That Whitsun, I was late getting away:

那个降灵节，我走得晚，

    Not till about

直到一个晴朗的

One-twenty on the sunlit Saturday

星期六下午一点二十分，

Did my three-quarters-empty train pull out,

我那大半空着的火车才开动。

All windows down, all cushions hot, all sense   

车窗全关着，坐垫暖暖的，

Of being in a hurry gone. We ran

不再感到仓促了。我们经过

Behind the backs of houses, crossed a street

许多房子的后面，穿过一条街，

Of blinding windscreens, smelt the fish-dock; thence   

玻璃窗亮得刺眼，闻到了鱼码头，

The river’s level drifting breadth began,

宽阔的河面平平地流开去，

Where sky and Lincolnshire and water meet.

林肯郡在那里同天和水相接。

All afternoon, through the tall heat that slept   

整个下午，穿过沉睡在内陆的高温，

    For miles inland,

延续好多英里，

A slow and stopping curve southwards we kept.   

火车开开停停，缓慢地画一条南下的弧线。

Wide farms went by, short-shadowed cattle, and   

开过了大农场，影子小小的牛群，

Canals with floatings of industrial froth;   

浮着工业废品的运河，

A hothouse flashed uniquely: hedges dipped   

罕见的暖房一闪而过，树篱随着地势

And rose: and now and then a smell of grass   

起伏；偶然有草地的清香

Displaced the reek of buttoned carriage-cloth   

代替了车厢椅套的气味，

Until the next town, new and nondescript,   

直到下一个城市，没有风格的新城，

Approached with acres of dismantled cars.

用整片的废汽车来迎接我们。

At first, I didn’t notice what a noise

一开始，我没注意到

    The weddings made

婚礼的动静，

Each station that we stopped at: sun destroys   

每个停车的站台闪着阳光，

The interest of what’s happening in the shade,

我对阴影里的活动没有兴趣，

And down the long cool platforms whoops and skirls   

凉爽的长月台上有点喊声笑声，

I took for porters larking with the mails,   

我以为只是搬邮件的工人在闹着玩，

And went on reading. Once we started, though,   

因此继续看我的书。等车一开动，

We passed them, grinning and pomaded, girls   

我才看见经过一些笑着的亮发姑娘，

In parodies of fashion, heels and veils,   

她们学着时髦，高跟鞋又加面纱，

All posed irresolutely, watching us go,

怯生生地站在月台上，看我们离开，

As if out on the end of an event

像是在一桩公案结束之后，

    Waving goodbye

挥手告别

To something that survived it. Struck, I leant   

留下来的什么东西。这使我感到兴趣，

More promptly out next time, more curiously,   

在下一站很快探出头来，

And saw it all again in different terms:   

看得更仔细，这才发现另一番景像:

The fathers with broad belts under their suits   

穿套装的父亲，腰系一根宽皮带，

And seamy foreheads; mothers loud and fat;   

额角上全是皱纹；爱嚷嚷的胖母亲;

An uncle shouting smut; and then the perms,   

大声说着脏话的舅舅；此外就是

The nylon gloves and jewellery-substitutes,   

新烫的发，尼龙手套，仿造的珠宝，

The lemons, mauves, and olive-ochres that

柠檬黄、紫红、茶青的衣料

Marked off the girls unreally from the rest.   

把姑娘们同其他人分别开来。

    Yes, from cafés

是的，从车场外边的

And banquet-halls up yards, and bunting-dressed   

咖啡店，宴会厅，和插满彩旗的

Coach-party annexes, the wedding-days   

旅游团的休息室来看，结婚的日子

Were coming to an end. All down the line

已近尾声。在整个旅程中

Fresh couples climbed aboard: the rest stood round;

都有新婚夫妇上车，别的人站在一边，

The last confetti and advice were thrown,

最后的纸花扔过了，随着最后的嘱咐;

And, as we moved, each face seemed to define   

而更向前行，每张脸似乎都表明

Just what it saw departing: children frowned   

究竟看到什么在隐退:孩子们不高兴，

At something dull; fathers had never known

由于沉闷；父亲们尝到了

Success so huge and wholly farcical;

从未有过的巨大成功，感到绝对滑稽;

    The women shared

女人们彼此私语，

The secret like a happy funeral;

共享秘密，如谈一次快活的葬礼;

While girls, gripping their handbags tighter, stared   

而姑娘们，把手包抓得更紧，盯着

At a religious wounding. Free at last,

一幅受难图。总算是自由了，

And loaded with the sum of all they saw,

满载着他们所见的一切的总和，

We hurried towards London, shuffling gouts of steam.   

火车向伦敦急驰，拖着一串串蒸汽。

Now fields were building-plots, and poplars cast   

现在田野换成了工地，白杨树

Long shadows over major roads, and for

在主要公路上投下长长的影子，这样

Some fifty minutes, that in time would seem

过了大约五十分钟，后来想起来，

Just long enough to settle hats and say

这时间正够整一整帽子，说一声

    I nearly died, 

“可真把我急死了”，

A dozen marriages got under way.

于是十几对男女过起了结婚生活。

They watched the landscape, sitting side by side

他们紧靠坐着，看着窗外的风景──

—An Odeon went past, a cooling tower,   

一家电影院过去了，一个冷却塔，

And someone running up to bowl—and none   

一个人跑着在投板球──却没有人

Thought of the others they would never meet   

想到那些他们再也见不着的亲友，

Or how their lives would all contain this hour.   

或今后一生里将保存当前这一时刻。

I thought of London spread out in the sun,   

我想到舒展在阳光下的伦敦，

Its postal districts packed like squares of wheat:

它那紧密相连的邮区就像一块块麦田。

There we were aimed. And as we raced across   

那是我们的目的地。当我们快速开过

    Bright knots of rail

闪亮的密集轨道，开过

Past standing Pullmans, walls of blackened moss   

静立的卧车，迎面来了长满藓苔的

Came close, and it was nearly done, this frail   

黑墙，又一次旅行快要结束了，一次

Travelling coincidence; and what it held   

偶然的遇合，它的后果

Stood ready to be loosed with all the power   

正待以人生变化的全部力量

That being changed can give. We slowed again,

奔腾而出。火车慢了下来，

And as the tightened brakes took hold, there swelled

当它完全停住的时候，出现了

A sense of falling, like an arrow-shower   

一种感觉，像是从看不见的地方

Sent out of sight, somewhere becoming rain.

射出了密集的箭，落下来变成了雨。