On Children
by Kahlil Gibran
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let our bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
譯文如下:
兒女不屬於我
他是生命希望之子他經由我走入人生,
但非從我而來他伴隨著我, 但不屬於我
你可對他付出愛, 但非強加你的想法,
因為他有他的思想你可護衛他的形體,
但非他的靈魂因為他的靈魂駐足於明日之家這家你無從造訪,
即使在夢中也不能你可努力模仿她,
但勿期待他像似你因為人生沒有回頭路, 不會為昨日停留
你是弓, 兒女是由你弦上射出的飛箭
弓箭手望向無垠的盡頭, 大力彎弓以使箭射的更快更遠
願你在弓箭手的手中, 彎取的心甘情願
因為即使他愛飛快的箭, 也同樣深愛堅韌不移的弓
沒有留言:
張貼留言