Before Two Portraits of My Mother

两幅母亲肖像前

I love the beautiful young girl of this

portrait, my mother, painted years ago

when her forehead was white, and there was no

shadow in the dazzling Venetian glass

of her gaze. But this other likeness shows

the deep trenches across her forehead’s white

marble. The rose poem of her youth that

her marriage sang is far behind. Here is

my sadness: I compare these portraits, one

of a joy-radiant brow, the other care-

heavy: sunrise—and the thick coming on

of night. And yet how strange my ways appear,

for when I look at these faded lips my heart

smiles, but at the smiling girl my tears start.

—Emile Nelligan (1879-1941)

我深爱这名美丽少女的

画像，她是我的母亲，绘制于多年前

当时她的前额白皙无瑕

如同威尼斯玻璃般闪亮，没有一丝阴影

在她双眸中。但另一幅肖像显出

深深的纹痕布满她皎白大理石般平滑的前额

她少女时的那

首玫瑰情诗

曾在她婚礼中被咏唱，如今已经远去。

此时我心悲伤：比较这两幅肖像，一幅显得

神情愉悦，另一幅显得心事

重重：一幅如同朝阳初升——另一幅则如迎面而来的阴郁

黑夜。然而我的反应却显得非比寻常，

因为当我看着她失去光泽的双唇，我心

发出微笑，但看着那名微笑的少女，我的泪竟开始涌出。

—艾米里·奈利根 (1879-1941)

Vocabulary

● 1. portrait n. a painting, photograph, or drawing of sb. 画像；肖像

It took only thirty minutes for the artist in the park to draw a portrait of Jerome.

公园里的画家只花了30分钟，就完成了杰罗姆的画像。

2. marble n. a kind of smooth, light-colored stone; usually used for statues or floors 大理石

Nearly all of the surviving ancient Greek and Roman statues are made of marble.

几乎所有保存至今的古希腊和古罗马雕像都是由大理石雕刻的。

● 3. fade v. to become less bright 失去光泽；褪色

As the years went by, the deep blue color of Mary’s favorite pair of jeans faded.

随着时光流逝，玛丽最喜欢的那件深蓝色牛仔裤已褪了色。

More Information

1. dazzling adj. 璀璨的；耀眼的

2. Venetian glass n. 威尼斯玻璃（以做工精美华丽而著称，可做成烛台、酒杯、灯盏、花瓶等精致用品）

3. likeness n. 肖像；画像（正式说法）

4. trench n. 沟；渠（诗中指母亲额头上的纹痕）

5. joy-radiant adj. 洋溢欢乐喜悦的（radiant 本意为发光的，容光焕发的，诗中用来指因欢乐而满面春风喜乐；而 care-heavy则指心事重重的样子）

6. thick adj. （天空或夜色）阴霾的；深浓的（用来形容诗句中的 the coming on of night，意指夜色如毯子般浓烈地逼近）