William Neil Herbert - Forgive the Flies 汉译

We must forgive the flies

because they are so young,

their cortices so small,

that they don’t understand

what it is they crawl on.

They greet everything

like little deities:

sugar and excrement

are each as good to them.

They vomit in their nervous

pleasure and mistake

our rolled up newspapers,

suppose our dying hands

are merely waving back.

原谅苍蝇

威廉·赫伯特

必须原谅苍蝇

因为它们如此年轻，

它们的脑皮质如此孱弱，

以致弄不懂

它们爬过的都是些什么。

它们向万物礼敬

如同礼敬众神：

糖和屎对它们

同是甘美的点心。

神经质的欣快

令它们呕吐，并误解

我们手中卷起的报纸，

以为我们致命的一挥

不过是依依惜别时的致意。

（唐晓渡　译）