战争是焦土的味道,温柔是祈祷者的声音
给少年的英文诗
第三十七首
阿赫玛托娃
July 1914
Anna Akhmatova
1
All mouth a smell of burning, of dry peat
Smoldering in the bogs.
Even the birds have stopped singing,
The aspen does not tremble.
The god of wrath glares in the sky,
The fields have been parched since Easter.
A one-legged pilgrim stood in the yard
With his mouth full of prophecies:
“Beware of terrible times… the earth
Opening for a crowd of corpses.
Expect famine, earthquakes, plagues,
And heavens darkened by eclipses.
“But our land will not be divided
By the enemy at his pleasure:
The Mother-of-God will spread
A white shroud over these great sorrows.”
2
From the burning woods drifts
The sweet smell of juniper.
Widows grieve over their brood,
The village rings with their lamentation.
If the land thirsted, it was not in vain,
Nor were the prayers wasted;
For a warm red rain soaks
The trampled fields.
Low, low hangs the empty sky,
Tender is the voice of the supplicant:
“They wound Thy most holy body,
They are casting lots for Thy garments.”
“一战”中最关键也最惨烈的战役之一,马恩河战役。
索姆河战役中带着防毒面具的英军机枪小分队,索姆河战役是第一次世界大战中规模最大的一次会战。双方伤亡共计130万人,是"一战"中最惨烈的阵地战。
一战中后期堑壕战,士兵在泥泞的充满老鼠和尸体的战壕中作战
1914年7月
I
一整个月燃烧的味道,焦土
在沼泽中闷烧。
鸟儿也停止了歌唱,
白杨树叶不再轻颤。
义愤之神在空中怒视,
复活节以来田野就已焦干。
只有一条腿的朝圣者站在院子里,
口中满是预言:
“当心可怕的岁月……大地
将会布满尸体。
除了饥荒,地震,瘟疫,
天堂之光也将被日蚀遮蔽。
“但我们的土地不会
任由敌人分裂:
圣母玛利亚将会为这深重的痛苦
裹上白色的尸布”。
II
燃烧的森林间飘散着
杜松的香甜味。
寡妇们在为一家子小孩恸哭,
乡村回荡着哀伤。
如果这片土地渴望复仇,不会徒劳无果,
祈祷也不会枉然;
温润的红雨浸湿了
被蹂躏的大地。
空寂的天空低垂,
温柔是祈祷者的声音:
“他们伤害了您最神圣的身体,
他们在为获取您的衣袍拈阄”。
(翻译:蒲实)
这周我们读一首阿赫玛托娃的诗。她是俄罗斯最伟大的女诗人之一,在乌克兰的敖德萨出生,在俄罗斯的圣彼得堡长大。这首诗写于第一次世界大战开始之时。今天我们不讲历史,也不解释诗歌;仅仅单纯地让我们跟随照片和诗行去感受战争的残酷吧。