2006年12月20日

To the Oak

This is a well-known Chinese poem and I like it so much. Someone else translated it into English and I post it here:
致橡树

舒婷


我如果爱你--
绝不像攀援的凌霄花,
借你的高枝炫耀自己;

我如果爱你--
绝不学痴情的鸟儿,
为绿荫重复单纯的歌曲

也不只像泉源,
常年送来清凉的慰藉;
也不只像险峰,
增加你的高度,
衬托你的威仪。

甚至日光。
甚至春雨。
不,这些都还不够!

我必须是你近旁的一株木棉,
作为树的形象和你站在一起。
根,紧握在地下, 叶,相触在云里。

每一阵风过,
我们都互相致意,
但没有人听懂我们的言语。

你有你的铜枝铁干
像刀,像剑,也像戟;
我有我红硕的花朵,
像沉重的叹息,
又像英勇的火炬。

我们分担寒潮、风雷、霹雳;
我们共享雾蔼、流岚、虹霓,
仿佛永远分离,却又终身相依。

这才是伟大的爱情,
坚贞就在这里:
爱——
不仅爱你伟岸的身躯,
也爱你坚持的位置,
足下的土地。

To the Oak
by Shu Ting


If I love you --
I won't flaunt myself with your high branches,
Like the scrambling trumpet creeper;

If I love you --
I won't repeat simple songs for the green shade,
Imitating the spoony bird;

I won't bring you cool consolation year by year,
Only like a spring;
I won't increase your altitude,
Nor set off your impressive manner,
Only like the perilous peak;

Even like the sunshine,
Even like the spring drizzle,
No, these are not enough!

I must be a kapok beside you,
Standing with you as a tree.
Roots, tightly holding each other under the ground,
Leaves, gently touching each other in the clouds.

With every breeze passing, we salute each other,
But there is no one understanding our words.

You have your copper branch and iron trunk
Like a knife, a sword, and a halberd as well;
I have my red and rich flowers,
Like a heavy sigh, and a heroic torch as well.

Together we partake the cold wave, storm, and firebolt;
Together we share the fog, flowing haze, and rainbow,
It seems we are always apart, but are life-long companion.

Only this can make a great love,

Faithfulness lies here:
Love --
Not only your gigantic stature,
But also the position you uphold,
And the earth on which you stand.

5 条评论:

Unknown 说...

A lovely poem.

I have a question though. In the frst line it says 我如果爱你. Is that normal Chinese grammar? or different because it is a poem.
Normally I see 如果 at the beggining of a sentance.

liulianxiaoyu 说...

Hi Chris,

It is normal Chinese grammar.

"如果" can not only indicate a kind of supposed mood(for example, "如果我明天有空,我就和你一起去"----I will go with you if I am free tomorrow ), but indicate a kind of subjunctive mood(for example, "如果我是个男孩,我就去参军了"----“If I were a boy, I would join the army”).

Whichever kind of moods it indicates, it can be always added at the beginning of a sentence or in the middle of a sentence. Commonly, in spoken chinese, chinese people prefer adding "如果" at the beginning of a sentence. In written chinese or poems, we can use it flexibly----at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence.

There is the other word which is almost the synonym of "如果". ----That is "要是(yao4 shi)". In most of cases, these two words are interchangeable. The only little difference is that sometimes "要是" has a stronger tendency to indicate a kind of subjunctive mood.

Other examples:

如果明天下雨,我就不来了。
如果明天下雨,我就不来了。
要是明天下雨,我就不来了。
要是明天下雨,我就不来了。
I will not come here if it rains tomorrow.

I hope it is helpful.

liulianxiaoyu 说...

Sorry, the examples should be:

如果明天下雨,我就不来了。
明天如果下雨,我就不来了。
要是明天下雨,我就不来了。
明天要是下雨,我就不来了。

Unknown 说...

谢谢你,
你帮我一个大忙。
你真棒解释 :)

liulianxiaoyu 说...

My pleasure.

:)