卷一（一）　献诗与天文之学的由来

After a short Account of his Design, and a complemental Address to Augustus, he begins, 1. With the Rise and Progress of Astronomy, and other Arts: 2. Discourseth of the several Opinions concerning the Beginning of the World: 3. Describes the Order of it: 4. Proves the Earth to be the Centre of the World: 5. Proves it to be round: 6. Asserts the Soul of the World: 7. Reckons up the Signs of the Zodiack: 8. Describes the Axis: 9. The Northern Constellations: 10. The Constellations between the Tropicks and the South-pole: 11.

诗人先简述本诗的意图，向奥古斯都献上颂辞，然后开讲：一、天文学及其他技艺的兴起与进展；二、论世界起源的种种见解；三、描述世界的秩序；四、证明大地是世界的中心；五、证明大地是圆的；六、主张有一个世界之魂；七、列举黄道十二星座；八、描述天轴；九、北天的星群；十、两回归线之间直到南极的星群；十一、

Explains the Figures of the Constellations: 12. Asserts Providence against Epicurus: 13. Discovers the Bigness of the World: 14. Treats of the movable and immovable Circles: 15. Makes along description of the Milky-way: 16. Reckons up the Planets: 17. Discourseth of Comets and Meteors, and concludes that they presage.

说明星群的形象；十二、驳伊壁鸠鲁，主张天意；十三、揭示世界之大；十四、论可动与不动的诸圈；十五、详细描述银河；十六、列举诸行星；十七、论彗星与流星，并断言它们是预兆。

STars conscious of our Fates and Arts Divine, / The wondrous work of Heaven's first wise design, / In numerous Verse I boldly first inclose;

那洞悉我们命运的群星，那通神的技艺，上天最初的智慧设计所成的奇妙之作，我第一个大胆地把它们收进有节律的诗行；

The Subject of the Poem

［诗的主题］

Too high a Subject, and too great for Prose. / At what the Ancients with a wild amaze / And ignorant wonder were content to gaze, / My Verse brings down from Heav'n, design'd to show / Celestial secrets to the World below: / What yet the Muses Groves ne'er heard, I sing, / And bring unusual offerings to their spring.

这题目太高、太大，散文承载不了。古人怀着狂乱的惊奇、无知的赞叹，只满足于仰望的东西，我的诗要从天上带下来，把天界的秘密展示给下界的世人：缪斯的林中从未听过的，我来歌唱，向她们的泉边献上不寻常的祭品。

The Invocation

［祈请］

Rome's Prince and Father, Thou whose wide command / With awfull sway is stretcht o'er Sea and Land, / Who dost deserve that Heaven thy Love bestow'd / On thy great Father, Thou thy self a God, / Now give me Courage, make my Fancy strong, / And yield me vigour for so great a Song.

罗马的元首与国父啊，你的统辖辽阔，以威严的权柄伸展到海洋与陆地；上天曾把恩宠赐给你伟大的父亲，你也配得上同样的恩宠，你自己就是一位神：如今请赐我勇气，使我的想象坚强，给我力量来完成这样宏大的歌。

Nor doth the World this curious search refuse, / It kindly courts the daring of my Muse, / And will be known; whilst You serenely reign, / Instruct our Labour, and reward our Pain.

世界也不拒绝这番细细的探求，它亲切地迎合我诗神的大胆，愿意被人认识；趁你安详地统治，请指点我们的劳作，酬报我们的辛苦。

Wings raise my Feet, I'm pleas'd to mount on high / Trace all the Mazes of the liquid Sky, / Their various turnings, and their whirls declare, / And live in the vast regions of the Air: / I'll know the Stars, which yet alone to gain / Is knowledge mean, unequal to the Pain;

羽翼托起我的双足，我乐于高高飞升，追寻流动的天空里一切迷宫般的路径，述说它们种种的回转与旋动，栖身在广阔的高空之中：我要认识群星——可是只认得星星，是浅薄的知识，配不上这番辛劳；

