The Solitary Reaper

BEHOLD her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself，
Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain;
O listen! for the Vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.

No Nightingale did ever chaunt
More welcome notes to weary bands
Of travelers in some shady haunt,
Among Arabian sands:
A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard
In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what she sings?—
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago:
Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of to-day?
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,

That has been, and may be again?

Whate'er the theme, the Maiden
sang
As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o'er the sickle bending;——
I listen'd, motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill,
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.

看，一個孤獨的高原姑娘，
在遠遠的田野間收割，
一邊割一邊獨自歌唱，
請你站住．或者俏悄走過！
她獨自把麥子割了又捆，
唱出無限悲涼的歌聲，
屏息聽吧！深廣的谷地
已被歌聲漲滿而漫溢！

還從未有過夜鶯百囀，
唱出過如此迷人的歌，
在沙漠中的綠蔭間
撫慰過疲憊的旅客；
還從未有過杜鵑迎春，
聲聲啼得如此震動靈魂，
在遙遠的赫布利底群島
打破過大海的寂寥。

她唱什么，誰能告訴我？
憂傷的音符不斷流涌，
是把遙遠的不聿訴說？
是把古代的戰爭吟詠？
也許她的歌比較卑謙，
只是唱今日平凡的悲歡，
只是唱自然的哀傷苦痛——
昨天經受過，明天又將重逢？

姑娘唱什么，我猜不著，
她的歌如流水永無盡頭；
只見她一邊唱一邊干活，
彎腰揮鐮，操勞不休……
我凝神不動，聽她歌唱，
然后，當我登上了山崗，
盡管歌聲早已不能聽到，
它卻仍在我心頭繚繞。