颂诗译选

灵魂与肉体

凌风 译

可怜的灵魂，我罪恶世界的中央，
你受骗去跟那些反叛的势力结帮，
为什么你里面憔悴受苦无量，
外面的牆卻油漆得贵价辉煌？
为什么花偌大的代价，租约那么短，
为你那将倾残的巨廈付上许多钱？
內藏的蠹虫，岂不是要蚀尽你
投下的巨款？你肉体岂不也有终点？
灵魂啊，让你的仆役耗费给你生活供养，
要它瘦減，使你的富藏增长，
卖掉无用的时间換取神圣的永约，
外面的富丽壮观全消失，里面卻強壮。
　　死亡囓噬人，你囓噬死亡也是这样，
　　到死亡死去了，然后不再有死亡。

　　　莎士比亚（William Shakespeare, 1564-1616）英国剧作家，诗人。

Body and Soul　sonnet 146

Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth,
My sinful earth, these rebel powers that thee array,
Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth,
Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?
Why so large cost, having so short a lease,
Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend?
Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,
Eat up thy charge? Is this thy body's end?
Then, soul, live thou upon thy servant's loss
And let that pine to aggravate thy store.
Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross,
Within be fed, without be rich no more.
　　So shalt thou feed on Death, that feeds on men,
　　And Death once dead, there's no more dying then.

William Shakespeare, 1564-1616
　　　English playwright and poet