为了唯利是图的

For authorities whose hopes

权威人士？

are shaped by mercenaries?

为了沉迷于

Writers entrapped by

茶会上的声誉与往返之舒适的 

teatime fame and by

作家？并不是为这些人

commuters" comforts? Not for these

纸鹦鹉螺

the paper nautilus

建造了脆弱的玻璃壳。

constructs her thin glass shell.

作为她易朽的

Giving her perishable

希望之纪念品，灰白色的

souvenir of hope, a dull

外壳，边缘平整的

white outside and smooth-

内面

edged inner surface

大海一般光滑，警惕的

glossy as the sea, the watchful

创造者

maker of it guards it

日日夜夜守卫着它；她几乎

day and night; she scarcely

不吃，直到蛋孵化出来。

eats until the eggs are hatched.

在某种意义上，她是一条

Buried eight-fold in her eight

章鱼，在八只胳膊的

arms, for she is in

八重覆盖下， 

a sense a devil-

玻璃羊角似的摇篮盛装的物品

fish, her glass ram"shorn-cradled freight

隐藏着，并没有被压碎；

is hid but is not crushed;

如同赫拉克勒斯，被

as Hercules, bitten

一只忠实于九头蛇的螃蟹咬住

by a crab loyal to the hydra,

阻挠了他的胜利，

was hindered to succeed,

密切

the intensively

照看的蛋

watched eggs coming from

孵出来，它们自由时也解脱了壳，——

the shell free it when they are freed,--

它白色的蜂窝上

leaving its wasp-nest flaws

留下了裂纹，和白而细密的

of white on white, and close-

爱奥尼亚似皱褶

laid Ionic chiton-folds

如同帕特侬神庙中

like the lines in the mane of

马的鬃毛线条，

a Parthenon horse,

那些胳膊

round which the arms had

彼此缠绕，仿佛它们知道

wound themselves as if they knew love

爱是唯一的坚强堡垒

is the only fortress

足以信赖。

strong enough to trust to.