泰戈尔《园丁集》新译第79首·界线

79

I often wonder where lie hidden the boundaries of recognition between man and the beast whose heart knows no spoken language.

Through what primal paradise in a remote morning of creation ran the simple path by which their hearts visited each other?

我时常困惑，动物的心灵不通语言，人与动物之间互相认识的界线藏在哪里。

在一个远古的创世清晨，他们心灵互访的简单小路，穿行在怎样的太初乐园？

Those marks of their constant tread have not been effaced though their kinship has been long forgotten.

Yet suddenly in some wordless music the dim memory wakes up and the beast gazes into the man's face with a tender trust, and the man looks down into its eyes with amused affection.

It seems that the two friends meet masked and vaguely know each other through the disguise.

尽管他们的亲缘关系早已淡忘，他们那延续不断的足迹并未消失。

在无言的音乐中，那朦胧的记忆突然苏醒，动物怀着温顺的信任注视着人的脸，人也带着欢喜的笑容俯视着它的双眼。

仿佛两个朋友带着面具相逢，透过伪装依稀相认。