人生就是一个又一个选择....jpg

生存还是毁灭，这是一个永恒的选择题。以至于到最后，我们成为什么样的人，可能不在于我们的能力，而在于我们的选择。

选择无处不在。面朝大海，春暖花开，是海子的选择；人不是生来被打败的，是海明威的选择；人固有一死，或重于泰山，或轻于鸿毛，是司马迁的选择。[1]

本期，您将读到的美国诗人弗罗斯特的选择，而他选择——不走寻常路。

[1] 摘自央视《朗读者》第三期主题词。

The Road Not Taken.jpg

The Road Not Taken

By Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

未选择的路

顾子欣译

黄色的树林里分出两条路，
可惜我不能同时去涉足，
我在那路口久久伫立，
我向着一条路极目望去，
直到它消失在丛林深处。

但我却选了另外一条路，
它荒草萋萋，十分幽寂，
显得更诱人、更美丽；
虽然在这两条小路上，
都很少留下旅人的足迹。

虽然那天清晨落叶满地，
两条路都未经脚印污染。
呵，留下一条路等改日再见！
但我知道路径延绵无尽头，
恐怕我难以再回返。

也许多少年后在某个地方，
我将轻声叹息把往事回顾：
一片树林里分出两条路——
而我选了人迹更少的一条，
从此决定了我一生的道路。

【词汇】

diverge: (of a road, route, or line) separate and go in a different direction 分开；岔开
undergrowth: a dense growth of shrubs and other plants, especially under trees 下层灌木丛；矮树丛
wear: damage or deterioration sustained from continuous use 磨损；损坏（文中指行人走过留下的足迹。）
trodden: tread (踩；踏) 的过去分词
black: very dirty 黑乎乎的；脏的
sigh: a long, deep, audible exhalation expressing sadness, relief, tiredness, or similar 叹气, 叹息

【解析】

题目：The Road Not Taken

译法各异，笔者所选取的译本是顾子欣的《未选择的路》，若追求简洁，可译为《未择之路》或《未走之路》。

关于这首诗

去年秋天我到艾默斯特去拜访狄金森，意外地发现弗罗斯特竟然曾是她的隔代近邻，我访问了弗罗斯特写出这首诗的金黄色树林，林中有标明Frost trail的路径。确实如他所说，经他走后，已经分不清哪条他走过，哪条是他没有走的路。在图书馆里读到这首诗的初稿和改定稿，只是标题动了一个字，初稿为way，定稿为road。(江枫) [2]

[2] Robert Frost，江枫. 弗罗斯特诗选：英汉对照[M].北京：外语教学与研究出版社，2012: 98-99

P.S. 去年有一部电影也叫《未择之路》 (The Road Not Taken) ，该雷同应该不是巧合吧。

《未择之路》电影海报.jpg

回到正题。

这条“未择之路”表面为林中一条路，但诗人将其上升到哲学层面，亦指人生路。

依据下文，作者不走寻常路，人生从此大不同，但诗人却并未忘记这条未择之路，反而愈加感慨选择之后的无限可能，这也体现出诗人纠结的一面。

全诗共4节，每节5句，韵式为abaab。

我们接着往下看。

1.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Two roads diverged....jpg

第一节讲诗人在林中面临择路难题。诗人望穿一路，伫立良久，内心万分纠结。细细品来，该景象倒让我想起了《目送》的一段话。

你站立在小路的这一端，看着他逐渐消失在小路转弯的地方，而且，他用背影默默告诉你：不必追。

抛开内容，从音韵上看，请注意尾韵：

wood, stood, could：[ʊd]
both, undergrowth：[əʊθ]

从句式上看，
①long I stood：表语long提前，是出于韵脚考虑。

And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

②上述两句要注意：to这个介词指向的是look down。整句还原后为：

And (I) looked down one (road) as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth;

2.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

It was grassy and wanted wear....jpg

第二节转而描述另一条路，这条路的优点正如诗人所说，“荒草萋萋，十分幽寂” (grassy and wanted wear) 。虽是如此，但两条路都留下了一个个行人的足迹。

但相对而言，第二条路走的人相对较少，这也是下文诗人所要走的路。

此外，本小节依然要注意尾韵的存在：

fair, wear, there: [eə(r)]
claim, same: [eɪm]

3.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I kept the first for another day....jpg

第三节继续对比两条路，诗人的内心是矛盾的，但最终还是理性战胜了感性，毕竟人生只有一次，不能重来。

另外，请注意前两句为了韵律而倒装的现象：

原文（倒装）：

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.

还原后：
And leaves equally lay in both (roads) that morning/
No step had trodden both (roads) black

NB 该小节的尾韵如下：

lay, day, way: [eɪ]
black, back: [æk]

4.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.