一沙一世界，

一花一天国。

君掌盛无边，

刹那含永劫。

 

之后找到了很多日语译文，译者大多不明：

 

1、

一粒の　砂に　世界を、
野の　花に　天の　國を　見
己が　掌に　無限を、
一刻の　内に　永遠を　得る

（译者不明）

 

2、

一粒の　砂に　世界を
一輪の　花に　天界を
一握の　手に　無限を
一瞬の　時に　永遠を
観る。。。
（長島）

 

3、

一粒の　砂の　中に　世界を　見
一輪の　花の　中に　天国を　見
君の　手の　中に　無限を　握り
一時の　うちに　永遠を　握れ

（译者不明）

 

4、

一粒の　砂に　世界を
一輪の　花に　天界を　見る、
ての　ひらに　無限を
一刻に　永遠を　掴む

（译者不明）

 

5、

「無心の　まえぶれ」
一粒の　砂に　世界を
一輪の　野花に　天国を
君の　掌に　無限を
そして　ひとときの　なかに　永遠を

（译者不明）

 

6、

一粒の　砂に　世界を　観じ、

一輪の　花に　天界を　見る。

掌中に　無限を　おさめ、

一刻に　永遠を　つかむ。

（译者不明）

 

我最喜欢的是最后一种译文，表问我为什么，喜欢就是喜欢……

 

最后一种译文的读法是：

 

ittsubu-no isago-ni sekai-o kanji

irrin-no hana-ni tenkai-o miru

shouchuu-ni mugen-o osame

ikkoku-ni eien-o tsukamu

 

呼，统计一下，翻了十次词典。也就是说学到了十个新词。

 

回到原诗。原诗本来是很长的：

 

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

 

A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all heaven in a rage.

 

A dove-house fill'd with doves and pigeons
Shudders hell thro' all its regions.
A dog starv'd at his master's gate
Predicts the ruin of the state.

 

A horse misused upon the road
Calls to heaven for human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted hare
A fibre from the brain does tear.

 

A skylark wounded in the wing,
A cherubim does cease to sing.
The game-cock clipt and arm'd for fight
Does the rising sun affright.

 

Every wolf's and lion's howl
Raises from hell a human soul.

 

The wild deer, wand'ring here and there,
Keeps the human soul from care.
The lamb misus'd breeds public strife,
And yet forgives the butcher's knife.

 

The bat that flits at close of eve
Has left the brain that won't believe.
The owl that calls upon the night
Speaks the unbeliever's fright.

 

He who shall hurt the little wren
Shall never be belov'd by men.
He who the ox to wrath has mov'd
Shall never be by woman lov'd.

 

The wanton boy that kills the fly
Shall feel the spider's enmity.
He who torments the chafer's sprite
Weaves a bower in endless night.

 

The caterpillar on the leaf
Repeats to thee thy mother's grief.
Kill not the moth nor butterfly,
For the last judgement draweth nigh.

 

He who shall train the horse to war
Shall never pass the polar bar.
The beggar's dog and widow's cat,
Feed them and thou wilt grow fat.

 

The gnat that sings his summer's song
Poison gets from slander's tongue.
The poison of the snake and newt
Is the sweat of envy's foot.

 

The poison of the honey bee
Is the artist's jealousy.

 

The prince's robes and beggar's rags
Are toadstools on the miser's bags.
A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.

 

It is right it should be so;
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.

 

Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.

 

The babe is more than swaddling bands;
Every farmer understands.
Every tear from every eye
Becomes a babe in eternity;

 

This is caught by females bright,
And return'd to its own delight.
The bleat, the bark, bellow, and roar,
Are waves that beat on heaven's shore.

 

The babe that weeps the rod beneath
Writes revenge in realms of death.
The beggar's rags, fluttering in air,
Does to rags the heavens tear.

 

The soldier, arm'd with sword and gun,
Palsied strikes the summer's sun.
The poor man's farthing is worth more
Than all the gold on Afric's shore.

 

One mite wrung from the lab'rer's hands
Shall buy and sell the miser's lands;
Or, if protected from on high,
Does that whole nation sell and buy.

 

He who mocks the infant's faith
Shall be mock'd in age and death.
He who shall teach the child to doubt
The rotting grave shall ne'er get out.

 

He who respects the infant's faith
Triumphs over hell and death.
The child's toys and the old man's reasons
Are the fruits of the two seasons.

 

The questioner, who sits so sly,
Shall never know how to reply.
He who replies to words of doubt
Doth put the light of knowledge out.

 

The strongest poison ever known
Came from Caesar's laurel crown.
Nought can deform the human race
Like to the armour's iron brace.

 

When gold and gems adorn the plow,
To peaceful arts shall envy bow.
A riddle, or the cricket's cry,
Is to doubt a fit reply.

 

The emmet's inch and eagle's mile
Make lame philosophy to smile.
He who doubts from what he sees
Will ne'er believe, do what you please.

 

If the sun and moon should doubt,
They'd immediately go out.
To be in a passion you good may do,
But no good if a passion is in you.

 

The whore and gambler, by the state
Licensed, build that nation's fate.
The harlot's cry from street to street
Shall weave old England's winding-sheet.

 

The winner's shout, the loser's curse,
Dance before dead England's hearse.

 

Every night and every morn
Some to misery are born,
Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight.

 

Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.

 

We are led to believe a lie
When we see not thro' the eye,
Which was born in a night to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in beams of light.

 

God appears, and God is light,
To those poor souls who dwell in night;
But does a human form display
To those who dwell in realms of day.

 

这么长的诗，只有最前面四行广为流传。不禁让我想起白居易的《赋得古草原送别》。不同的是Blake这首诗在前四行之后的确味如嚼蜡，只被记住四行是正常的，而白居易的“离离原上草，一岁一枯荣，野火烧不尽，春风吹又生”虽然比较“流行”，但窃以为艺术上并未胜过后面的“远芳侵古道，晴翠接荒城，又送王孙去，萋萋满别情”。

 

不由得为白居易不平了。