《英语，儿子“教”我学——北外[微博]教授妈妈的英语教养日记》部分连载

作者：曹文[微博]、肖博文

出版：外研社

《英语，儿子“教”我学》

　　11. 威尼斯“诗人”

　　2010年07月30日

　　今天儿子特别兴奋，因为威尼斯太美了，他一直霸占着电脑写个不停，等轮到我时，我已经困得不行了。下面是儿子在威尼斯写的日记。

　　Place: Venice

　　Today we visited Venice. It was the best day I had from the start of this trip. Venice was built on a hundred of islands. It was very rich in 12th century to 15th century. The victory has gone now, but the glory is forever. Venice still keeps the shape at its golden age. Our ferry passed a lot of grand places. It was really a beautiful city. I like this place the first time I saw it. We arrived at the city centre. We passed the front of the Bridge of Sighs. The back ground was covered by large piece of ad papers. It destroyed the nice picture of the bridge! I hope that the company who did this ad will be soon bankrupt. That ad on the bridge was really a kind of sin! The picture in the poem of Lord Byron was gone!

　　I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs;

　　A palace and a prison on each hand.

　　And now these sentences will be like this:

　　I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs;

　　An ad and an ad on each hand.

　　Look! You see? The poet wrote a lot of it! And today, the merchants changed everything! They forgot why the travelers came to Venice and forgot how they started in the golden age! Sin, yes, it is really a sin! Why do they do this? It’s just like destroying a historic place! How can they do this? The glory of Venice is dying because of them, who put ads beside the bridge! If they want to clean the palace and the bridge, it’s good. They shouldn’t, or mustn’t put up ads! It will destroy the beauty of the city. And it was the same on San Marco Square. The square was dying, just like the whole city! The square was covered by ugly performance places! When my mum was there 15 years ago, the square was clean and fresh. She could see a lot of places from one side, but now it was gone.

　　Phew, I talked so much, really. Now we came to ride the taxi in Venice: Gondola.

　　The Gondola

　　We sat in the Gondola,

　　In front of a handsome boatman.

　　I saw the streets made of water,

　　And the houses upon.

　　We passed the streets and houses,

　　Into the Venice’s living land.

　　It was just like a swing that was shaking,

　　And the smell of water came to us.

　　The bridges over were simple,

　　But kept the deep side of Venice.

　　So the glory was still,

　　On the palaces and woods.

　　We sat still and hoped not to lose a site of the rivers.

　　The golden hair of the boatman was waving,

　　Against the blue mighty sky.

　　Oh, Venice, it’s a pity that you are dying!

　　But your glory will be remembered forever,

　　To the end of the world.

　　Here is Venice

　　Here is Venice, the city of water.

　　You are strong once,

　　But the golden age is gone.

　　The glory is kept, on the Bridge of Sighs;

　　The glory is kept, on the St. Marco’s Cathedral;

　　The glory is kept, on the small Gondola.

　　I stood on the board of the ferry,

　　Looking at this falling city,

　　Thinking for the answer.

　　I am thinking, and looking at Venice.

　　Why Venice is so beautiful?

　　Why Venice is fantastic?

　　Oh Venice, goodbye, I may come!

　　Oh Venice, ciao, I will come back!

　　中译文

　　地点：威尼斯

　　今天，我们参观了威尼斯。这是我旅行以来最棒的一天。威尼斯坐落在一百多个岛屿上。从12世纪到15世纪，这里曾经非常富饶。如今，胜利已经远去，但荣耀长存。威尼斯仍保留 着黄金时代的模样。我们的渡轮经过了很多宏伟的地方。这真是一个美丽的城市。我第一次看到这个地方时就喜欢上了它。我们抵达市中心。经过叹息桥时，我看见桥的背面覆盖着大块的广告纸。它毁掉了叹息桥唯美的画面！我希望张贴这个广告的公司很快破产。桥上的广告真的是一种罪过！拜伦诗中的画面不复存在了！

　　我站在威尼斯的叹息桥上，

　　一边是宫殿，一边是牢房。

　　现在应该改成：

　　我站在威尼斯的叹息桥上，

　　一边是广告，另一边还是广告。

　　瞧！诗人写了不少呢！但是现在，商人改变了一切！他们忘了为什么旅客来到威尼斯，也忘了他们如何在黄金时代白手起家！罪过，没错，这确实是一种罪过！他们为什么要这样做？这就像在摧毁一个历史古迹！他们怎么能这样做！威尼斯的荣耀正因他们——在桥上张贴广告的人——而逐渐消亡！如果他们肯清洁宫殿和桥梁，那很好。但是他们不应该，也不可以张贴广告！它会破坏城市的美。圣马可广场也一样，整个城市都是如此！丑陋的演出舞台遍布广场！15年前妈妈来的时候，广场干净清爽。她站在一边，可以看到很多地方，但现在都不见了。

　　哟，我说的太多了。现在我们要乘坐威尼斯的“出租车”——贡多拉。

　　贡多拉

　　我们坐在贡多拉上，

　　身后是一位英俊的船夫。

　　我看到这由水形成的街道，

　　和水上的房子。

　　我们经过街道和房屋，

　　来到威尼斯的居住区。

　　小船就像摆动的秋千，

　　带来水的气息。

　　桥梁的结构很简单，

　　却保持着威尼斯的深意。

　　荣耀犹在，

　　存于宫殿和树林之间。

　　我们坐稳了，希望不要错过河流的景色。

　　船夫的金发飞舞着，迎着浩瀚的蓝天。

　　噢，威尼斯，你的美正在消亡！

　　但你的荣耀将永远被铭记，

　　直到世界尽头。

　　这里是威尼斯

　　这里是威尼斯，水之城。

　　你曾经强大，

　　但黄金时代已经远去。

　　荣耀留存在叹息桥上；

　　荣耀留存在圣马可大教堂里；

　　荣耀留存在小船贡多拉上。

　　我站在渡轮甲板上，

　　看着衰落中的城市，

　　寻求着答案。

　　我思考着，也看着威尼斯。

　　为何威尼斯如此之美？

　　为何威尼斯如此不可思议？

　　噢，威尼斯，再见了，我也许会再来！

　　噢，威尼斯，再会了，我一定会回来！

儿子在充满诗意的意大利威尼斯