新概念一生必讀的英語經典美文英漢
在英語教學中,開展經典美文教學不僅能提高學生的文學水平,而且能提高學生的英語素養。下面小編整理了一生必讀的英語經典美文，希望大家喜歡!
一生必讀的英語經典美文摘抄
Playing a Violin with Three Strings
斷絃的小提琴
Anonymous
佚名
On Nov.18，1995，Itzhak Perlman，the violinist，came on stage to give a concert. if you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child，and so he walks with the aid of two crutches.
1995年11月18日，小提琴家伊扎克·帕爾曼舉辦了一場音樂會。如果你曾經聽過帕爾曼的音樂會，你就知道對他來說走上舞臺可不是一件容易的事情。他小的時候患過小兒麻痺症，所以他走路要藉助雙柺。
The audience sit quietly while he makes his way across the stage to his chair and begins his play. But this time, something went wrong. Just as he finished the first few bars，one of the strings on his violin broke. We thought that he would have to stop the concert. But he didn't. Instead，he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again.
觀眾在靜靜地等待著他穿過舞臺坐在椅子上開始表演。但是這一次出了點意外。當他剛剛演奏完前面幾小節的時候，一根琴絃斷了。我們以為他不得不結束這場演奏會，然而他卻沒有。他停了一下，閉上了眼睛，然後向指揮示意重新開始。
The orchestra began and he played with such passion and such power and such purity as they had never heard before.
樂隊再一次開始演奏，他用前所未有的激情、力量和純潔的內心而演奏著。
Of course, anyone knows that it is impossible to play a harmonious work with just three strings. I know that, and you know that, but that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that.
當然，我們都知道僅用三根琴絃是無法演奏出和諧的樂曲的。你我都明白這一事實，但是那晚伊扎克·帕爾曼就是拒絕承認。
When he finished，there was an awesome silence in the room. And then people rose and cheered. There was an extraordinary outburst of applause from every corner of the auditorium.
當演奏結束的時候，大廳裡先是一陣可怕的沉寂。接著，人們從座位上起立並歡呼起來，從觀眾席的每一個角落都爆發出了熱烈的掌聲。
He smiled，wiped the sweat from this brow and then he said in a quiet, sacred tone, "You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left."
他微笑著，擦去了額頭的汗珠，他用平靜的、虔誠的語氣說道，“有些時候音樂家需要明白，用不完整的樂器，你還能演奏出怎樣的音樂。”
This powerful line has stayed in my mind ever since I heard it. Perhaps that is the definition of life-not just for artists but for all of us.
從那天起，我就一直銘記這句鏗鏘有力的話。要知道，也許這就是對生命的解釋—不僅是對音樂家，而且是對所有的人。
He has prepared all his life to make music on a violin of four strings, but all of a sudden, in the middle of a concert, he finds himself with only three strings;so he makes music with three strings, and the music he made that night with just three strings was more beautiful，more sacred, more memorable, than any that he had ever made before, when he had four strings.
伊扎克·帕爾曼一生都在做著用四弦小提琴演奏音樂的準備，然而，突然間，就在音樂會上，他發現他只剩下三根琴絃，於是他用三根琴絃演奏。那一晚他用三根琴絃演奏的音樂比他以往用四根琴絃演奏的音樂更美妙，更神聖，更難忘。
So，perhaps our task in this shaky，fast-changing，bewildering world in which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then，when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left.
我們要學會在這個動盪多變、充滿迷惑的世界裡演奏音樂，也許開始的時候傾盡所有來演奏，當有些東西不再擁有的時候，就用我們所剩下的來演奏音樂。
一生必讀的英語經典美文鑑賞
Childhood
10.童年
Leo Tolstoy
[俄]列夫·托爾斯泰
Happy, happy, never-retuning time of childhood! How can we help loving and dwelling upon its recollections? They cheer and elevate the soul, and become to one a source of higher joys.
