The river is famous to the fish.
鱼儿熟知河流。
The loud voice is famous to silence,
which knew it would inherit the earth
before anybody said so.
寂静熟知高声。
寂静知道,在任何人发声前,
它会接管地球。
The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.
鸟儿熟知睡在围墙上的猫。
它在笼中注视着猫的一举一动。
The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.
脸颊熟知眼泪,纵使短暂。
The idea you carry close to your bosom
is famous to your bosom.
你的心熟知
你心头的想法。
The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the 1)dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.
大地熟知靴子,
而不怎么了解皮鞋和高跟鞋,
因为那些高贵的鞋履只为地板所熟知。
The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.
陈旧卷曲的照片为随身携带它的那个人所熟知,
而并非为照片里的主角所熟知。
I want to be famous to 2)shuffling men
who smile while crossing streets,
sticky children in grocery lines,
famous as the one who smiled back.
我想为那些微笑着穿过街道的过客们
所熟知。
那些在杂货店里排着队身子粘乎乎的孩子,
熟知我是那个会向他们报以微笑的人。
I want to be famous in the way a 3)pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole,
not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.
我想像个滑轮,
或是钮扣眼那样为人所熟知。
其名声并非来自什么惊人之举,
而只因其从未忘记自己的职责。
1)dress [dres] n. 连衣裙 衣服、服装 vt.&vi. 给…穿衣, 穿着 装饰, 打扮
2)shuffle [ˈʃʌfəl] vt.&vi. 拖着脚步走2. 洗(纸牌);弄混;乱堆3. 粗心地做4. 摆脱尘世的烦恼；死亡
3)pulley [ˈpʊli:] n. 滑轮(组);滑车2. 皮带轮
这期带来的诗歌,也许会引起你对“名声”这东西进行更深层次的思考。起先,诗人不紧不慢接二连三地向你描绘了几个为“某物”所熟知的小事物(这些事物随处可见,看似寻常,其“行为”却在诗人笔下蕴含着不寻常的哲理),层层推进,在最后两节诗里阐述了自己的人生观和价值观——做一个有用而不张扬的人,自身的美誉来自于忠于职守,而自身的价值能得到淋漓尽致的发挥。当然,正如诗里提及的那样,美誉还来自于你对他人微笑的一瞬间所流露出的爱意。有句话说,“名声就像是一种易变质的食品”,吃的人一开始满心欢喜,却可能在品用的过程中因其致命。聪明的你一定能悟出话中的玄机。让美誉成为一种人生动力,而非肩上的包袱和怀里的凶器吧!
Naomi Shihab Nye(1952- ),诗人、歌曲创作者、小说家,自幼在美国圣路易斯市和巴勒斯坦中部城市耶路撒冷两地生活,父亲原籍巴勒斯坦,母亲是美国人。她毕业于美国三一大学(Trinity University),现居住在美国得克萨斯州圣安东尼奥市。Naomi Shihab Nye著有19 Varieties of Gazelle(《十九种小羚羊》)、Come with Me: Poems for a Journey(《随我同行:旅途诗情》)、Fuel(《燃料》)等诗集,及小说Habibi(《哈比比》),她曾获古根海姆奖和国会图书馆威特·拜纳奖,现任美国国家人文基金会全国委员会委员。