Yet each man kills the thing he loves
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!
Some kill their love when they are young,
And some when they are old;
Some strangle with the hands of Lust,
Some with the hands of Gold:
The kindest use a knife, because
The dead so soon grow cold.
Some love too little, some too long,
Some sell, and others buy;
Some do the deed with many tears,
And some without a sigh:
For each man kills the thing he loves,
Yet each man does not die.
中文的译文实在是没有英文版读起来那么让人回味。
谁都在把所爱的杀死，
你不妨听听每人的方式，
有人使用恶毒的尖眼，
有人使用阿谀的巧言，
懦夫使用轻轻的一吻，
勇汉使用尖利的刀刃！
有人毁所爱时还年少，
有人毁所爱时已年老；
有人用欲望之手扼杀，
有人靠金钱之手屠戮：
最心善的才使用利刀，
为的是死者快死快了。
有人爱得太深有人太浅，
有人用钱买有人把钱换；
有人毁所爱时泪水涟涟，
有人却用不着长吁短叹：
虽然谁都在把所爱毁掉，
却未必谁都把绞索来套。
—华丽的分割线—
The Ballad of Reading Gaol
Oscar Wilde
I
He did not wear his scarlet coat,
For blood and wine are red,
And blood and wine were on his hands
When they found him with the dead,
The poor dead woman whom he loved,
And murdered in her bed.
