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纪伯伦，黎巴嫩的文坛骄子，其作品多以“爱”和“美”为主题，通过大胆的想象和象征的手法，表达深沉的感情和远大的理想。《先知》是纪伯伦步入世界文坛的顶峰之作，曾被译成二十多种文字在世界各地出版。
今天就给大家分享一下英文版《先知》中的《论爱》这篇美文。
On Love
《论爱》
When love beckens to you follow him,
当爱召唤你时，跟随他，
Though his ways are hard and steep.
尽管他的道路艰难险阻。
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
而当他的翅膀环抱你时，依从他，
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
尽管羽翼中藏着的利刃可能会伤害你。
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
当他同你讲话时，信任他，
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
尽管他的言语会粉碎你的梦幻，就像北风吹荒了花园。
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
因为爱虽然能为你加冕，却也能将你钉在十字架上；他虽然能让你生长，却也能将你刈剪。
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your
tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
他虽然能攀升到你的高处，抚弄你颤抖在阳光中的叶片，
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
却也能沉降到你的根部，撼动你附着在泥土中的根须。
这一部分中出现的重点词汇词组有：
1.beckon (to someone) 召唤你过去
2.steep adj.陡峭的
3.yield to…= give in to 顺从
4. Lay (to) waste:
destroy something till it looks like waste
例句：Her bedroom looks so messy that you might think it’s laid to waste.
(她的卧室看上去太乱了以至于你可能觉得它都变成废墟了)
5.crucify v.折磨；克制
6.prune vt.修剪；消减；n.修剪
“prune”是一个及物动词，所以后面可以直接接你所要修剪的东西。
7.caress=touch someone/ something gently
例句：I walked along the beach as the cool autumn breeze caressed my face.
Caresses :名词caress的复数形式；n.爱抚
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
他将你像谷穗一样捆扎起来。
He threshes you to make you naked.
他舂打你使你胸怀坦荡。
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
他筛分你使你摆脱无用的外壳。
He grinds you to whiteness.
他碾磨你使你臻于清白。
He kneads you until you are pliant;
他揉捏你使你顺服。
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread or God’s sacred feast.
然后他用他神圣的火焰来处置你，使你成为神圣宴上的圣餐。
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart,and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.
所有这些都将是爱对你的所为，以使你知晓你内心的秘密，而那认知会让你化作生命内在的一部分。
But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure,
但是倘若你在惧怕中只愿寻求爱的宁和与爱的欢愉，
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor,
那么你最好遮掩起你的赤裸逃离爱的谷场，
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
在没有季候的世界里，你能笑，却不能开怀，你能哭，却不能倾心。
这里出现了一系列很特别的动词，文中是将“love”比作农夫，将“你”比作庄稼，因此这些动词本用来形容农夫种庄稼的却被作者很形象地用来比作“love”对你的作用。
Gather: collect something.收集
Thresh: hit something, especially crops.打（麦等）
Sift: select. 筛选
Grind：crush. 压碎
Knead：rub.揉
Assign you to his sacred fire: put the flour in the oven.
“love”对待你就像是农夫收集谷穗，击打小麦，碾磨麦粒，揉面，用烤箱烘焙一样，虽然过程很艰辛，可能会让你感到痛苦，但是结果还是希望你能变得更好。
此外，赏析一下这里我觉得比较富于深意的一个句子。
If in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure，
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
这句话表明了爱带给你的不仅是平和和欢愉，还有痛苦，如果你只感受到了爱带给你的欢乐，那么就像是进入了一个没有季候的世界，既不能开怀地笑，也不能尽情地哭。人生是混杂着酸甜苦辣的，如果只有甜蜜幸福这一种味道，那也会丧失了人生百味的风味，也让我们无法真正地感觉到快乐的滋味了。
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
爱所给的仅是他自己，他所带走的也仅是他自己。
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
爱不占有也不被占有；
For love is sufficient unto love.
因为对爱而言，爱已足够。
When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,”
but rather, I am in the heart of God.”
当你去爱时，你不要说“神在我心里”，而要说“我在神的心里”。
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
也不要认为你能指引爱的行程，因为爱，倘若他发现你够资格，他会引导你的路途。
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
爱没有其他所求，只愿成全自己。
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
但倘若你去爱，就必定有渴望，让这些渴望是：
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
融化为奔流的小溪，在暗夜里唱颂欢快的曲调。
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
体味出过分温柔中的苦痛。
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
让你对爱的理解伤害到自己，
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
并心甘情愿地流血。
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
黎明时怀着飞扬的心醒来，致谢爱的又一天，
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstacy;
正午时沉醉于爱的狂喜中休憩，
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
黄昏时带着感恩归家，
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
然后在内心为所爱的祈祷中入眠，让赞美的歌谣停留在唇间。
在最后的这一部分中出现了比较值得学习的“but”作为介词的用法。回头看文中的句子“Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. ”，这里的but作介词，常与nothing, nobody, who, all, naught等连用，意为除……之外。例如：
I had nothing to do but wait.
除了等待之外，我一筹莫展。
No one but me saw him.
除了我之外，没人看到他。
接下来介绍的是not nor 引导的倒装句，not nor…意为既不…也不…，“Love possesses not nor would it be possessed”是由否定词 “not nor” 引导的部分倒装。
最后给大家讲解一下文中出现的与之相关的两组短语搭配:
1. Not…but rather… 不是……而是……
它与“not…but…”的用法与含意差不多，但是but rasther比but更强烈地表示与前分句的对比意味，rather起加强语气作用。
例句：True abundance comes not from amassing, but rather from appreciating.
真正的财富不是来自财富的积聚，而是来自对所拥有一切的珍视。
2.No other…but… 没有别的除了……
Not other…but… 不是其他的，正是……
No one than… 没有第二个能与……相比
好啦，今天对于Kahlil Gibran 的On Love的阅读就到这里了，希望大家能够喜欢！
本文如果对你有帮助，请点赞收藏《带你读英文版纪伯伦《先知·论爱》》，同时在此感谢原作者。
