You Are Old, Father William Poem by Luo Zhihai

★ You Are Old, Father William

☆ Poetry by Lewis Carroll


'You are old, father William, ' the young man said,
'And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head -
Do you think, at your age, it is right?

'In my youth, ' father William replied to his son,
'I feared it might injure the brain;
But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again.'

'You are old, ' said the youth, 'as I mentioned before,
And you have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door -
Pray what is the reason for that? '

'In my youth, ' said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
'I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment - one shilling a box -
Allow me to sell you a couple? '

'You are old, ' said the youth, 'and your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak -
Pray, how did you mange to do it? '

'In my youth, ' said his fater, 'I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life.'

'You are old, ' said the youth, 'one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as every;
Yet you balanced an eel on the tend of your nose -
What made you so awfully clever? '

'I have answered three questions, and that is enough, '
Said his father. 'Don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs.


▲ Chinese Translation

★ 你老了，威廉爸爸

☆ [英] 刘易斯•卡罗尔（1832 - 1898） 诗
☆ [中] 罗志海 译


"你老了，威廉爸爸，"年轻人说道
"你头发灰白脸上发皱
你不停地美容你的头——
你不觉得，在你这个年龄，这样做好不好？"

"我年轻的时候"，威廉爸爸答道
"我怕这样会损害大脑
但是，现在我非常确信我没错
这就是为什么我一次又一次地这样做"

"你老了，"年轻人说，"正如我之前提到的
你已经变得非常肥胖了
你一个趔趄栽在大门口
请问，这是什么理由？"

"我年轻的时候"，圣人摇了摇灰色头发，说
"我锻炼保持四肢柔软
依靠使用这种药膏——一先令一盒
请允许我向你推销几盒？"

"你老了，"年轻人说，"你虚弱的下巴
嚼不动比板油还硬的食物
你吃光鹅，连掌带骨
请问，你办得到吗？"

"我年轻的时候"，爸爸说，"我守法
每每与我妻子争辩论证
肌肉强健了我下巴
已经持续了我的余生"

"你老了"，年轻人说，"很难想象假定——
你的眼睛如此坚定
你的鼻子像鳗鱼般活泼前倾
你怎这么聪明？"

"我已经回答了三个问题，这就足够了呀"
他爸爸说："不要老给自己出风头！
你觉得我可以整天听你废话连篇吗？
滚开，否则我就把你踢下楼"


译后感悟：这首诗，纯口语入诗，标着双引号。一百多年过去了，仍隽永，诗意盎然。每四句就有两组韵脚。为了中文也有两组韵脚相配对，我整整花了一个半小时，才勉强配韵。

北京时间2015年2月16日翻译
Beijing time on February 16,2015, Translation