Sand and Foam

by Kahlil Gibran

整部詩集內容富有哲理充滿智慧，是一本關于生命、藝術、愛情、人性的格言書，值得反復品讀。除了哲理以外，詩集還富于音韻之美，宛如天籟，傳達出生命的愛和真諦，讓那些困頓彷徨的人們，都能得到慰藉和鼓舞!詩文超越了時空、國界的限制，字句中蘊含深刻的哲理，體現了人類共同的情感，滿足了不同心靈的不同需求。

“一花一世界，一沙一天國”，在紀伯倫的故事里，四季流轉，云朵變幻。生命的解答蘊藏其中，只要你善于發掘。《沙與沫》與泰戈爾的《飛鳥集》可稱雙璧，二者都以簡短而寓意雋永的詩句，一點一滴地深入讀者的心靈，而紀伯倫的《沙與沫》比起《飛鳥集》的靈動灑脫，則更顯端莊大氣，更具豐富的想象力，比起泰戈爾對一花一草的關注，紀伯倫往往將目光投向更顯得深邃而遙遠的宇宙。“對于從銀河的窗戶里下望的人，空間就不是地球與太陽之間的空間了。”《沙與沫》也是紀伯倫最著名的作品之一。

I am forever walking upon these shores,

Betwixt the sand and the foam,

The high tide will erase my foot-prints,

And the wind will blow away the foam.

But the sea and the shore will remain

Forever.

Once I filled my hand with mist.

Then I opened it and lo, the mist was a worm.

And I closed and opened my hand again, and behold there was a bird.

And again I closed and opened my hand, and in its hollow stood a man with a sad face, turned upward.

And again I closed my hand, and when I opened it there was naught but mist.

But I heard a song of exceeding sweetness.

It was but yesterday I thought myself a fragment quivering without rhythm in the sphere of life.

Now I know that I am the sphere, and all life in rhythmic fragments moves within me.

They say to me in their awakening, "You and the world you live in are but a grain of sand upon the infinite shore of an infinite sea."

And in my dream I say to them, "I am the infinite sea, and all worlds are but grains of sand upon my shore."

我永遠在沙岸上行走，

在沙土和泡沫的中間。

高潮會抹去我的腳印，

風也會把泡沫吹走。

但是海洋和沙岸

卻將永遠存在。

我曾抓起一把煙霧。

然后我伸掌一看，哎喲，煙霧變成一個蟲子。

我把手握起再伸開一看，手里卻是一只鳥。

我再把手握起又伸開，在掌心里站著一個容顏憂郁，向天仰首的人。

我又把手握起，當我伸掌的時候，除了煙霧以外，一無所有。

但是我聽到了一支絕頂甜柔的歌曲。

僅僅在昨天，我認為我自己只是一個碎片，無韻律地在生命的穹蒼中顫抖。

現在我曉得，我就是那穹蒼，一切生命都是在我里面有韻律地轉動的碎片。

他們在覺醒的時候對我說："你和你所居住的世界，只不過是無邊海洋的無邊沙岸上的一粒沙子。"

在夢里我對他們說："我就是那無邊的海洋，大千世界只不過是我的沙岸上的沙粒。"

Only once have I been made mute. It was when a man asked me, "Who are you?"

The first thought of God was an angel.

The first word of God was a man.

We were fluttering, wandering, longing creatures a thousand thousand years before the sea and the wind in the forest gave us words.

Now how can we express the ancient of days in us with only the sounds of our yesterdays?

只有一次把我窘得啞口無言，就是當一個人問我"你是誰?"的時候。

想到神的第一個念頭是一個天使。

說到神的第一個字眼是一個人。

我們是有海洋以前千萬年的撲騰著、飄游著、追求著的生物，森林里的風把語言給予了我們。

那么我們怎能以昨天的聲音來表現我們心中的遠古年代呢?

The Sphinx spoke only once, and the Sphinx said, "A grain of sand is a desert, and a desert is a grain of sand; and now let us all be silent again."

I heard the Sphinx, but I did not understand.

斯芬克斯只說過一次話。斯芬克斯說："一粒沙子就是一片沙漠，一片沙漠就是一粒沙子;現在再讓我們沉默下去吧。"

我聽到了斯芬克斯的話，但是我不懂得。

Long did I lie in the dust of Egypt, silent and unaware of the seasons.

Then the sun gave me birth, and I rose and walked upon the banks of the Nile,

Singing with the days and dreaming with the nights.

And now the sun threads upon me with a thousand feet that I may lie again in the dust of Egypt.

But behold a marvel and a riddle!

The very sun that gathered me cannot scatter me.

Still erect am I, and sure of foot do I walk upon the banks of the Nile.

Remembrance is a form of meeting.

Forgetfulness is a form of freedom. 我在埃及的沙土上躺了很久，沉默著而且忘卻了季節。

然后太陽把生命給了我，我起來在尼羅河岸上行走。

和白天一同唱歌，和黑夜一同做夢。

現在太陽又用一千只腳在我身上踐踏，讓我再在埃及的沙土上躺下。

但是，請看一個奇跡和一個謎吧!

那個把我集聚起來的太陽，不能把我打散。

我依舊挺立著，我以穩健的步履在尼羅河岸上行走。

記憶是相會的一種形式。

遺忘是自由的一種形式。