作者：王晓辉
东晋义熙元年（405年）冬，陶渊明辞去彭泽县令，归隐田园。临行之前，写下了这首《归去来兮辞》：
归去来兮，田园将芜胡不归？既自以心为形役，奚惆怅而独悲！悟已往之不谏，知来者之可追；实迷途其未远，觉今是而昨非。舟遥遥以轻飏，风飘飘而吹衣。问征夫以前路，恨晨光之熹微。
乃瞻衡宇，载欣载奔。僮仆欢迎，稚子候门。三径就荒，松菊犹存。携幼入室，有酒盈樽。引壶觞以自酌，眄庭柯以怡颜。倚南窗以寄傲，审容膝之易安。园日涉以成趣，门虽设而常关。策扶老以流憩，时矫首而遐观。云无心以出岫，鸟倦飞而知还。景翳翳以将入，抚孤松而盘桓。
归去来兮，请息交以绝游。世与我而相违，复驾言兮焉求？悦亲戚之情话，乐琴书以消忧。农人告余以春及，将有事于西畴。或命巾车，或棹孤舟。既窈窕以寻壑，亦崎岖而经丘。木欣欣以向荣，泉涓涓而始流。善万物之得时，感吾生之行休。
已矣乎，寓形宇内复几时！曷不委心任去留？胡为乎遑遑欲何之？富贵非吾愿，帝乡不可期。怀良辰以孤往，或植杖而耘耔。登东皋以舒啸，临清流而赋诗。聊乘化以归尽，乐夫天命复奚疑！
【配图：彭靖雯】
在我读过的中国古代文学作品中，能让我百读不厌且读后感到神清气爽的，就是陶渊明的这首《归去来兮辞》。文章一开头，陶渊明就大声喊出“归去来兮”——“我要回家啦！”陶渊明是文化人，换个粗人，喊出来的就是“老子不干了！”这是怎样舒心的一声呐喊啊！估计今天职场上很多人都想喊这么一嗓子，但又不敢喊，万一让老板听见了怎么办？
这是陶渊明踏上归途之前写下的一首辞赋，前八句，也就是从“归去来兮”到“觉今是而昨非”，交代了自己的心路历程。接下来，都是他想象自己在路上和回到家中的情景以及对生命的感悟和思想的升华，感情真挚，音节谐美，一气呵成，有如天籁，呈现出一种天然真色之美。
这么优美的《归去来兮辞》，能够翻译成同样优美的英文吗？我们先看看林语堂先生的译文。
Ah, homeward bound I go! Why not go home, seeing that my field and garden with weeds are overgrown? Myself have made my soul serf to my body: why have vain regrets and mourn alone?
Fret not over bygones and the forward journey take. Only a short distance have I gone astray, and I know today I am right, if yesterday was a complete mistake.
Lightly floats and drifts the boat, and the wind gently flows and flaps my gown. I inquire the road of a wayfarer, and sulk at the dimness of the dawn.
Then when I catch sight of my old roofs, joy will my steps quicken. Servants will be there to bid me welcome, and waiting at the door are the greeting children.
Gone to seed, perhaps, are my garden paths, but there will still be the chrysanthemums and the pines! I shall lead the youngest boy in by the hand, and on the table there stands a cup full of wine!
Holding the pot and cup I give myself a drink, happy to see in the courtyard the hanging bough. I lean upon the southern window with an immense satisfaction, and note that the little place is cosy enough to walk around.
The garden grows more familiar and interesting with the daily walks. What if no one ever knocks at the always closed door! Carrying a cane I wander at peace, and now and then look aloft to gaze at the blue above.
There the clouds idle away from their mountain recesses without any intent or purpose, and birds, when tired of their wandering flights, will think of home. Darkly then fall the shadows and, ready to come home, I yet fondle the lonely pines and loiter around.
Ah, homeward bound I go! Let me from now on learn to live alone! The world and I are not made for one another, and why drive round like one looking for what he has not found?
Content shall I be with conversations with my own kin, and there will be music and books to while away the hours. The farmers will come and tell me that spring is here and there will be work to do at the western farm.
Some order covered wagons; some row in small boats. Sometimes we explore quiet, unknown ponds, and sometimes we climb over steep, rugged mounds.
There the trees, happy of heart, grow marvelously green, and spring water gushes forth with a gurgling sound. I admire how things grow and prosper according to their seasons, and feel that thus, too, shall my life go its round.
