风弦琴的谣言

（梭罗/作，白元宝/译）

有一个无人见过的山谷，
那山谷从未有人涉足，
而这里则伴着苦役和纷争，
焦灼与罪恶的人生。

那里，每一种美德都自行降生，
而不是仰仗着土地，
迸发于慷慨胸怀的
每一种修为都会回到那里。

那里，爱是温暖的，年轻人是年轻的，
而诗歌尚未唱响。
因为美德仍在那里历险，
并自由地呼吸她故土的空气。

而曾经，如果你仔细倾听，
你仍能听到它那晚祷的钟声，
热情高涨的人们留下串串足音，
他们所思的，皆直达天空。

*

Rumors from an Aeolian Harp

（Henry David Thoreau）

There is a vale which none hath seen,
Where foot of man has never been,
Such as here lives with toil and strife,
An anxious and a sinful life.

There every virtue has its birth,
Ere it descends upon the earth,
And thither every deed returns,
Which in the generous bosom burns.

There love is warm, and youth is young,
And poetry is yet unsung.
For Virtue still adventures there,
And freely breathes her native air.

And ever, if you hearken well,
You still may hear its vesper bell,
And tread of high-souled men go by,
Their thoughts conversing with the sky.