THE BEGINNING
“Where have I come from, where did you pick me up?” the baby asked its mother.
She answered half crying, half laughing, and clasping the baby to her breast—
“You were hidden in my heart as its desire, my darling.
You were in the dolls of my childhood's games; and when with clay I made the image of my god every morning, I made and unmade you then.
You were enshrined with our household deity, in his worship I worshipped you.
In all my hopes and my loves, in my life, in the life of my mother you have lived.
In the lap of the deathless Spirit who rules our home you have been nursed for ages.
When in girlhood my heart was opening its petals, you hovered as a fragrance about it.
Your tender softness bloomed in my youthful limbs, like a glow in the sky before the sunrise.
Heaven's first darling, twin-born with the morning light, you have floated down the stream of the world's life, and at last you have stranded on my heart.
As I gaze on your face, mystery overwhelms me; you who belong to all have become mine.
For fear of losing you I hold you tight to my breast. What magic has snared the world's treasure in these slender arms of mine?”
开始
“我是从哪儿来的？你，在哪儿把我捡起来的？”孩子问他的妈妈说。
她把孩子紧紧地搂在胸前，半哭半笑地答道——
“你曾被我当做心愿藏在我的心里，我的宝贝。
“你曾存在于我孩童时代玩的泥娃娃身上；每天早晨我用泥土塑造我的神像，那时我反复地塑了又捏碎了的就是你。
“你曾和我们的家庭守护神一同受到祀奉，我崇拜家神时也就崇拜了你。
“你曾活在我所有的希望和爱情里，活在我的生命里，我母亲的生命里。
“在主宰着我们家庭的不死的精灵的膝上，你已经被抚育了好多代了。
“当我做女孩子的时候，我的心的花瓣儿张开，你就像一股花香似的散发出来。
“你的软软的温柔，在我青春的肢体上开花了，像太阳出来之前的天空里的一片曙光。
“上天的第一宠儿，晨曦的孪生兄弟，你从世界的生命的溪流浮泛而下，终于停泊在我的心头。
“当我凝视你的脸蛋儿的时候，神秘之感湮没了我；你这属于一切人的，竟成了我的。
“为了怕失掉你，我把你紧紧地搂在胸前。是什么魔术把这世界的宝贝引到我这双纤小的手臂里来的呢？”
BABYS WORLD
I wish I could take a quiet corner in the heart of my baby's very own world.
I know it has stars that talk to him, and a sky that stoops down to his face to amuse him with its silly clouds and rainbows.
Those who make believe to be dumb, and look as if they never could move, come creeping to his window with their stories and with trays crowded with bright toys.
I wish I could travel by the road that crosses baby's mind, and out beyond all bounds;
Where messengers run errands for no cause between the kingdoms of kings of no history;
Where Reason makes kites of her laws and flies them, and Truth sets Fact free from its fetters.
孩子的世界
我愿我能在我孩子自己的世界的中心，占一角清净地。
我知道有星星同他说话，天空也在他面前垂下，用它呆呆的云朵和彩虹来娱悦他。
那些大家以为他是哑的人，那些看上去像是永不会走动的人，都带了他们的故事，捧了满装着五颜六色的玩具的盘子，匍匐地来到他的窗前。
我愿我能在横过孩子心中的道路上游行，解脱了一切的束缚；
在那儿，使者奉了无所谓的使命奔走于无史的诸王的王国间；
在那儿，理智以它的法律造为纸鸢而飞放，真理也使事实从桎梏中自由了。
WHEN AND WHY
When I bring you coloured toys, my child, I understand why there is such a play of colours on clouds, on water, and why flowers are painted in tints—when I give coloured toys to you, my child.
When I sing to make you dance, I truly know why there is music in leaves, and why waves send their chorus of voices to the heart of the listening earth—when I sing to make you dance.
When I bring sweet things to your greedy hands, I know why there is honey in the cup of the flower, and why fruits are secretly filled with sweet juice—when I bring sweet things to your greedy hands.
When I kiss your face to make you smile, my darling, I surely understand what pleasure streams from the sky in morning light, and what delight the summer breeze brings to my body—when I kiss you to make you smile.
时候与原因
当我给你五颜六色的玩具的时候，我的孩子，我明白了为什么云上水上是这样的色彩缤纷，为什么花朵上染上绚烂的颜色的原因了——当我给你五颜六色的玩具的时候，我的孩子。
当我唱着使你跳舞的时候，我真的知道了为什么树叶儿响着音乐，为什么波浪把它们的合唱的声音送进静听着的大地的心头的原因了——当我唱着使你跳舞的时候。
当我把糖果送到你贪得无厌的双手上的时候，我知道了为什么在花萼里会有蜜，为什么水果里会秘密地充溢了甜汁的原因了——当我把糖果送到你贪得无厌的双手上的时候。
当我吻着你的脸蛋儿叫你微笑的时候，我的宝贝，我的确明白了在晨光里从天上流下来的是什么样的快乐，而夏天的微风吹拂在我身体上的又是什么样的爽快——当我吻着你的脸蛋儿叫你微笑的时候。