幸福的，幸福的，一去不復返的童年時代啊，怎能不愛惜、不珍重對童年的回憶呢?這些回憶使我精神舒爽，心情振奮，是我的無上樂趣的源泉。
Sometimes，when dreaming of bygone days, fancy that,tired out with running about I have sat down in my high arm-chair by the tea-table. It is late, and I have long since drunk my cup of milk. My eyes are heavy with sleep as I sit there and listen. How could I not listen, seeing that Mamma is speaking to somebody,and that the sound of her voice is so melodious and kind? How much its echoes recall to my heard With my eyes veiled with drowsiness I gaze at her wistfully. Suddenly she seems to grow smaller and smaller, and her face vanishes to a point; yet I can still see it—can still see her as she looks at me and smiles. Somehow it pleases me to see her grown so small. I blink and blink, yet she looks no larger than a boy reflected in the pupil of an eye. Then I rouse myself, and the picture fades. Once more I half-close my eyes, and cast about to try and recall the dream, but it has gone, I rise to my feet, only to fall back comfortably into the armchair.
有時，我會回憶起流逝的歲月。那時跑不動了，我就在茶桌旁那把高背安樂椅上安逸地坐下來;夜深了，我就喝光所有的牛奶，迷迷糊糊地合上眼睛，靜坐在那兒聆聽著媽媽在同什麼人說話，她的聲音是那麼婉轉優美!那聲音不停地在我的心靈深處盪漾，讓我想起那段美妙的時光。我用迷糊的睡眼渴望地看著媽媽的臉。忽然，媽媽的身影逐漸變小，她的面孔縮小成了一個小黑點;可是，我依然可以看到她，她笑眯眯地瞥了我一眼。不知什麼緣故，我喜歡看見媽媽變得這麼小的樣子。我眨了眨雙眼，她的樣子變得和瞳孔裡的小孩兒一樣大了。後來我被驚醒了，畫面也不見了。我眨眨眼睛，舉目四望，努力想使夢中的景象再現，卻一點也想不起來了。我本想站起來，卻又馬上愜意地靠在安樂椅上。
"There! You are falling asleep again，little Nicolas，”says Mamma，"You had better go to by-by."
“你又睡著了，尼古拉斯，”媽媽對我說，“你還是上樓去睡比較好。”
"No, I won't go to sleep, Mamma,”I reply, though almost inaudibly, for pleasant dreams are filling all my soul. The sound sleep of childhood is weighing my eyelids down，and for a few moments. I sink into slumber and oblivion until awakened by some one. I feel in my sleep as though a soft hand were caressing me. I know it by the touch, and, though still dreaming, I seize hold of it and press it to my lips. Every one else has gone to bed, and only one candle remains burning in the drawing-room.Mamma has said that she herself will wake me. She sits down on the arm of the chair in which I am asleep, with her soft hand stroking my hair, and I hear her beloved, well-known voice say in my ear, "Get up, my darling. It is time to go by-by."
“我不想睡，媽媽。”我朦朦朧朧地叨唸，我心裡裝的都是那些迷幻而幸福的夢想。還是小孩的我抵擋不住那濃濃的睡意，眼皮慢慢合了起來，剎那間就來到了沉沉的夢鄉，直到最終被人喚醒。朦朧間，我覺得有人用手在輕輕地撫摩我，這種觸控的感覺告訴我，是媽媽的手。睡夢中的我情不自禁地拉住那隻手，把它牢牢地按在嘴脣上。所有的人都已經離開，客廳裡只剩下一根燃燒的蠟燭。媽媽說，她要自己叫醒我。媽媽坐在我睡的那張椅子扶手上，用她那溫暖的手撫摸著我的頭髮，用我熟悉的、暖人的聲音在我耳邊說:“起來吧，我的乖寶貝，該去睡覺了。”
No envious gaze sees her now. She is not afraid to shed upon me the whole of her tenderness and love. I do not wake up,yet I kiss and kiss her hand.
她不會因為任何人嫉妒的眼光而有絲毫猶疑，她根本不顧慮把她的全部溫柔和慈愛賦予我。我合著眼，只是一次又一次地親她的手。
"Get up, then，my angel.”
