Adam's Curse - W.B. Yeats
亚当的诅咒 - 威廉·巴特勒·叶芝
探讨爱情与努力的沉思
We sat together at one summer's end,
我们曾坐在一起，在一个夏天的尽头，
That beautiful mild woman, your close friend,
那个美丽温柔的女人，你亲密的朋友，
And you and I, and talked of poetry.
还有你和我，谈论着诗歌。
I said, 'A line will take us hours maybe;
我说：‘一行诗可能要花费我们数小时；
Yet if it does not seem a moment's thought,
然而，如果它看起来不像片刻的思索，
Our stitching and unstitching has been naught.
我们的缝补与拆解便毫无意义。
Better go down upon your marrow-bones
最好跪下双膝
And scrub a kitchen pavement, or break stones
擦洗厨房地板，或砸石头
Like an old pauper, in all kinds of weather;
像一个老乞丐，在各种天气里；
For to articulate sweet sounds together
因为将甜美的声音组合在一起
Is to work harder than all these, and yet
比所有这些都更辛苦，然而
Be thought an idler by the noisy set
却被喧闹的人群视为懒汉
Of bankers, schoolmasters, and clergymen
银行家、校长和牧师们
The martyrs call the world.'
那些殉道者称之为世界。’
And thereupon
于是
That beautiful mild woman for whose sake
那个为了她
There's many a one shall find out all heartache,
许多人将发现所有的痛苦，
Mourned that her earliest memories were scarred
哀叹她最早的记忆被伤痕累累
By those she lived among—'My own,' she said,
被她生活其中的人——‘我的，’她说，
'Are full of sorrow.' Then she spoke of how
‘充满了悲伤。’然后她谈到了如何
She had seen children playing on the road
她看到孩子们在路上玩耍
In some small village where she'd gone to rest,
在某个她去休息的小村庄，
And they were happy, for their hearts were free
他们很快乐，因为他们的心灵自由
From any bitterness, and she herself
不受任何苦涩的影响，而她自己
Had wept to see them, thinking of her own
看到他们时哭了，想起了自己的
Childhood, and how she had been taught to pray
童年，以及她如何被教导祈祷
To a cold Virgin with unanswering eyes.
向一位冷漠的圣母，眼睛没有回应。
Then said my friend, who was beside me there,
然后我的朋友，他在我旁边，说，
'There is no shame in being tired,' and then
‘疲惫并不可耻，’然后
He added, 'Beauty grows impossible
他补充道：‘美变得不可能
As the years pass, and as the world wears thin;
随着时间流逝，世界变得单薄；
But wisdom is a butterfly
但智慧是一只蝴蝶
And not a gloomy bird of prey, my dear.'
而不是一只阴郁的猛禽，亲爱的。’
And thereupon I looked at him askance,
于是，我斜眼看他，
For he was growing bitter, though I knew
因为他变得尖刻，尽管我知道
It was but his way of speaking, and no more.
这只是他的说话方式，仅此而已。
But still I pondered on what he had said,
但我仍然思考着他的话，
For he had spoken wisely, as he always does,
因为他总是说得明智，
And I remembered something I had heard
我记得我年轻时听到过一些话
About the moon when I was young and dreamed
关于月亮，那时我梦想着
Of going thither, and how it had seemed
前往那里，它似乎
A place whereon no shadow ever falls,
是一个永无阴影的地方，
Where one might live without the weariness
在那里人们可以生活而不感到疲倦
Of human life, and love without distress.
远离人类生活的劳累，爱得无忧无虑。
And then I said, 'It seems to me that we
然后我说：‘在我看来，我们
Have learned too much about each other's ways,
对彼此的方式了解得太多，
And so have grown weary'; and he replied,
因此变得厌倦’；他回答说，
'Yes, that is true, but not in such a sense
‘是的，这是真的，但不是你想象的那种意思
As you imagine. It is not the fault
这不是某张脸或某只手的错
Of this or that particular face or hand,
而是整个该死的人类族群的错
But of the whole accursed human brood,
他们以为可以通过命令获得幸福
Who think they can be happy by command,
却从未发现他们内心真正需要什么
And never find out what their hearts require,
也不明白他们必须用美来喂养火焰
Nor understand that they must feed the fire
直到它再次燃烧，并且
With beauty till it burns again, and make
重塑他们的生活，只有这样才能逃脱
Their lives anew, and only then escape
亚当的诅咒，即通过劳作换取面包
The curse of Adam, which is to earn
并在汗水淋漓中死去
《亚当的诅咒》——W.B.叶芝
这首诗是爱尔兰著名诗人威廉·巴特勒·叶芝（William Butler Yeats）的作品，名为《亚当的诅咒》。诗中通过对话的形式探讨了创作、美、智慧以及人类生存状态等深刻主题。
诗歌内容解析：
诗歌开篇描绘了一个夏日尽头的场景，诗人与一位密友及其美丽的女性友人坐在一起谈论诗歌。诗人提到创作诗歌是一项艰辛的工作，“一行诗句可能需要耗费数小时”，然而如果这行诗不能让人感觉像是瞬间的灵感闪现，那么所有的努力都是徒劳的。他用厨房清洁工和破石工人的劳动来对比创作诗歌的艰难，指出尽管创作如此辛苦，但世人却往往误解诗人为闲散之人。
接着，那位温柔美丽的女子开始讲述自己的童年记忆如何被身边的人所伤害，并表达了她对自己早年生活的悲伤情感。她提到了在一个小村庄里看到孩子们无忧无虑地玩耍，而她自己小时候则被迫向冰冷无情的圣母祈祷，这种对比让她感到痛苦。
随后，诗人的朋友发表了一段关于美的言论，他说随着岁月流逝，世界变得越来越单薄，美丽似乎也变得不可能实现。但他认为智慧并非如凶猛的掠食鸟般阴郁，而是像蝴蝶一样轻盈美好。虽然这位朋友语气略显苦涩，但诗人意识到这是他的表达方式，并非真正的恶意。
最后，诗人反思了他们之间的关系，认为彼此太过了解对方的习惯，因而产生了厌倦感。但他的朋友解释说，这不是因为某个人的具体特征，而是整个人类的问题。人们总是试图通过命令获得幸福，却不知道内心真正渴望的是什么。只有通过不断滋养美感，才能重新点燃生命的火焰，从而摆脱亚当的诅咒——即必须通过辛勤劳作才能维持生计，并在未老先衰中死去的命运。
主题思想：
总结：
《亚当的诅咒》通过对创作过程、个人经历及哲学思考的描述，展现了叶芝对于人生意义、艺术价值以及人类命运的深刻洞察。整首诗语言优美、寓意深远，值得细细品味。
要点
这首诗通过对话形式，表达了追求美好事物所需付出的艰辛努力，并反思了现代社会对爱与美的忽视；诗人认为真正的价值往往被低估，而平凡琐事却占据主导地位，提醒读者珍视那些需要用心经营的情感与创造。