Nature

拉尔夫·瓦尔多·爱默生(Ralph Waldo Emerson) To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature.

Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child. The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood.

His intercourse with heaven and earth, becomes part of his daily food. In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows.

Nature says, he is my creature, and maugre all his impertinent griefs, he shall be glad with me.

Not the sun or the summer alone, but every hour and season yields its tribute of delight; for every hour and change corresponds to and authorizes a different state of the mind, from breathless noon to grimmest midnight.

Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourning piece.

In good health, the air is a cordial of incredible virtue. Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence

of special good fortune,

I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear.

In the woods too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life, is always a child, in the woods, is perpetual youth.

Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years,

In the woods, we return to reason and faith.

There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of Gods. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature.?

 

第二篇：爱默生 论自然(节选) 翻译

大千世界绮丽万千,

九九曲折妙不可言:

困惑观者无法洞悉,

心脏跳动有何秘密,

天人合一,

自能看破尘世境,

心灵共鸣，

即可唤起深埋意。

原子焚自身以亮天下，

只为指引来年芳华。

在这个气候区，几乎一年四季中总有那么几天：空气、星辰、大地完美融合，就如大自然纵容她的孩子一般，万物都趋于臻至；荒凉的高原，我们沐浴佛罗里达和古巴的阳光，无需再求幸福之地：芸芸众生，皆流露满意之色，牛群亦卧而沉思，宁静美好。纯粹的十月天气，我们称之为“小阳春”，此时寻觅那平安幸福，把握更大。连绵山丘，温暖广阔的田野，无尽的白昼，在此沉眠。享尽明媚阳光，不再叹惜生命短长。荒凉之野，不再寂寥。立于森林之门，世故之人不由惊叹，评估城市中伟大与渺小、睿智与愚蠢，都已毫无意义。进入这里，卸下肩头习俗的包袱。自然的圣洁，使宗教相形见拙，自然的真实，使英雄黯然失色。在这儿，我们发现，任何东西都无法同大自然相映争辉。自然如同神明，审判每一个接近的人。爬出狭窄拥挤的房舍，走进黑夜与白昼，瞻仰日夜拥抱我们的崇高之美。多么想逃离啊！逃离那无用的栅栏、逃离世故阴谋、逃离怯懦顾虑，逃离无法亲近自然的悲哀。森林散发着柔和的光，如不曾消逝的清晨，壮丽雄伟，令人激荡。古老的魔法渐渐生效，松树、铁杉和橡树的树干，散发出了，激动时眼中闪烁的光芒。无言的树木开始说服我们，放弃那些以庄重为名的琐碎，与之一起生活。在这里，神圣的天空之上，永恒的岁月之中，再无历史、教堂和国家的立足之地。走进展开的风景，为崭新的画卷所倾倒，为接踵而至的思绪所吸引，无比轻松惬意，以致将思家置于脑海之外，任面前不可抗拒之美，清除一切记忆，心满意足地，随着自然而去。

魔力似有药效，清醒头脑，治愈身心。简单的快乐，亲切而又自然。我们回归本源，无视学校教导的不屑，与物质相交。我们不曾与之分离，且深深眷恋其本源。就如水缓解饥渴，大地托起身躯，石块妆点视野。物质是坚韧的水，物质是冰凉的火，物质维系了健康，物质同我们共源。似故人、似密友、似手足，物质真诚地走来，打断我们同陌生人虚伪的闲谈，与我们亲密交流，使我们羞愧于之前的胡言乱语。城市，没有给人类的感官提供足够的空间。日日夜夜，走出城市，寻觅更为广阔的空间，以饱眼福，就如我们需要水来沐浴一般。自然的影响，强弱不一。小到分隔之力，大到给予想象力和心灵的帮助。自然，泉中打起的一桶清冷之水；自然，驱散凉意、给人安慰的火堆；自然，秋日与正午崇高的寓意。依偎于自然的怀抱，如寄生虫般，靠自然的谷物和根茎生存。日月星辰播撒光芒，唤我们至幽静之处，预言遥远的未来。蔚蓝的天顶，浪漫与现实相交。我思忖，如果将我们送往梦想的天堂，与加百列和尤利尔交谈，那么天堂将成为我们的家园。

Reflection:

1. Nine time folded in mystery: 九九曲折妙不可言

nine time 原意9倍，译为九九，联想到九宫格，这样翻能凸显神秘。

2. Beckons to spirit of its kin：心灵共鸣

Beckon 有召唤的意思 Kin 意思为亲属，相近之人/物间的共鸣。

3．we have heard of the happiest latitudes：我们听说过得幸福之地。 虽然latitudes是纬度的意思，但我认为这里是指一个地方，用了提喻。

4．Here is sanctity which shames our religions, and reality which discredits our heroes. 自然的圣洁，使宗教相形见拙，自然的真实，使英雄黯然失色。 翻译时注意了词句的对称。

5． and quit our life of solemn trifles. 放弃那些以庄重为名的琐碎

solemn 和trifles是两个矛盾的修饰词，把solemn译为以庄重为名。

6．It is firm water: it is cold flame:物质是坚定的水，是冰凉的火

这里it指代的应该是前面出现的“物质”

7．if we should be rapt away into all that we dream of heaven如果我们被送入梦想天堂

从Oxford Dictionary of English中查到rapt在古英语中有having been carried away bodily or transported to heaven的意思，所以译为送入天堂。

8．考虑到文体是散文，翻译时略微注意使用长短不一的句子，读起来有节奏的变化，又在部分句末安排了押韵，使其有散文的音韵美。