董繼平　譯

鄧薩尼勛爵（Lord Dunsany，1878-1957），愛爾蘭作家、劇作家，原名愛德華·約翰·摩頓·拉克斯·普朗克特，為愛爾蘭某貴族家族第18代傳人，“鄧薩尼勛爵”為其筆名。他以創(chuàng)作奇幻作品而聞名，被尊為“現(xiàn)代奇幻文學(xué)的奠基人之一”。他筆耕不輟，奇幻作品眾多，主要有《裴伽納的諸神》《時(shí)間與諸神》《夢者故事》《奇跡之書》等作品集，其作品短小精悍，頗具現(xiàn)代寓言的啟發(fā)性，對后世的奇幻作家產(chǎn)生過深遠(yuǎn)的影響。

黑鸝之歌

當(dāng)詩人經(jīng)過那棵荊棘樹的時(shí)候，那只黑鸝便歌唱了起來。

“你是怎樣做到的呢？”詩人說，因?yàn)樗螟B兒的語言。

“是像這樣的，”那只黑鸝說，“這確實(shí)是最為非凡的事情。我在去年春天創(chuàng)作了那支歌，它突然就對我發(fā)生了。當(dāng)時(shí)有一只這個世界所見過的最美的雌黑鸝。它的眼睛比夜間的湖泊還黑，它的羽毛比黑夜本身還黑，什么都不如它的嘴喙那樣發(fā)黃;它飛得比閃電快得多。它可不是普通的雌黑鸝，根本就不曾有過任何其他雌黑鸝像它那樣。我不敢靠近它，因?yàn)樗鼘?shí)在是如此奇妙。去年春天的一天，當(dāng)天氣漸漸重新暖和起來——此前天氣很冷，我們以漿果為食，那時(shí)的情況就大不一樣，但春天來了，天氣漸漸暖和起來了——有一天，我在思考它多么奇妙，仿佛認(rèn)為我會看見它——那世界上唯一真正奇妙的雌黑鸝，是多么非凡的事情，因此我張開嘴喙對它叫喊，于是這支歌就出來了，以前從不曾發(fā)生過這樣的事情，幸好我還記得，我剛剛唱過的那支非常的歌。然而那個奇妙的日子如此非凡的事情，最令人驚奇的事件，就是我剛一唱完那支歌，那只鳥兒——世界上那只最奇妙的雌黑鸝，就徑直朝我飛來，落到同一棵樹上，靜靜棲息在我的身邊，緊緊依偎著我。而我從不記得曾經(jīng)有過像如此奇妙的時(shí)光?！?/p>

“是的，那支歌片刻間就襲來了，正如我所說的那樣……”

一個年邁的流浪者拄著拐杖走過，那只黑鸝就飛走了，詩人就把黑鸝的這個奇妙的故事告訴了那個老人。

“那支歌是新的？”那個流浪者說?！巴耆皇切碌?。多年前上帝就創(chuàng)作了那支歌。當(dāng)我年輕的時(shí)候，所有的黑鸝都曾經(jīng)常常唱著那支歌，那時(shí)是新的?！?/p>

THE SONG OF THE BLACKBIRD

As the poet passed the thorn-tree the blackbird sang.

“How ever do you do it？” the poet said， for he knew bird language.

“It was like this，” said the blackbird. “It really was the most extraordinary thing. I made that song last Spring， it came to me all of a sudden. There was the most beautiful she-blackbird that the world has ever seen. Her eyes were blacker than lakes are at night， her feathers were blacker than the night itself， and nothing was as yellow as her beak; she could fly much faster than the lightning. She was not an ordinary she-blackbird， there has never been any other like her at all. I did not dare go near her because she was so wonderful. One day last Spring when it got warm again—it had been cold， we ate berries， things were quite different then， but Spring came and it got warm—one day I was thinking how wonderful she was and it seemed so extraordinary to think that I should ever have seen her， the only really wonderful she-blackbird in the world， that I opened my beak to give a shout， and then this song came， and there had never been anything like it before， and luckily I remembered it， the very song that I sang just now. But what is so extraordinary， the most amazing occurence of that marvellous day， was that no sooner had I sung the song than that very bird， the most wonderful she-blackbird in the world， flew right up to me and sat quite close to me on the same tree. I never remember such wonderful times as those.”

“Yes， the song came in a moment， and as I was saying....”

And an old wanderer walking with a stick came by and the blackbird flew away， and the poet told the old man the blackbird's wonderful story.

“That song new？”said the wanderer. “Not a bit of it. God made it years ago. All the blackbirds used to sing it when I was young. It was new then.”

沒有歌的國度

詩人來到了一個沒有歌的偉大國度。他輕聲悲嘆這個民族沒有在傍晚時(shí)分唱給自己的傻傻的短歌。

最后他就說：“我要親自給他們創(chuàng)作一些傻傻的短歌，那樣他們才能在小路上快樂，在爐火邊幸福?！彼陀昧艘恍r(shí)日，給他們創(chuàng)作了漫無目的的歌，諸如更古老、更幸福的國度里的少女們在山岡上唱的歌。

于是詩人走向那個國家的一些人，他們在一天的工作之后疲倦地坐著，他就對他們說道：“我用不合理的小小的傳說為你們創(chuàng)作了一些漫無目的的歌，它們有些類似于我童年時(shí)的山谷中的風(fēng);你們在傍晚感到惆悵的時(shí)候，也許愿意去唱?！?/p>

他們對他說：“現(xiàn)在如果你認(rèn)為我們有時(shí)間來唱那一類廢話，你就無法了解現(xiàn)代商業(yè)有多少進(jìn)步?！?/p>

詩人哭了，因?yàn)樗f：“唉，他們真該死！”

THE SONGLESS COUNTRY

The poet came unto a great country in which there were no songs. And he lamented gently for the nation that had not any little foolish songs to sing to itself at evening.

And at last he said：“I will make for them myself some little foolish songs so that they may be merry in the lanes and happy by the fireside.” And for some days he made for them aimless songs such as maidens sing on the hills in the older happier countries.

Then he went to some of that nation as they sat weary with the work of the day and said to them：“I have made you some aimless songs out of the small unreasonable legends， that are somewhat akin to the wind in the vales of my childhood; and you may care to sing them in your disconsolate evenings.”

And they said to him：“If you think we have time for that sort of nonsense nowadays you cannot know much of the progress of modern commerce.”

And the poet wept for he said：“Alas！ They are damned.”

我們突然想起了的事情

當(dāng)那個廣告商看見遠(yuǎn)處開闊丘陵之上的大教堂塔尖，他看著看著就哭了起來。

他說：“要是這是牛肉的廣告該有多好啊，那么吸引人，那么富于營養(yǎng)，在你的湯里嘗一嘗，女士們喜歡?！?/p>

WHAT WE HAVE COME TO

When the advertiser saw the cathedral spires over the downs in the distance， he looked at them and wept.

“If only，”he said， “this were an advertisement of Beefo， so nice， so nutritious， try it in your soup， ladies like it.”