“起來吧，我的天使!”
She passes her other arm round my neck, and her fingers tickle me as they move across it. The room is quiet and in half-darkness, but the tickling has touched my nerves and I begin to awake. Mamma is sitting near me-that I can tell-and touching me;I can hear her voice and feel her presence. This at last rouses me to spring up, to throw my arms around her neck, to hide my head in her bosom，and to say with a sigh，"Ah，dear,darling Mamma, how much I love you!”
她的另外一隻手樓住我的脖子。手指滑過我的脖子，讓我覺得很癢。房間裡沒有一點兒聲音，光線忽明忽暗，但撓癢讓我精神振奮，睡意全無。此刻，媽媽就坐在我的身邊—這我感覺得到—充滿愛意地撫著我;我聽到她的聲音，真實地感覺到了她的氣息。我趕緊跳了起來，雙手抱住媽媽的脖頸，把頭鑽進她的懷裡，嘆息了一聲說道:“噢，親愛的，親愛的媽媽，我多麼愛你呀!”
She smiles her sad，enchanting smile，takes my head between her two hands, kisses me on the forehead，and lifts me on to her lap. "Do you love me so much，then?" she says. Then，after a few moments'silence, she continues, "And you must love me always，and never forget me. If your Mamma should no longer be here .will you promise never to forget her-never, Nicolas?" and she kisses me more fondly than ever.
媽媽露出憂鬱而迷人的微笑，然後用雙手托住我的頭，親親我的前額，最後抱起來讓我坐在她的腿上。“這麼說你十分愛我?”她停了片刻，隨後說，“記住，你一定要永遠愛我，永遠不要忘了我。如果媽媽不在人世了，你不會忘掉她吧?尼古拉斯，你不會忘記吧?”她更加輕柔地親我。
"Oh, but you must not speak so, darling Mamma, my own darling Mamma!”I exclaim as I clasp her knees, and tears of joy and love fall from my eyes.
“不，不要這麼說，我親愛的媽媽，我最親愛的媽媽!”我喊了起來，使勁抱住她的雙腿，愛和狂喜的淚水止不住地往下流。
How, after scenes like this!would go upstairs, and stand before the icons, and say with a rapturous feeling，"God bless Papa and Mamma!”and repeat a prayer for my beloved mother which my childish lips had learnt to lisp-the love of God and other blending strangely in a single emotion!
所有的事情都過去後，我回到樓上，虔誠地站在聖像前禱告:“主啊，求你祝福我的爸爸和媽媽。”這一刻我的心情是多麼美好啊!幼稚的我重複著為親愛的媽媽的祈禱—我對她的愛和對上帝的愛神奇地融合在了一起。
After saying my prayers, I would wrap myself up in the bedclothes. My heart would feel light, peaceful，and happy, and one dream would follow another. Dreams of what? They were all of them vague, but all of them full of pure love and of a sort of expectation of happiness. Usually, also, there would be some favorite toy-a china dog or the bedarner into the bed-corner behind the pillow, and it would please me to think how warm and comfortable and well cared-for it was there. Also, I would pray God to make everyone happy, so that every one might be contented, and also to send fine weather tomorrow for our walk.Then I would turn myself over on to the other side, and thoughts and dreams would become jumbled and entangled together until at last I slept soundly and peacefully, though with a face wet with tears.
說完祈禱詞後我爬進被窩，心情是又輕快，又平和，又快樂。美夢接二連三，我夢見了什麼呢?它們大都不合邏輯，然而，純潔的愛和對幸福的嚮往卻充溢在我的夢裡。隨後，我就把我寵愛的瓷玩具—一隻小狗或者一隻小兔—放到枕頭後面的床角，看著它們如此安逸溫暖地躺在那裡，我就感到心滿意足了。接著，我又祈禱，懇求上帝賜給大家幸福，讓人們都心想事成，還懇求上帝讓明天有個好天氣，那樣我們才能去散步;後來我翻了一下身，思緒和夢境交織混雜在一起;最後，我舒服地進入了夢鄉，臉上還留著溼漉漉的淚水。
Do in after life the freshness and light-heartedness, the craving for love and for strength of faith, ever return which we experience in our childhood's years? What better time is there in our lives than when the two best of virtues-innocent gaiety and a boundless yearning for affection-are our sole objects of pursuit? Where now are our ardent prayers? Where now are our best gifts-the pure tears of emotion which a guardian angel dries with a smile as he sheds upon us lovely dreams of ineffable childish joy? Can it be that life has left such heavy traces upon one's heart that those tears and ecstasies are for ever vanished?Can it be that there remains to us only the recollection of them?