For doubts resolv'd it no delight affords, / But fills soft empty heads with ratling words: / I'll search the Depths, the most remote recess, / And flying Nature to Confession press; / I'll find what Sign and Constellation rule, / And make the difference 'twixt the Wise and Fool;

因为它不能给人释疑的喜悦，只会用嘈杂的空话填满软弱空洞的头脑：我要探寻深处与最遥远的隐秘，逼迫逃遁的自然吐露真情；我要找出是哪个星座、哪个星群在主宰，分辨出智者与愚人的差别；

My Verse shall sing what various Aspect reigns / When Kings are doom'd to Crowns and Slaves to Chains.

我的诗要唱出：当君王注定登上王位、奴隶注定戴上锁链时，是怎样的相位在主宰。

I'll turn Fate's Books, there reade proud Parthia's doom, / And see the sure Eternity of Rome.

我要翻开命运之书，在那里读出骄横的帕提亚的劫数，看见罗马确定无疑的永恒。

The Difficulty

［难处］

Two Temples rais'd with sacred Incense shine, / I bow at Nature's and the Muses shrine; / Both aids I need, for double Cares do throng, / And fill my Thought; the Subject and the Song: / And whilst I'm bound to Verse with Orbs immense / The World rouls round me, and distracts my sense;

两座神庙燃着神圣的香火，我在自然与缪斯的神龛前同时下拜；两方的助力我都需要，因为双重的忧虑纷至沓来，充满我的思绪：既要顾题材，又要顾诗歌；当我用诗句去缠绕无边的天球时，世界在我身边旋转，扰乱我的心神；

Vast is my Theme, yet unconceiv'd, and brings / Untoward words scarce loosned from the Things.

我的主题浩大，又从未有人构思过，带来的言辞生硬，几乎难以从事物上剥离出来。

Who first below these wondrous secrets knew? / Who stole that knowledge which the World withdrew?

是谁最先在下界知道了这些奇妙的秘密？是谁偷来了世界藏起的这份知识？

Whose soaring mind those Airy mazes trod / And spight of Heaven desir'd to seem a God!

是谁的心灵高飞，踏遍那些空中的迷宫，不顾上天的禁忌，想要显得像神一样？

Open the Skies, and teach how Stars obey, / And run their race as Nature marks the way, / Their Power and Influence, what directs their Course / What whirls them round, and what confines their force.

是谁打开诸天，教人知道群星怎样服从，怎样依自然标出的道路奔行，它们有何力量与影响，是什么指引它们的运行，是什么使它们旋转，又是什么约束它们的力量？

The Rise and Progress of Astronomy

［天文学的兴起与进展］

First Mercury disclos'd these mysteries, / By Him we view the Inside of the Skies, / And know the Stars, and now Mankind admires / The Power, not onely Lustre of their Fires: / By Him all know how great. how just and wise, / And good is the Contriver of the Skies;

最先揭示这些奥秘的是墨丘利；靠了他，我们看见诸天的内部，认识了群星，如今人类赞叹的是星火的力量，而不仅是它们的光辉：靠了他，人人都知道诸天的创造者何等伟大、何等公正、何等智慧、何等良善；

At whose Command the Stars in order met, / Who times appointed when to rise and set; / That Heaven's great secrets may lie hid no more, / And Man instructed gratefully Adore.

群星奉这位创造者之命依序聚集，他定下了它们升起与沉落的时刻；为的是让上天的伟大秘密不再隐藏，让受了教导的人类心怀感恩地敬拜。

Nature disclos'd her self, and from her Springs / Pure streams deriv'd o'erflow'd the Minds of Kings.

自然揭开了自己，从她的泉源引出纯净的溪流，漫进了君王们的心灵。

Kings next to Heaven, who o'er the East did sway, / Where swift Euphrates cuts his rapid way, / Where Nile o'erflows, and whence the Whirl restores / The Day to Us, and passing burns the Moors.

