主题：Andrew Marr：我们英国人——英国诗歌文学简史 -- 万年看客

在同代人眼里德莱顿几乎什么都能写，无论是英雄剧还是悲剧，无论是喜剧还是歌词，无论是讽刺诗还是质量超群的维吉尔诗歌翻译。在他的时代，诗歌在社会生活当中依然举足轻重。他本人曾经因为与另一位诗人结怨——所谓的“另一位诗人”其实就是约翰.威尔莫特——而遭到后者雇佣的打手们的袭击，差点被活活打死。德莱顿还是第一位得到官方认证的英国桂冠诗人，不过为他赢得这一殊荣的作品是一首献给查理二世的颂圣诗，内容极其油腻。另一首质量更高的诗歌是他为了纪念1666年英荷海战以及各种灾害而创作的长诗《奇迹之年》（Annus Mirabilis），这首诗将英国与罗马帝国进行了类比，从而开启了维多利亚时代英国诗坛的惯用套路。诗文的风格难免让笔者联想起斯大林时期的苏联御用文人。在这首诗的创作时期，英国与荷兰正在为了争夺利润高昂的香料贸易份额而进行着你死我活的较量，当时肉豆蔻的价格以重量计算甚至高于黄金。荷兰共和国在香料贸易方面早已取得了巨大成功，德莱顿对于英荷战争的描述则从头到脚都流露着英国人的嫉妒心态。实际上英国在这场战争当中总体而言没占便宜：

In thriving arts long time had Holland grown,

Crouching at home and cruel when abroad:

Scarce leaving us the means to claim our own;

Our King they courted, and our merchants awed.

荷兰长久以来精于发家致富的技艺，

盘踞在自家地界，在外行事残忍；

几乎不给我们留下创建基业的余地，

逢迎我们的国王，恐吓我们的商人。

Trade, which, like blood, should circularly flow,

Stopp’d in their channels, found its freedom lost:

Thither the wealth of all the world did go,

And seem’d but shipwreck’d on so base a coast.

贸易就像血液，天性应当循环流动，

却阻断在他们的运河里，从此失去自由；

他们吞噬了全世界的财富，恰似无底黑洞，

商船搁浅在卑劣的海滩，不能走只能留。

For them alone the heavens had kindly heat;

In eastern quarries ripening precious dew:

For them the Idumaean balm did sweat,

And in hot Ceylon spicy forests grew.

就好像天国仅仅为他们撒下和煦阳光，

东方矿场仅仅为他们孕育宝石闪耀

以土买的香膏仅仅为他们而芬芳，

炎热的锡兰仅仅为他们生长香料。

The sun but seem’d the labourer of the year;

Each waxing moon supplied her watery store,

To swell those tides, which from the line did bear

Their brimful vessels to the Belgian shore.

太阳只是他们的长工，全年不知疲倦，

每一轮满月都为他们打开水库；

令潮汐高涨，覆盖他们的海岸沿线，

将驶向比利时的满载商船托住。

Thus mighty in her ships, stood Carthage long,

And swept the riches of the world from far;

Yet stoop’d to Rome, less wealthy, but more strong:

And this may prove our second Punic war.

他们的行船技艺就像迦太基一般历史悠长，

他们聚敛的财富来自遥远的世界各地；

因此蔑视罗马，不如他们富裕，但比他们更强，

第二次布匿战争对我们而言或许无法回避。

What peace can be, where both to one pretend?

(But they more diligent, and we more strong)

Or if a peace, it soon must have an end;

For they would grow too powerful, were it long.

能有什么和平，倘若双方都披着伪装，

他们比看上去更勤勉，我们更强壮。

就算勉强和平，不用多久必然破灭泡汤，

拖得太久，他们的力量必将凌驾于我们之上。

Behold two nations, then, engaged so far

That each seven years the fit must shake each land:

Where France will side to weaken us by war,

Who only can his vast designs withstand.

