未选之路 The Road Not Taken  BY Robert Frost (1874-1963)

原作：罗伯特·佛罗斯特

翻译：徐家祯

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,         

And sorry I could not travel both                         

And be one traveller, long I stood               

And looked down one as far as I could                 

To where it bent in the undergrowth;           

Then took the other, as just as fair,              

And having perhaps the better claim,           

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;                

Though as for that the passing there            

Had worn them really about the same,         

And both that morning equally lay               

In leaves no step had trodden black.            

Oh, I kept the first for another day!             

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,                 

I doubted if I should ever come back.          

I shall be telling this with a sigh                   

Somewhere ages and ages hence:                          

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—                

I took the one less travelled by,                   

And that has made all the difference.           

黄色的树林中分出两个路口，

可惜我无分身之术不能同时都走，    

只能伫立着想了很久：

我望着一条路想尽量看得远点，

直至它弯进树丛再也不能看见。

然后再看另一条，它也同样美艳，

或许这条路才是更好的挑选，

因为它芳草萋萋、没被很多人蹂践；

不过这两条路都没被人踩坏，

在这点上它们倒都没有例外。

那天早晨两条路盖的树叶都一样厚，

还没被路人的脚步踩得黑不溜秋。

喔，我能留着另一条路以后再走！

不过，一条路总会通到另一条路去，

所以，我怀疑以后还有再来的机遇。

在很久很久以后的某处

一天我会叹着气对人讲述：

在树林里分出了两条路 ——

那时我选了一条路走的人较少一些，

这样，就改变了以后的一切。

                                                          二0一四年八月七日

                                                          澳大利亚刻来佛寺新红叶山庄

*  这首诗可能是美国诗人罗伯特·弗罗斯特最著名的一首诗了。在美国，简直可以说是家喻户晓。这首诗不但景色写得迷人，而且寓意清楚而深刻。我想，差不多每个年轻人，在他踏进社会之前，选择前途都会带有不同程度的盲目性。等到他年老之后，再回过头来看看，是否也会发出如弗罗斯特那样的感叹呢？

这首诗共四节，每节五句，每节韵式为abaab。译诗改为每节韵式aaabb。第一节押 [ou/iu-ian] 韵；第二节押 [ian/üan-uai] 韵；第三节押 [ou/iu-ü] 韵；第四节押 [u-ie] 韵。

此诗，我在上世纪七十年代中国的“文革”之中已经译过，这次找出做了少许修改。