文／朱自清 (1898-1948)

燕子去了，有再來的時候；楊柳枯了，有再青的時候；桃花謝了，有再開的時候。但是，聰明的，你告訴我，我們的日子為什麼一去不復返呢？

八千多日子已經從我手中溜去，像針尖上一滴水滴在大海裡，我的日子滴在時間的流裡，沒有聲音，也沒有影子。

洗手的時候，日子從水盆裡過去；吃飯的時候，日子從飯碗裡過去；默默時，便從凝然的雙眼過去。我覺察他去得匆匆了，伸出手遮挽時，他又從遮挽著的手邊過去。天黑時，我躺在床上，他便伶伶俐俐地從我身邊跨過，從我腳邊飛去了。等我睜開眼和太陽再見，這算又溜走了一日，我掩著面嘆息。但是新來的日子的影兒又開始在嘆息裡閃過了。

你聰明的，告訴我，我們的日子為什麼一去不復返呢？

──選自《朱自清全集》

Haste (Excerpt)

Zhu Ziqing (1898 - 1948)

English translation: Hsin-Yu Huang

Swallows leave, but there will be a time when they come back. Willows wither, but there will be a time when they become verdant again. Peach blossoms shrivel up, but there will be a time when they bloom again. But tell me─oh clever one─why do our days run away and never come back?

More than eighty-thousand days have already slipped by my hands. Like water dripping from the tip of a needle into the sea, so do my days into the river of time, with neither sound nor shadow.

When I wash my hands, days pass through the basin. when dining, they pass through the bowl; when I am in silence, they pass through my gazing eyes. I perceive that it leaves in haste, and as I reach out my hand to stop it from leaving, it passes by the side of the hand that tries to block its way. At night, when I lie on my bed, it strides off cleverly from my side, and flies away from my feet. As I open my eyes and meet the sun again, another day has gone swiftly, and I cover my face and sigh. Yet the shadow of the new day leaves as quickly as bolts in sighs.

Oh clever one! Tell me, why do our days pass and never return?

── from Zhu Ziqing Quanji

(Complete Works of Zhu Ziqing)