因火成烟

The Ideal

by James Fenton

This is where I came from.
I passed this way.
This should not be shameful
Or hard to say.

A self is a self.
It is not a screen.
A person should respect
What he has been.

This is my past
Which I shall not discard.
This is the ideal.
This is hard.

理想

这是我的来时路
我曾经过此地
不该为之感到丢脸
或者难以启齿

自我就是自我
并非一帘帷幕
人应该尊重
自己的过去

这是我的经历
我不能弃之不顾
这是一个理想
它如此艰苦

James Fenton comments:"I wrote this poem for a friend who had once been in the revolutionary underground in the Philippines,but who was now disillusioned with the Communist movement there.Of course,it is stated in such general terms that is has been taken to apply to quite different situations,and I am delighted and moved to find that it means so many different things to different people."

詹姆斯·芬顿说：“这首诗是为一位曾在菲律宾做革命地下工作者的朋友写的，他现在对那里的共产主义运动大失所望。当然，这首诗的用语过于笼统，所以能适用于各种不同的境遇，不同的人会有不同的解释。对此，我感到欣喜和感动。”