And as he walked he saw from afar men and women leaving their fieldsand their vineyards and hastening towards the city gates.
And he heard their voices calling his name, and shouting from the fieldto field telling one another of the coming of the ship.
And he said to himself:
Shall the day of parting be the day of gathering?
And shall it be said that my eve was in truth my dawn?
And what shall I give unto him who has left his plough in midfurrow, orto him who has stopped the wheel of his winepress?
Shall my heart become a tree heavy-laden with fruit that I may gather andgive unto them?
And shall my desires flow like a fountain that I may fill their cups?
Am I a harp that the hand of the mighty may touch me, or a flute that hisbreath may pass through me?
A seeker of silences am I, and what treasure have I found in silences thatI may dispense with confidence?
If this is my day of harvest, in what fields have I sowed the seed, and inwhat unrembered seasons?
If this indeed be the our in which I lift up my lantern, it is not my flamethat shall burn therein.
Empty and dark shall I raise my lantern,And the guardian of the night shall fill it with oil and he shall light italso.
这些是他口中说出的，还有许多没有说出的存在心头。因为他说不出自己心中更深的秘密。
他进城的时候，众人都来迎接，齐声地向他呼唤。
城中的长老走上前来说：
你不要再离开我们。
在我们的朦胧里，你是正午的潮音，你青春的气度，予我们以梦想。
你在我们中间不是一个异乡人，也不是一个客人，乃是我们的儿子和亲挚的爱者。
不要使我们的眼睛因渴望你的脸面而酸痛。
一班道人和女冠对他说：
不要让海波在这时把我们分开，使你在我们中间度过的岁月成了一个回忆。
你曾是一个在我们中间行走的神灵，你的影儿曾明光似地照亮我们的脸。
我们深深地爱着你。不过我们的爱没有声响，而又被轻纱蒙着。
但现在他要对你呼唤，要在你面前揭露。
These things he said in words. But much in his heart remained unsaid.
For he himself could not speak his deeper secret.
And when he entered into the city all the people came to meet him, andthey were crying out to him as with one voice.
And the elders of the city stood forth and said:
Go not yet away from us.
A noontide have you been in our twilight, and your youth has given usdreams to dream.
No stranger are you among us, nor a guest, but our son and our dearlybeloved.
Suffer not yet our eyes to hunger for your face.
And the priests and the priestesses said unto him:
Let not the waves of the sea separate us now, and the years you havespent in our midst become a memory.
You have walked among us a spirit, and your shadow has been a lightupon our face.
Much have we loved you. But speechless was our love, and with veilshas it been veiled.
Yet now it cries aloud unto you, and would stand revealed before you.
除非临到了别离的时候，“爱”永远不会知道自己的深浅。
别的人也来向他恳求。
他没有答话。他只低着头；站近他的人看见他的泪落在胸前。
他和众人慢慢地向殿前的广场走去。
有一个名叫爱尔美差的女子从圣殿里出来，她是一个预言者。
他以无限的温蔼注视着她， 因为她是在他第一天进这城里的时候，最初寻找他相信他的人。
她庆贺他，说：
上帝的先知，至高的探求者，你曾常向远处寻望你的航帆。
现在你的船儿来了，你必须归去。
你对于那回忆的故乡，和你更大愿望的居所的渴念，是这样的深切；我们的爱，不能把你系住；我们的需求，也不能把你羁留。
但在你别离以前，我们要请你对我们讲说真理。
我们要把这真理传给我们的孩子，他们也传给他们的孩子，绵绵不绝。
And ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour ofseparation.
And others came also and entreated him.
But he answered them not. He only bent his head; and those who stoodnear saw his tears falling upon his breast.
And he and the people proceeded towards the great square before thetemple.
And there came out of the sanctuary a woman whose name was Almitra.
And she was a seeress.
And he looked upon her with exceeding tenderness, for it was she whohad first sought and believed in him when he had been but a day in theircity.
And she hailed him, saying:
Prophet of God, in quest for the uttermost, long have you searched thedistances for your ship.
And now your ship has come, and you must needs go.
Deep is your longing for the land of your memories and the dwelling placeof your greater desires; and our love would not bind you nor our needs holdyou.
Yet this we ask ere you leave us, that you speak to us and give us of yourtruth.
And we will give it unto our children, and they unto their children, and itshall not perish.
在你的孤独里，你曾守卫我们的白日；在你的清醒里，你曾倾听我们睡梦中的哭泣与欢笑。
现在请把我们的“真我”披露给我们，告诉我们你所知道的关于生和死中间的一切。
他回答说：
阿法利斯的民众呵，除了那现时在你们灵魂里鼓荡的之外，我还能说什么呢？
In your aloneness you have watched with our days, and in yourwakefulness you have listened to the weeping and the laughter of our sleep.
Now therefore disclose us to ourselves, and tell us all that has beenshown you of that which is between birth and death.
And he answered:
People of Orphalese, of what can I speak save of that which is even nowmoving your souls?