像这样两个国家，彼此纠缠许久，

每隔七年必然要撼动对方的土地；

为了削弱我们，法国每次都会插手，

也只有我们才能顶住此等连环算计。

不过德莱顿将国王描绘成了一位审慎理智的明君而非一味叫嚣的好战分子。在一场又一场战争当中，英国领导人始终顶住国内叫嚣呼吁和平，而奸险的外国人屡屡逼迫他们走投无路：

The loss and gain each fatally were great;

And still his subjects call’d aloud for war;

But peaceful kings, o’er martial people set,

Each, other’s poise and counterbalance are.

死生之地，存亡之道，不可不慎，

但他的臣民却呼唤战争，喊声杀气腾腾；

爱好和平的君主治下，民众却战意振奋，

这两者分别担任对方的约束与制衡。

He first survey’d the charge with careful eyes,

Which none but mighty monarchs could maintain;

Yet judged, like vapours that from limbecks rise,

It would in richer showers descend again.

他检视了开战的诉求，看得多么仔细，

胸怀伟略的君主，真是人中之雄；

他的决断恰似蒸馏瓶中的升腾蒸汽，

再度凝结之际必将更加纯浓。

At length resolved to assert the watery ball,

He in himself did whole Armadoes bring:

Him aged seamen might their master call,

And choose for general, were he not their king.

必须主宰海上舞会，这是他的最终决定，

他还要亲率整支舰队与敌国交兵

积年的老水兵们都愿意听他号令，

倘若他不是国王，必要奉他为将军。

It seems as every ship their sovereign knows,

His awful summons they so soon obey;

So hear the scaly herd when Proteus blows,

And so to pasture follow through the sea.

每一艘战船都认得她们的君主，

全都服从他那恢弘的开战宣讲；

恰似普罗透斯的号角将鱼群鼓舞，

便横渡大海，前往它们的牧场。

To see this fleet upon the ocean move,

Angels drew wide the curtains of the skies;

And heaven, as if there wanted lights above,

For tapers made two glaring comets rise.

天使看到这舰队在海上航行，

随即收起了遮蔽天空的幕帐；

天国觉得这舰队需要光明，

于是放出两颗彗星多么明亮。

Whether they unctuous exhalations are,

Fired by the sun, or seeming so alone:

Or each some more remote and slippery star,

Which loses footing when to mortals shown.

吐息柔和的流星，来历众说纷纭，

看似形单影只，莫不是被太阳发射？

又或者两颗都是远方的星辰，

脚下一滑就在凡人面前跌落？

Or one, that bright companion of the sun,

Whose glorious aspect seal’d our new-born king;

And now a round of greater years begun,

New influence from his walks of light did bring.

又或者其中一颗明星曾陪在太阳身边，

璀璨星光预示过新生之王的事迹；*

更加伟大的时代如今正逢开端，

这颗星的光辉也将发挥全新效力。

*【新生之王即耶稣，这里指的是伯利恒之星。】

Victorious York did first with famed success,

To his known valour make the Dutch give place:

Thus Heaven our monarch’s fortune did confess,

Beginning conquest from his royal race.

战功赫赫的约克率先将胜利锁定，

他的英勇迫使荷兰人撤退让路；*

天堂已经彰显了我国君主的运命，

皇家贵胄踏上了征服的第一步。

*【在1665年6月的英荷海战当中，约克公爵乘坐的皇家查理号战舰与荷军旗舰和谐号交火并将其击沉，随后荷军接连受创，一百零三艘战舰只剩下了三十艘，不得不撤退。】

得到彗星的加护之后，英国人打赢了这场规模浩大的海战。诗中栩栩如生的细节暗示着德莱顿采用了战场当事人的第一手资料。他的用意自然是鼓舞全体英国人团结在查理二世身边。不过1666年不仅见证了战争，也见证了灾害——即瘟疫与伦敦大火。毫不意外的是，国王在大火期间再次展现了英雄形象。德莱顿写这首诗的时候并不在伦敦，因为他要躲避瘟疫。但是他对于大火如何在拥挤的伦敦城肆虐的描写却让人宛如身临其境一般——尽管他同时还指责“强风”助长了火势：

Their cries soon waken all the dwellers near;

Now murmuring noises rise in every street:

The more remote run stumbling with their fear,

And in the dark men jostle as they meet.

