We caught the tread of dancing feet,

我们听到跳舞的踢踏声，

We loitered down the moonlit street,

我们在月光下的街道游逛，

And stopped beneath the harlot’s house.

在一家妓院门前停步。

Inside, above the din and fray,

门内，在一片骚音之上，

We heard the loud musicians play

我们听到下作的乐师正演奏

The ‘Treues Liebes Herz’ of Strauss.

施特劳斯的《真诚的爱》。

Like strange mechanical grotesques,

仿佛一个机器的怪物，

Making fantastic arabesques,

跳着怪诞的阿拉伯舞蹈，

The shadows raced across the blind.

影子在屏风之间穿梭。

We watched the ghostly dancers spin

我们看着舞者魔鬼似地旋转，

To sound of horn and violin,

应和笛管和小提琴的音乐，

Like black leaves wheeling in the wind.

像一片黑色叶子随着风儿翻卷。

Like wire-pulled automatons,

仿佛铁丝牵引的玩偶，

Slim silhouetted skeletons

仅有轮廓的瘦骷髅

Went sidling through the slow quadrille,

侧身穿过缓慢的四人舞，

Then took each other by the hand,

于是他们相互手拉手，

And danced a stately saraband;

跳起庄严的萨拉班德舞；

Their laughter echoed thin and shrill.

他们的笑声激起尖厉的回响。

Sometimes a clockwork puppet pressed

有时，装有发条的木偶

A phantom lover to her breast,

将一个幻影情人抱在胸口，

Sometimes they seemed to try to sing.

有时，他们似乎在努力地歌唱，

Sometimes a horrible marionette

有时，一个恐怖的傀儡

Came out, and smoked its cigarette

走出来，坐在台阶上

Upon the steps like a live thing.

吸烟，就像一个真正的活人。

Then, turning to my love, I said,

于是，我转身对我的情人说，

‘The dead are dancing with the dead,

“死者正和死者在跳舞，

The dust is whirling with the dust.’

尘土正围着尘土旋转。”

But she—she heard the violin,

但是她，她听到小提琴声，

And left my side, and entered in:

将我扔在一边，走进去；

Love passed into the house of lust.

爱就此进入了情欲的屋子。

Then suddenly the tune went false,

接着音调突然变了味，

The dancers wearied of the waltz,

舞者厌倦了华尔兹，

The shadows ceased to wheel and whirl.

那些影子也停止了旋转，

And down the long and silent street,

黎明穿着一双银色的凉鞋，

The dawn, with silver-sandalled feet,

像一位受了惊吓的姑娘，

Crept like a frightened girl.

悄悄地溜进这安静的长街。