Enough! How long yet shall I this mortal shape keep? Why not take life as it comes, and why hustle and bustle like one on an errand bound?
Wealth and power are not my ambitions, and unattainable is the abode of the gods! I would go forth alone on a bright morning, or perhaps, planting my cane, begin to pluck the weeds and till the ground.
Or I would compose a poem beside a clear stream, or perhaps go up Tungkao and make a long-drawn call on the top of the hill. So would I be content to live and die, and without questionings of the heart, gladly accept Heaven's will.
“归去来兮”，是发自内心的感叹，中文借助“兮”字表达，英文只能在句子前面加上一个感叹词Ah。“田园将芜”就是长满野草（overgrown with weeds），为了韵律和谐，调整次序，变成with weeds are overgrown。“自以心为形役”，林语堂译为Myself have made my soul serf to my body，心灵成了身体的奴隶，也就是被欲望所驱使。
“悟已往之不谏，知来者之可追”，过去的已经过去，只能面向未来，译为Fret not over bygones and the forward journey take。fret not over bygones是不为往事烦恼，英语里有个成语Let bygones be bygones（过去的就让它过去），也是这个意思。
“舟遥遥以轻飏，风飘飘而吹衣”（Lightly floats and drifts the boat, and the wind gently flows and flaps my gown）。这句话林语堂先生翻译得非常考究，lightly floats and drifts和gently flows and flaps将扁舟荡漾、衣袂飘飘的感觉翻译得活灵活现，而且float-flow-flap三个f开头的单词形成了流畅的头韵。
“乃瞻衡宇，载欣载奔”（Then when I catch sight of my old roofs, joy will my steps quicken）。“衡宇”就是门上的横木和屋檐，陶渊明远远望见自家的屋顶，兴奋地加快了脚步。因为陶渊明的家很穷，房子一定是老破小，所以林语堂先生将其译成old roof，这是合理的逻辑推论。joy will my steps quicken，正常语序应该是joy will quicken my steps（快乐使我加快了脚步），调整了语序，既富于变化，又与后面的waiting at the door are the greeting children（稚子候门）押韵。
“三径就荒”（Gone to seed, perhaps, are my garden paths）。gone to seed不能理解为播种。这个短语是指植物自播，杂乱生长的意思，也可以用来形容人，意思是不修边幅。
“云无心以出岫”（There the clouds idle away from their mountain recesses without any intent or purpose）。idle away一般指人的行为，如idle away one's youth（虚度青春），idle away time（无所事事）。用来表示云朵的慢慢浮动，也十分形象。
“木欣欣以向荣，泉涓涓而始流”（There the trees, happy of heart, grow marvelously green, and spring water gushes forth with a gurgling sound）。这是陶渊明的名句，成语“欣欣向荣”就是从这里来的。happy of heart，译出了“欣欣”；with a gurgling sound, 译出了“涓涓”。这些细致入微的地方，体现出了林语堂深湛的语言功夫。
“已矣乎，寓形宇内复几时！曷不委心任去留？胡为乎遑遑欲何之？”（Enough! How long yet shall I this mortal shape keep? Why not take life as it comes, and why hustle and bustle like one on an errand bound?）作为凡人，我还能活多久呢？何不坦然接受生活和命运的安排呢？为什么还要像个当差的那样匆匆忙忙呢？连续三个问题，答案已在其中。take life as it comes，坦然接受，顺其自然。hustle and bustle既可以指城市的喧嚣，也可以指生活的忙碌，在这里用作动词。
这首《归去来兮辞》通篇押韵，句子长短错落有致，有极强的节奏感。这样的文字翻译起来难度极大，一味追求押韵，有可能“因声害意”；翻译成大白话，又失去了原文的典雅。从林语堂先生的译文来看，他是真的做到了左右逢源，既有辞藻之美，又有音韵之美，更有意境之美。
我在核对林语堂先生译文时，发现他最初将“携幼入室，有酒盈樽”译为I shall lead the youngest boy in by the hand, and on the table there stands a cup full of wine! 后又修改为I take the youngest boy in by the hand, and on the table stands a pot full of wine. “携”与“樽”二字较之初译更加妥帖准确。大师级的人物对一两个小词都如此认真，也难怪他能有那么高的建树。
Herbert Giles（翟理思）、方重、许渊冲等几位先生均翻译过《归去来兮辞》，精彩纷呈，各尽其妙。读者如果感兴趣，可以找来对照学习，一定会有所收获。
0 
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)