中文 朱自清 

翻译 张培基

去的尽管去了，来的尽管来着；去来的中间 ( transition )，又怎样地匆匆呢？

What is gone is gone, what is to come keeps coming. How swift is the transition in between!

早上我起来的时候，小屋里射进两三方斜斜的太阳。太阳他也有脚啊，轻轻悄悄地挪移了；我也茫茫然跟着旋转。

When I get up in the morning, the slanting sun casts two or three squarish patches of light into my small room. The sun has feet too, edging away softly and stealthily. And, without knowing it, I am already caught in its revolution. 

想象力确实异常重要，例如，“小屋里射进两三方斜斜的太阳”其实就是“还未升起的太阳（与地平面存在很小的角度）射入屋里两三方的阳光”。“edge”有“缓慢移动”之意，“revolution”有“旋转”之意。

于是——洗手的时候，日子从水盆里过去；吃饭的时候，日子从饭碗里过去；默默时，便从凝然的双眼前过去。

Thus the day flows away through the sink when I wash my hands; vanishes in the rice bowl when I have my meal; passes away quietly before the fixed gaze of my eyes when I am lost in reverie. 

中文和英文的矛盾之一：中文句子当中重复某些词语让人热血沸腾，但，英文却相反，表达同一含义能换新词就换新词。例如，英文中用了三个不同的词来对应时间的流逝----“flow away”，“vanish”，“pass away”。( 还有下一句中的“brush past”，“stride over”，“flit past”。）

我觉察他去的匆匆了，伸出手遮挽时，他又从遮挽着的手边过去，天黑时，我躺在床上，他便伶伶俐俐在从我身上跨过，从我脚边飞去了。

Aware of its fleeting presence, I reach out for it only to find it brushing past my outstretched hands. In the evening, when I lie on my bed, it nimbly strides over my body and flits past my feet. 

相比上一段的用词，该段形容“时间流逝”的词语更为夸张，作者好似给时间赋予了生命，从“跨过（stride over) ”、“flit past（飞过) ”就能深切的感受到。

等我睁开眼和太阳再见，这算又溜走了一日。我掩着面叹息。但是新来的日子的影儿又开始在叹息里闪过了。

By the time when I open my eyes to meet the sun again, another day is already gone. I heave a sigh, my head buried in my hands. But, in the midst of my sighs, a new day is flashing past.

又一个形容时间流逝的词语----“闪过（flash past ) ”。

在逃去如飞的日子里，在千门万户的世界里的我能做些什么呢？只有徘徊罢了，只有匆匆罢了；在八千多日的匆匆里，除徘徊外，又剩些什么呢？

Living in this world with its fleeting days and teeming millions, what can I do but waver and wander and live a transient life? What have I been doing during the 8000 fleeting days except wavering and wandering?

“踌躇”和“徘徊”----“waver and wander”。

过去的日子如轻烟，被微风吹散了，如薄雾， 被初阳蒸融了；我留着些什么痕迹呢？我何曾留着像游丝样的痕迹呢？我赤裸裸来到这世界，转眼间也将赤裸裸的回去罢？但不能平的，为什么偏要白白走这一遭啊？

The bygone days, like wisps of smoke, have been dispersed by gentle winds, and, like thin mists, have been evaporated by the rising sun. What traces have I left behind? No, nothing, not even gossamer-like traces. I have come to this world stark naked, and in the twinkling of an eye, I am to go back as stark naked as ever. However, I am taking it very much to heart: why should I be made to pass through this world for nothing at all?

“wisps of smoke”为“屡屡轻烟”；“gossamer”是“薄纱”、“蛛丝”；“stark naked"为赤裸裸的”；“take it very much to heart”意为“特别放在心上”。

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