LESSON 16 THE CORN SONG 玉米頌

1.Heap high the farmer’s wintry hoard^[1]!

Heap high the golden corn!

No richer gift has Autumn poured

From out her lavish^[2] horn!

2.Let other lands, exulting, glean

The apple from the pine,

The orange from its glossy green,

The cluster from the vine;

3.We better love the hardy gift

Our rugged vales bestow,

To cheer us, when the storm shall drift

Our harvest fi elds with snow.

4.Through vales of grass and meads^[3] of fl owers

Our plows their furrows made,

While on the hills the sun and showers Of changeful April played.

5.We dropped the seed o’er hill and plain,

Beneath the sun of May,

And frightened from our sprouting grain

The robber crows away.

6.All through the long, bright days of June,

Its leaves grew green and fair,

And waved in hot midsummer’s noon

Its soft and yellow hair.

7.And now, with Autumn’s moonlit eves,

Its harvest time has come;

We pluck away the frosted leaves

And bear the treasure home.

8.There, richer than the fabled gift

Apollo^[4] showered of old,

Fair hands the broken grain shall sift,

And knead its meal of gold.

9.Let vapid^[5] idlers loll in silk,

Around their costly board;

Give us the bowl of samp^[6] and milk,

By homespun beauty poured!

10.Where’er the wide old kitchen hearth

Sends up its smoky curls,

Who will not thank the kindly earth

And bless our farmer girls!

11.Then shame on all the proud and vain,

Whose folly laughs to scorn

The blessing of our hardy grain,

Our wealth of golden corn!

12.Let earth withhold her goodly root;

Let mildew blight the rye,

Give to the worm the orchard’s fruit,

The wheat fi eld to the fl y:

13.But let the good old crop adorn

The hills our fathers trod;

Still let us, for his golden corn,

Send up our thanks to God!

(From Whittier’s “Songs of Labor”)

【中文閱讀】

1.將冬天的農家囤垛堆高！

將金黃的玉米垛堆高！

再沒有什么禮物，

比秋之女神傾瀉出的糧食更豐饒！

2.無數雙手，歡欣翻飛，

從果園里摘下蘋果，

從光澤的綠葉中采下橙子，

從葡萄藤上擷下串串葡萄。

3.我們更愛這崎嶇的山谷

饋贈給我們的厚實禮物。

當大雪覆蓋住稻田里的莊稼，

這秋收的玉米卻讓我們歡欣鼓舞。

4.在鋪滿鮮花的青翠溪谷間，

我們深犁出整齊的玉米田。

溫暖的陽光和細密的春雨，

帶給我們善變的四月天。

5.在五月和煦的陽光下，

我們在山谷平原間撒下種子；

還為發芽長葉的谷物，

趕走田野間的烏鴉。

6.六月的烈日，炙熱漫長，

玉米田里一片綠意盎然；

在盛夏熱浪襲來的午后，

玉米們搖曳著柔軟的金色苞須。

7.現在，在秋夜的月光下，

收獲的季節已經到來。

我們摘掉霜打的粟葉，

將豐收的果實搬運回家。

8.快看！我們的收獲，

比傳說中阿波羅撒下的禮物更豐盛。

辛勤的雙手從粟谷上剝開

無數香甜可口的金色寶石。

9.就讓那些慵懶之徒裹著綾羅綢緞，

無所事事地躺在他們華貴的大床上吧。

我們只要一碗香濃的牛奶玉米羹，

便能享受到親手造出的天堂！

10.每家每戶的古老煙囪上，

處處升起裊裊炊煙；

為這食物，我們感謝富饒的大地，

還有辛勞的農家女孩！

11.那些驕傲、虛榮之輩該感到可恥，

他們愚蠢地嘲笑著，

我們手上這晶瑩的糧食，

我們的財富，這金黃的玉米！

12.大地啊，請留下這片良種；

讓霉病去折磨黑麥，

讓害蟲去鬧騰果實，

讓蝗蟲去侵擾麥田。

13.但是，請留下這古老金黃的玉米，

裝點我們父輩曾踩踏過的土地；

讓我們，為他賜下的這玉米，

感謝全能的上帝！

（摘自惠蒂爾的《勞動之歌》）

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【注釋】

[1] Hoard, a large quantify of anything laid up.

[2] Lavish, profuse.

[3] Meads, meadows.

[4] A ccording to the ancient fable, Apollo, the god of music, sowed the isle of Delos, his birthplace, with golden f lowers, by the music of his lyre.

[5] Vapid, spiritless, dull.

[6] Samp, bruised corn cooked by boiling.