DEATH IS NOTHING AT ALL
Canon Henry Scott-Holland (1847 – 1918)
Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other
That we are still
Call me by my own familiar name
Speak to me in the easy way you always used
Put no difference into your tone
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed
At the little jokes we always enjoyed together
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was
Let it be spoken without effort
Without the ghost of a shadow in it
Life means all that it ever was
There is absolute unbroken continuity
What is death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind
Because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you for an interval
Somewhere very near
Just around the corner
All is well.
Nothing is past; nothing is lost
One brief moment and all will be as it was before
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!
死亡根本不算什么
亨利·斯科特-荷兰 教士
译/舒己怀 2018.07.09
死亡并不是什么大不了的事
我只是偷偷遛入隔壁
我还是从前的我，你还是那个你
我们对彼此从前如何
今后依然如何
请依然用我熟悉的名字呼唤我
请用那一往的平和方式和我说话
不要改变你的口吻
不要强迫自己显得庄重和忧伤
当讲起我们熟悉的笑话
请用当初的大笑的方式大笑
玩耍，开怀笑，想我，给我祷告
让我的名字如过去一样家喻户晓
让人们轻松提起我的名字
不要像鬼魂，不要有阴影
生活和过去一样充满意义
这个意义并未有丝毫中断
如是说，死亡难道不是微不足道的事故吗
你只是视觉上看不见我了
我又不是在你的脑海中消失了
我还会在一个休息的空隙等待你
那个地方并不遥远
就在街角
一切安好
事情没有过去，丝毫都没被丢弃
短暂的瞬间，一切便又如从前
如果可以重逢，离别之困顿是否必要，是不是又是可笑？
