偷睡眠者

谁从孩子的眼里把睡眠偷了去呢？我一定要知道。

妈妈把她的水罐挟在腰间，走到近村汲水去了。

这是正午的时候，孩子们游戏的时间已经过去了；池中的鸭子沉默无声。

牧童躺在榕树的荫下睡着了。

白鹤庄重而安静地立在檬果树边的泥泽里。

就在这个时候，偷睡眠者跑来从孩子的两眼里捉住睡眠，便飞去了。

当妈妈回来时，她看见孩子四肢着地在屋里爬着。

谁从孩子的眼里把睡眠偷了去呢？我一定要知道。我一定要找到她，把她锁起来。

我一定要向那个黑洞里张望，在这个洞里，有一道小泉从圆的和有皱纹的石上滴下来。

我一定要到醉花林中的沉寂的树影里搜寻，在这林中，鸽子在它们住的地方咕咕地叫着，仙女的脚环在繁星满天的静夜里丁当地响着。

我要在黄昏时，向静静的萧萧的竹林里窥望，在这林中，萤火虫闪闪地耗费它们的光明，只要遇见一个人，我便要问他：

“谁能告诉我偷睡眠者住在什么地方？”

谁从孩子的眼里把睡眠偷了去呢？我一定要知道。

只要我能捉住她，怕不会给她一顿好教训！

我要闯入她的巢穴，看她把所有偷来的睡眠藏在什么地方。

我要把它都夺来，带回家去。

我要把她的双翼缚得紧紧的，把她放在河边，然后叫她拿一根芦苇在灯心草和睡莲间钓鱼为戏。

黄昏，街上已经收了市，村里的孩子们都坐在妈妈的膝上时，夜鸟便会讥笑地在她耳边说：

“你现在还想偷谁的睡眠呢？”

SLEEP-STEALER

WHO stole sleep from baby’s eyes?I must know.

Clasping her pitcher to her waist mother went to fetch waterfrom the village nearby.

It was noon.The children’s playtime was over;the ducks in thepond were silent.

The shepherd boy lay asleep under the shadow of the banyantree.

The crane stood grave and still in the swamp near the mangogrove.

In the meanwhile the Sleep-stealer came and,snatching sleepfrom baby’s eyes,flew away.

When mother came back she found baby travelling the roomover on all fours.

Who stole sleep from our baby’s eyes?I must know.I mustfind her and chain her up.

I must look into that dark cave,where,through boulders andscowling stones,trickles atiny stream.

I must search in the drowsy shade of the bakula grove,wherepigeons coo in their corner,and fairies’anklets tinkle in thestillness of starry nights.

In the evening Iwill peep into the whispering silence of thebamboo forest,where fireflies squander their light,and will askevery creature Imeet,“Can anybody tell me where the Sleep-stealer lives?”

Who stole sleep from baby’s eyes?I must know.

Shouldn’t Igive her agood lesson if Icould only catch her!

I would raid her nest and see where she hoards all her stolensleep.

I would plunder it all,and carry it home.

I would bind her two wings securely,set her on the bank ofthe river,and then let her play at fishing with areed among therushes and water-lilies.

When the marketing is over in the evening,and the villagechildren sit in their mothers’laps,then the night birds willmockingly din her ears with:

“Whose sleep will you steal now?”

1. 醉花（bakula），学名Mimusops Elengi。印度传说美女口中吐出香液，此花始开。