Another Time
W. H. Auden (W. H. 奥登)
For us like any other fugitive，
Like the numberless flowers that cannot number
And all the beasts that need not remember，
It is today in which we live.
So many try to say Not Now，
So many have forgotten how
To say I Am，and would be
Lost，if they could，in history.
Bowing，for instance，with such old-world grace
To a proper flag in a proper place，
Muttering like ancients as they stump upstairs
Of Mine and His or Ours and Theirs.
Just as if time were what they used to will
When it was gifted with possession still，
Just as if they were wrong
In no more wishing to belong.
No wonder then so many die of grief，
So many are so lonely as they die；
No one has yet believed or liked a lie，
Another time has other lives to live.
来生
译者 / 马祖毅
我们就像其他任何一个难民，
像花儿多得数不清，
像一切无人记得的禽兽，
就这样，我们在今天生存。
有那么多人想说不是而今，
有那么多人已不复记得，
怎样说“我是”，而且如果可能，
他们将会在历史中迷失。
例如以旧世界的那种优雅，
在特定场合向特定的旗子致敬低头，
嘴里嘟哝着，像老人磕磕碰碰地跑上
我们或他们，我们的或他们的楼。
好像时间仍然拥有财富，
他们常有随心支配的自由，
好像他们头脑已失常，
不再渴望去占有。
难怪有那么多人愁苦而终，
有那么多人孤身身地闭上眼睛；
谁也不再相信或爱听谎言，
说什么会通过别种生活，在来生。
