天真与经验之歌:第25篇 小女孩的寻获

 　　The Little Girl Found 小女孩的寻获

　　All the night in woe¹ 整个夜里在哭泣，

　　Lyca's parents go,  丽嘉的父母去寻觅：

　　over valleys deep, 越过幽深的溪谷，

　　While the deserts weep. 沙漠也在啼哭。

　　Tired and woe-begone, 他们伤心又疲乏，

　　Hoarse² with making moan, 哭得声音也变哑：

　　Arm in arm, seven days, they traced the desert ways. 手臂挽着手臂在这七天里，在沙漠中追寻她的踪迹。

　　Seven nights they sleep, among shadows deep, 在这七天的夜里，他们就在浓阴中憩息：

　　And dream they see their child 梦见了他们的孩子

　　Starved in desert wild. 在这荒凉的沙漠里饿死。

　　Pale through pathless ways, the fancied image strays, 在没有人迹的道路上那苍白的幻影在流浪，

　　Famished³, weeping, weak, 饥饿又衰弱，正在哭泣，

　　With hollow piteous shriek⁴. 夹杂着空洞的叫喊令人怜惜，

　　Rising from unrest, 不能安宁只得起身，

　　The trembling woman pressed, with feet of weary woe; 这战栗的母亲又在前进，一双脚又累又痛楚，

　　She could no further go. 她已不能再迈一步。

　　In his arms he bore, her, armed with sorrow sore; 他把她抱在怀里走，抱着她，心里真难受：

　　Till before their way 走着走着竟然看见

　　A couching lion lay. 一只狮子横躺在他们脚前。

　　Turning back was vain: 他们来不及往回跑

　　Soon his heavy mane, bore them to the ground, 狮子重重的鬃毛将他们甩在地面；

　　Then he stalked around, 然后他又阔步来回转。

　　Smelling to his prey⁵; 嗅着他的捕获物，

　　But their fears allay⁶ when he licks their hands, 但是他们的恐惧却止住，当他舔着他们的手掌：

　　And silent by them stands. 默默地站在他们身旁。

　　They look upon his eyes, 他们望着他的眼睛

　　Filled with deep surprise; 充满了深深的诧异的神情：

　　And wondering behold⁷ a spirit armed in gold. 却又惊奇地看见一个金色披挂的小仙。

　　On his head a crown, 他头上戴一顶王冠，

　　On his shoulders down, flowed his golden hair. 他那金色的头发披散，垂落在他的双肩。

　　Gone was all their care. 这就消失了他们所有的焦念。

　　'Follow me,' he said; 跟我来，他说，

　　'Weep not for the maid; 不要为那姑娘难过：

　　In my palace deep, 在我幽静的官殿里

　　Lyca lies asleep.' 丽嘉正在那里憩息。

　　Then they followed where the vision led, 然后他们跟随向前，便目睹了这一个场面：

　　And saw their sleeping child 看见了他们熟睡的儿童

　　Among tigers wild. 在那群野虎当中。

　　To this day they dwell in a lonely dell, 直到今天他们还留下住宿在一个僻静的小溪谷，

　　Nor fear the wolvish howl 不怕犲狼的嚎叫，

　　Nor the lion's growl⁸. 也不怕狮子的咆哮。

1 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

2 hoarse   

adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的

参考例句：

• He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
• He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动，嗓子都喊哑了。

3 famished   

adj.饥饿的

参考例句：

• When's lunch?I'm famished!什么时候吃午饭？我饿得要死了！
• My feet are now killing me and I'm absolutely famished.我的脚现在筋疲力尽，我绝对是极饿了。

4 shriek   

v./n.尖叫，叫喊

参考例句：

• Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
• People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧，气愤或疼痛而尖叫。

5 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

6 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。

7 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

8 growl   

v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣

参考例句：

• The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫，尾巴也跟着摇摆。
• The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。