板上。
And facing the people again, he raised his voice and said:
他再面向所有人，高聲說道︰
People of Orphalese, the wind bids me leave you.
奧非裡斯的人們，風在催促我離開你們。
Less hasty am I than the wind, yet I must go.
我不像風那樣的躁急，然而我必須要走了。
We wanderers, ever seeking the lonelier way,
我們這些流浪者，一直不斷地找尋孤單的路徑，
begin no day where we have ended another day;
不在曾度過前一天的地方開始另一天；
and no sunrise finds us where sunset left us.
不在曾送走夕陽的地方迎接日出。
Even while the earth sleeps we travel.
甚至當大地沉睡時，我們也跋涉前行。
We are the seeds of the tenacious plant,
我們是頑固的植物種子，
and it is in our ripeness and our fullness of heart that we are given to the wind and are scattered.
當我們成熟而豐足之時即隨風而散。
Brief were my days among you, and briefer still the words I have spoken.
我和你們相處的日子很短暫，我對你們所說的話也很簡短。
But should my voice fade in your ears,
但假如我所說的話在你們耳中消退了，
and my love vanish in your memory, then I will come again,
我的愛在你們記憶中消散了，那時我會再回來。
And with a richer heart and lips more yielding to the spirit will I speak.
以更豐富的心，更忠於心靈的唇說話。
Yea, I shall return with the tide,
是的，我將隨潮水歸來。
And though death may hide me, and the greater silence enfold me,
雖然死亡可以隱蔽我，更深的沈寂可以覆蓋我，
yet again will I seek your understanding.
我還是會再來尋求你們的諒解。
And not in vain will I seek.
我的請求不會落空的。
If aught I have said is truth, that truth shall reveal itself in a clearer voice,
如果我所說的是真理，那真理會以更清晰的聲音，
and in words more kin to your thoughts.
以對你們思想更親近的語句，顯示它自己。
I go with the wind, people of Orphalese, but not down into emptiness;
奧非裡斯的人們啊，我隨風而去，但不是走入虛空；
And if this day is not a fulfillment of your needs and my love,
如果這一天不是成全你們的需要和實現我的愛，
then let it be a promise till another day.
那麼就把今天當做另一天到來的諾言吧。
Man's needs change, but not his love, nor his desire that his love should satisfy his needs.
人的需求會變，但他的愛不會改變，他希望愛能滿足需要的這個願望永不會變。
Know therefore, that from the greater silence I shall return.
所以，要知道，我將從深深的沉靜中歸來。
The mist that drifts away at dawn, leaving but dew in the fields,
晨霧雖然散去，只留下露珠在草原上，
shall rise and gather into a cloud and then fall down in rain.
它會上升，凝結成雲，再降而為雨。
And not unlike the mist have I been.
我與霧並無分別。
In the stillness of the night I have walked in your streets,
在靜謐的夜裡，我曾在你們的街道上行走，
and my spirit has entered your houses,
我的心靈曾進入你們的屋內。
And your heartbeats were in my heart, and your breath was upon my face, and I knew you all.
你們的心跳在我心中，你們的氣息吹到我的臉上，我認識你們。
Ay, I knew your joy and your pain, and in your sleep your dreams were my dreams.
是的，我知道你們的喜樂和痛苦，在你們睡夢之中，你們的夢就是我的夢。
And oftentimes I was among you a lake among the mountains.
我時常在你們之間，就像湖泊在群山之間一樣。
I mirrored the summits in you and the bending slopes,
我反映出你們的山峰及傾斜而下的山坡，
and even the passing flocks of your thoughts and your desires.
甚至你們的思想和希望的流轉。
And to my silence came the laughter of your children in streams,
你們的孩子們笑聲如溪水，
and the longing of your youths in rivers.
年輕人的渴望如河流，流入我的靜寂中。
And when they reached my depth the streams and the rivers ceased not yet to sing.
