作品选读

A snake came to my water-trough1

On a hot，hot day，and I in pyjamas for the heat，

To drink there．

In the deep，strange-scented shade of the great dark carob-tree2

I came down the steps with my pitcher3

And must wait，must stand and wait，for there he was at the trough before me．

He reached down from a fissure4 in the earth-wall in the gloom

And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down，over the edge of

the stone trough

And rested his throat upon the stone bottom，

And where the water had dripped from the tap，in a small clearness，

He sipped with his straight mouth，

Softly drank through his straight gums，into his slack long body，

Silently．

Someone was before me at my water-trough，

And I，like a second comer，waiting．

He lifted his head from his drinking，as cattle do，

And looked at me vaguely，as drinking cattle do，

And flickered his two-forked tongue from his lips，and mused a moment，

And stooped and drank a little more，

Being earth-brown，earth-golden from the burning bowels of the earth

On the day of Sicilian July，with Etna5 smoking．

The voice of my education said to me

He must be killed，

For in Sicily6 the black，black snakes are innocent，the gold are venomous7．

And voices in me said，If you were a man

You would take a stick and break him now，and finish him off．

But must I confess how I liked him，

How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet，to drink at my water-trough

And depart peaceful，pacified8，and thankless，

Into the burning bowels of this earth？

Was it cowardice9，that I dared not kill him？

Was it perversity10，that I longed to talk to him？

Was it humility，to feel so honoured？

I felt so honoured．

And yet those voices:

If you were not afraid，you would kill him！

And truly I was afraid，I was most afraid，

But even so，honoured still more

That he should seek my hospitality

From out the dark door of the secret earth．

He drank enough

And lifted his head，dreamily，as one who has drunken，

And flickered his tongue like a forked night on the air，so black，

Seeming to lick his lips，

And looked around like a god，unseeing，into the air，

And slowly turned his head，

And slowly，very slowly，as if thrice adream，

Proceeded to draw his slow length curving round

And climb again the broken bank of my wall-face．

And as he put his head into that dreadful hole，

And as he slowly drew up，snake-easing his shoulders，and entered farther，

A sort of horror，a sort of protest against his withdrawing into that horrid black hole，

Deliberately going into the blackness，and slowly drawing himself after，

Overcame me now his back was turned．

I looked round，I put down my pitcher，

I picked up a clumsy log

And threw it at the water-trough with a clatter11．

I think it did not hit him，

But suddenly that part of him that was left behind convulsed12 in undignified haste．

Writhed13 like lightning，and was gone

Into the black hole，the earth-lipped fissure in the wall-front，

At which，in the intense still noon，I stared with fascination．

And immediately I regretted it．

I thought how paltry14，how vulgar，what a mean act！

I despised myself and the voices of my accursed15 human education．

And I thought of the albatross16

And I wished he would come back，my snake．

For he seemed to me again like a king，

Like a king in exile，uncrowned in the underworld，

Now due to be crowned again．

And so，I missed my chance with one of the lords

Of life．

And I have something to expiate17:

A pettiness18．

Notes:

1．water-trough:long narrow open box or channel for animals to feed or drink from．

2．carob-tree:red-flowered evergreen common to the Mediterranean角豆树

3．pitcher:large container for liquids，with one or two handles and a lip for pouring大水罐;大壶

4．fissure:long deep crack in rock or in the earth(岩石或土地中的)深长裂缝

5．Etna:volcanic mountain in Sicily，Europe's highest埃特纳火山

6．Sicily:西西里岛(意大利南部)

7．venomous:(of a snake)secreting poisonous fluid分泌毒液的;有毒的

8．pacified:calm，quiet安静的;温和的

9．cowardice:fearfulness;feelings or behaviour of a coward胆小;怯懦

10．perversity:unreasonable or excessive feelings不近情理;过分

11．clatter:continuous noise of hard和objects falling or knocking against each other(咔嗒的)撞击声

12．convulse:make sudden violent，uncontrollable movements剧烈震动、摆动

13．writhe:(of the body)twist or roll about扭动;翻滚

14．paltry:worthless，contemptible无价值的;可鄙的

15．accursed:hateful，detestable，annoying可恨的;可恶的;讨厌的

16．albatross:the bird that a sailor in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”long repented killing信天翁的故事

17．expiate:accept punishment for wrong one has done and do something to show one is sorry受罚及补偿

18．pettiness:meanness，baseness狭隘;卑劣

作品简评

劳伦斯一生诗作甚丰，有一千余首之多。但评论界普遍认为他的诗歌与他的小说相比，质量较为参差不齐，有一部分极为优秀，堪称20世纪英语诗歌经典作品，同时也不乏大量的平庸之作，而诗歌《蛇》无疑是前一类作品的代表。

《蛇》有着极其丰富的思想意义。在现实的表层上，它讲述了诗人与一条蛇的遭遇故事，而在更深的象征层面上，它表现了诗人或者以他为代表的人类所经历的内心自我意识之间的相互冲突。劳伦斯的蛇代表着人类作为与动物无异的“血性生命”的所有本能，通过对蛇的外貌、形体到动作的细微观察和描述，诗人引发了读者对蛇性的重新思考，并进而反观西方文化传统对蛇的界定，在一定意义上颠覆了传统道德观。

全诗以无韵的自由诗体写成，而段落中反复出现的“s”音让语言有一种极度轻松感，同时诗行的长短不一以及尾韵的消失也增加了语言的自由度，突出表现了现代派诗歌的意境。同时这也是一首叙事诗，诗歌在一开篇便将一个故事的基本要素交代清楚，如角色、时间、地点、事件等。作为句子主语的蛇与出现在插入语成分中的“我”相比，有着更为重要的位置，而接下来的一段中“我”对于前来造访的蛇所表现出的敬意更进一步确立了蛇的尊贵地位，蛇在此带给人的是一种清凉、慵懒、轻柔与宁静的愉悦感。但在接下来的诗行里，诗人却企图为蛇附上某个危险的身份标记，尽管此时的诗人似乎并非有意识地想到蛇的危险，但“我所受教育发出的声音，对我说:/他必须被杀死”，这种声音与诗人内在的本能形成对立，它来自西方文化中有关蛇的传统观念，即它是邪恶和禽兽的象征。具有讽刺意味的是，那条蛇既安静又平和，毫无害人之意却最终被人伤害。全诗在诗人的忏悔声中结束。尽管诗人一再诅咒人类教育中那些专嗜扼杀美好天性的力量，却无力挽回那已失去的本能自我。但另一方面，此时的诗人显然已经摆脱了那些固有的社会意识的影响，也因此能有足够大的心胸进行深刻的反省。劳伦斯用他创造的富有积极意义的蛇形象颠覆了人们幻想中的凶残的禽兽形象，如此不仅为自然界的兽类还为人“内心之兽”洗去了不白之冤。

Questions for Discussion

1．What is the symbolic meaning of snake in this poem？

2．Has the poet's attitude toward the snake changed throughout the poem？Why？

3．What is the theme of the poem？Can you find social and religious themes throughout the poem？