How wonderful are islands! Islands in space, like this one I have come to, ringed about by miles of water, linked by on bridges, no cables, no telephones.

 

岛屿是多么奇妙啊！它处在一望无际之中，四周海水围绕， 没有桥梁相通，没有电缆相连，更无电话可打。

An lsland from the world and the world's life. Islands is time, like this short vacation of mine.

我来的小岛就是 这样一个地方，它远离尘世，不见喧嚣。小岛是时间的孤岛，就 像我的这次短期假期。

The past and the future are cut off: only the present remains.

在这里，过去和未来都被隔断，只有现时 依然存在。

One lives like a child or a saint in the immediacy of here and now.

一个人，或是像个孩子：或是像个圣人，现在便实 实在在地在这里活着。

Every day, every act, is an island, washed by time and space, and has an island's completion.

每一天、每一个动作其实都是一个小岛，经受着时间和空间的冲刷，像小岛一样完美。

People, too, become like islands in such an atmosphere, self-contained, whole and serene; respecting other people's solitude, not intruding on their shores, standing back in revernce before the miracle of another individual.

人在这种环境下也变成了小岛，独立自主，完整安详，尊重他人的孤独，不践踏他 人的海岸半步，毕恭毕敬地在他人的奇迹面前靠后站。

"No man is an island," said John Donne. I feel we are all islands--in a common sea.

“没有人 会是小岛。”约翰?多恩说过。我却认为每个人都是公共海域的 小岛。

We are all, in the last analysis, alone.

归根结底，我们都是孤独的。

And this basic state of solitude is not something we have any choice about.

这种孤独的基本状态由不得 我们选择。

It is , as the poet Rilke says, "not something that one can take or leave".

奥地利诗人里尔克曾经说道：“由不得我们带走或是 放弃。”

We are solitary. We may delude ourselves and act as though this were not so, yes, even to begin by assuming it."Naturally," he goes on to say,"we will turn giddy."

虽然身心孤独，但是我们都欺骗自己，假装事实并非如 此。里尔克还说，“我们很自然就会弄得头晕目眩。”

We seem so frightened today of being alone that we never let it happen. Even if family, friends, and movies should fail, there is still the radio or television to fill up the void.

今天的人们都非常害怕孤独，所以极力避免它。当与家人 和朋友相处或是看电影都无法消除孤独的时候，我们就用听广播 和看电视来填补空白。

Women, who used to complain of loneliness, need never be alone any more.

女人们曾经埋怨孤独，现在想孤独也办不 到。

We can do our housework with soap-opera heroes at our side. Even day-dreaming was more creative than this; it demanded something of oneself and it fed the inner life.

她们可以一边做家务一边看肥皂剧。做白日梦都显得更有创 造力，它需要人们具有一些东西，而且能够丰富内心生活。

Now instead of planting our solitude with our dream bolssoms, we choke the space with continuous music, chatter and companionship to which we do not even listen.

我们 本该用白曰梦的似锦繁花来种下一片孤独，但却用连续不断的音 乐、喋喋不休、吵嚷的同伴来把孤独的空间堵死。

It is simply there to fill the vacuum. When the noise stops there is no inner music to take its place. We must relearn to be alone.

这其实仅仅是 _个填补空缺的问题，一旦暄闹消失，便不再有内心的音乐来填 补空缺。我们要重新学会孤独。