當它們進入到我的深處，溪水與河流並沒有停止歌唱。
But sweeter still than laughter and greater than longing came to me.
但比笑還甜美，比祈望更崇高的也來到我這裡，
It was the boundless in you;
那是你們內在無邊無際的東西。
The vast man in whom you are all but cells and sinews;
那個巨人，而你們只是他裡面的細胞和筋肉而已；
He in whose chant all your singing is but a soundless throbbing.
在他的歌唱中，所有你們的歌唱成為無聲的悸動。
It is in the vast man that you are vast,
你們在那巨人之中，也變成了巨人，
And in beholding him that I beheld you and loved you.
在瞧見他之時，我看到你們也愛上了你們。
For what distances can love reach that are not in that vast sphere?
因為愛能延伸的距離那一個不在他浩瀚的領域之內呢？
What visions, what expectations and what presumptions can outsoar that flight?
那一種想像，那一種期望和推測能超越他之上呢？
Like a giant oak tree covered with apple blossoms is the vast man in you.
你們內在的巨人像覆滿蘋果花的高碩橡樹。
His might binds you to the earth, his fragrance lifts you into space,
他的巨大力量把你們和大地束縛在一起，他的香氣把你散發到穹蒼，
and in his durability you are deathless.
在他的堅韌中永不枯死。
You have been told that, even like a chain, you are as weak as your weakest link.
有人曾告訴你們，你們即使像鐵鏈，也是最脆弱的一環。
This is but half the truth. You are also as strong as your strongest link.
這只是真理的一半，你們也同樣與你最強的一環一樣強固。
To measure you by your smallest deed
以你們最微小的行為來衡量你們，
is to reckon the power of ocean by the frailty of its foam.
就好比以泡沫的脆弱來衡量大海的力量。
To judge you by your failures is to cast blame upon the seasons for their inconstancy.
以你們的失敗來判定你們，就像責備季節氣候無常變化是一樣的。
Ay, you are like an ocean,
是的，你們如同海洋。
And though heavy-grounded ships await the tide upon your shores,
嚴重擱淺的船只等待潮漲涌到岸邊來，
yet, even like an ocean, you cannot hasten your tides.
然而就像海洋一樣，你們不能催促潮水。
And like the seasons you are also,
你們也像季節一樣，
And though in your winter you deny your spring,
雖然在冬季，你拒絕你的春天。
Yet spring, reposing within you, smiles in her drowsiness and is not offended.
然而，在你們內心安歇著的春天，於昏昏欲睡之中微笑，而不被激怒。
Think not I say these things in order that you may say the one to the other,
別以為我說這些是為了要使你們告訴對方說︰
"He praised us well. He saw but the good in us."
「他很讚揚我們，他只看見我們好的一面。」
I only speak to you in words of that which you yourselves know in thought.
其實，我只是把你們思想中所知的用語言表達出來。
And what is word knowledge but a shadow of wordless knowledge?
而透過言語表達的知識只不過是非語言知識的影子。
Your thoughts and my words are waves from a sealed memory
你們的思想和我的言詞是塵封記憶的漣漪，
that keeps records of our yesterdays,
那記憶即是我們過去的記錄。
And of the ancient days when the earth knew not us nor herself,
也記錄著古代大地還不知有我們，也不知有它自己的情形。
And of nights when earth was upwrought with confusion.
也記錄大地還處於原始的混沌初造時期。
Wise men have come to you to give you of their wisdom. I came to take of your wisdom:
智者曾到你們那裡，把他們的智慧給你們，我卻來到這裡汲取你們的智慧。
And behold I have found that which is greater than wisdom.
瞧，我已發現比智慧更偉大的東西。
It is a flame spirit in you ever gathering more of itself,
那是你們內在的心靈之火，它愈燒愈旺。
While you, heedless of its expansion, bewail the withering of your days.
當你們悲嘆時光凋零之際，沒有留意到它的擴展。
It is life in quest of life in bodies that fear the grave.
追求肉體生命的生命，才會懼怕墳墓。
There are no graves here.
