How often, oh, how often, I had wished that the ebbing tide
多少次,啊!有多少次,我盼望退潮
would bear me away on its bosom, o'er the ocean wild and wide.
能载我去远方,在敞开大海胸怀上,伴着汹涌的波涛。
For my heart was hot and restless, and my life was full of care,
我心里纷乱难平静,生活饱经忧患,
and the burden laid upon me seemed greater than I could bear.
压在我身上的重荷简直难以承担。
But now it has fallen from me, it is buried in the sea;
此时重荷已经卸下,埋入海底;
And only the sorrow of others throws its shadow over me.
只有他人的忧伤向我投来阴影。
Yet, whenever I cross the river on its bridge with wooden piers,
每当我在这桥上穿过木板搭建的码头,跨过这道小河,
like the odor of brine from the ocean comes the thought of other years.
往昔便涌上心头,就像海水泛出的咸味。
And I think how many thousands of care-encumbered men,
我暗思有多少饱经世事的人们,
each bearing his burden of sorrow, have crossed the bridge since then.
每人身上都荷着不幸的重负,踯躅着从桥上走过。
I see the long procession still passing to and fro, the young heart hot and restless, and the old, subdued and slow!
我看见长长的队伍仍然来来回回,年轻人,心里纷乱难平静,年长的人,顺从而蹒跚!
And forever and forever, as long as the river flows, as long as the heart has passions, as long as life has woes;
永远复永远,只要河水还在流淌,只要内心尚有激情,只要生活中忧愁还在;
The moon and its broken reflection and its shadows shall appear as the symbol of love in heaven, and its wavering image here.
明月和断断续续的忧思,还有倒影都会显现,爱的象征在天上,摇曳的影子却留在了这里。