在杜伊勒里宫*，我们看到了巨大的摩天轮
In the Tuileries we came upon the Great Wheel
耸立在树林之上。夜幕正在
rising gargantuan above the trees. Evening
降临。晚餐之后漫步，沿着
was coming on. An after-dinner stroll, descending
平缓的台阶走向河边，一座树叶桥
by easy stages toward the river, a bridge of leaves
在我们头顶上，不时被点亮的路灯
above us, broken here and there by street lights
破碎。我们在这里的时光即将结束，我们的归途
coming on. Our time here nearly over, our return
一个盘旋的阴影。巴黎，回归之城，
home a shadow hovering. Paris, city of returns,
你说，是为了享受它的乐趣，就像摩天轮
you said, for the pleasure of it, like the Great Wheel
赫然耸现在我们的头顶，所有的钢铁、灯光
looming there above us, all steel & light
和音乐，蛮勇得令人畏惧，对着傍晚的
& music, daredevil daunting, against the evening
天空，远处的塔楼眨着眼睛。树叶
sky with the tower in the distance winking. The leaves
仍然牢牢抓住树枝，不可思议地降下的，
still held firmly, the unthinkable descending
等在梦想不到的寂静面前，死亡不可避免地
of what lay ahead undreamt of still, death descending
降下，就像摩天轮在它的回归里
inevitably as the Great Wheel in its return,
(一种下降先是穿过夏天的金色树叶，
(a descent first through summer's golden leaves
然后是光秃秃的破败的树枝)，摩天轮
and then bare ruined branches), the Great Wheel
转走又转回。那时，夜幕几乎
turning & returning. As then, with the all but evening
罩住我们，我们的妻子在入口处的灯光下笑着，
over us, our wives laughing by the entrance lights,
我们升到了双坡屋顶、树木和灯光的
we rose above the mansard roofs, the trees, the lights,
上空，在降落之前，抬升到令人眩晕的高度，
lifting in a vertiginous ascent before descending,
我们叨叨着即将来临的夜晚，
as we chattered on against the coming on of evening,
座位在上升的风中吱嘎作响，不安地想回到
our seat creaking in the rising wind, anxious to return
大地的稳固中。然而，摩天轮
now to earth's solidities. Instead, the Great Wheel
只是叹息着抬升，停在了顶端，留下
merely sighed and lifted, stopping at the top, leaving
各人单独与自己的思想在一起。下面的树叶，
each of us alone now with our thoughts. The leaves
绿色，灰绿色，灰色，玩具屋的屋顶，
below, green, graygreen, gray, the dollhouse roofs, lights
钻石般闪烁的灯光，冷漠而疏远，摩天轮
like diamonds winking, aloof & distant, the Great Wheel
陪伴我们，两个中年男人，各自下降
playing us, two middle-aged men, each descending
朝着轮子指定的终点，朝向地的大回归，
toward the Wheel's one appointed end, the Great Return
正如书中所言，来到我们的黄昏。
to earth, as the books all have it, come our evening.
尽管我们装出虚张声势的样子，还是能感觉到
For all our feigned bravado, we could feel the evening
临到我们的黄昏，我们低头望着模糊的树叶，
over us, even as we stared down upon the blur of leaves,
我们的妻子，我们远方的孩子，我们将返回的一切，
our wives, our distant children, on all we would return
正如遇难的水手沿着遥远的海岸
to, the way shipwrecked sailors search for lights
寻找灯光，我们开始最后一次下降，
along a distant shore, as we began the last descent,
离开帐棚*和带有巨轮的花园
leaving the tents and Garden with its Great Wheel
返回，我亲爱的死去的朋友，向着林荫大道
to return, my dear dead friend, to the winking lights
闪烁的灯光，离开上升和下降，
along the boulevard, leaves lifting & descending,
就像此刻夜晚的空气征服了，它和摩天轮。
as now the evening air took mastery, it & the Great Wheel.
【译注】
*1. Tuileries，杜乐丽花园和杜乐丽宫，在法国巴黎。
*2.帐棚，比喻身体。离开帐棚，指人的死亡。例如，“我们原知道，我们这地上的帐棚若拆毁了，必得……” 参阅林后 五章一节。