朝向终点驶入了异常温暖的水域，
Towards the end he sailed into an extraordinary mildness,
他锚泊于家庭，攀得了一门亲事，
And anchored in his home and reached his wife
就此停靠在妻子悉心看护的港湾里，
And rode within the harbour of her hand,
他每天起早摸黑去往一间办公室
And went each morning to an office
仿佛他的职业是另一座岛屿。
As though his occupation were another island.
“良善”仍在：那是新的知识。
Goodness existed: that was the new knowledge.
他的恐惧只得自行消散
His terror had to blow itself quite out
以便他看个分明；但一股狂风将他
To let him see it; but it was the gale had blown him
刮过了现实功名的合恩角，它叫道：
Past the Cape Horn of sensible success
“这礁石就是伊甸园。在这儿毁灭。”
Which cries: “This rock is Eden. Shipwreck here.”
雷声使他耳聋，闪电令他迷乱：
But deafened him with thunder and confused with lightning:
——疯狂的英雄如寻找宝石，追逐着
–The maniac hero hunting like a jewel
那个导致他性无能的稀罕可疑的怪物，
The rare ambiguous monster that had maimed his sex,
冤冤相报在一声尖叫中了结，
The unexplained survivor breaking off the nightmare–
不作解释的生还者摆脱了噩梦——
All that was intricate and false; the truth was simple.
一切复杂又虚幻；真相如此简单。
Evil is unspectacular and always human,
而“恶”毫不起眼，总那么有人情味，
And shares our bed and eats at our own table,
与我们同床共眠，跟我们同桌吃饭，
And we are introduced to Goodness every day,
而我们每天都被带到“良善”那里，
Even in drawing-rooms among a crowd of faults;
即便在客厅里被一大堆错误所包围；
He has a name like Billy and is almost perfect,
它有个名字譬如比利，也几近完美，
But wears a stammer like a decoration:
却患了口吃如戴着一个装饰品：
And every time they meet the same thing has to happen;
它们每次都遇到了同样的必然情形；
It is the Evil that is helpless like a lover
“恶”竟如此无助有如一个恋人，
And has to pick a quarrel and succeeds,
定会找茬寻衅，然后大功告成，
And both are openly destroyed before our eyes.
接着在我们眼皮底下双双被摧毁。
For now he was awake and knew
此刻他已醒觉过来，且知道
No one is ever spared except in dreams;
没人会一直幸免除非是身在梦境；
But there was something else the nightmare had distorted–
但还有其他东西已被噩梦扭曲——
Even the punishment was human and a form of love:
连惩罚也温情，变成了爱的一种形式：
The howling storm had been his father’s presence
咆哮的暴风雨曾是他父亲的显灵，
And all the time he had been carried on his father’s breast.
他自始至终都被裹挟在父亲的胸前。
Who now had set him gently down and left him.
此刻父亲将他轻轻放下，已离他而去。
He stood upon the narrow balcony and listened:
站在逼仄的阳台上，他凝神细听：
And all the stars above him sang as in his childhood
头顶，众星如他童年时那样齐声歌唱：
“All, all is vanity,” but it was not the same;
“万事，万事皆虚空”，但歌声已不同；
For now the words descended like the calm of mountains–
因为此刻，词句如山间寂静般悄然降临——
–Nathaniel had been shy because his love was selfish–
纳撒尼尔的畏缩，皆因他自私的爱
Reborn, he cried in exultation and surrender
——当重获新生，他喜极而泣、就此顺服：
“The Godhead is broken like bread. We are the pieces.”
“神性破碎如面包。我们就是那碎屑。”
And sat down at his desk and wrote a story.
于是在书桌前坐下，他写出了一个故事。