只有童年時代才會有朝氣蓬勃、心無雜念的心情，對愛的嚮往和對信仰的堅定，在我們以後的人生歲月裡真的還能得到嗎?當天真的喜悅和對愛的無限渴求—這兩種崇高的美德—成為生命中僅有的願望，我們的生命中，還會有比這更美妙的事物嗎?那些衷心的祈禱現在在哪裡?最珍貴的禮物—由情感激發的純潔淚水—現在又在哪裡呢?守護天使曾降臨在我們周圍，微笑著拭去那些眼淚，指引我們進入那充滿無法形容的童真樂趣的甜蜜夢境。難道生活在我們的心頭劃過的傷痕，已經讓那些淚水和歡樂永遠遠離我們了嗎?難道剩下的只是對昔日的留戀了嗎?
一生必讀的英語經典美文賞析
Tolerance
寬容
Hendrik Willem Van Loon
[美]亨德里克·威廉·房龍
Happily lived mankind in the peaceful valley of ignorance.
寧靜無知的山谷裡，人們幸福地生活著。
To the north，to the south，to the west and to the east stretched the ridges of the hills everlasting.
沒有盡頭的山脈向東南西北各個方向綿延。
A little stream of knowledge tricked slowly through a deep worn gully.
知識的小溪流沿著幽深而殘破的山谷緩緩地流著。
It came out of the mountains of the past.
它發源於往日的荒山。
It lost itself in the marshes of the future.
它消失在未來的沼澤。
It was not much，as rivers go. But it was enough for the humble needs of the villagers.
這條小溪沒有江河那樣洶湧澎湃的波濤，但對於只有微薄需求的村民來說，已經是綽綽有餘。
In the evening，when they had watered their cattle and had filled their casks, they were content to sit down to enjoy life.
晚上，村民們喂罷牲口，把水桶裡灌滿了水，便心滿意足地坐下來，盡享人生之樂。
The old men who knew were brought forth from the shady corners where they had spent their day, pondering over the mysterious pages of an old book.
思想陳舊的老人們被攙扶出門，他們整個白天都待在蔭涼的角落裡，苦苦思索著一本神祕的古書。
They mumbled strange words to their grandchildren，who would have preferred to play with the pretty pebbles，brought down from distant lands.
他們對兒孫們唸叨著那些稀奇古怪的字眼，可是孩子們總想著玩那些從遠處帶來的石頭。
Often these words were not very clear.
這些字眼的含義經常含糊不清。
But they were writ a thousand years ago by a forgotten race.Hence they were holy.
不過，它們是一個如今不為人知的部落在一千年前寫下的，因而神聖不可裹讀。
For in the valley of ignorance，whatever was old was venerable. And those who dared to gainsay the wisdom of the fathers were shunned by all decent people. And so they kept their peace.
在愚昧的山谷裡，古老的東西總是受到敬重。誰否定先人的智慧，誰就會遭到正派人的冷落。所以大家處在一起相安無事。
Fear was ever with them. What if they should be refused the common share of the products of the garden?
恐懼總是跟隨著人們。誰要是分不到果園裡一個份額的果實，又能怎麼辦呢?
Vague stories there were, whispered at night among the narrow streets of the little town，vague stories of men and women who had dared to ask questions.
夜深的時候，人們簇擁在狹窄的街頭巷尾，講述著那些情節早已模糊不清的往事，論說那些勇於提出質疑的男男女女。
They had gone forth and never again had they been seen.
