七十岁

青年诗人对公爵夫人说："我爱你。"公爵夫人答道："我也爱你，我的孩子。"

"然而我不是你的孩子。我是个男子汉，而且我爱你。"

公爵夫人说："我是我的子女的母亲；我的子女又是他们的子女的父母；我的一个孙子，年纪比你还大哩。"

诗人道："然而我爱你。"

不久以后，公爵夫人死了。但是，在公爵夫人的最后一口气被大地的呼吸容纳之前，她在内心深处说道："我的亲爱的，我的推一的孩子，我的青年诗人啊，将来有朝一日也许我们会重新见面的，而我也不是七十岁。"

Seventy

The poet youth said to the princess, "I love you." And the princess answered, "And I love you too, my child."

"But I am not your child. I am a man and I love you."

And she said, "I am the mother of sons and daughters, and they are fathers and mothers of sons and daughters; and one of the sons of my sons is older than you."

And the poet youth said, "But I love you."

It was not long after that the princess died. But ere her last breath was received again by the greater breath of earth, she said within her soul, "My beloved, mine only son, my youth-poet, it may yet be that some day we shall meet again, and I shall not be seventy."