The Hidden Law

诗:The Hidden Law, by W. H. Auden. 奥登《暗藏的法律》

The Hidden Law

By W. H. Auden

The Hidden Law does not deny
Our laws of probability,
But takes the atom and the star
And human beings as they are,
And answers nothing when we lie.

It is the only reason why
No government can codify,
And verbal definitions mar
The Hidden Law.

Its utter patience will not try
To stop us if we want to die:
When we escape It in a car,
When we forget It in a bar,
These are the ways we’re punished by
The Hidden Law.

暗藏的法律

查良铮(穆旦)译

暗藏的法律并不否认
我们的或然性规律,
而是把原子、星辰和人
都照其实际情况来对待,
当我们说谎时它就不理。

这是唯一的理由:何以
没有一个政府能把它编集
语言的定义必然会伤害
暗藏的法律。

它极端的耐心不会阻止,
如果我们要去找死;
当我们坐上汽车想逃避它,
当我们在酒馆里想忘记它:
这就是暗藏的法律要惩罚
我们的方法。