这些君王最接近上天，统治着东方：那里有迅疾的幼发拉底河奔流而过，有尼罗河泛滥，天穹从那里旋转过来，把白昼送回给我们，又在经过时晒黑了摩尔人。

And next o'er Priests, whose constant Cares employd / In publick service did obleige the God, / His Presence did their holy minds inspire / With sacred flames, and rais'd their fancies higher.

其次是祭司们，他们始终在公众的祭祀中勤勉侍奉，赢得了神的眷顾；神亲临启发他们圣洁的心，燃起神圣的火焰，使他们的想象升得更高。

Till by degrees to due perfection wrought / He made himself the Object of their thought: / Such were those wondrous Men who first from far / Lookt up, and saw Fates hanging at each Star: / Their thoughts extended did at once comprise / Ten thousand revolutions of the Skies, / They markt the Influence, and observ'd the Power / Of every Sign, and every fatal Hour;

就这样一步步臻于完善，神使自己成了他们思索的对象：这些奇人最先从远处仰望，看见命运悬在每一颗星上；他们的思想伸展开去，一下子囊括了诸天的千万次运转；他们记下每个星座、每个关乎命运的时辰的影响，观察它们的力量；

What Tempers they bestow'd, what Fortunes gave, / And who was doom'd a King, who born a Slave; / How Aspects vary, and their change creates, / Though little, great variety in Fates.

它们赋予何种气质，给予何种命运，谁注定为王，谁生而为奴；相位怎样变化，而它们的变化虽小，却在命运中造出极大的差异。

Thus when the Stars their mighty Round had run, / And all were fixt whence first their Race begun, / What Hints Experience did to search impart / They join'd, and Observation grew to Art; / Thus Rules were fram'd, for by Example shown / They knew what would be, from what had been done;

就这样，当群星跑完浩大的一周，全都回到最初起跑的地方，经验所提供的种种线索，他们都汇合起来，观察便成长为一门技艺；规则就这样定下，因为凭着事例，他们从已发生的事知道了将要发生的事；

They saw the Stars their constant Round maintain. / Perform their Course, and then return again; / They on their Aspects saw the Fates attend, / Their change on their Variety depend; / And thence they fixt unalterable Laws, / Settling the same Effect on the same Cause.

他们看见群星保持恒常的轮转，走完行程又重新回来；看见命运随着相位而来，命运的变化取决于相位的变化；由此他们定下不可更改的法则，同样的原因必配以同样的结果。

Before that time Life was an artless State / Of Reason void, and thoughtless in debate: / Nature lay hid in deepest Night below, / None knew her wonders, and none car'd to know: / Upward men look, they saw the circling light, / Pleas'd with the Fires, and wondred at the sight:

在那以前，生活是一种没有技艺的状态，缺乏理性，遇事不加思索：自然藏在最深的黑夜里，没有人知道她的奇妙，也没有人想去知道：人们向上仰望，看见旋转的光，喜爱那些火光，对那景象惊奇不已：

The Sun, when Night came on, withdrawn, they griev'd, / As dead, and joy'd next Morn when He reviv'd; / But why the Nights grow long or short, the Day / Is chang'd, and the Shades vary with the Ray, / Shorter at his approach, and longer grown / At his remove, the Causes were unknown:

夜晚降临、太阳隐去时，他们悲伤，以为他死了，次日早晨他复活了，又欢喜起来；但为什么夜有长短，白昼会变，阴影随着日光改变——太阳走近时短，远去时长——其中的原因却无人知晓：

For Wit lay unimprov'd, the desart plains / Were unmanur'd, nor fed the idle Swains: / Ev'n Gold dwelt safe in Hills, and none resign'd / Their lives to Seas or wishes to the Wind; / Confin'd their search, they knew themselves alone, / And thought that onely worthy to be known:

因为那时才智未经开发，荒原没有耕种，养不活闲散的牧人：甚至黄金也安然藏在山中，没有人把性命交给海洋，把心愿托付给风；他们的探求只限于自身，只认识自己，以为只有这才值得知道：

But when long time the Wretches thoughts refin'd, / When Want had set an edge upon their Mind; / When Men encreast, and Want did boldly press, / And forc'd them to be witty for redress; / Then various Cares their working thoughts employ'd, / And that which each invented all enjoy'd.

