拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生Ralph Waldo Emerson——美国思想家、文学家，诗人。1836年出版处女作《论自然》。他文学上的贡献主要在散文和诗歌上。
Beauty
论美
And a poet said, 'Speak to us of Beauty.'
一位诗人接着说:'请给我们谈淡美。'
Where shall you seek beauty, and how shall you find her unless she herself be your way and your guide?
他答道：你们将去哪里寻找美呢?如果她不出现在你们的旅途中，指引着你们，你们如何能够找到她?
And how shall you speak of her except she be the weaver of your speech?
倘若她不是你们话语的编织者，你们如何能够谈论她呢?
The aggrieved and the injured say, 'Beauty is kind and gentle.
被虐者和受伤者说:'美仁慈而温柔。
Like a young mother half-shy of her own glory she walks among us.'
就像一位年轻的妈妈，因自己的荣光半遮着面孔，走在我们的中间。'
And the passionate say, 'Nay, beauty is a thing of might and dread.
激情澎湃者说:'不，美强烈而可畏。
Like the tempest she shakes the earth beneath us and the sky above us.'
就像风暴雨一般，震撼着我们脚下的大地和头上的天空。'
The tired and the weary say, 'beauty is of soft whisperings. She speaks in our spirit.
疲乏者说:'美是柔声细语，她在我们的心灵中讲话。
Her voice yields to our silences like a faint light that quivers in fear of the shadow.'
她的声音沉浸在我们的寂静中，正如一抹微光在阴影的恐惧中颤抖。'
But the restless say, 'We have heard her shouting among the mountains,
但好动者说:'我们曾听过她在山峦中呼喊，
And with her cries came the sound of hoofs, and the beating of wings and the roaring of lions.'
她的呼喊唤来了马蹄声、展翅声和雄狮怒吼声。'
At night the watchmen of the city say, 'Beauty shall rise with the dawn from the east.'
晚上城市的守夜人说:'美与晨曦一起从东方升起。'
And at noontide the toilers and the wayfarers say, 'we have seen her leaning over the earth from the windows of the sunset.'
午日，含辛茹苦者和风尘仆仆者说:'我们曾看见她斜倚在黄昏之窗眺望着大地。'
In winter say the snow-bound, 'She shall come with the spring leaping upon the hills.'
冬日，困在风雪中的人说:'她将与春天一同来临，在山谷里跳跃。'
And in the summer heat the reapers say, 'We have seen her dancing with the autumn leaves, and we saw a drift of snow in her hair.'
夏日，收割庄稼的人说:'我们曾看见她与秋叶相拥共舞，她的发梢缀着雪花。'
All these things have you said of beauty.
你们刚刚谈及关于美的一切，
Yet in truth you spoke not of her but of needs unsatisfied,
事实上，并非她本身，而是你们未被满足的要求，
And beauty is not a need but an ecstasy.
美并不是一种需求，而是一种狂喜。
It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth,
她不是干渴的嘴唇，也不是伸出的空手，
But rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted.
而是一颗滚烫的心，一个愉悦的灵魂。
It is not the image you would see nor the song you would hear,
她不是你们想看到的样子，也不是你们想听到的乐曲，
But rather an image you see though you close your eyes and a song you hear though you shut your ears.
而是你们虽闭上眼睛也能看到的样子，虽掩住耳朵也能听到的旋律。
It is not the sap within the furrowed bark, nor a wing attached to a claw,
她不是蕴涵在褶皱树皮下的汁液，也不是利爪一下垂死的鸟儿。
But rather a garden forever in bloom and a flock of angels for ever in flight.
她是一座永远绽放花朵的花园，一群永远翱翔天穹的天使。
People of Orphalese, beauty is life when life unveils her holy face.
奥菲里斯城的人们啊，当生命揭下她圣洁的面纱时，美就是生命。
But you are life and you are the veil.
然而，你们是生命，也是而纱。
Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.
美是永生揽镜自照。
But you are eternity and you are the mirror.
但你就是永生，你也是镜子。
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