安徒生童話故事英語

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　　雙語安徒生童話：the Old Grave-Stone老墓碑

　　IN a house， with a large courtyard， in aprovincial town， at that time of the year in whichpeople say the evenings are growing longer， afamily circle were gathered together at their oldhome. A lamp burned on the table， although theweather was mild and warm， and the long curtainshung down before the open windows， and withoutthe moon shone brightly in the dark-blue sky.

　　But they were not talking of the moon， but of a large， old stone that lay below in thecourtyard not very far from the kitchen door. The maids often laid the clean copper saucepansand kitchen vessels on this stone， that they might dry in the sun， and the children werefond of playing on it. It was， in fact， an old grave-stone.

　　“Yes，” said the master of the house， “I believe the stone came from the graveyard of theold church of the convent which was pulled down， and the pulpit， the monuments， and thegrave-stones sold. My father bought the latter; most of them were cut in two and used forpaving-stones， but that one stone was preserved whole， and laid in the courtyard.”

　　“Any one can see that it is a grave-stone，” said the eldest of the children; “therepresentation of an hour-glass and part of the figure of an angel can still be traced， but theinscription beneath is quite worn out， excepting the name 'Preben，' and a large 'S' close byit， and a little farther down the name of 'Martha' can be easily read. But nothing more， andeven that cannot be seen unless it has been raining， or when we have washed the stone.”

　　“Dear me! how singular. Why that must be the grave-stone of Preben Schwane and hiswife.”

　　the old man who said this looked old enough to be the grandfather of all present in theroom.

　　“Yes，” he continued， “these people were among the last who were buried in thechurchyard of the old convent. They were a very worthy old couple， I can remember them wellin the days of my boyhood. Every one knew them， and they were esteemed by all. They werethe oldest residents in the town， and people said they possessed a ton of gold， yet theywere always very plainly dressed， in the coarsest stuff， but with linen of the purestwhiteness. Preben and Martha were a fine old couple， and when they both saton the bench，at the top of the steep stone steps， in front of their house， with the branches of the linden-tree waving above them， and nodded in a gentle， friendly way to passers by， it really madeone feel quite happy. They were very good to the poor; they fed them and clothed them， andin their benevolence there was judgment as well as true Christianity. The old woman diedfirst; that day is still quite vividly before my eyes. I was a little boy， and had accompanied myfather to the old man's house. Martha had fallen into the sleep of death just as we arrivedthere. The corpse lay in a bedroom， near to the one in which we sat， and the old man was inGREat distress and weeping like a child. He spoke to my father， and to a few neighbors whowere there， of how lonely he should feel now she was gone， and how good and true she， hisdead wife， had been during the number of years that they had passed through life together，and how they had become acquainted， and learnt to love each other. I was， as I have said，a boy， and only stood by and listened to what the others said; but it filled me with a strangeemotion to listen to the old man， and to watch how the color rose in his cheeks as he spokeof the days of their courtship， of how beautiful she was， and how many little tricks he hadbeen guilty of， that he might meet her. And then he talked of his wedding-day; and his eyesbrightened， and he seemed to be carried back， by his words， to that joyful time. And yetthere she was， lying in the next room， dead—an old woman， and he was an old man，speaking of the days of hope， long passed away. Ah， well， so it is; then I was but a child，and now I am old， as old as Preben Schwane then was. Time passes away， and all thingschanged. I can remember quite well the day on which she was buried， and how Old Prebenwalked close behind the coffin.

　　“A few years before this time the old couple had had their grave-stone prepared， with aninscription and their names， but not the date. In the evening the stone was taken to thechurchyard， and laid on the grave. A year later it was taken up， that Old Preben might be laidby the side of his wife. They did not leave behind them wealth， they left behind them far lessthan people had believed they possessed; what there was went to families distantly related tothem， of whom， till then， no one had ever heard. The old house， with its balcony ofwickerwork， and the bench at the top of the high steps， under the lime-tree， wasconsidered， by the road-inspectors， too old and rotten to be left standing. Afterwards，when the same fate befell the convent church， and the graveyard was destroyed， the grave-stone of Preben and Martha， like everything else， was sold to whoever would buy it. And so ithappened that this stone was not cut in two as many others had been， but now lies in thecourtyard below， a scouring block for the maids， and a playground for the children. Thepaved street now passes over the resting place of Old Preben and his wife; no one thinks ofthem any more now.”

