11月20日

匆匆
朱自清 ( 1898~1948 )

燕子去了，有再來的時候；楊柳枯了，有再青
的時候；桃花謝了，有再開的時候。但是，聰明
的你，告訴我，我們的日子為什麼一去不復返呢?

八千多日子已經從我手中溜去，像針尖上一滴
水滴在大海裡，我的日子滴在時間的流裡，沒有
聲音，也沒有影子。

洗手的時候，日子從水盆裡過去；吃飯的時候，
日子從飯碗裡過去；默默時，便從凝然的雙眼過
去。我覺察他去得匆匆了，伸出手遮挽時，他又
從遮挽著的手邊過去。天黑時，我躺在床上，他
便伶伶俐俐地從我身邊跨過，從我腳邊飛去了。
等我睜開眼和太陽再見，這算又溜走了一日，我
掩著面嘆息。但是新來的日子的影兒又開始在嘆
息裡閃過了。

你聰明的，告訴我，我們的日子為什麼一去不
復返呢？

──選自《朱自清全集》

November 20

Haste
Zhu Ziqing (1898 - 1948)
English translation: Hsin-Yu Huang

Swallows leave, but there will be a time when they
return. Willows wither, but there will be a time when
they become verdant again. Peach blossoms shrivel up,
but there will be a time when they bloom again. But tell
me─oh clever one─why do our days run away and never
come back?

More than eight-thousand days have already slipped
through my hands. Like water dripping from the tip of a
needle into the sea, so do my days into the river of time,
with neither sound nor shadow.

When I wash my hands, days pass through the basin;
when dining, they pass through the bowl; when I am in
silence, they pass through my gazing eyes. I perceive that
it leaves in haste, and as I reach out my hand to stop it
from leaving, it passes by the side of the hand that tries
to block its way. At night, when I lie on my bed, it strides
off cleverly from my side, and flies away from my feet.
As I open my eyes and meet the sun again, another day
has gone swiftly, and I cover my face and sigh. Yet the
shadow of the new day leaves as quickly as bolts in sighs.

Oh clever one! Tell me, why do our days pass and
never return?

── from Zhu Ziqing Quanji (Complete Works of Zhu Ziqing)