杜甫·《房兵曹胡马诗》英译

胡马大宛名，锋棱瘦骨成。

竹批双耳峻，风入四蹄轻。

所向无空阔，真堪托死生。

骁腾有如此，万里可横行。

 

Officer Fang’s Barbarian Steed

Du Fu

 

Barbarian steed, pride of Ferghana¹,

all jags and angles, well-knit bones;

two ears cocked, like bamboo tubes split sideways;

four hoofs fleet, as though buoyed on the wind.

Wherever headed, no distance too challenging,

fit indeed for a life-or-death charge.

With a mount superlative as this,

ten-thousand-mile sorties are at your command!

 

1. Ferghana in Central Asia was renowned for its fine horses.

 

Burton Watson 译

The Bactrian Horse

Du Fu

 

A Bactrian horse of that famous breed

Well built for speed; with sharp ears

Standing erect, like sliced corners of

Bamboo; at the gallop four hoofs that seem

To ride on the wind; with a mount like this

Distances melt to nothing; dependable

In any emergency; its gallant spirit

Will carry one unheard-of distances

In one day’s march.

 

Rewi Alley 译