Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
By Robert Frost
［参考译文］
未选择的路
罗伯特·弗罗斯特
黄叶林中出条岔路，
无奈一人难于兼顾，
顺着一条蜿蜒小路，
久久伫立极目远眺，
只见小径拐进灌木。
接着选择了另一条，
同样清楚似乎更好，
引人踩踏铺满茂草，
踏在其间难分彼此，
尽管它们都被踩过。
清晨里躺着两条路，
一样落叶无人踏黑，
愿将第一条来日补，
但知条条相连远途，
怀疑日后怎能回返。
在很久以后某一地，
我将叹息诉说于人，
两路岔开在树林里，
我选的那条足迹稀，
而一切差别由此起。
（关山 译）
［注释］
-diverge [daɪˈvɜːʤ] v. （道路等）分叉 branch out
-lay [leɪ] v. 放下 to put or set down
-trodden [ˈtrɒdən] v. （tread的过去分词）踏，行走，踩碎，践踏 walked on, over