She looked over his shoulder

她目光越过他肩膀

For vines and olive trees,

找那葡萄和枝上的橄榄，

Marble well-governed cities

治理有序的大理石的城，

And ships upon untamed seas,

和不驯的海上的船，

But there on the shining metal

但为那闪亮的金属

His hands had put instead

他放下的是一种

An artificial wilderness

人工制造的荒野

And a sky like lead.

和铅样的天空。

A plain without a feature, bare and brown,

无特征的平原，贫瘠又残破，

No blade of grass, no sign of neighborhood,

不见草叶，也没有社群的踪迹，

Nothing to eat and nowhere to sit down,

无米可炊也无处可坐，

Yet, congregated on its blankness, stood

还伫立在虚无里的，是

An unintelligible multitude,

难以辨识的众面孔,

A million eyes, a million boots in line,

一百万双眼和一百万对靴成一排，

Without expression, waiting for a sign.

没有表情，等候一声命令到来。

Out of the air a voice without a face

从空气里传来了无脸的嗓音

Proved by statistics that some cause was just

以统计学证明，某事恰如其分

In tones as dry and level as the place:

那语调平和干瘪与这地方相近：

No one was cheered and nothing was discussed;

没人兴奋也没事讨论;

Column by column in a cloud of dust

他们一队一队地行于沙尘

They marched away enduring a belief

并忍受一种信仰的逻辑

Whose logic brought them, somewhere else, to grief.

把他们带进别处的厄运里。

She looked over his shoulder

她目光越过他肩膀

For ritual pieties,

找虔诚的祭典，

White flower-garlanded heifers,

洁白花圈挂上母牛，

Libation and sacrifice,

还有敬酒和祭献，

But there on the shining metal

但从那闪亮的金属

Where the altar should have been,

未有圣坛浮现，

She saw by his flickering forge-light

从锻炉闪现的烈火，

Quite another scene.

她所见的景象截然另般。

Barbed wire enclosed an arbitrary spot

带刺的铁网封闭了随机的地方，

Where bored officials lounged (one cracked a joke)

无聊的官员在那里逡巡（有人讲笑逗哏）

And sentries sweated for the day was hot:

大热天哨兵的汗水流淌

A crowd of ordinary decent folk

一群普通的正派人

Watched from without and neither moved nor spoke

不动声色，从外部远望

As three pale figures were led forth and bound

三具苍白的形体被押出

To three posts driven upright in the ground.

在三挺直插地面的柱上绑住。

The mass and majesty of this world, all

从这个世界的众生与诸神，到

That carries weight and always weighs the same

全部有分量的——也全都同分量——

Lay in the hands of others; they were small

落入了别人的掌心；他们微不足道

And could not hope for help and no help came:

无法求救亦无得救的希望：

What their foes liked to do was done, their shame

他们的敌人实现了想要的，他们尊严尽丧

Was all the worst could wish; they lost their pride

直至彻底绝望；他们的骄傲已失去

And died as men before their bodies died.

他们作为人死去然后身体死去。

She looked over his shoulder

她目光越过他肩膀

For athletes at their games,

找健儿驰骋的赛道

Men and women in a dance

男男女女随着音乐

Moving their sweet limbs

跳起亲昵的舞蹈

Quick, quick, to music,

跟上，他们跟上。

But there on the shining shield

但为那闪亮的盾，

His hands had set no dancing-floor

他不办这轮舞会

But a weed-choked field.

放任荒田随杂草沉沦。

A ragged urchin, aimless and alone,

褴褛的顽童，漫不经心

Loitered about that vacancy; a bird

独自游荡在空地；可

Flew up to safety from his well-aimed stone:

鸟在起飞逃离他石子的准心；

That girls are raped, that two boys knife a third,

女孩被强奸，两个男孩砍另一个，

Were axioms to him, who'd never heard

对他是公理，没人听说有任何

Of any world where promises were kept,

世界上，誓言要被

Or one could weep because another wept.

兑现，或有人为另一人流泪而流泪。

The thin-lipped armorer,

薄嘴唇的兵工匠，

Hephaestos, hobbled away,

赫菲斯托斯，跛着脚

Thetis of the shining breasts

走开，满怀慈爱的忒提斯

Cried out in dismay

为工匠之神的锻造

At what the god had wrought

忧心地垂泣，

To please her son, the strong

它将取悦她的儿子

Iron-hearted man-slaying Achilles

雄壮的阿喀琉斯，心冷如铁，尤善杀戮

Who would not live long.

而他命不久矣。