夏濟安譯筆

歐文《西敏大寺》:

時方晚秋, 氣象肅穆, 略帶憂郁, 早晨的陰影和黃昏的陰影, 幾乎連接在一起, 不可分別. 歲將云暮, 終日昏暗, 我就在這麼一天, 到西敏寺去散步了幾個鐘頭. 古寺巍巍, 森森然似有鬼氣, 和陰沉的季候正好調和; 我跨進大廳, 覺得自己已經置身遠古, 相忘於古人的鬼影之中了.

On one of those sober and rather melancholy days, in the latter part of Autumn, when the shadows of morning and evening almost mingle together, and throw a gloom over the decline of the year, I passed several hours in rambling about Westminster Abbey. There was something congenial to the season in the mournful magnificence of the old pile; and, as I passed its threshold, seemed like stepping back into the regions of antiquity, and losing myself among the shades of former ages.

霍桑《古屋雜憶》:

一條大路, 兩旁白蠟樹成林, 路盡頭可以望見牧師舊宅的灰色門前, 路口園門的門拱已不知在哪一年掉下來了, 可是兩座粗石雕成的門柱還巍然矗立著. 舊宅的故主是位德高望重的牧師, 現已不在人世, 一年前, 他的靈柩從園林裡遷出, 移向村中公墓, 也有不少人執紼隨行.

Between two tall gateposts of rough-hewn stone (the gate itself having fallen from its hinges at some unknown epoch) we beheld the gray front of the old parsonage terminating the vista of an avenue of black ash trees. It was now a twelve month since the funeral procession of the venerable clergyman, its last inhabitant, had turned from that gateway towards the village burying-ground.

新英格蘭凡是上了年紀的老宅, 似乎總是鬼影幢幢, 不清不白, 事情雖怪, 但家家如此, 也不值得一提了. 我們家的那個鬼, 常常在客廳的某一個角落, 喟然長歎; 有時也翻弄紙張, 簌簌作響, 好像正在樓上長廊裡研讀一篇講道文----奇怪的是月光穿東窗而入, 夜明如畫, 而其人的身形總不得見.

Houses of any antiquity, in New England, are so invariably possessed with spirits, that the matter seems hardly worth alluding to. Our ghost used to heave deep sighs in a particular corner of the parlor; and sometimes rustled paper, as if he were turning over a sermon, in the long upper entry;--where, nevertheless, he was invisible, in spite of the bright moonshine that fell through the eastern window.

遠處樹蔭中間金光依舊, 可是燦爛之中竟含著一點秋思. 花到八月最華麗, 卻也難掩輕愁, 一一泄露夏盡秋來的妙造. 半邊蓮自是光華奪目, 我卻從未見其生趣. (董橋修訂)

A pensive glory is seen in the far golden gleams; among the shadows of the trees. The flowers - even the brightest of them, and they are the most gorgeous of the year - have this gentle sadness wedded to their pomp, and typify the character of the delicious time each within itself. The brilliant cardinal flower has never seemed gay to me.

(遠處樹蔭中間, 金光依舊照著大地, 可是燦爛之中竟含著一點秋思. 花開到八月正是最華麗的時候, 可是即使是最豔最麗的花, 濃裝豔抹之下, 也掩蓋不了一種淡淡的輕愁; 每一朵都象徵著夏盡秋來這個微妙的季候. 半邊蓮可說是光華奪目了, 但是我從來不覺得它是它是代表歡樂的.)