這裡沒有墳墓。
These mountains and plains are a cradle and a stepping-stone.
這些山和原野只是搖籃和踏腳石。
Whenever you pass by the field where you have laid your ancestors look well thereupon,
無論何時你們路過埋葬祖先的墳墓的地方，注意的看一眼吧，
and you shall see yourselves and your children dancing hand in hand.
你們將看到你自己和你的孩子正手牽著手在跳舞。
Verily you often make merry without knowing.
不錯，你們常在不知不覺之中作樂。
Others have come to you to whom for golden promises made unto your faith
又有些人來到你們那邊，對你們的信心許以黃金般的承諾，
you have given but riches and power and glory.
你們卻只回報財富、權力和尊榮。
Less than a promise have I given, and yet more generous have you been to me.
我所能給予的還算不上是一個承諾，你們卻對我更加慷慨。
You have given me my deeper thirsting after life.
你們給我的是對生命深深的渴求。
Surely there is no greater gift to a man than that
誠然，給一個人最大的禮物，
which turns all his aims into parching lips and all life into a fountain.
莫過於那令他一切目的化成干渴的唇，把他的生命中的一切都化成為源泉。
And in this lies my honour and my reward, --
我的榮耀和報酬便在這裡 --
That whenever I come to the fountain to drink I find the living water itself thirsty;
每當我趨前飲生命之泉，我發現它也是乾涸的；
And it drinks me while I drink it.
當我飲它；它也在飲我。
Some of you have deemed me proud and over-shy to receive gifts.
你們有的人認為我驕傲而變得太害羞，不肯接受禮物。
Too proud indeed am I to receive wages, but not gifts.
的確，我是太驕傲以致於不肯接受報酬，卻不是不肯接受禮物。
And though I have eaten berries among the hills when you would have had me sit at your board,
雖然當你們希望我坐在你們餐桌旁用膳時，我卻在山間采野果而食。
And slept in the portico of the temple where you would gladly have sheltered me,
在你們情願供我歇宿之所時，我卻睡在廟宇的門廊之下。
Yet it was not your loving mindfulness of my days and my nights
然而豈不是你們對我日與夜的眷顧之情，
that made food sweet to my mouth and girdled my sleep with visions?
使得我感到食物香甜，睡時美夢縈繞？
For this I bless you most,
為了這些，我深切祝福你們，
You give much and know not that you give at all.
你們給予很多，卻不自知你們曾給過。
Verily the kindness that gazes upon itself in a mirror turns to stone,
確實，美意鏡中凝視它自己而變成了石頭。
And a good deed that calls itself by tender names becomes the parent to a curse.
善行給自己冠上美名時，它就會招致災禍。
And some of you have called me aloof, and drunk with my own aloneness,
你們有些人說我冷淡，酣醉於孤傲之中。
And you have said, "He holds council with the trees of the forest, but not with men.
你們曾說︰「他與森林中的樹木為伍，而不與人們交往，
He sits alone on hill-tops and looks down upon our city."
他獨坐在山巔，俯瞰我們的城市。」
True it is that I have climbed the hills and walked in remote places.
的確，我曾攀登尖峰，並在遼遠的地方散步。
How could I have seen you save from a great height or a great distance?
若不是從高處或遠處，我怎能看見你們？
How can one be indeed near unless he be far?
若一個人不遠離，又怎能真正的親近？
And others among you called unto me, not in words, and they said:
你們之中有些人，在心裡呼喚著我說︰
"Stranger, stranger, lover of unreachable heights,
「陌生人，陌生人，熱愛那不可及的高處的人呀，
why dwell you among the summits where eagles build their nests?
你為什麼要住在老鷹築巢的山巔呢？」
Why seek you the unattainable?
你為什麼追尋那不可得的？
What storms would you trap in your net,
你的網又能撈取什麼樣的風暴？
And what vaporous birds do you hunt in the sky?
