论孩子

诗人| 纪伯伦

译者| 冰心

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters

of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you,

yet they belong not to you.

你们的孩子，都不是你们的孩子，

乃是生命”为自己所渴望的儿女。

他是借你们而来，

却不是从你们而来。

他们虽和你们同在，

却不属于你们。

You may give them your love

but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies

but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,

which you cannot visit,

not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them,

but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward

nor tarries with yesterday.

你们可以给他们以爱，

却不可以给他们以思想。

因为他们有自己的思想。　

你们可以荫庇他们的身体，

却不能荫庇他们的灵魂。

因为他们的灵魂，

是住在明日”的宅中，

那是你们在梦中也不能相见的。

你们可以努力去模仿他们，

却不能使他们来像你们。

因为生命是不倒行的，

也不与昨日”一同停留。

You are the bows from which your children

as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark

upon the path of the infinite,

and he bends you with his might

that his arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as he loves the arrow that flies,

so he loves also the bow that is stable.

你们是弓，

你们的孩子是从弦上发出的生命的箭矢。

那射者在无穷之中看定目标，

也用神力将你们引满，

使他的箭矢迅速而遥远地射了出去。

让你们在射者手中的弯曲”成为喜乐吧！

因为他爱那飞出的箭，

也爱了那静止的弓。

​

关于诗人

纪·哈·纪伯伦，黎巴嫩作家、诗人、画家，是阿拉伯文学的主要奠基人，20世纪阿拉伯新文学道路的开拓者之一，被称为艺术天才、黎巴嫩文坛骄子。其主要作品有《泪与笑》《先知》《沙与沫》等，纪伯伦、鲁迅和拉宾德拉纳特·泰戈尔一样是近代东方文学走向世界的先驱。

纪伯伦的绘画具有浓重的浪漫主义和象征主义色彩，在阿拉伯画坛占有独特的地位。他毕生创作了约七百幅绘画精品，其中的大部分被美国艺术博物馆和黎巴嫩纪伯伦纪念馆收藏。