可是经过漫长的岁月，这些可怜人的思想渐渐精进，匮乏磨利了他们的心智；人口增多，匮乏紧紧相逼，迫使他们为求解脱而变得机巧；于是种种忧思驱使他们勤于思索，一人发明的东西，众人共享。

Then Corn first grew, then Fruit enricht the grounds, / And barbarous noise was first consin'd to sounds: / Through Seas unknown the Sailer then was hurl'd, / And gainfull Traffick joyn'd the distant World: / Then Arts of War were found, and Arts of Peace, / For Vse is always fruitfull in encrease.

于是五谷初生，果实丰富了土地，野蛮的叫嚷第一次被约束成有分节的语音：水手被抛进未知的大海，有利可图的贸易把遥远的世界连在一起：于是战争之术、和平之术相继发明，因为实用总是不断增长、硕果累累。

New hints from settled Arts Experience gains, / Instructs our Labour, and rewards our Pains: / Thus into many Streams one Spring divides, / And through the Valleys rouls refreshing Tides.

经验从已立的技艺中得到新的启示，指点我们的劳作，酬报我们的辛苦：就像一道泉水分成许多溪流，流过山谷，滚动着清凉的波涛。

But these were little things compar'd, they knew / The voice of Birds, in Entrails Fates could view; / Burst Snakes with charms, and in a Bullock's bloud, / See Rage appeas'd, or fear an angry God.

但比起后来的事，这些都只是小事：他们懂得了鸟的语言，能在牲畜的内脏中看出命运；能用咒语使蛇爆裂，能从公牛的血里看出神怒已息，或是该畏惧神的发怒。

They call'd up Ghosts, mov'd deepest Hell, the Sun / Could stop, and force a Night upon his Noon; / Then make him rise at Night, for all submit / To constant Industry, and piercing Wit.

他们招来鬼魂，搅动最深的地府，能叫太阳停住，在正午强加一个黑夜；又能叫他在夜里升起，因为一切都屈服于恒久的勤勉与锐利的才智。

Nor stopt they here, unwearied Industry / Rose boldly up and mounted through the Sky, / Saw all that could be seen, view'd Nature's Laws, / And young Effects still lying in their Cause.

他们也没有停在这里，不倦的勤勉大胆地上升，穿过天空，看到一切能看见的，看清自然的法则，以及仍潜藏在原因之中的初生的结果。

What wings the Lightning, why from watry Clouds / The Thunder breaks, and roars the wrath of Gods / What raiseth Storms, what makes the Winds to blow, / Why Summer's Hail's more stiff than Winter's Snow / What fires Earth's Entrails, what doth shake the Ball / Why Tempests rattle, and why Rain doth fall:

是什么给闪电插上翅膀，为什么雷霆从含水的云中迸发，吼出众神的怒火，是什么掀起风暴，是什么使风吹动，为什么夏天的冰雹比冬天的雪还硬，是什么点燃了大地的内腑，是什么震动大地，为什么暴风雨轰响，为什么雨会落下：

All this she view'd, and did their modes explain, / And taught us to admire no more in vain.

这一切她都看透了，讲明了其中的道理，教我们不再徒然惊叹。

Heaven was disarm'd, mad Whirlwinds rul'd above / And Clouds and Vapors thundred instead of Iove.

上天被解除了武装：在上空作乱的是狂暴的旋风，雷鸣的是云与蒸气，而不是朱庇特。

These things explain'd, their hidden Cause known, / The Mind grew strong, and ventur'd boldly on; / For rais'd so high, from that convenient rise / She took her flight, and quickly reacht the Skies; / To every Constellation Shapes and Names / Assign'd, and markt them out their proper frames / Then view'd their Course, and saw the Orbs were mov'd / As Heaven did guide, and as the World approv'd;

这些事讲明了，隐藏的原因知道了，心智变得坚强，大胆前行；因为已升得这样高，她就从那方便的高处起飞，很快抵达诸天；她给每个星群定下形象与名字，标出它们各自的轮廓；然后观察它们的运行，看出诸天球依上天的引导、依世界的认可而运动；

That Chance was baffled whilst their Whirls create / The interchang'd Variety of Fate.