在天空中你獵得到那些空幻之鳥？
Come and be one of us.
來吧，加入我們，
Descend and appease your hunger with our bread and quench your thirst with our wine."
降下來，用我們的麵包充飢，用我們的酒解渴。」
In the solitude of their souls they said these things;
在心靈孤獨時，他們說出這些話；
But were their solitude deeper they would have known that
但如他們的寂寞更深沈，他們便會知道
I sought but the secret of your joy and your pain,
我所追尋的不過是你們的快樂和痛苦的祕密。
And I hunted only your larger selves that walk the sky.
我所獵取只是你們行走於太虛之中的大我。
But the hunter was also the hunted:
但是獵人也是被獵者；
For many of my arrows left my bow only to seek my own breast.
因為有許多的箭飛離了我的弓，而射入了我的胸膛。
And the flier was also the creeper;
那飛翔者也是個爬行者；
For when my wings were spread in the sun their shadow upon the earth was a turtle.
因為我的羽翼在陽光下展開時，其投在地上的影子有如烏龜。
And I the believer was also the doubter;
我這信仰者也是懷疑者；
For often have I put my finger in my own wound that
因為我常常把手探入我的傷處時，
I might have the greater belief in you and the greater knowledge of you.
我才能因此對你們更有信心，更了解你們。
And it is with this belief and this know-ledge that I say,
也就因為這種信賴和了解，我才說︰
You are not enclosed within your bodies, nor confined to houses or fields.
你們並不是被束縛在你們的身體裡，也不是被局限在房屋和田地之間。
That which is you dwells above the mountain and roves with the wind.
那一個真你，居於山巔之上，隨風飄散。
It is not a thing that crawls into the sun for warmth or digs holes into darkness for safety,
你們不是爬到陽光中以求溫暖或鑽入洞穴中求取安全的東西。
But a thing free, a spirit that envelops the earth and moves in the ether.
而是一種自由的東西，一個籠罩大地，在穹蒼之中活動著的精神。
If these be vague words, then seek not to clear them.
如果這些話含糊不清，那麼不要設法去弄清它們。
Vague and nebulous is the beginning of all things, but not their end,
含糊和混沌是一切的起始，卻非結束。
And I fain would have you remember me as a beginning.
我願你們記得我有如一個開端。
Life, and all that lives, is conceived in the mist and not in the crystal.
生命，和一切有生命的物體，都是在迷蒙之中，而不是在水晶中孕育。
And who knows but a crystal is mist in decay?
誰又知道，水晶不是腐朽中的霧?
This would I have you remember in remembering me:
當你們想起我時，便記得這些︰
That which seems most feeble and bewildered in you is the strongest and most determined.
你們之間看似最軟弱的和最迷離的，便是最堅強且最有決心的。
Is it not your breath that has erected and hardened the structure of your bones?
支撐且強固你的骨骼的不就是你們的呼吸嗎？
And is it not a dream which none of you remember having dreamt,
你們都已不記得的夢
that builded your city and fashioned all there is in it?
不就是造就你們的城市，塑造一切的夢？
Could you but see the tides of that breath you would cease to see all else,
你們如果能看見那個呼吸的浪潮，你便不會再看見其它任何的一切。
And if you could hear the whispering of the dream you would hear no other sound.
你們如果能聽見夢的私語，便不會再聽別的聲音了。
But you do not see, nor do you hear, and it is well.
但是你們既看不見聽不見，也是好的。
The veil that clouds your eyes shall be lifted by the hands that wove it,
那遮住你們眼睛的面紗，將由那織面紗的手去掀開。
And the clay that fills your ears shall be pierced by those fingers that kneaded it.
那塞住你們耳朵的泥土，將由那捏泥的手去穿透。
And you shall see.
於是，你們將會看見。
And you shall hear.
於是，你們將會聽見。
Yet you shall not deplore having known blindness, nor regret having been deaf.
