★譯文如有誤，敬請指教。
作者：奧斯卡．王爾德（Oscar Wilde）
作品名稱：瑞丁監獄之歌（The Ballad of Reading Gaol）
初版發行年分：1898年
正文：
I
He did not wear his scarlet coat,
For blood and wine are red,
And blood and wine were on his hands
When they found him with the dead,
The poor dead woman whom he loved,
And murdered in her bed.
一
他並未穿著他的緋紅大衣，
因血與葡萄酒也為紅色，
而血與葡萄酒就在他的雙手
當他們發現了他與屍體時，
那可憐的死掉的女人為他所愛，
並在她的床上被謀害。
He walked amongst the Trial Men
In a suit of shabby gray;
A cricket cap was on his head,
And his step seemed light and gay;
But I never saw a man who looked
So wistfully at the day.
他走在審判官之間
身著破爛的灰色西裝；
頭戴鴨舌帽，
他的步伐輕盈愉快；
但我從未見過一個男人
那麼傷感地望著白天。
I never saw a man who looked
With such a wistful eye
Upon that little tent of blue
Which prisoners call the sky,
And at every drifting cloud that went
With sails of silver by.
我從未見過一個男人
用那麼傷感的眼神
望著藍色的小帳篷
那囚犯所謂的天空，
盯著流經的浮雲
皆帶有銀色的帆。
I walked, with other souls in pain,
Within another ring,
And was wondering if the man had done
A great or little thing,
When a voice behind me whispered low,
"That fellow's got to swing."
我與其他受苦的靈魂，走進了，
另一道輪迴，
想知道那個男人是否做過
重大或渺小的事情，
一個聲音在我身後低語，
「這傢伙將被吊起來晃。」
Dear Christ! the very prison walls
Suddenly seemed to reel,
And the sky above my head became
Like a casque of scorching steel;
And, though I was a soul in pain,
My pain I could not feel.
親愛的基督啊！遙遠的監獄圍牆
陡然間像在搖動，
我頭頂上的天空變得
像灼熱的鋼盔；
而我，雖是受苦的靈魂，
己身苦難卻渾然不覺了。
I only knew what hunted thought
Quickened his step, and why
He looked upon the garish day
With such a wistful eye;
The man had killed the thing he loved,
And so he had to die.
我只知道是什麼煩心事
加快了他的步伐，以及為何
他望著這艷麗的日子
用那麼傷感的眼神；
這位男人殺死了其所愛之物，
如是他必得死。
Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!
然而人人皆殺死其所愛之物，
讓個個都被聽見吧，
有人以苛刻眼神行之，
有人則以奉承的言辭，
懦夫用一個吻，
勇者用一把劍！
Some kill their love when they are young,
And some when they are old;
Some strangle with the hands of Lust,
Some with the hands of Gold:
The kindest use a knife, because
The dead so soon grow cold.
有人年輕時殺死其所愛
有人則在年邁時；
有人用慾望的雙手勒斃
有人用金錢之手：
最善良的用一把刀，因為
屍體很快就會變冷了。
Some love too little, some too long,
Some sell, and others buy;
Some do the deed with many tears,
And some without a sigh:
For each man kills the thing he loves,
Yet each man does not die.
有人愛得過於膚淺，有人過於深刻，
有人販賣，其他人便購買；
有人滿是淚水做此事，
有人則毫無嘆息：
人人都殺死了其所愛之物，
然而人人都沒死。
He does not die a death of shame
On a day of dark disgrace,
Nor have a noose about his neck,
Nor a cloth upon his face,
Nor drop feet foremost through the floor
Into an empty space.
他並未於羞愧中死去
在那個黑暗的恥辱的一天，
也未有繩索繫其頸項，
也未有塊布覆其臉龐，
也未雙腳向前穿過地板
落入空曠之處。
He does not sit with silent men
Who watch him night and day;
Who watch him when he tries to weep,
And when he tries to pray;
Who watch him lest himself should rob
The prison of its prey.
他並未與沉默的男人們一同坐著
他們夜以繼日看著他；
當他嘗試啜泣時，
當他嘗試禱告時；
他們看著他，唯恐其搶走
監獄裏的獵物。
He does not wake at dawn to see
Dread figures throng his room,
The shivering Chaplain robed in white,
The Sheriff stern with gloom,
And the Governor all in shiny black,
With the yellow face of Doom.
他並未在黎明醒來時見到
可怕的人影充斥他的房間，
顫抖的牧師身著白袍，
郡長的神情嚴肅灰暗，
獄長全身閃亮的黑色，
帶著厄運的懦弱臉孔。
He does not rise in piteous haste
To put on convict-clothes,
While some coarse-mouthed Doctor gloats, and notes
Each new and nerve-twitched pose,
Fingering a watch whose little ticks
Are like horrible hammer-blows.
他並未倉促得可憐地
起身穿上囚衣，
然而講話粗俗的醫生幸災樂禍，並留意
每一個新的神經抽搐的姿勢，
擺弄著微弱的滴答聲
宛如重鎚一擊的手錶。
He does not know that sickening thirst
That sands one's throat, before
The hangman with his gardener's gloves
Slips through the padded door,
And binds one with three leathern thongs,
That the throat may thirst no more.
他並不知道會磨平喉嚨的
令人作嘔的口渴，在
戴著園丁手套的劊子手
悄悄穿過厚重的門，
並用三條皮繩把人綁起之前，
喉嚨可能不再渴了。
He does not bend his head to hear
The Burial Office read,
Nor while the terror of his soul
Tells him he is not dead,
Cross his own coffin, as he moves
Into the hideous shed.
他並未低頭聆聽
殯葬人員宣讀，
儘管他靈魂中的恐懼
告訴他他並未死，
跨過他自己的棺材，當他搬進
醜陋至極的小屋。
He does not stare upon the air
Through a little roof of glass:
He does not pray with lips of clay
For his agony to pass;
Nor feel upon his shuddering cheek
The kiss of Caiaphas.
他並未凝視天空
從小小的玻璃屋頂：
他並未用黏土般的嘴脣
祈禱痛苦離去；
也未在顫抖的頰上
感受到該亞法的吻。