他们的叫声很快惊醒了临近的住户，

喧嚣的人声很快就响起在街上，

较远处的居民吓得跑三步摔两步，

摸黑跑路的人们相互冲撞。

So weary bees in little cells repose;

But if night-robbers lift the well-stored hive,

An humming through their waxen city grows,

And out upon each other’s wings they drive.

好比疲累的蜜蜂在小格子里休憩松弛，

可要是夜盗掀开库存丰满的蜂房，

蜂群的嗡嗡声随即响彻了蜡质城池，

翅膀相互摩擦，个个混乱慌忙。

Now streets grow throng’d and busy as by day:

Some run for buckets to the hallow’d quire:

Some cut the pipes, and some the engines play;

And some more bold mount ladders to the fire.

街头就像白天一样川流拥挤，

找水桶的人们朝着唱诗班的方向硬闯，

有人切断水管，有人操作喷水机，

还有胆大的架起梯子接近火场。

In vain: for from the east a Belgian wind

His hostile breath through the dry rafters sent;

The flames impell’d soon left their foes behind,

And forward with a wanton fury went.

可都是徒劳，因为东方刮起了一阵强风，

恶意的吐息穿过了干燥的梁柱。

火借风势，灭火者的抵抗顿时落空，

大火继续前进，恣意发泄着愤怒。

A quay of fire ran all along the shore,

And lighten’d all the river with a blaze:

The waken’d tides began again to roar,

And wondering fish in shining waters gaze.

泰晤士河两岸大火熊熊燃烧，

冲天火光将整条河面照亮。

潮水苏醒，再次开始咆哮，

好奇的鱼儿将闪烁的水面打量。

……

The fire, meantime, walks in a broader gross;

To either hand his wings he opens wide:

He wades the streets, and straight he reaches cross,

And plays his longing flames on the other side.

与此同时，火焰蔓延得越来越宽，

向两侧舒展开了广大的双翼，

信步走过街道，径直来到十字路口旁边，

就像玩耍一般将火苗投送过去。

At first they warm, then scorch, and then they take;

Now with long necks from side to side they feed:

At length, grown strong, their mother-fire forsake,

And a new colony of flames succeed.

首先送温暖，然后灼烫，最终夺取，

摇摆长颈左右吞吃果腹，

最终身强力壮，便脱离了母体，

火焰于是在新地盘将脚跟立住。

To every nobler portion of the town

The curling billows roll their restless tide:

In parties now they straggle up and down,

As armies, unopposed, for prey divide.

在伦敦城的各处高档地段，

浓烟滚滚恰似潮水不断涨落，

上下散播的火头，无处不受侵犯，

恰似无敌的军队将猎物分化击破。

One mighty squadron with a side-wind sped,

Through narrow lanes his cumber’d fire does haste,

By powerful charms of gold and silver led,

The Lombard bankers and the ‘Change to waste.

有一支别动队乘着侧风突进直捣，

受到窄巷约束的火苗飞速进逼，

火势受到了金银的强大魔咒的引导，

将隆巴德街的银行与交易所化为废墟。

Another backward to the Tower would go,

And slowly eats his way against the wind:

But the main body of the marching foe

Against the imperial palace is design’d.

另一股火头转身指向了伦敦塔，

顶着风势一点点蚕食灼烧，

但是攻城略地的主力人马

依然将王宫当成首要目标。

Now day appears, and with the day the King,

Whose early care had robb’d him of his rest:

Far off the cracks of falling houses ring,

And shrieks of subjects pierce his tender breast.

此时晨光初现，国王早已饱受煎熬，

因为关注火情，他一夜都没能睡好；

房倒屋塌之声，还有臣民的嚎啕

虽然遥远，却依然听得他心如刀绞。

国王确实是救火活动的总指挥。就算最终灾情惨重，但是至少没有变得比实际情况更糟。接下来德莱顿又描绘了大火熄灭之后满目疮痍的伦敦：梁柱化为焦炭，石墙摇摇欲坠，读之令人心里发毛：

Night came, but without darkness or repose, —

A dismal picture of the general doom,

Where souls, distracted when the trumpet blows,

And half unready, with their bodies come.

