She looked over his shoulder
她目光越过他肩膀
For vines and olive trees,
寻找葡萄和橄榄树，
Marble well-governed cities
管理完善的大理石城市
And ships upon untamed seas,
和汹涌大海上的船只，
But there on the shining metal
但在那块闪亮的金属上
His hands had put instead
他双手却刻画下
An artificial wilderness
一片人工的荒野
And a sky like lead.
和铅样的天空。
A plain without a feature, bare and brown,
一个无特征的平原，光秃而阴沉，
No blade of grass, no sign of neighborhood,
没有草叶，没有民居的痕迹，
Nothing to eat and nowhere to sit down,
无东西可吃也无地方可坐，
Yet, congregated on its blankness, stood
然而，汇集在那单调上，站着
An unintelligible multitude,
一大群不可理喻的人，
A million eyes, a million boots in line,
一百万只眼睛，一百万只皮靴，
Without expression, waiting for a sign.
没有表情，等待一个手势。
Out of the air a voice without a face
空中传来一个无面孔的声音，
Proved by statistics that some cause was just
统计数字证明其号召合理，
In tones as dry and level as the place:
腔调枯燥如同那地方：
No one was cheered and nothing was discussed;
没人欢呼也没人讨论，
Column by column in a cloud of dust
他们一队队在尘土飞扬里
They marched away enduring a belief
操着步离去，忍受一个信仰，
Whose logic brought them, somewhere else, to grief.
其逻辑使他们在别处遭厄运。
She looked over his shoulder
她目光越过他肩膀
For ritual pieties,
寻找虔敬的仪式，
White flower-garlanded heifers,
点缀白花的小母牛，
Libation and sacrifice,
祭品和奠酒，
But there on the shining metal
但在那块闪亮的金属上
Where the altar should have been,
在原该是祭台的地方，
She saw by his flickering forge-light
她借着他闪烁的锻火看到
Quite another scene.
另一番景象。
Barbed wire enclosed an arbitrary spot
倒刺铁丝网围住一个任意的场所，
Where bored officials lounged (one cracked a joke)
无聊的官员在闲逛（一个说了句笑话) ，
And sentries sweated for the day was hot:
哨兵在流汗因为天气炎热：
A crowd of ordinary decent folk
一群正派的普通人
Watched from without and neither moved nor spoke
从外面观看，不动也不语，
As three pale figures were led forth and bound
当三个苍白的人影被押向前，捆绑在
To three posts driven upright in the ground.
竖立地面的三根柱上。
The mass and majesty of this world, all
世界的群众和大多数人，全都
That carries weight and always weighs the same
承受重量且重量永远一样，
Lay in the hands of others; they were small
掌握在别人手中；他们渺小
And could not hope for help and no help came:
不能指望帮助也得不到帮助，
What their foes liked to do was done, their shame
他们的敌人要做的都做了：他们的羞耻
Was all the worst could wish; they lost their pride
已无以复加，他们失去尊严，
And died as men before their bodies died.
先作为人死去然后身体才死去。
She looked over his shoulder
她目光越过他肩膀
For athletes at their games,
寻找运动会上的健儿，
Men and women in a dance
舞会上的男人和女人
Moving their sweet limbs
随着音乐快速地
Quick, quick, to music,
移动迷人的腰肢，
But there on the shining shield
但在那块闪亮的盾牌上
His hands had set no dancing-floor
他双手没有刻划下舞池，
But a weed-choked field.
而是杂草丛生的旷野。
一个衣衫褴褛的顽童，无目的而孤单，
A ragged urchin, aimless and alone,
绕着那空位游荡；一只鸟儿
Loitered about that vacancy; a bird
飞向安全处，远离他瞄准的石子：
Flew up to safety from his well-aimed stone:
少女被强奸，两个少年砍另一个，
That girls are raped, that two boys knife a third,
在他看来是公理，他从未听说过
Were axioms to him, who'd never heard
有任何信守诺言的世界，
Of any world where promises were kept,
或一个人会因为另一个流泪而流泪。
Or one could weep because another wept.
薄嘴唇的盔甲制作者
The thin-lipped armorer,
赫菲斯托斯蹒跚地走开，
Hephaestos, hobbled away,
那胸脯闪亮的忒蒂斯
Thetis of the shining breasts
大惊失色叫出声来：
Cried out in dismay
这火神打造了什么样的武器
At what the god had wrought
来取悦她的儿子，那强壮
To please her son, the strong
杀人不眨眼的阿喀琉斯──
Iron-hearted man-slaying Achilles
他不久将阵亡。
Who would not live long.