第38章 天堂花园 The Garden of Paradise (第1/27页)

《天堂花园》，1838 年

the Garden of paradise, 1838

从前有一个王子，他拥有比世界上任何人都多且更漂亮的藏书，里面满是精美的铜版雕刻。

there was once a king’s son who had a larger and more beautiful collection of books than any one else in the world, and full of splendid copper-plate engravings.

他能阅读并了解关于每一个国家的每一个民族的信息；但他找不到一个字来解释天堂花园的位置，而这正是他最想知道的。

he could read and obtain information respecting every people of every land; but not a word could he find to explain the situation of the garden of paradise, and this was just what he most wished to know.

当他还是个小男孩的时候，刚到上学的年纪，他的祖母就告诉他，天堂花园里的每一朵花都是一块甜蛋糕，花蕊里满是美酒，一朵花上写着历史，另一朵上是地理或算术表；所以那些想学习功课的人只需吃一些蛋糕，他们吃得越多，就知道越多的历史、地理或算术知识。

his grandmother had told him when he was quite a little boy, just old enough to go to school, that each flower in the garden of paradise was a sweet cake, that the pistils were full of rich wine, that on one flower history was written, on another geography or tables; so those who wished to learn their lessons had only to eat some of the cakes, and the more they ate, the more history, geography, or tables they knew.

那时他相信了这一切；但随着他长大，学到的东西越来越多，他变得足够聪明，明白天堂花园的辉煌一定与这一切大不相同。

he believed it all then; but as he grew older, and learnt more and more, he became wise enough to understand that the splendor of the garden of paradise must be very different to all this.

“哦，为什么夏娃要从知识之树上摘下果实呢？为什么亚当要吃禁果呢？” 王子想：“如果我在那里，这一切就不会发生，世界上也就不会有罪恶了。”

“oh, why did Eve pluck the fruit from the tree of knowledge?