這些男男女女後來都走了，再沒回來過。
A few had tried to scale the high walls of the rocky range that
hid the sun.
另外一部分人試圖攀緣擋住太陽的巖牆陡壁。
Their whitened bones lay at the foot of the cliffs.
但結局是他們橫屍于山崖腳下，白骨累累。
The years came and the years went by.
歲月流逝，年復一年。
Happily lived mankind in the peaceful valley of ignorance.
在這寧靜的無知山谷裡，人們幸福地生活著。
Out of the darkness crept a man.
黑暗中，一個人正在爬行。
The nails of his hands were torn.
他的指甲已經磨破了。
His feet were covered with rags, red with the blood of long marches.
他的腳上纏著破破爛爛的布，由於長途跋涉，流出的鮮血已經把布浸透了。
He stumbled to the door of the nearest but and knocked.
他跌跌撞撞地來到最近的一間草屋，敲了敲門。
Then he fainted. By the light of a frightened candle, he was carried to a cot.
接著他便暈了。藉助顫動的燭光，他被抬到一張吊床上。
In the morning throughout the village it was known, "He has come back."
到了早上，全村的人都知道:“他回來了。”
The neighbors stood around and shook their heads. They. had always known that this was to be the end.
鄰居們圍在他的身邊，無奈地搖搖頭。他們明白，這是早已註定的結局。
Defeat and surrender awaited those who dared to stroll away from the foot of the mountains.
那些敢於離開山谷的人，等待他的是屈服和失敗。
And in one corner of the village the old men shook their heads and whispered burning words.
在村子的一個角落，思想遷腐的老人們搖著頭，壓低了聲音說著惡狠狠的話。
They did not mean to be cruel, but the law was the law.Bitterly this man had sinned against the wishes of those who knew.
他們並非生來殘忍，但法律就是法律。他違背了那些思想陳腐的長輩們的意志，就是犯下了滔天大罪。
As soon as his wounds were healed he must be brought to trial.
他的傷勢一旦痊癒，就必須接受判決。
They meant to be lenient.
迂腐的長輩們本想慈悲為懷。
They remembered the strange, burning eyes of his mother.They recalled the tragedy of his father, lost in the desert these thirty years ago.
他們沒有忘記他母親怪異的跳躍著光芒的眼眸，也回想起了30年前他父親在沙漠失蹤的悲劇。
The law，however, was the law;and the law must be obeyed.
不過法律就是法律，法律是不可違抗的。
The men who knew would see to that.
而那些思想守舊的老人就是法律的執行者。
They carried the wanderer to the market place，and the people stood around in respectful silence.
那些迂腐的老人把出遊的人抬到鬧市區。人們在都畢恭畢敬地在周圍站著，鴉雀無聲。
He was still weak from hunger and thirst and the elders bade him sit down，He refused.
出遊的人由於飢渴，身體還很虛弱。老人們讓他坐下，他拒絕了。
They ordered him to be silent.
他們讓他閉嘴。
But he spoke.
但是他堅持要說。
Upon the old men he turned his back and his eyes sought those who but a short time before had been his comrades.
他轉過來背對老人，眼光在人群中搜索不久前還與他志同道合的人。
"Listen to me,”he implored, "Listen to me and be rejoiced.I have come back from beyond the mountains. My feet have trod a fresh soil. My hands have felt the touch of other races. My eyes have seen wondrous sights.
“聽我說，”他懇請道，“請聽我說，大家會很高興的。我剛從山那邊回來，我的雙腳踏上了一片新鮮的土地，我的手被其他的民族撫摸過，我的雙眼見到了奇妙的景象。”
"When I was a child, my world was the garden of my father.
“小時候，父親的花園就是我的整個世界。”
"To the west and to the east, to the south and to the north lay the ranges from the beginning of time.
“早在上帝創造世界的時候，花園東西南北各個方位的邊界就被確定下來了。”
"When I asked what they were hiding, there was a hush and a hasty shaking of heads. When I insisted, I was taken to the rocks and shown the bleached bones of those who had dared to defy the gods.
