頌詩譯選

倫敦教堂

凌風 譯

 

在一個星期天的早上，
我站在一座教堂的大門旁，
會眾都聚集在那裏
還有幾十部車輛 —
從車中走出一位貴婦
我常得有幸瞻仰。

她手持一卷公禱書，
還拿者飾金的香匣；
那書上清楚印着
人類救恩的徽記 —
但在十字架的上面
還有一頂鍍金的冠冕。*

一名諂媚的執事趨前
為她敞開了內門，
她的腳步仿佛是滑動，
輕盈的像在舞廳一般 —
在她邪惡的虛驕中
也許會有過一絲善念。

但在她後面來了一個婦人，
懷着渴慕向門裏張望，
生活殘酷的印痕，
刻畫在她病弱的臉上 —
顯示着悲慘的三合一
罪壓，軟弱，和痛傷。

她找不到空處安息和禱告，
早有人擠滿了免費的座位；**
與到處的盛裝相比
她殘破的外衣使她慚愧 —
“神的家容不下貧窮的罪人”，
她嘆息着蹣跚的離開。

* 那金冠冕是有勛爵的徽記。
** 英國教區的家庭，一般在教會中租定座椅，可遲到或不到，但別人不得坐用；其餘的是免費自由座位（free seats）。

 

A London Church

Richard Monckton Milnes Houghton

I stood, one Sunday morning,
Before a large church door,
The congregation gathered
And carriages a score, —
From one out stepped a lady
I oft had seen before.

Her hand was on a prayer-book,
And held a vinaigrette;
The sign of man's redemption
Clear on the book was set, —
But above the Cross there glistened
A golden Coronet.

For her the obsequious beadle
The inner door flung wide,
Lightly, as up a ball-room,
Her footsteps seemed to glide, —
There might be good thoughts in her
For all her evil pride.

But after her a woman
Peeped wistfully within,
On whose wan face was graven
Life's hardest discipline, —
The trace of the sad trinity
Of weakness, pain, and sin.

The few free-seats were crowded
Where she could rest and pray;
With her worn garb contrasted
Each side in fair array —
"God's house holds no poor sinners,"
She sighed, and crept away.

　　　Lord Richard Monckton Milnes Houghton

浩屯伯爵（Lord Richard Monckton Milnes Houghton, 1809- 1885）英國詩人，文學贊助者，也是提倡教會改革的人。 這首詩寫他觀察到教會內存在者重富棄貧的現象，正是聖經雅各書第二章所指責的現象。