夜幕再临，但是黑暗或者宁静却无处寻觅，

满目凄惨，简直好比世界末日的景象，

宣告末世的号角分散了世间灵魂的精力，

尚未准备好各自的肉体陆续赶上。

Those who have homes, when home they do repair,

To a last lodging call their wandering friends:

Their short uneasy sleeps are broke with care,

To look how near their own destruction tends.

侥幸有家能回的人们开始修葺房舍，

呼唤流浪街头的亲友们进屋栖身；

短暂不安的睡眠总是被重重心事打破，

想起自己距离毁灭只差了一寸半分。

Those who have none, sit round where once it was,

And with full eyes each wonted room require;

Haunting the yet warm ashes of the place,

As murder’d men walk where they did expire.

无家可归的人们围坐在住宅旧址旁边

茫然双眼检视着一片片残垣断壁，

默默地行走在尚且温热的灰烬之间，

好像被害人的冤魂徘徊在案发地。

Some stir up coals, and watch the vestal fire,

Others in vain from sight of ruin run;

And, while through burning labyrinths they retire,

With loathing eyes repeat what they would shun.

有人铲起煤炭，凝视着火光灼灼在炉中，

也有人徒劳躲避着毁灭的景象；

他们疲惫不堪，刚刚逃出了燃烧的迷宫，

现在又嫌弃地将躲避许久的元素打量。

The most in fields like herded beasts lie down,

To dews obnoxious on the grassy floor;

And while their babes in sleep their sorrows drown,

Sad parents watch the remnants of their store.

绝大多数人都像牲畜在白地上躺卧，

顾不得地上青草凝结着刺骨的夜露；

孩子的沉眠暂且将父母的悲苦淹没，

愁眉苦脸的人们打量着残存的店铺。

尽管遭此重创，但是伦敦必然还会再次崛起。瑟瑟发抖的民众们对于好动的君主的忠诚将会再次拯救他们。德莱顿的妙笔将这场大灾转化成了爱国主义的胜利，他本人则因此赢得了一份皇家年金。尽管此时为时尚早，但他却已经预见到了日后伦敦作为全球商贸重镇与帝国首都的地位，这座城市将会让欧洲大陆上的竞争者们全都万分惊叹：

Now, like a maiden queen, she will behold,

From her high turrets, hourly suitors come;

The East with incense, and the West with gold,

Will stand, like suppliants, to receive her doom!

恰似童贞女王，她守在高塔上招亲，

仰慕她的追求者络绎不绝；

东方献上香料，西方献上黄金，

全都仰着脸等待她的裁决。

The silver Thames, her own domestic flood,

Shall bear her vessels like a sweeping train;

And often wind, as of his mistress proud,

With longing eyes to meet her face again.

粼粼的泰晤士河，她自家的水路干道，

托起她的商船就好比马车成行，

大风也为自己的情人感到骄傲，

渴望能再次见到她的面庞。

The wealthy Tagus, and the wealthier Rhine,

The glory of their towns no more shall boast;

And Seine, that would with Belgian rivers join,

Shall find her lustre stain’d, and traffic lost.

富饶的塔霍河与更富饶的莱茵河，

再也不能将沿岸城镇的荣光夸口；

本应在比利时合流的塞纳河，

将要丧尽润泽，客流再也没有。

The venturous merchant who design’d more far,

And touches on our hospitable shore,

Charm’d with the splendour of this northern star,

Shall here unlade him, and depart no more.

商贾们原本计划前往远方将财富寻找，

不过当他们来到我们的好客海岸，

被这颗北方星辰的光华所倾倒，

将会卸下全部货物，不再去别处查看。

Our powerful navy shall no longer meet,

The wealth of France or Holland to invade;

The beauty of this town without a fleet,

From all the world shall vindicate her trade.

我们的海军虽强，却不必对抗

法国或者荷兰的财富侵入这座美丽城镇；

财富并非舰队，入侵也不为打仗，

她的贸易活动将会得到全世界的承认。

在德莱顿年轻时，英国还是一个分裂的清教共和国。但是这个国家至少已经蕴含了日后横跨全球的君主制大英帝国的胚胎，而帝国大业将会持续整整二百五十年。