看出偶然受了挫败，因为是它们的旋转，造成了命运交替变化的种种不同。

This is my Theme, ne'er yet in Numbers wrought, / Assist me, Fortune, and improve my thought; / Equal my Mind to my vast task; prolong / My life in ease, smooth as my flowing Song; / That while my Muse is working o'er the Heap, / And forms this Chaos to a pleasing shape, / I may with equal care, and equal heat, / Declare the Little and disclose the Great.

这就是我的主题，从未有人写成诗篇；命运女神啊，帮助我，提升我的思想；使我的心智配得上这浩大的任务；延长我的生命，让它安逸平顺，就像我流畅的歌一样；好让我的诗神在这堆材料上劳作、把这团混沌塑成悦目的形状时，能以同样的用心、同样的热情，讲明细微之处，揭示宏大之事。

But now since Fate and Verse do joyntly flow / From Heaven, and both rule equally below.

既然命运与诗歌都一同从天上流出，又同样统治着下界，

First let my Muse whole Nature's Face design, / Its Figure draw, and finish every Line. / Whether from Seed it ne'er began to be,

那就先让我的诗神描画整个自然的面貌，画出它的形状，完成每一笔线条。它或者从来不曾由种子开始存在，

Different Opinions about the beginning of the World

［关于世界起源的不同见解］

Secure from Fate, and from Corruption free; / Knew no Beginning, and no Ending fears, / But was, and will be, as it now appears.

不受命运所制，不受腐朽所侵；不知有开始，也不惧怕终结，而是过去如此、将来也如此，正如现在所见的一样。

Or huddled Chaos by a wondrous Birth / Archt the vast Sky and fixt the solid Earth; / And when this shining World once rais'd its Head / To Shades Infernal banisht Darkness fled.

或者是混沌一团，经过一场奇妙的诞生，拱起了广阔的天空，定住了坚实的大地；这个闪耀的世界一抬起头，黑暗便逃进了地府的阴影里。

Or whether unseen Atoms blindly thrown / Compos'd it, and as Years whirle nimbly on, / It must dissolve, and as it first was wrought / From almost Nothing, fall to almost Nought.

或者是看不见的原子盲目地抛撒而组成，随着岁月迅速流转，它必定会解体，正如它最初几乎由虚无造成，也将落回几乎虚无。

Or rose from working Fire's enlivening Rays, / Which form Heaven's Eyes, and live in every Mass, / In Thunder roar, and in the Lightning blaze.

或者是从活跃之火的赋予生命的光芒中升起，这火形成天上的眼睛，活在每一团物质里，在雷中吼叫，在闪电中闪耀。

Or whether Water which combines the Frame / Compos'd, and keeps it from the loosning Flame.

或者是由水组成，水把这个框架黏合在一起，使它免于被火焰化解。

Or whether Water, Air, and Flame and Earth / Knew no beginning, no first seeds of Birth; / But first in Being from themselves arose, / And as four Members the vast God compose; / In which Thin, Thick, Hot, Cold, and Moist and Dry, / For mutual Actions mutual parts supply.

或者是水、气、火、土本来就不知有开端，没有最初诞生的种子，而是自己首先存在，作为四个肢体组成那位浩大的神；其中稀与密、热与冷、湿与燥，为彼此的作用提供彼此的部分。

From whose agreeing disagreement springs, / The numerous odd Variety of Things. / These Qualities to act provoke the Seed, / Make Vital Elements and Bodies breed.

从它们既相合又相悖的关系中，生出万物纷繁奇异的种类。这些性质激发种子去作用，使元素有了生机，孕育出种种形体。