“只要我問起邊界的那一邊藏著什麼，大家就把頭搖個不停，口裡發出噓噓的聲音。但是我非要打破砂鍋問到底，於是他們就帶我來這塊岩石上，讓我看看那些蔑視上帝的人的森森白骨。”
"When I cried out and said,‘It is a lie! The Gods love those who are brave!’the men who knew came and read to me from their sacred books. The law, they explained, had ordained all things of heaven and earth. The valley was ours to have and to hold. The animals and the flowers, the fruit and the fishes were ours, to do our bidding. But the mountains were of the gods. What lay beyond was to remain unknown until the end of time.
“‘騙人’我大聲喊道.‘上帝偏愛英勇的人。’於是，迂腐的長輩們走過來，為我讀他們的聖書。他們說，上帝的旨意已經決定了天地間萬物的命運。山谷是我們的，由我們來掌管，飛禽走獸和花朵，還有果實和魚蝦都是屬於我們的，我們決定它們的命運。但山是上帝的，我們不應該知道山對面的一切事物，直到世界的末日。”
"So they spoke, and they lied. They lied to me, even as they have lied to you.
“這就是他們說的，他們在撒謊，他們欺騙了我，就像欺騙了你們一樣。”
"There are pastures in those hills. Meadows too, as rich as any. And men and women of our own flesh and blood. And cities resplendent with the glories of a thousand years of labor.
“山的那一邊有牧場，有和我們一樣的牧草，那裡的男女老少有和我們同樣的血肉之軀。那歷經了一千年的城市，被能工巧匠雕刻得雄壯美麗，光彩閃爍。”
"I have found the road to a better home. I have seen the promise of a happier life. Follow me and I shall lead you thither. For the smile of the gods is the same there as here and everywhere."
“我已經找到了一條大道，可以通往更美好的家園，我已經看到了幸福生活的曙光。跟隨我走吧，我帶著你們奔向那裡。上帝在別處有和在這裡一樣的微笑。”
He stopped and there went up a great cry of horror.
他停下來了，人群發出了驚恐的叫喊聲。
"Blasphemy!”cried the old men. "Blasphemy and sacrilege! A fit punishment for his crime! He has lost his reason. He dares to scoff at the law as it was written down a thousand years ago.He deserves to die!”
“褒讀，這是對神靈的襄讀，”頑固不化的老人大聲叫著，“要讓他罪有應得!他已經失去理智了，竟敢戲謔一千年前制定下來的法律。他死有餘辜!”
And they took up heavy stones.
人們舉起了沉重的石頭。
And they killed him.
他們殺死了這個出遊的人。
And his body they threw at the foot of the cliffs, that it might lie there as a warning to all who questioned the wisdom of the ancestors.
人們把他的屍體扔到山崖底下，以此訓誡其他那些膽敢懷疑祖先智慧的人，殺一儆百。
Then it happened a short time later that there was a great drought. The little brook of knowledge ran dry. The cattle died of thirst. The harvest perished in the fields, and there was hunger in the valley of ignorance.
沒有多久，一場特大幹旱爆發了。涓涓的知識小溪流千枯了，牲畜都乾渴而死，田地裡的糧食都枯萎了，無知的山谷裡到處都是飢渴的呻吟。
The old men who knew, however, were not disheartened.Everything would all come right in the end，they prophesied，for so it was wrote in their most holy chapters.
不過，那些頑固的老人並沒有灰心。他們預言說，所有的一切都會轉危為安，至少那些先知先覺的聖書上是這樣寫的。
Besides, they themselves needed but little food. They were so very old.
而且，他們自己已經很老了，吃不了多少糧食了。
Winter came.
冬天來臨了。
The village was deserted.
村莊裡荒無人煙。
More than half of the populace died from sheer want.
飢寒交迫奪去了大多數人的生命。
The only hope for those who survived lay beyond the mountains.
活著的人把生存的唯一希望寄託在山的那一邊。
But the law said "No!"
但是法律卻說:“不可以!”
And the law must be obeyed.
