In a stable of boats I lie still,

我在船坞静静躺着，

From all sleeping children hidden.

远离睡眠中的孩子们。

The leap of a fish from its shadow

一条鱼自它的阴影跃出，

Makes the whole lake instantly tremble.

整个湖面立时震颤。

With my foot on the water, I feel

我以足触水，能感到

The moon outside

外面的月亮

Take on the utmost of its power.

正为光辉竭尽全力。

I rise and go out through the boats.

我起身，穿过船只，

I set my broad sole upon silver,

脚底碰到那银色，

On the skin of the sky, on the moonlight,

天空的肌肤，那月光。

Stepping outward from earth onto water

为寻找奇迹，

In quest of the miracle

我自人世涉入水中。

This village of children believed

整个村庄的孩子们相信，

That I could perform as I dived

当我跃入水中，可以救出

For one who had sunk from my sight.

从我的视线中消失的那一位。

I saw his cropped haircut go under.

我看到他的短头发沉入水下。

I leapt, and my steep body flashed

我起跳，耸立的身体

Once, in the sun.

在日光中闪烁了一次。

Dark drew all the light from my eyes.

黑暗从我的眼中抽走所有光亮，

Like a man who explores his death

如一个人探测他的死亡，

By the pull of his slow-moving shoulders,

我慢慢挪动肩膀，

I hung head down in the cold,

一头扎入冰冷的水中，

Wide-eyed, contained, and alone

圆睁双目，以克制，孤身一人

Among the weeds,

潜入水草丛中。

And my fingertips turned into stone

我的指尖因为抓紧

From clutching immovable blackness.

坚不可撼的黑色而变为石头

Time after time I leapt upward

我一次又一次向前，

Exploding in breath, and fell back

大口喘气，又因孩子们看见

From the change in the children’s faces

我的失败，在他们变幻的脸色中

At my defeat.

向后撤退。

Beneath them I swam to the boathouse

在他们之下，我游向船坞，

With only my life in my arms

怀抱自己的生命，

To wait for the lake to shine back

等待月升时湖面

At the risen moon with such power

重新闪耀。明月千里，

That my steps on the light of the ripples

托举我，在水面的

Might be sustained.

涟漪之光上行进。

Beneath me is nothing but brightness

在我之下，只有光亮，

Like the ghost of a snowfield in summer.

如夏日雪原上的幽灵。

As I move toward the center of the lake,

当我移向湖的中心，

Which is also the center of the moon,

我也移向明月的内核。

I am thinking of how I may be

我在思索着，如何

The savior of one

才能拯救那个

Who has already died in my care.

在我的看护下溺水的孩子。

The dark trees fade from around me.

黑色的树林从我身边褪去，

The moon’s dust hovers together.

月光的灰尘在旋转。

I call softly out, and the child’s

我轻声呼唤，他的声音

Voice answers through blinding water.

就在耀眼的水波中做出应答，

Patiently, slowly,

缓慢地，充满耐心。

He rises, dilating to break

终于他从水中升起，身影变大，

The surface of stone with his forehead.

以他的额头击碎石头。

He is one I do not remember

可我知道，我从未

Having ever seen in his life.

见过他生前的样子。

The ground I stand on is trembling

他微笑着，我脚下的一切

Upon his smile.

在不断战栗。

I wash the black mud from my hands.

我洗去手上的污泥，

On a light given off by the grave

就着墓地里的灯光。

I kneel in the quick of the moon

我跪在月光的内核，

At the heart of a distant forest

在远方树林的中心。

And hold in my arms a child

我的怀中，抱着一个

Of water, water, water.

水的，水的，水的孩子。