Walt Whitman - Of the Terrible Doubt of Appearances 汉译

Of the terrible doubt of appearances,

Of the uncertainty after all—that we may be deluded,

That may-be reliance and hope are but speculations after all,

That may-be identity beyond the grave is a beautiful fable only,

May-be the things I perceive—the animals, plants, men, hills, shining and flowing waters,

The skies of day and night—colors, densities, forms—May-be these are, (as doubtless they are,) only apparitions, and the real something has yet to be known;

(How often they dart out of themselves, as if to confound me and mock me!

How often I think neither I know, nor any man knows, aught of them;)

May-be seeming to me what they are, (as doubtless they indeed but seem,) as from my present point of view—And might prove, (as of course they would,) naught of what they appear, or naught any how, from entirely changed points of view;

—To me, these, and the like of these, are curiously answer’d by my lovers, my dear friends;

When he whom I love travels with me, or sits a long while holding me by the hand,

When the subtle air, the impalpable, the sense that words and reason hold not, surround us and pervade us,

Then I am charged with untold and untellable wisdom—I am silent—I require nothing further,

I cannot answer the question of appearances, or that of identity beyond the grave;

But I walk or sit indifferent—I am satisfied,

He ahold of my hand has completely satisfied me.

关于极度可疑的表面现象

关于极度可以的表面现象，

关于终久还是不可靠，我们仍有可能是受了欺骗，

很可能信赖和希望终久不过是臆测，

谢世以后仍可能保留本性只是一个美丽的虚构，

可能我看见的东西，动物，植物，人类，丘陵，闪亮着又流动着的河川，

白天和夜间的天空，颜色，密度，形体，也许这些都只是（无疑也确实只是）幻影，真实的东西仍待发现，

（它们多少次从自身中突然出现像是要迷惑我，嘲笑我！有多少次我认为我既不理解其中的任何一事，也没有谁能理解，）

也许从我现在的观点出发我只是看到了它们的形似（无疑它们也只能是形似），但从完全不同的观点看去，丝毫也不能证明（这也是当然的）他们的表面是什么，甚至什么都不是；

对我来说，这些和类似的问题被我的密友——我那些亲爱的朋友们奇妙地做出了回答，

在我心爱的人和我同游或长时间握着我的手坐下时，

在那微妙的不可捉摸的气氛、那种认为词句和理智都不可靠的感觉包围了我们而且渗透了我们时，

那时我才真的充满了未曾明说过而又不可能明说的智慧，我默默无言，不再需要更多的东西，

我不能回答表面现象或谢世以后的本性这些问题，

但是不管是走着路或毫不在意地坐着，我都是满足的，

那握住了我的手的他已经使我完全满足了。