"Mending Wall"

Provider:Fr. Pierre Demer /談德義神父

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,	1
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:	5
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,	10
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.	15
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.	20
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across	25
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'.
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it	30
Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.	35
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top	40
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well	45
He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."

Line / No.	Word or Phrase	Annotation
1	Something…wall	此句正常寫法為There is something that doesn't love a wall.[back]
2	sends	Cause to become.
2	frozen-ground-swell	因冰庫，土地有膨脹的現象。這三個單字中間的兩個hyphen，將三字連為一字，並表示此為一種現象。[back]
3	spills	使…落下。（使牆頭上的大石頭落下。）[back]
4	makes gaps	製造缺口。（缺口可以大到兩人能並肩通過。）abreast: side by side.[back]
5	Is another thing	為拆牆的另一例子。[back]
6	made repair	(have…made repair)修補。[back]
8	would have	cause something to happen.[back]
9	yelping dogs	跟著獵人狂吠的獵犬。（此行講的很有幽默感，獵人追逐兔子，是在討獵犬的歡心。）[back]
11	mending-time	補牆的季節。（多半在春天。）[back]
12	beyond the hill	這一片語在修飾前面的neighbor。（山那邊的鄰舍。）[back]
13	walk the line	沿牆巡視，確定地界。[back]
16	to each…to each	落在那邊的石頭，就由那邊的人員責補好。 [back]
17	loaves	長塊石頭。
17	nearly balls	近似球狀的石頭。[back]
18	We	此字前似該有that，可接上行so。
18	use a spell	需用符咒始可。（石頭的大小形狀各不同，需有特別技術，始可將這些石頭堆壘為牆。）[back]
19	until our backs are turned	等我們轉過身來。[back]
20	wear our fingers rough	手指弄得粗糙。
20	with handling them	因搬弄石頭之故。[back]
22	one on a side.	（像打網一樣）各站一邊。
22	It comes…more	沒有多大用處。（我們園地之間的牆。） [back]
23	There where…the wall	It (=the wall) is there where...（我們現在砌牆之處，實際上，沒有需要。）[back]
24	He is all pine	他那邊全是松樹。[back]
25	get across	走過去。[back]
26	eat the cones	吃他地裏松毬。[back]
28	Spring…in me	春天在我心裏作崇。[back]
29	put a notion in his head	將一種觀念注入他腦中。[back]
34	walling in or walling out	圈進來的，或圈出去的。[back]
35	like to	likely to,可能。
35	give offense	引起不歡。[back]
37	Elves	精靈。單數為elf.[back]
38	But it's not elves exactly	但嚴格說，也不是「鬼」。[back]
39	He said it for himself	（到底是什麼東西不喜歡牆，要將它推倒），這還是讓他自己去推測吧！[back]
41	old-stone savage armed	武裝的舊石器時代的野蠻人。[back]
44	He…father's saying	他不肯探究他父親傳給他的格言。[back]
45	likes having thought of it so well	想到這句格言，就很喜歡。[back]

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