到晚年他渡入异常的温和，
Towards the end he sailed into an extraordinary mildness,
下锚在家里，抵达他老婆身边，
And anchored in his home and reached his wife
以她的手为港口，驾驶不越那范围，
And rode within the harbour of her hand,
每天早晨过海去上办公室，
And went each morning to an office
把他的职业当作另一座岛屿。
As though his occupation were another island.
善存在——这是新获得的认识。
Goodness existed: that was the new knowledge.
但他是先把心里的恐怖发泄掉
His terror had to blow itself quite out
才看到这点；是那阵八级大风
To let him see it; but it was the gale had blown him
把他吹过合恩角，吹过合理的成功，
Past the Cape Horn of sensible success
是那风在叫：“这岩石是伊甸园。在此沉船吧！”
Which cries: “This rock is Eden. Shipwreck here.”
但又拿雷声震聋他，用闪电迷惑他——
But deafened him with thunder and confused with lightning:
一个发疯的英雄像寻宝似地
–The maniac hero hunting like a jewel
在寻找那个毁了他的性力的罕见怪物：
The rare ambiguous monster that had maimed his sex,
仇恨对仇恨，以一声尖叫结束，
The unexplained survivor breaking off the nightmare–
幸存者不知怎样活了下来，总算解脱了那场噩梦——
All that was intricate and false; the truth was simple.
这一切都太曲折，也不真，而真相却很简单。
Evil is unspectacular and always human,
恶并不引人注意，而且总合乎人情，
And shares our bed and eats at our own table,
和我们同床睡觉，同桌吃饭；
And we are introduced to Goodness every day,
而善，我们每天都被介绍给他；
Even in drawing-rooms among a crowd of faults;
甚至在客厅里，在一大堆缺点中间；
He has a name like Billy and is almost perfect,
他往往名叫别莱，几乎什么都好，
But wears a stammer like a decoration:
但说话结巴，倒引以为荣，像挂了勋章。
每逢这两位碰上，总要发生同样的事。
And every time they meet the same thing has to happen;
恶显得无可奈何，像一个情夫，
It is the Evil that is helpless like a lover
却总能找个借口吵起来，
And has to pick a quarrel and succeeds,
于是两者都公开地毁灭在我们面前。
And both are openly destroyed before our eyes.
现在他醒来了，知道
For now he was awake and knew
谁也逃不掉命运，除非在梦里。
No one is ever spared except in dreams;
不过那场恶梦还把另一件事也搞颠倒了——
But there was something else the nightmare had distorted–
连惩罚也符合人情，是另一种方式的爱：
Even the punishment was human and a form of love:
怒吼的狂风原是他的父亲显身，
The howling storm had been his father’s presence
他一直是躺在父亲的胸上移动。
And all the time he had been carried on his father’s breast.
现在父亲把他轻轻放下，走了。
Who now had set him gently down and left him.
他站在小小的洋台上，留神听着：
He stood upon the narrow balcony and listened:
所有的星星都在他的头上，就像小时候那样唱着：
And all the stars above him sang as in his childhood
“万事皆空，万事皆空，”但又不同，
“All, all is vanity,” but it was not the same;
因为现在词语带着群山的静谧落下来——
For now the words descended like the calm of mountains–
纳撒厄尔有点腼腆，由于他的爱是自私的——
–Nathaniel had been shy because his love was selfish–
而他自己却带着狂喜，喜欢准备放弃一切，
Reborn, he cried in exultation and surrender
喊道：“上帝已分裂如面包．我们是裂开的碎片。”
“The Godhead is broken like bread. We are the pieces.”
接着在书桌前坐下，写了一个故事。
And sat down at his desk and wrote a story.