Clasping her pitcher to her waist mother went to fetch water from the village near by. 媽媽把她的水罐挾在腰間,走到近村汲水去了。
It was noon. The children's playtime was over; the ducks in the pond were silent. 這是正午的時(shí)候,孩子們游戲的時(shí)間已經(jīng)過(guò)去了;池中的鴨子沉默無(wú)聲。
The shepherd boy lay asleep under the shadow of the banyan tree. 牧童躺在榕樹的蔭下睡著了。
The crane stood grave and still in the swamp near the mango grove. 白鶴莊重而安靜地立在檬果樹邊的泥澤里。
In the meanwhile the Sleep-stealer came and, snatching sleep from baby's eyes, flew away. 就在這個(gè)時(shí)候,偷睡眠者跑來(lái)從孩子的兩眼里捉住睡眠,便飛去了。
When mother came back she found baby travelling the room over on all fours. 當(dāng)媽媽回來(lái)時(shí),她看見孩子四肢著地地在屋里爬著。
Who stole sleep from our baby's eyes? I must know. I must find her and chain her up. 誰(shuí)從孩子的眼里把睡眠偷了去呢?我一定要知道。我一定要找到她,把她鎖起來(lái)。
I must look into that dark cave, where, through boulders and scowling stones, trickles a tiny stream. 我一定要向那個(gè)黑洞里張望,在這個(gè)洞里,有一道小泉從圓的有皺紋的石上滴下來(lái)。
I must search in the drowsy shade of the bakula grove, where pigeons coo in their corner, and fairies' anklets tinkle in the stillness of starry nights. 我一定要到醉花①林中的沉寂的樹影里搜尋,在這林中,鴿子在它們住的地方咕咕地叫著,仙女的腳環(huán)在繁星滿天的靜夜里丁當(dāng)?shù)仨懼?/p>
In the evening I will peep into the whispering silence of the bamboo forest, where fireflies squander their light, and will ask every creature I meet, "Can anybody tell me where the Sleep-stealer lives?" 我要在黃昏時(shí),向靜靜的蕭蕭的竹林里窺望,在這林中,螢火蟲閃閃地耗費(fèi)它們的光明,只要遇見一個(gè)人,我便要問(wèn)他:“誰(shuí)能告訴我偷睡眠者住在什么地方?”
Who stole sleep from baby's eyes? I must know. 誰(shuí)從孩子的眼里把睡眠偷了去呢?我一定要知道。
Shouldn't I give her a good lesson if I could only catch her! 只要我能捉住她,怕不會(huì)給她一頓好教訓(xùn)!
I would raid her nest and see where she hoards all her stolen sleep. 我要闖入她的巢穴,看她把所有偷來(lái)的睡眠藏在什么地方。
I would plunder it all, and carry it home. 我要把它都奪來(lái),帶回家去。
I would bind her two wings securely, set her on the bank of the river, and then let her play at fishing with a reed among the rushes and water-lilies. 我要把她的雙翼縛得緊緊的,把她放在河邊,然后叫她拿一根蘆葦在燈心草和睡蓮間釣魚為戲。
When the marketing is over in the evening, and the village children sit in their mothers' laps, then the night birds will mockingly din her ears with: 黃昏,街上已經(jīng)收了市,村里的孩子們都坐在媽媽的膝上時(shí),夜鳥便會(huì)譏笑地在她 耳邊說(shuō):
"Whose sleep will you steal now?" “你現(xiàn)在還想偷誰(shuí)的睡眠呢?”