Walt Whitman - Whoever You Are Holding Me Now in Hand 汉译

Whoever you are, holding me now in hand,

Without one thing, all will be useless,

I give you fair warning, before you attempt me further,

I am not what you supposed, but far different.

Who is he that would become my follower?

Who would sign himself a candidate for my affections? 

The way is suspicious—the result uncertain, perhaps destructive; 

You would have to give up all else—I alone would expect to be your God, sole and exclusive,

Your novitiate would even then be long and exhausting,

The whole past theory of your life, and all conformity to the lives around you, would have to be abandon’d;

Therefore release me now, before troubling yourself any further—Let go your hand from my shoulders,

Put me down, and depart on your way.

Or else, by stealth, in some wood, for trial,

Or back of a rock, in the open air,

(For in any roof’d room of a house I emerge not—nor in company,

And in libraries I lie as one dumb, a gawk, or unborn, or dead,)

But just possibly with you on a high hill—first watching lest any person, for miles around, approach unawares,

Or possibly with you sailing at sea, or on the beach of the sea, or some quiet island,

Here to put your lips upon mine I permit you,

With the comrade’s long-dwelling kiss, or the new husband’s kiss,

For I am the new husband, and I am the comrade.

Or, if you will, thrusting me beneath your clothing,

Where I may feel the throbs of your heart, or rest upon your hip,

Carry me when you go forth over land or sea;

For thus, merely touching you, is enough—is best,

And thus, touching you, would I silently sleep and be carried eternally.

But these leaves conning, you con at peril,

For these leaves, and me, you will not understand,

They will elude you at first, and still more afterward—I will certainly elude you,

Even while you should think you had unquestionably caught me, behold!

Already you see I have escaped from you.

For it is not for what I have put into it that I have written this book,

Nor is it by reading it you will acquire it,

Nor do those know me best who admire me, and vauntingly praise me,

Nor will the candidates for my love, (unless at most a very few,) prove victorious,

Nor will my poems do good only—they will do just as much evil, perhaps more;

For all is useless without that which you may guess at many times and not hit—that which I hinted at;

Therefore release me, and depart on your way.

现在紧紧缠着我的不管是谁

现在紧紧缠着我的不管是谁，

缺了一件就什么都将不用，

在你进一步试图缠住我之前，我对你预先发出警告，

我并非你所设想的，而是大不相同。

谁将是那个追随我的人？

谁愿意署下自己的名字作为赢得我感情的候选人？

方式是可疑的，结果是破坏性的，

你必须放弃别的一切，只有我才能充当你独一无二的唯一标准，

即使如此，你的实习期也将是漫长而辛苦的，

你过去对生命的全部理论和你所习惯的周围生活都必须放弃，

因此在你进一步自寻烦恼之前现在就放开我吧，把你搭在我肩上的那只手拿开，

放下我去走你自己的路吧。

再不然就偷偷到某个树林里去试一试，

或者走到空旷处的一块岩石背后，

（因为我不可能从一间盖有屋顶的房间里出现，也不会有同伴，在图书馆里我会像个哑巴那样躺着，一个呆子，还没有出生，或者已死去，）

但是也可能和你在一座高山上，先看看几英里之内会不会有人突然来到，

也可能和你在海上航行，在海滩上或在某个清静的小岛上，

在这里我允许你把你嘴唇压在我的嘴唇上，

接一个伙伴式的长吻或是一个新婚丈夫的亲吻，

因为我是那新婚丈夫，我是那伙伴。

或者你如果愿意，就把我塞进你的衣服下面，

让我在那里感受到你心的搏跳，或者让我靠着你的臀部，

你在陆地或海上旅行时请携带着我，

因为只要接触到你就已经足够，也最好，

就这样接触到你，我就会静静睡去，永远被携带着。

但是你若细读这些草叶你就会冒风险，

因为你不会理解我和这些草叶，

一开头你就会无法掌握其意义，过后就更不可能，我肯定会逃脱你的掌握，

即使你以为毫无问题，你已经一把将我拉住了，但是看哪！

你会发现我早已从你身边逃走。

我写这本书不是为了其中的内容，

阅读它并不会使你得到它，

那些钦佩我又吹嘘我的人也并非最理解我，

那些想赢得我友情的候选人（除非只是极少数几个）也不会胜利，

我的诗篇也不仅有益，它们也同样有害，也许危害更多一些，

没有那些你猜了多次猜不中而又是我暗示了的东西，一切就将无用；

因此放下我，走你的路上去吧。