　　And the old man who had spoken of all this shook his head mournfully， and said， “Forgotten! Ah， yes， everything will be forgotten!” And then the conversation turned onother matters.

　　But the youngest child in the room， a boy， with large， earnest eyes， mounted upon achair behind the window curtains， and looked out into the yard， where the moon was pouringa flood of light on the old gravestone，—the stone that had always appeared to him so dull andflat， but which lay there now like a GREat leaf out of a book of history. All that the boy hadheard of Old Preben and his wife seemed clearly defined on the stone， and as he gazed on it，and glanced at the clear， bright moon shining in the pure air， it was as if the light of God'scountenance beamed over His beautiful world.

　　“Forgotten! Everything will be forgotten!” still echoed through the room， and in thesame moment an invisible spirit whispered to the heart of the boy， “Preserve carefully theseed that has been entrusted to thee， that it may grow and thrive. Guard it well. Throughthee， my child， shall the obliterated inscription on the old， weather-beaten grave-stone goforth to future generations in clear， golden characters. The old pair shall again wanderthrough the streets arm-in-arm， or sit with their fresh， healthy cheeks on the bench underthe lime-tree， and smile and nod at rich and poor. The seed of this hour shall ripen in thecourse of years into a beautiful poem. The beautiful and the good are never forgotten， theylive always in story or in song.”

　　在一個小鄉鎮裡，有一個人自己擁有一幢房子。有一天晚上，他全家的人圍坐在一起。這正是人們所常說的“夜長”的季節。這種時刻既溫暖，又舒適。燈亮了;長長的窗簾拉下來了。窗子上擺著許多花盆;外面是一片美麗的月光。不過他們並不是在談論這件事。他們是在談論著一塊古老的大石頭。這塊石頭躺在院子裡、緊靠著廚房門旁邊。

　　女傭人常常把擦過了的銅製的用具放在上面晒;孩子們也喜歡在上面玩耍。事實上它是一個古老的墓碑。“是的，”房子的主人說，“我相信它是從那個拆除了的老修道院搬來的。人們把裡面的宣講臺、紀念牌和墓碑全都賣了!我去世了的父親買了好幾塊墓石，每塊都打斷了，當做鋪道石用，不過這塊墓石留下來了，一直躺在院子那兒沒有動。”“人們一眼就可以看出，這是一塊墓石，”最大的一個孩子說，“我們仍然可以看出它上面刻得有一個滴漏1和一個安琪兒的片斷。不過它上面的字差不多全都模糊了，只剩下卜列本這個名字和後邊的一個大字母S，以及離此更遠一點的”瑪爾塔“!此外甚麼東西也看不見了。只有在下了雨，或者當我們把它洗淨了以後，我們才能看得清楚。”

