On Children

致孩子

97'

Your children are not your children.

你的孩子，并不是你的孩子

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

他们诞生于生命对于自身的渴望

They come through you but not from you,

他们借助你来到这个世界，却非因你而来

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. 

他们陪伴你，却不从属于你

You may give them your love but not your thoughts, 

你可以给予他们你的关爱，却不能给予你的思想

For they have their own thoughts.

因为他们有自己的思想

You may house their bodies but not their souls, 

你可以庇护他们的身体，却无法安置他们的灵魂

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

因为他们的灵魂属于明天，属于你在梦境中也到达不了的明天

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. 

你可以拼尽全力，变成他们的样子，却不要试图让他们变成你

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. 

因为生命不会向后退进，也不在过去停留

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. 

你是弓，而孩子是从你那里射出的箭

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, 

弓箭手遥望在无限之路上竖起的靶子

and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. 

用尽力气将你拉开，把箭轻盈地射远

Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness; 

在弓箭手的手中，你快乐地弯起腰

For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable. 

因为他爱那飞驰向前的箭，也爱那稳定的弓


诗人简介

纪伯伦（Kahlil Gibran，1883-1931），美籍黎巴嫩阿拉伯作家，哲理诗人和画家，20世纪阿拉伯新文学道路的开拓者之一。他的作品蕴含了丰富的社会性和东方精神，不以情节为重，旨在抒发丰富的情感。纪伯伦与鲁迅和泰戈尔一样，是近代东方文学走向世界的先驱。

本诗指出孩子是独立的，是与父母平等的个体，父母只能给孩子以爱，却不能代替他们形成思想、设计人生路径。