William Blake - The Chimney-Sweeper ( I) 汉译

When my mother died I was very young,<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

And my father sold me while yet my tongue

Could scarcely cry “‘Weep! ‘weep! weep! ‘weep!”

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

 

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

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

“‘Hush, Tom! never mind it, for, when your head’s bare,

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

 

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 Jack,

Were all of them lock’d up in coffins of black;

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

And got with our bags and our brushes to work.

Tho’ the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm;

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

 

扫烟囱孩子①

威廉·布雷克

 

我母亲死的时候，我还小得很，

我父亲把我拿出来卖给了别人，

我当时还不大喊得清“扫呀——扫，”

我就扫你们烟囱，裹煤屑睡觉。

 

有个小托姆，头发卷得像小羊头，

剃光的时候，哭得好伤心，好难受，

我就说：“小托姆，不要紧，光了脑袋，

大起来煤屑就不会糟蹋你白头发。”

 

他就安安静静了，当天夜里，

托姆睡着了，事情就来得稀奇，

他看见千千万万的扫烟囱小孩

阿猫阿狗全都给锁进了黑棺材。

 

后来来了个天使，拿了把金钥匙，

开棺材放出了孩子们（真是好天使！）

他们就边跳，边笑，边跑过草坪，

到河里洗了澡，太阳里晒得亮晶晶。

 

光光的，白白的，把袋子都抛个一地，

他们就升上了云端，在风里游戏；

“只要你做个好孩子，”天使对托姆说，

“上帝会做你的父亲，你永远快乐。”

 

托姆就醒了；屋子里黑咕隆咚，

我们就起来拿袋子、扫帚去做工。

大清早尽管冷，托姆的心里可温暖；

这叫作：各尽本分，就不怕灾难。