四个四重奏:第31期 小吉丁(1)
Little Gidding
小吉丁
Midwinter spring is its own season
仲冬的春天是它自己的季节
Sempiternal though sodden towards sundown,
Suspended in time, between pole and tropic.
悬在时间中，在极圈和回归线之间。
When the short day is brightest, with frost and fire,
当短暂的白昼因为寒霜和火成为最明亮的时刻，
The brief sun flames the ice, on pond and ditches,
匆促的太阳点燃了地上和沟里的冰，
In windless cold that is the heart’s heat,
在无风的冷冽中那是心的热，
Reflecting in a watery mirror
在一面似水的镜子里
A glare that is blindness in the early afternoon.
映照出一道刺目的强光，在就是晌午时分之所以令人眩目而一无所见。
And glow more intense than blaze of branch, or brazier,
灼热的光比柴枝的火更烈比火盆更旺，
Stirs the dumb spirit: no wind, but pentecostal fire
激起麻木的精神：没有风，只有圣灵降临节的火
In the dark time of the year. Between melting and freezing
在这一年的黑暗时节。在融化和结冰之间
The soul’s sap quivers. There is no earth smell
灵魂的活力在颤抖。没有大地的气息
Or smell of living thing. This is the spring time
或者有生命之物的气息。这是春天季节
But not in time’s covenant. Now the hedgerow
但不是在约定的时间之内。现在树篱
Is blanched for an hour with transitory blossom of snow, a bloom more sudden than that of summer, neither budding nor fading,
因为雪花短暂开放而一时满身素白，一次比夏花绽放更突然的花开，既未含葩待放也不会凋零谢落，
Not in the scheme of generation.
不在世代繁衍的计划之内。
Where is the summer, the unimaginable
夏天在哪里？那不可想象的
Zero summer?
零度的夏天？
If you came this way,
如果你到这里来，
Taking the route you would be likely to take
选择你可能选择的路线
From the place you would be likely to come from,
从你可能出那里来的地方来，
If you came this way in may time, you would find the hedges white again, in May, with voluptuary sweetness.
如果你在山楂花开的时候到这里来，你会发现五月里，树篱又变白了，飘散这迷人的甜香。