　　1這是古代一種最原始的鐘。它是由上下兩個玻璃球作成的，由一個小頸聯在一起。上面的球裝滿沙子或水銀，通過這小頸流到下面的一個球裡去。這個過程所花的時間，一般是一小時。時刻就以這流盡的過程為單位計算。古代教堂裡常用這種鍾。“天哪，這就是卜列本·斯萬尼和他妻子的墓石!”一個老人插進來說。他是那麼老，簡直可以作為這所房子裡所有人的祖父。“是的，他們是最後埋在這個老修道院墓地裡的一對夫婦。他們從我小時起就是一對老好人。大家都認識他們，大家都喜歡他們。他們是這小城裡的一對元老。大家都說他們所有的金子一個桶也裝不完。但是他們穿的衣服卻非常樸素，總是粗料子做的;不過他們的桌布、被單等總是雪白的。他們——卜列本和瑪爾塔——是一對可愛的夫婦!當他們坐在屋子面前那個很高的石臺階上的一條凳子上時，老菩提樹就把枝子罩在他們頭上;他們和善地、溫柔地對你點著頭——這使你感到愉快。他們對窮人非常好，給他們飯吃，給他們衣服穿。他們的慈善行為充分地表示出他們的善意和基督精神。”太太先去世!那一天我記得清清楚楚。我那時是一個很小的孩子，跟著爸爸一起到老卜列本家裡去，那時她剛剛合上眼睛，這老頭兒非常難過，哭得像一個小孩子。她的屍體還放在睡房裡，離我們現在坐的這地方不遠。他那時對我的爸爸和幾個鄰人說，他此後將會多麼孤獨，她曾經多麼好，他們曾經怎樣在一起生活了多少年，他們是怎樣先認識的，然後又怎樣相愛起來。我已經說過，我那時很小，只能站在旁邊聽。我聽到這老人講話，我也注意到，當他一講起他們的訂婚經過、她是怎樣的美麗、他怎樣找出許多天真的託詞去會見她的時候，他就活潑起來，他的雙頰就漸漸紅潤起來;這時我就感到非常驚奇。於是他就談起他結婚的那個日子;他的眼睛這時也發出閃光來。他似乎又回到那個快樂的年代裡去了。但是她——一個老女人——卻躺在隔壁房間裡，死去了。他自己也是一個老頭兒，談論著過去那些充滿了希望的日子!是的，是的，世事就是這樣!“那時候我還不過是一個小孩子，不過現在我也老了，老了——像卜列本·斯萬尼一樣。時間過去了，一切事情都改變了!我記得她入葬那天的情景：卜列本·斯萬尼緊跟在棺材後邊。好幾年以前，這對夫婦就準備好了他們的墓碑，在那上面刻好了他們的名字和碑文——只是沒有填上死的年月。在一天晚間，這墓碑被抬到教堂的墓地裡去，放在墳上。一年以後，它又被揭開了，老卜列本又在他妻子的身邊躺下去了。”他們不像人們所想像的和所講的那樣，身後並沒有留下許多錢財。剩下的一點東西都送給了遠房親戚——直到那時人們才知道有這些親戚。那座木房子——和它的臺階頂上菩提樹下的一條凳子——已經被市政府拆除了，因為它太腐朽，不能再讓它存留下去，後來那個修道院也遭受到同樣的命運：那個墓地也剷平了，卜列本和瑪爾塔的墓碑，像別的墓碑一樣，也賣給任何願意買它的人了。現在事又湊巧，這塊墓石居然沒有被打碎，給人用掉;它卻仍然躺在這院子裡，作為女傭人放廚房用具和孩子們玩耍的地方。在卜列本和他的妻子安息的地上現在鋪出了一條街道。誰也不再記起他們了。“

　　講這故事的老人悲哀地搖搖頭。“被遺忘了!一切東西都會被遺忘了!”他說。

　　於是他們在這房間裡談起別的事情來。不過那個最小的孩子——那個有一雙嚴肅的大眼睛的孩子——爬到窗簾後邊的一個椅子上去，朝院子裡眺望。月光明朗地正照在這塊大墓石上——對他說來。這一直是一塊空洞和單調的石頭。不過它現在躺在那兒像一整部歷史中的一頁。這孩子所聽到的關於老卜列本和他的妻子的故事似乎就寫在它上面。他望了望它，然後又望了望那個潔白的月亮，那個明朗高闊的天空。這很像造物主的面孔，向這整個的世界微笑。“被遺忘了!一切東西都會被遺忘了!”這是房間裡的人所說的一句話。這時候，有一個看不見的安琪兒飛進來，吻了這孩子的前額，同時低聲地對他說：“好好地保管著這顆藏在你身體內的種子吧，一直到它成熟的時候!通過你，我的孩子，那塊老墓石上模糊的碑文，它的每個字，將會射出金光，傳到後代!那對老年夫婦將會手挽著手，又在古老的街上走過，微笑著，現出他們新鮮和健康的面孔，在菩提樹下，在那個高臺階上的凳子上坐著，對過往的人點頭——不論是貧或是富。從這時開始，這顆種子，到了適當的時候，將會成熟，開出花來，成為一首詩。美的和善的東西是永遠不會給遺忘的;它在傳說和歌謠中將會獲得永恆的生命。”

　　***1852年***

　　這是一首散文詩，最初是用德文發表在《巴伐利亞歷書》上，後來才在丹麥的刊物《學校與家庭》上發表。“墓碑”代表一對老夫婦所度過的一生，很平凡，但也充滿了美和善。墓碑雖然流落到他方，作為鋪路石之用，但這並不說明：“一切東西都會被遺忘了!”同樣，人生將會在新的一代傳續下去，被永遠地記憶著。“美和善的東西是永遠不會給遺忘的，它在傳說和歌謠中將獲得永恆的生命。”