One Saturday morning he went to the river to play.

 星期六早晨，他到河边去玩耍，

He molded twelve sparrows out of the river clay

 用河泥捏出12只麻雀，

And scooped a clear pond, with a dam of twigs and mud.

 然后用树枝和泥土筑堤，围出一个清水池塘，

Around the pond he set the birds he had made,

 他把自做的雀鸟放于池塘周边，

Evenly as the hours. Jesus was five. He smiled,

 如同时针一样均匀。耶稣5岁。他笑了，

As a child would who had made a little world

 像孩子一样笑，孩童在河边造出

Of clear still water and clay beside a river.

 清水和粘土的小世界都会这么笑。

But a certain Jew came by, a friend of his father,

 但某个犹太人路过（他父亲的一个朋友），

And he scolded the child and ran at once to Joseph,

 训斥这孩子，然后立刻跑去找约瑟夫，

Saying, “Come see how your child has profaned the Sabbath,

 他说，“快来看你孩子如何亵渎了安息日，

Making images at the river on the Day of Rest.”

 在河上制造出一些景象，在休息日。”

So Joseph came to the place and took his wrist

 于是约瑟夫跑到那里，伸出手

And told him, “Child, you have offended the Word.”

 对他说，“孩子，你冒犯了圣字。”

Then Jesus freed the hand that Joseph held

 耶稣从约瑟夫拽紧的手里脱身，

And clapped his hands and shouted to the birds

 拍了拍双手，大声叫雀鸟

To go away. They raised their beaks at his words

 离开。它们听到后翘起尖嘴，

And breathed and stirred their feathers and flew away.

 呼吸，抖动羽毛，飞走了。

The people were frightened. Meanwhile, another boy,

 人们吓坏了。与此同时，另一个男孩，

The son of Annas the scribe, had idly taken

 大祭司亚那的儿子，很无聊地

A branch of driftwood and leaning against it had broken

 拿一块浮木，斜着捅破了

The dam and muddied the little pond and scattered

 水坝，搅混了小池塘，散开了

The twigs and stones. Then Jesus was angry and shouted,

 树枝和石头。耶稣愤怒极了，喊道，

“Unrighteous, impious, ignorant, what did the water

“你这不义的，不虔诚的，无知的，

Do to harm you? Now you are going to wither

 水碍你什么事了？你会像树一样

The way a tree does, you shall bear no fruit

 枯萎，你会结不出果子，

And no leaves, you shall wither down to the root.”

 长不出叶子，你会一直枯萎到根部。”

At once, the boy was all withered. His parents moaned,

 立刻，那男孩就枯萎了。他父母哀号，

The Jews gasped, Jesus began to leave, then turned

 犹太人都倒吸一口冷气，耶稣走开，然后转过身

And prophesied, his child’s face wet with tears:

 发出预言，他童稚的脸上满是泪水：

“Twelve times twelve times twelve thousands of years

“十二倍之十二倍的十二千年之前，

Before these heavens and this earth were made,

 还没有天堂和地球的时候，

The Creator set a jewel in the throne of God

 造物主在神的宝座上放了一颗宝石，

With Hell on the left and Heaven to the right,

 地狱在左，天堂在右，

The Sanctuary in front, and behind, an endless night

 保护区在前，在后，无尽的黑夜

Endlessly fleeing a Torah written in flame.

 无休止的逃离，《托拉》写于火焰。

And on that jewel in the throne, God wrote my name.”

 宝座上的宝石上，上帝写下我的名字。”

Then Jesus left and went into Joseph’s house.

 耶稣离开，走进约瑟夫的房子。

The family of the withered one also left the place,

 那枯萎男孩的一家也离开了，

Carrying him home. The Sabbath was nearly over.

 把他抬回家。安息日就要结束了。

By dusk, the Jews were all gone from the river.

 黄昏时分，犹太人都从河里消失。

Small creatures came from the undergrowth to drink

 小生物从灌木丛中走出来喝水，

And foraged in the shadows along the bank.

 沿着河岸的阴影觅食。

Alone in his cot in Joseph’s house, the Son

“人类之子”呆在约瑟夫的房子里

Of Man was crying himself to sleep. The moon

 独自哭，哭着睡着了。月亮

Rose higher, the Jews put out their lights and slept,

 高升，犹太人熄灯，睡觉，

And all was calm and as it had been, except

 一切平静下来，犹如初始，除了

In the agitated household of the scribe Annas,

 亚那大祭司不安宁的一家，

And high in the dark, where unknown even to Jesus

 黑暗中的高处，连耶稣也不甚明了的地方

The twelve new sparrows flew aimlessly through the night,

 12只新麻雀飞来飞去，穿过夜晚，

Not blinking or resting, as if never to alight.

 不眨眼，不休息，仿佛永远不会落下。