颂诗译选

伦敦教堂

凌风 译

 

在一个星期天的早上，
我站在一座教堂的大门旁，
会众都聚集在那里
还有几十部车辆 —
从车中走出一位贵妇
我常得有幸瞻仰。

她手持一卷公祷书，
还拿者饰金的香匣；
那书上清楚印着
人类救恩的徽记 —
但在十字架的上面
还有一顶镀金的冠冕。*

一名谄媚的执事趋前
为她敞开了內门，
她的腳步仿佛是滑动，
轻盈的像在舞厅一般 —
在她邪恶的虛骄中
也许会有过一丝善念。

但在她后面来了一个妇人，
怀着渴慕向门里张望，
生活残酷的印痕，
刻画在她病弱的脸上 —
显示着悲惨的三合一
罪压，软弱，和痛伤。

她找不到空处安息和祷告，
早有人挤满了免费的座位；**
与到处的盛装相比
她残破的外衣使她惭愧 —
“神的家容不下贫穷的罪人”，
她叹息着蹒跚的离开。

* 那金冠冕是有勋爵的徽记。
** 英国教区的家庭，一般在教会中租定座椅，可迟到或不到，但別人不得坐用；其余的是免费自由座位（free seats）。

 

A London Church

Richard Monckton Milnes Houghton

I stood, one Sunday morning,
Before a large church door,
The congregation gathered
And carriages a score, —
From one out stepped a lady
I oft had seen before.

Her hand was on a prayer-book,
And held a vinaigrette;
The sign of man's redemption
Clear on the book was set, —
But above the Cross there glistened
A golden Coronet.

For her the obsequious beadle
The inner door flung wide,
Lightly, as up a ball-room,
Her footsteps seemed to glide, —
There might be good thoughts in her
For all her evil pride.

But after her a woman
Peeped wistfully within,
On whose wan face was graven
Life's hardest discipline, —
The trace of the sad trinity
Of weakness, pain, and sin.

The few free-seats were crowded
Where she could rest and pray;
With her worn garb contrasted
Each side in fair array —
"God's house holds no poor sinners,"
She sighed, and crept away.

　　　Lord Richard Monckton Milnes Houghton

浩屯伯爵（Lord Richard Monckton Milnes Houghton, 1809- 1885）英国诗人，文学赞助者，也是提倡教会改革的人。 这首诗写他观察到教会內存在者重富棄贫的现象，正是圣经雅各书第二章所指责的现象。