艾青诗集汉译英赏析：the north北方 (双语)
北方
the north
一天那个坷尔沁草原上的诗人
one day a poet from the grasslands of keerqin
对我说:“北方是悲哀的。”
said to me,"the north is wretched.”
不错
yes,
北方是悲哀的。
the north is wretched,
从塞外吹来的
from beyond the frontier blows
沙漠风，
the wind from the desert,
已卷去北方的生命的绿色
scraping off the fertile greensward in the north，
与时日的光辉
and with it the glory of the seasons
一片暗淡的灰黄
-now a stretch of pallid ashen yellow,
蒙上一层揭不开的沙雾;
covered with a layer, an impenetrable miasma of sand
那天边疾奔而至的呼啸
that howling gale that hurries over here from the horizon
带来了恐怖
and brings with it a terror,
疯狂地
maniacally
扫荡过大地;
sweeping over the land;
荒漠的原野
vast and desolate hinterlands,
冻结在十二月的寒风里，
frozen in the cold winds of december,
村庄呀，山坡呀，河岸呀，
villages , yes , mountainsides , yes , riverbanks too，
颓垣与荒家呀
crumbling walls and unkempt graves，as well,
都披上了土色的忧郁……
all covered with a dusty mantle of misery.…
孤单的行人，
a solitary traveller,
上身俯前
his body leaning forward ,
用手遮住了脸颊，
his hand shielding his face,
在风沙里
in the wind-swept sand,
困苦了呼吸
gasps hard for breath,
一步一步地
one step after another,
挣扎着前进……
still manages to move on一
几只驴子
a number of donkeys
—那有悲哀的眼
-those beasts with their mournful eyes
和疲乏的耳朵的畜生，
and drooping ears,
载负了土地的
bear the heavy weight
痛苦的重压，
of the suffering in the land;
它们厌倦的脚步
their weary tread
徐缓地踏过
steps laboriously
北国的
over the north
修长而寂寞的道路……
and its interminable, desolate roads…
那些小河早已枯干了
those streams have long since dried up,
河底也已画满了车辙，
and the riverbeds are lined with wheel tracks.
北方的土地和人民
the people and the land of the north ,
在渴求着
are thirsty,
那滋润生命的流泉啊!
oh, so thirsty for the fresh, life-giving spring.
枯死的林木
the withered forests ,
与低矮的住房
and low-lying houses,
稀疏地，阴郁地
are sparse,forlorn,
散布在灰暗的天幕下;
scattered under the dark-gray backdrop of the sky.
天上，
in the sky,
看不见太阳，
the sun can't be seen,
只有那结成大队的雁群
just a flock of wild geese in formation,
惶乱的雁群
agitated, these wild geese,
击着黑色的翅膀
beat their black wings,
叫出它们的不安与悲苦，
cry out their uncertainty and distress,
从这荒凉的地域逃亡
and from this cold wasteland, flee，
逃亡到
ree to
绿荫蔽天的南方去了……
the south where green foliage blots out the sky.…
北方是悲哀的
the north is wretched.
而万里的黄河
the yellow river, thousands of miles long,
汹涌着混浊的波涛
its waves, turbulent and muddy,
给广大的北方
has given this vast~in the north
倾泻着灾难与不幸;
torrents of calamity and misfortune;
而年代的风霜
oh, how the winds and frosts down through the years
刻画着
have etched
广大的北方的
the vast northern landscape
贫穷与饥饿啊。
of squalor and starvation.
而我
and i
—这来自南方的旅客，
-i, this sojourner from the south，
却爱这悲哀的北国啊。
oh, how i love this wretched land in the north .
扑而的风沙
its windy sands that pelt the face,
与入骨的冷气
and its cole air that seeps into the bones,
决不曾使我咒诅;
will not cause me to curse it,
我爱这悲哀的国土，
i love this wretched land,
一片无垠的荒漠
an endless stretch of desolate hinterland;
也引起了我的崇敬
yet,it brings out my devotion.
—我看见
-i see them,
我们的祖先
our forebears ,
带领了羊群
leading their flocks of sheep,
吹着茄笛
blowing on the teed-pipes,
沉浸在这大漠的黄昏里;
overwhelmed in this great desert dusk;
我们踏着的
we have trod
古老的松软的黄土层里
this age-old, loamy brown layer of earth，
埋有我们祖先的骸骨啊，
where the skeletons of our forebears are buried,
—这土地是他们所开垦
-this earth that they first broke open with the plow,
几千年了
thousands of years ago
他们曾在这里
they were already here
和带给他们以打击的自然相搏斗，
battling the nature that made them fight for survival.
他们为保卫土地
when they defended their territory,
从不曾屈辱过一次，
they never once disgraced themselves.
他们死了
they are dead now,
把土地遗留给我们—
leaving the legacy of the land to us-
我爱这悲哀的国土，
i love this wretched country,
它的广大而瘦瘩的土地
her vast, barren soil，
带给我们以淳朴的言语
which gave us a language pure and simple,
与宽阔的姿态，
and a capacious spirit as well.
我相信这言语与姿态
i belive this language and this spirit,
坚强地生活在大地上
strong and sturdy , will survive on the land
永远不会灭亡;
never to be extinguished .
我爱这悲哀的国土，
i love this wretched country,
古老的国土
this age-ole country，
—这国土
this country
养育了为我所爱的
that has nourished what i have loved:
世界上最艰苦
the world's most long-suffering
与最古老的种族。
and most venerable people.
一九三八年二月四日憧关
february 4, 1938
艾青诗集《北方》赏析：
艾青在诗集《北方》的序文中说：“我是酷爱朴素的，这种爱好，使我的情感毫无遮蔽，而我又对自己这种毫无遮蔽的情感激起了愉悦。很久了，我就在这样的境况中写着诗。”这短短的几句真诚的自白，对于了解这首长诗乃至艾青一生的诗，都是一个极为重要的提示。《北方》这首诗最为鲜明的艺术特色就是朴素，情感毫无遮蔽。
1938年2月，战火迅雷般逼近了黄河，艾青在古老的潼关写下了这首《北方》，同年四月发表在《七月》杂志的卷首。一年之后我看到这首长诗，当时我幸运地得到了一本诗集《北方》。这本诗集除去这首长诗外，还收入十几首短诗。开本很小，六十四开的，但装帧却异常的朴素大方，几乎没有什么花饰图案，其风格正与艾青诗的气质相符合。因此我珍爱这本小小的诗集，日夜装在衣兜里。就是这本巴掌大小的诗集，在那个长长的艰难的战争年代里，曾经强烈地感动过一代文学青年的心灵。我也是受了它的影响和启迪开始认真学习写诗，并且知道了什么是真正的诗。