Verses On A Cat
壹 只 貓 咪
作者：英波西·比希·雪萊 －Percy Bysshe Shelley
上善若水·譯
(原詩韻式為AA BCCB，AA DEED，FF GHHG，II JKKJ，LL MKKM；拙以每節壹韻到底試譯，歡迎斧正。）
(壹)
A cat in distress,
壹只貓咪好苦惱，
Nothing more, nor less;
事兒不大也不小；
Good folks, I must faithfully tell ye,
好鄉親，我會如實告訴妳，
As I am a sinner,
即便我是個賴痞，
It waits for some dinner
為填飽自己的小肚皮—
To stuff out its own little belly.
只等午餐來充饑。
（二）
You would not easily guess
各種各樣的煩惱—
All the modes of distress
妳往往猜不到—
Which torture the tenants of earth;
家家戶戶痛苦不已；
And the various evils,
不幸的靈魂寄生附體。
Which like so many devils,
有如許許多多小淘氣，
Attend the poor souls from their birth.
還有奇奇怪怪的惡習，
（三）
Some a living require,
有人求生存，
And others desire
有人利欲熏心—
An old fellow out of the way;
不尋常的老家夥；
And which is the best
哪個最棒唷—
I leave to be guessed,
讓妳去猜度，
For I cannot pretend to say.
而我不能去假說。
（四）
One wants society,
有人熱衷社交，
Another variety,
有人只為玩花哨，
Others a tranquil life;
有人只求平靜的生活；
Some want food,
有人只要香餑餑，
Others, as good,
有人好灑脫，
Only want a wife.
僅僅只想抱老婆。
（五）
But this poor little cat
可憐貓咪小動物—
Only wanted a rat,
只求壹只小老鼠，
To stuff out its own little maw;
為把肚子填個飽；
And it were as good
某些人該給他個老鼠叼—
Some people had such food,
若是這樣可真好，
To make them hold their jaw!
為使他們別嘮叨！
譯註：這是雪萊最早的壹首詩，作於1800年，當時他只有八歲。