When Great Trees Falls
当大树倒下
by Maya Angelou
玛雅·安杰罗

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

当大树倒下，
远山岩石也会瑟瑟，
雄狮低伏于
深深草丛，
无所畏惧的大象，
亦脚步忡忡。

When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

当大树倒下，
林间小兽
不由得蜷缩屏息，
所有感官
浸蚀于无可名状的惊悸。

When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.

当伟大的灵魂逝去，
连空气都变得稀薄无力，
让人窒息。
双眸一瞥间，
尽是痛彻肌理。
回忆，骤然清晰的回忆，
反复
咀嚼着，
未曾出口的
温柔话语，
无法兑现的
携手共旅。

Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.

当伟大的灵魂逝去，
将我们萦绕的
现实剥离，
让我们需要滋养的
灵魂委顿，
曾沐过光辉的，
万千思绪
亦分崩离析。
甚至没有疯狂的情绪，
只剩下不可言说
木然冰冷的黑暗空虚。

And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.

然而，当伟大的灵魂逝去
总有一天
平和终将重归心底，
在不经意的一瞬，
周身充盈着
温暖电流般的慰藉。
重拾的感官，焕然一新，
在耳边低语。
因他们的存在，永远不会被抹去。
而我们仍将继续，
带着他们留下的印记
向着光亮继续。

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