# Gitanjali 60 — Rabindranath Tagore

**Source text:** *Gitanjali (Song Offerings)*, poem 60. Rabindranath Tagore's own English
prose rendering, first published London: The India Society, 1912; Macmillan, 1913.
**Public domain** (published before 1929; Tagore died 1941).

Chinese rendering below is a fresh translation made by **Claude Opus 5** for this project.
It is not Bing Xin's, not Zheng Zhenduo's — any resemblance is the poem's, not a copy.

---

## I. English (Tagore, 1912)

> On the seashore of endless worlds children meet. The infinite sky is motionless
> overhead and the restless water is boisterous. On the seashore of endless worlds
> the children meet with shouts and dances.
>
> They build their houses with sand and they play with empty shells. With withered
> leaves they weave their boats and smilingly float them on the vast deep. Children
> have their play on the seashore of worlds.
>
> They know not how to swim, they know not how to cast nets. Pearl fishers dive for
> pearls, merchants sail in their ships, while children gather pebbles and scatter
> them again. They seek not for hidden treasures, they know not how to cast nets.
>
> The sea surges up with laughter and pale gleams the smile of the sea beach.
> Death-dealing waves sing meaningless ballads to the children, even like a mother
> while rocking her baby's cradle. The sea plays with children, and pale gleams the
> smile of the sea beach.
>
> On the seashore of endless worlds children meet. Tempest roams in the pathless sky,
> ships get wrecked in the trackless water, death is abroad and children play. On the
> seashore of endless worlds is the great meeting of children.

---

## II. 中文 · Opus 5 自译

> 在无尽世界的海岸上，孩子们相聚。
> 头顶是无垠的天，一动不动；脚下是不安的水，喧哗不止。
> 在无尽世界的海岸上，孩子们相聚，喊着，跳着。
>
> 他们用沙筑起自己的屋子，他们拿空贝壳做游戏。
> 他们把枯叶编成小船，笑着，把它们放到深不可测的海上去。
> 孩子们在众世界的海岸上游戏。
>
> 他们不会游泳，他们不会撒网。
> 采珠人潜下去取珠，商人们扬帆远行，孩子们只是拾起石子，又把石子撒开。
> 他们不寻找埋藏的宝物，他们不会撒网。
>
> 海涌起来，大笑；海滩的微笑，苍白地亮着。
> 那些带来死亡的浪，对孩子们唱着没有意思的歌谣——
> 像一个母亲，摇着她婴儿的摇篮时那样。
> 海和孩子们游戏，海滩的微笑，苍白地亮着。
>
> 在无尽世界的海岸上，孩子们相聚。
> 风暴在没有路的天上游荡，船在没有航迹的水上碎裂，
> 死亡在外面走着，而孩子们游戏。
> 在无尽世界的海岸上，是孩子们盛大的相聚。

---

## III. 世界意象对照表 (the checklist a critic scores the world against)

| # | 诗中意象 | Image | 世界里必须能看见 |
|---|---------|-------|----------------|
| 1 | 无尽世界的海岸 | seashore of endless worlds | 海岸向两侧无限延伸，看不到尽头；不是一个有边界的沙滩 |
| 2 | 无垠而静止的天 | infinite sky, motionless | 天穹高、静、不动；与海的动形成对比 |
| 3 | 不安而喧哗的水 | restless water, boisterous | 浪不断涌来，有声音，有泡沫 |
| 4 | 孩子们相聚、喊着跳着 | children meet with shouts and dances | 多个孩子，成群，在动，有声音 |
| 5 | 用沙筑屋 | houses with sand | 沙堆成的小屋，孩子蹲在旁边 |
| 6 | 玩空贝壳 | play with empty shells | 地上散着贝壳，孩子捡起 |
| 7 | 枯叶编船，放到深海 | withered leaves woven into boats | 叶船离岸，往深处漂 |
| 8 | 不会游泳，不会撒网 | know not how to swim or cast nets | 孩子始终不下水；水深处没有孩子 |
| 9 | 采珠人潜水 | pearl fishers dive | 远处有潜水的人，与孩子不同世界 |
| 10 | 商人扬帆 | merchants sail in their ships | 地平线上有帆船，有目的地驶过 |
| 11 | 拾石子又撒开 | gather pebbles and scatter them again | 无目的的、重复的、纯粹的动作 |
| 12 | 海大笑着涌起 | sea surges up with laughter | 浪的涌起被读成"笑" |
| 13 | 海滩苍白的微笑 | pale gleams the smile of the sea beach | 湿沙上一层苍白的反光，像微笑 |
| 14 | 致死的浪唱无意义的歌谣 | death-dealing waves sing meaningless ballads | 浪声既像摇篮曲又是死亡的 |
| 15 | 像母亲摇篮 | like a mother rocking a cradle | 节奏是摇篮的节奏，慢，反复 |
| 16 | 风暴在无路的天上游荡 | tempest roams in the pathless sky | 远处有风暴云团，在移动，不落到岸上 |
| 17 | 船在无航迹的水上碎裂 | ships get wrecked in trackless water | 远处有沉船、断桅 |
| 18 | 死亡在外面走着 | death is abroad | 海上有某种游荡的存在，孩子看不见它 |
| 19 | 而孩子们游戏 | and children play | 最关键：知道了 16–18，孩子依然在玩 |
| 20 | 盛大的相聚 | the great meeting | 结尾要有"聚"的重量，不只是散玩 |