circumstances in which, finally, we’ll be happy.  We’ll have worked everything out, organised our  

在這種情況下，我們終於會感到高興。 我們會把一切都解決了，組織好我們的

way of life and finally, we’ll be happy. It’s an  enchanting idea but, ironically, it means that  

我們的生活方式，最後，我們將獲得幸福。這是一個令人著迷的想法，但具有諷刺意味的是，這意味著

most of the time we’re restless because we’re  not there yet. The present is just the tedious,  

大多數時候，我們坐立不安是因為我們還沒有到達那裡。當下只是乏味的。

dreary period we have to get through until, in  the future, we can relax and enjoy ourselves. 

我們必須度過這段沉悶的時期，直到將來我們可以放鬆和享受自己。

The unexpected companion we perhaps need to ease  our frustration is a bespectacled, Greek-speaking,  

我們也許需要一個意想不到的同伴來緩解我們的挫折感，那就是一個滿臉皺紋、說希臘語的人。

middle-ranking civil servant: Constantine Cavafy -  who was born in Alexandria in 1863. He often felt  

中級公務員。康斯坦丁-卡瓦菲--他於1863年出生在亞歷山大。他經常感到

displaced; he lived almost all his life in Egypt  but thought of himself as a citizen of Byzantium  

流離失所；他幾乎一生都生活在埃及，但認為自己是拜占庭的公民。

- once the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Cavafy only hit creative side in his forties and  

- 曾經是東羅馬帝國的首都。卡瓦菲在四十多歲時才接觸到創造性的一面，並且

published little during his lifetime  - held back by anxiety that that the  

在他的一生中幾乎沒有發表過任何作品--因為他擔心

overtly homoerotic themes he often wanted to  explore would be met only with condemnation. 

他經常想探討的公開的同志主題只會遭到譴責。

The poem that has most to help us, usually  contained in a book of his Collected Poems,  

對我們幫助最大的詩，通常包含在他的《詩集》一書中。

is one entitled Ithaca. Technically, the island  of Ithaca was the home of the legendary Greek hero  

這是一部名為《伊薩卡》的作品。嚴格來說，伊薩卡島是希臘傳奇英雄的故鄉。

Ulysses - to which he spent ten adventurous years  returning after the fall of Troy. But here it  

尤利西斯--在特洛伊城陷落後，他花了十年的時間冒險返回那裡。但在這裡，它

signals whatever we imagine our destination  in life to be. It’s the image we have in our  

信號，無論我們想象我們的生活目的地是什麼。它是我們的形象，在我們的

heads of the distant time when we’ll be able  to live properly - once we’ve found a partner  

憧憬著一旦找到伴侶，我們就能正常生活的遙遠時光

or bought a house or have secured a divorce or  made a fortune or retired. Cavafy doesn’t want  

或買了房子，或辦理了離婚，或發了財，或退休了。卡瓦菲並不希望

to help us get there more quickly; instead he  wants to delay arrival as long as possible.

來幫助我們更快地到達那裡；相反，他想盡可能地延後到達時間。

As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one

當你出發前往伊薩卡時，希望你的道路是漫長的。

Then he invokes what he calls ‘harbours’

然後他引用了他所謂的 "港灣"。

May there be many summer mornings when, with what pleasure, what joy, 

願有許多夏天的早晨，帶著怎樣的快樂，怎樣的喜悅。

you enter harbors you’re  seeing for the first time;

你進入你第一次看到的港口。

These, emphatically, are not our destination:  

強調的是，這些不是我們的目的地。

they are the places and things, people and  experiences we encounter precisely because  

它們是我們遇到的地方和事物、人和經驗，正是因為

we’re not home yet and which won’t any longer  be available to us when we finally get there. 

我們還沒有到家，當我們終於到家的時候，這些東西就不會再有了。

His ideal is that when we arrive at our home we’ll  find that it is ‘poor’: it has little to offer us.

他的理想是，當我們到達我們的家時，我們會發現它是 "貧窮的"：它沒有什麼可以提供給我們。

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you wouldn't have set out. 

伊薩卡給了你奇妙的旅程。沒有她，你就不會出發。

She has nothing left to give you now. And if you find her poor,  

她現在已經沒有什麼可以給你了。如果你發現她很窮

Ithaka won’t have fooled you. Wise as you will have become.

伊薩卡不會愚弄你。你會變得很聰明。

If we live this way - with a warm sense of  appreciation, with a sense of adventure,  

如果我們以這種方式生活--帶著溫暖的感激之情，帶著冒險精神。

with a willingness to explore byways  - our destination, when we get there,  

在我們到達目的地的時候，我們願意去探尋一些小路，也就是我們的目的地。

won't be the big fulfillment we once expected  it to be. We’ll have found our fulfillment  

將不會是我們曾經期望的那種大的成就感。我們會找到我們的成就感

along the way. It won't be what we find at  the end that pleases us, so much as what we  

一路走來。讓我們高興的不會是最後發現的東西，而是我們的

bring with us. It won't be marriage, making  money or retiring that in itself is so great;  

帶給我們的。它不會是婚姻、賺錢或退休，這本身就很好。

what will matter is what we have discovered in  ourselves before we reached these destinations.

重要的是在我們到達這些目的地之前，我們在自己身上發現了什麼。