法律是必須要遵守的。
One night there was a rebellion.
一天夜晚，叛亂爆發了。
Despair gave courage to those whom fear had forced into silence.
絕望斌予那些由於恐懼而逆來順受的人們以勇氣。
Feebly the old men protested.
迂腐的老人們無力地抗爭著。
They were pushed aside. They complained of their lot. They bewailed the ingratitude of their children，but when the last wagon pulled out of the village, they stopped the driver and forced him to take them along.
他們被推到一邊，還在抱怨自己不幸的命運，詛咒兒孫的忘恩負義。但是當最後一輛馬車駛離村落時，他們攔住了它，迫使車伕把他們帶走。
The flight into the unknown had begun.
就這樣，投奔前途未卜的新世界的旅程開始了。
It was many years since the wanderer had returned. It was no easy task to discover the road he had mapped out.
從那個出遊者回來到現在已經過了很多年了，所以要找到他開闢的道路，絕不是容易的事情。
Thousands fell a victim to hunger and thirst before the first cairn was found.
成千上萬的人在路途上飢渴而亡，人們終於找到了第一座用石子壘起的路標。
From there on the trip was less difficult.
從那以後，旅途中的磨難少了一些。
The careful pioneer had blazed a clear trail through the woods and amidst the endless wilderness of rock.
那個細心的開拓者已經用火在一望無際的險山亂林中燒出了一條寬闊大道。
By easy stages it led to the green pastures of the new land.
沿著這條大道，人們一步步地走到了一個有著綠色牧場的新世界。
Silently the people looked at each other.
人們相對無言。
"He was right after all，”they said, "He was right, and the old men were wrong..."
“他到底還是對的，”人們說，“正確的是他，錯誤的是那些冥頑不化的老人……”
"He spoke the truth, and the old men lied..."
“他的話是真實的，那些迂腐的老人在撤謊……”
"His bones lie rotting at the foot of the cliffs，but. the old men sit in our carts and chant their ancient lays...”
“他的屍首腐爛在山崖下，可是那些頑固的老人卻坐在我們的車裡，還唱著那陳舊不堪的歌謠。”
"He saved us, and we slew him..."
“他救了我們，我們卻殺害了他。”
"We are sorry that it happened, but of course, if we could have known at the time..."
“我們確實對這件事情非常內疚，不過，當時我們如果知道的話，當然就……”
Then they unharnessed their horses and their oxen and they drove their cows and their goats into the pastures and they built themselves houses and laid out their fields and they lived happily for along time afterwards.
接著，他們為牛馬解下套具，把牛羊趕進牧場，建造自己的房屋，規劃自己的土地。從此，他們過上了幸福的生活。
A few years later an attempt was made to bury the brave pioneer in the fine new edifice which had been erected as a home for the wise old men.
幾年之後，人們為智慧老人建起了一座嶄新的大廈作為住宅，並準備把英勇的先驅者的遺骸埋在裡面。
A solemn procession went back to the now deserted valley,but when the spot was reached where his body ought to have been，it was no longer there.
一支莊嚴的隊伍回到了早已荒蕪人煙的山谷。但是，山崖腳下空空如也，開拓者的屍骨已經無影無蹤。
A hungry jackal had dragged it to his lair.
飢餓的豺狗早就把屍首拖入了自己的洞穴。
A small stone was then placed at the foot of the trail ***now a magnificent highway***. It gave the name of the man who had first defied the dark terror of the unknown, that his people might be guided into a new freedom.
人們在開拓者足跡的盡頭放上了一塊小石頭***那裡現在已經是一條大道***，他們把開拓者的名字刻在石頭上—這是第一個挑戰未知世界的黑暗和恐怖的人的名字，是他把人們帶向了新的自由。
And it stated that it had been erected by a grateful posterity.
石頭上還寫著，它是由前來感恩朝拜的後人建造的。
As it was in the beginning-as it is now-and as some day ***so we hope***it shall no longer be.
這樣的事情過去發生過，現在也還在發生，不過將來***我們希望***不要再發生了。