I LONG to go over there to the further bank of the river, 我渴想到河的对岸去。

Where those boats are tied to the bamboo poles in a line;

在那边，好些船只一行儿系在竹杆上；

Where men cross over in their boats in the morning with ploughs on their shoulders to till their far-away fields;

人们在早晨乘船渡过那边去，肩上扛着犁头，去耕耘他们的远处的田；

Where the cowherds make their lowing cattle swim across to the riverside pasture¹;

在那边，牧人使他们鸣叫着的牛游泳到河旁的牧场去；

Whence they all come back home in the evening, leaving the jackals to howl in the island overgrown with weeds,

黄昏的时候，他们都回家了，只留下豺狼在这满长着野草的岛上哀叫。

Mother, if you don't mind, I should like to become the boatman of the ferry when I am grown up.

妈妈，如果你不在意，我长大的时候，要做这渡船的船夫。

They say there are strange pools hidden behind that high bank,

据说有好些古怪的池塘藏在这个高岸之后。

Where flocks² of wild ducks come when the rains are over, and thick reeds³ grow round the margins⁴ where waterbirds lay their eggs;

雨过去了，一群一群的野鹜飞到那里去，茂盛的芦苇在岸边四围生长，水鸟在那里 生蛋；

Where snipes with their dancing tails stamp their tiny footprints upon the clean soft mud;

竹鸡带着跳舞的尾巴，将它们细小的足印印在洁净的软泥上；

Where in the evening the tall grasses crested⁵ with white flowers invite the moonbeam to float upon their waves.

黄昏的时候，长草顶着白花，邀月光在长草的波浪上浮游。

Mother, if you don't mind, I should like to become the boatman of the ferryboat when I am grown up.

妈妈，如果你不在意，我长大的时候，要做这渡船的船夫。

I shall cross and cross back from bank to bank, and all the boys and girls of the village will wonder at me while they are bathing.

我要自此岸至彼岸，渡过来，渡过去，所有村中正在那儿沐浴的男孩女孩，都要诧异地望着我。

When the sun climbs the mid sky and morning wears on to noon, I shall come running to you, saying, "Mother, I am hungry!" 太阳升到中天，早晨变为正午了，我将跑到你那里去，说道：“妈妈，我饿了！”

When the day is done and the shadows cower⁶ under the trees, I shall come back in the dusk.

一天完了，影子俯伏在树底下，我便要在黄昏中回家来。

I shall never go away from you into the town to work like father.

我将永不同爸爸那样，离开你到城里去作事。

Mother, if you don't mind, I should like to become the boatman of the ferryboat when I am grown up.

妈妈，如果你不在意，我长大的时候，要做这渡船的船夫。