【双语有声阅读】扫烟囱的小男孩The Chimney Sweeper

The Chimney Sweeper—William Blake

 

扫烟囱的小男孩——威廉·布莱克

 

When my mother died I was very young,

 

And my father sold me while yet my tongue

 

Could scarcely cry 'Weep! weep! weep! weep!'

 

So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot¹ I sleep.

 

我母亲死的时候，我还小，

 

我父亲把我卖给了别人，

 

我当时还不大喊得清“扫呀，扫呀，”

 

就这样白天扫你们的烟囱，晚上在烟灰里睡觉。

 

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,

That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved; so I said,

 

'Hush², Tom! never mind it, for, when your head's bare,

 

You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.'

 

有个小汤姆，头发卷得像羊毛，

 

剃光的时候，哭得好伤心，好难受，

 

我就说：“小汤姆，别哭，光了头，

 

烟灰就不会糟蹋你的头发了。”

 

And so he was quiet, and that very night,

As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight!

 

That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack³,

 

Were all of them locked up in coffins⁴ of black.

 

他平静了下来，当天夜里，

 

汤姆睡着了，梦见了这样的情景，

 

迪克、乔、南德，杰克等千千万万个扫烟囱小孩

 

统统被锁进了黑棺材。

 

And by came an angel, who had a bright key,

And he opened the coffins, and set them all free;

 

Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing, they run

 

And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.

 

后来来了个天使，拿了把金钥匙，

 

他打开棺材放出了孩子们（真是好天使！）

 

他们又跳又笑地来到了草地上，

 

洗浴于河水，晾晒于阳光。

 

Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,

They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind,

 

And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,

 

He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.

 

把工具袋丢下，赤条条的，白白的，

 

他们升到云端，在风中嬉戏；

 

“只要你做个好孩子，”天使对汤姆说，

 

“上帝会做你的父亲，永不缺少欢喜。”

 

And so Tom awoke, and we rose in the dark,

And got with our bags and our brushes to work.

 

Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm;

 

So, if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

 

汤姆于是梦醒，我们在黑暗中起床，

 

拿起工具袋和刷子去干活。

 

晨风虽冷，汤姆自感心欢温暖；

 

如果所有人都恪尽职守，就不怕灾难。

1 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。

2 hush   

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

参考例句：

• A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
• Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 coffins   

n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物

参考例句：

• The shop was close and hot, and the atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins. 店堂里相当闷热，空气仿佛被棺木的味儿污染了。 来自辞典例句
• Donate some coffins to the temple, equal to the number of deaths. 到寺庙里，捐赠棺材盒给这些死者吧。 来自电影对白