Darkness 黑暗

露可小溪

07年读完《热夜之梦》之后心血来潮做的傻事

黑暗
作者：乔治·戈登·拜伦
翻译：露可小溪

我做了一个梦，但并非完全是梦。
耀眼的太阳熄灭了光芒，而群星
迷失在永恒空间的黑暗中，
昏暗，荒凉而又坚冷的大地
在无月的苍穹中黑黢黢地盲目摇晃，
早晨来而复去——白昼却不曾降临，
人们因畏惧而淡却了热情
这是他们的哀伤；此外所有的心儿
都颤抖地想要乞求光亮；
他们偎着营火生存——那些君王们，
佩戴宝冠的君主们的宫殿——那些棚屋，
万物居住的处所，
燃成了火炬，城市被焚毁，
人们围在火光熊熊的家园旁，
再一次彼此相望；
欢乐的是那些火山之眼的居民
还有火炬般的峰峦；
整个世界唯有一个令人恐惧的希望；
树林被点燃——随着时间流逝
他们枯萎倒地——还有噼啪作响的树干
随着一声爆裂而破碎——最后都变得焦黑。
绝望之光下人们的脸庞
露出怪异的模样，当
瞬间的闪光时而降临;有的人躺下来
遮住流泪的双眼；有的人面露微笑
将下巴搁在紧握的手上；
其他人匆忙往返，在
他们的墓堆里填满柴火，抬头
疯狂焦虑地仰望阴霾的天空，
遮住过往世界的帘帐；然后再一次
带着诅咒跌落在尘土上，
紧咬着牙关怒号；野鸟哀鸣，
受惊地在地上挣扎，
拍打着无用的翅膀；最狂暴的野兽
也变得怯懦驯良；毒蛇爬行
在人群中盘起身子咝咝地吐着信子，
却无人退让——他们成了猎杀捕食的对象；
而短暂离开的战争，
再一次血口大张；——买来的食物
沾染了鲜血，就餐者全都愠怒地走开
腹中饱食忧伤；爱已不在；
整个世界仅剩一个念头——那就是死，
可悲可耻且直截了当；饥饿
的痛楚充满了所有的腑脏——人们
死去，尸骨无人埋葬；
弱者自相残杀，
犬只也攻击主人，但除了一个，
他忠于一具尸骨，用吠叫声
驱赶飞禽走兽和疯狂的人们，
直至饥饿击倒他们，或者那些垂死者
吸引了他们细瘦的喉腔；他自己找不到食物，
但随着一声哀怨且久久的悲号，
一声急促且凄凉的叫唤，他舐舔着那只手
却没有得到爱抚的回应——他已经死亡。
人们大片地饿死；但在一个巨大的城市
有两个人存活下来，
他们是仇敌：他们在
化为灰烬的祭坛旁相遇
那里堆积了大量的圣物
为了一个不洁的目的；他们用冰冷彻骨的手，
拢成一堆，颤抖地摸来摸去
无力的身体，还有他们无力的呼吸
想要获得一线生机，燃起一束火苗
这实在可笑；然后他们抬起双眼
瞳孔放亮，盯着
彼此的模样——对望，尖叫，然后死亡——
他们死于对彼此的憎恶，
却不知谁在对方消瘦的脸上
写下了魔鬼的字样。世界空旷，
繁荣和力量化为土块，
没有四季，没有草木，没有人烟和生命——
一个死亡的土块，一片硬土的混沌。
河流，湖泊和海洋全都不再流淌，
静默的深处没有掀起波澜的力量；
没有水手的船只在大海上腐烂，
桅杆倒塌断裂：他们落下后
在无波的深渊安躺——
波涛已死；潮汐也走进了坟墓，
月亮，他们的女人，早就暗淡无光；
风在僵滞的空气中凋零
云朵消散！黑暗不需要
他们的辅佐——她至高无上！


《Darkness》by Lord George Gordon Byron

I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguished, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;
Morn came and went -and came, and brought no day,
And men forgot their passions in the dread
Of this their desolation; and all hearts
Were chilled into a selfish prayer for light;
And they did live by watchfires -and the thrones,
The palaces of crowned kings -the huts,
The habitations of all things which dwell,
Were burnt for beacons; cities were consumed,
And men were gathered round their blazing homes
To look once more into each other's face;
Happy were those which dwelt within the eye
Of the volcanoes, and their mountain-torch;
A fearful hope was all the world contained;
Forests were set on fire -but hour by hour
They fell and faded -and the crackling trunks
Extinguished with a crash -and all was black.
The brows of men by the despairing light
Wore an unearthly aspect, as by fits
The flashes fell upon them: some lay down
And hid their eyes and wept; and some did rest
Their chins upon their clenched hands, and smiled;
And others hurried to and fro, and fed
Their funeral piles with fuel, and looked up
With mad disquietude on the dull sky,
The pall of a past world; and then again
With curses cast them down upon the dust,
And gnashed their teeth and howled; the wild birds shrieked,
And, terrified, did flutter on the ground,
And flap their useless wings; the wildest brutes
Came tame and tremulous; and vipers crawled
And twined themselves among the multitude,
Hissing, but stingless -they were slain for food;
And War, which for a moment was no more,
Did glut himself again; -a meal was bought
With blood, and each sate sullenly apart
Gorging himself in gloom: no love was left;
All earth was but one thought -and that was death,
Immediate and inglorious; and the pang
Of famine fed upon all entrails -men
Died, and their bones were tombless as their flesh;
The meagre by the meagre were devoured,
Even dogs assailed their masters, all save one,
And he was faithful to a corse, and kept
The birds and beasts and famished men at bay,
Till hunger clung them, or the drooping dead
Lured their lank jaws; himself sought out no food,
But with a piteous and perpetual moan,
And a quick desolate cry, licking the hand
Which answered not with a caress -he died.
The crowd was famished by degrees; but two
Of an enormous city did survive,
And they were enemies: they met beside
The dying embers of an altar-place
Where had been heaped a mass of holy things
For an unholy usage: they raked up,
And shivering scraped with their cold skeleton hands
The feeble ashes, and their feeble breath
Blew for a little life, and made a flame
Which was a mockery; then they lifted up
Their eyes as it grew lighter, and beheld
Each other's aspects -saw, and shrieked, and died -
Even of their mutual hideousness they died,
Unknowing who he was upon whose brow
Famine had written Fiend. The world was void,
The populous and the powerful was a lump,
Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless -
A lump of death -a chaos of hard clay.
The rivers, lakes, and ocean all stood still,
And nothing stirred within their silent depths;
Ships sailorless lay rotting on the sea,
And their masts fell down piecemeal; as they dropped
They slept on the abyss without a surge -
The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave,
The Moon, their mistress, had expired before;
The winds were withered in the stagnant air,
And the clouds perished! Darkness had no need
Of aid from them -She was the Universe!