但你們不要嘆息你曾盲目，不要懊惱曾經耳聾。
For in that day you shall know the hidden purposes in all things,
因為到那一天你們一定會知道一切事物隱藏的目的。
And you shall bless darkness as you would bless light.
你們將感謝黑暗，像感謝光明一樣。
After saying these things he looked about him, and he saw the pilot of his ship standing by the helm
說了這些話之後，他向周遭一望，看到他的船上舵手站在舵旁，
and gazing now at the full sails and now at the distance.
又看一看張著的帆並望向遠方。
And he said:
他接著說道︰
Patient, over-patient, is the captain of my ship.
我的船長真有耐心，非常有耐心。
The wind blows, and restless are the sails;
風起了，正搏動著帆；
Even the rudder begs direction;
舵也在期待啟行，
Yet quietly my captain awaits my silence.
然而我的船長卻安靜地等候我把話說完。
And these my mariners, who have heard the choir of the greater sea,
我這些水手們，他們曾聽過偉大的海洋合唱，
they too have heard me patiently.
這時他們也耐心地聆聽著。
Now they shall wait no longer.
現下，他們不該再等候下去了。
I am ready.
我已準備好。
The stream has reached the sea, and once more the great mother holds her son against her breast.
溪水已到達海洋，偉大的母親再次把他的孩子抱入懷中。
Fare you well, people of Orphalese.
向你們大家告別了，奧非裡斯的人們，
This day has ended.
就在今天結束了。
It is closing upon us even as the water-lily upon its own tomorrow.
它對我們的關閉，就如睡蓮合閉了他自己的明日一般。
What was given us here we shall keep,
我們要珍惜我們在這裡所領受的一切；
And if it suffices not, then again must we come together and together stretch our hands unto the giver.
如果它還不夠，我們以後一定還會相聚，一起向施予者伸手。
Forget not that I shall come back to you.
不要忘了，我會回來。
A little while, and my longing shall gather dust and foam for another body.
沒有多久，我的渴望將為另一個人而聚滿灰塵與泡沫。
A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me.
沒有多久，於風中休息片刻，我將自另一個婦人之中孕生。
Farewell to you and the youth I have spent with you.
再見了各位，以及那些我們共同消磨的青春。
It was but yesterday we met in a dream.
昨天我們才在夢中相聚呢。
You have sung to me in my aloneness, and I of your longings have built a tower in the sky.
你們曾在我的孤寂中歌唱；我曾為你們在天上蓋起一座高塔。
But now our sleep has fled and our dream is over, and it is no longer dawn.
但現下我們的睡意已逃，我們的夢已去，黎明已不再。
The noontide is upon us and our half waking has turned to fuller day, and we must part.
正午到來，我們在半醒中已度過大半天，我們必須分離了。
If in the twilight of memory we should meet once more, we shall speak again together
如果在記憶的迷蒙之中再聚首，我們將再傾談，
and you shall sing to me a deeper song.
你們將對我唱一首更深奧的歌。
And if our hands should meet in another dream, we shall build another tower in the sky.
如果我們的手再度在另一個夢中相握，我們將在空中建造起另一座塔。
So saying he made a signal to the seamen, and straightway they weighed anchor
這麼說著，他向水手們做個手勢；他們便起錨，
and cast the ship loose from its moorings, and they moved eastward.
解下纜繩，航向東方。
And a cry came from the people as from a single heart,
人群裡發出叫喊聲，像從同一顆心發出一般，
and it rose into the dusk and was carried out over the sea like a great trumpeting.
沸騰於空中，再傳到海面上，像是一聲響亮的號角。
Only Almitra was silent, gazing after the ship until it had vanished into the mist.
只有艾蜜特卡瑪默的注視著船，直到它消失在霧中。
And when all the people were dispersed she still stood alone upon the sea-wall,
而當所有人都散去，他仍獨自站立在堤防上，
remembering in her heart his saying:
心中回想他所說的︰
"A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me."
「不需多久，在風中休息片刻，我將自另一個女人之中孕生。」