作者：泰戈尔

译者：水石山房主人（仗剑书生）

27

Light, oh where is the light? Kindle it with the burning fire of desire!

There is the lamp but never a flicker of a flame--is such thy fate, my heart?Ah, death were better by far for thee!

Misery knocks at thy door, and her message is that thy lord is wakeful, and he calls thee to the love-tryst through the darkness of night.

The sky is overcast with clouds and the rain is ceaseless. I know not what this is that stirs in me--I know not its meaning.

A moment's flash of lightning drags down a deeper gloom on my sight, and my heart gropes for the path to where the music of the night calls me.

Light, oh where is the light! Kindle it with the burning fire of desire! It thunders and the wind rushes screaming through the void. The night is black as a black stone.Let not the hours pass by in the dark. Kindle the lamp of love with thy life.

译文：

灯光，灯光在哪里？用欲望的烈焰将其点燃！那里有一盏灯，但没有一丝火焰——我的心呀，难道这就是你的命运？啊，与其如此，不如死亡！

苦难女神叩响你的门，她说你的主人未曾入睡，她召唤你穿越暗夜去赶赴爱的幽会。乌云蔽空，大雨不息。我不知是什么搅动我心——我不明其义。

刹那的闪电，在我眼前拉下一道更深的暗影，我的心探寻着通往夜曲召唤我之处的路。

灯光，灯光在哪里？用欲望的烈焰将其点燃！雷声轰鸣，狂风呼啸着掠过长空。夜色漆黑，宛如磐石。不要让时光在黑暗中虚度。用你的生命将爱之灯点燃！

译者手记：

孟加拉语原作为《献歌集》第17首，标题为译者所加。这首诗，以及第57首，都是关于光明的，洋溢着对光明的渴求，因此在翻译中，我加快了诗句的节奏，让诗句更加铿锵有力，将这种近乎焦虑的渴望表现出来。