第70章 哑书 The Dumb Book (第1/4页)

《哑书》，1851 年

the dumb book, 1851

在穿过一片树林的大路上，孤零零地立着一座农舍；实际上，大路正好从农舍的院子中间穿过。

In the high-road which led through a wood stood a solitary farm-house; the road, in fact, ran right through its yard.

阳光明媚，所有的窗户都敞开着；屋里的人们都在忙碌着。

the sun was shining and all the windows were open; within the house people were very busy.

在院子里，一个由盛开的丁香花丛构成的凉棚下，放着一口敞开的棺材；他们已经把一个死人抬到了那里，当天下午就要把他埋葬。

In the yard, in an arbour formed by lilac bushes in full bloom, stood an open coffin; thither they had carried a dead man, who was to be buried that very afternoon.

没有人为他掉一滴眼泪；他的脸被一块白布盖着，在他头下，他们放了一本又大又厚的书，书页是用折叠起来的吸墨纸做成的，书页间还夹着枯萎的花朵；这是他在各地采集的植物标本集，按照他自己的意愿，要和他一起埋葬。

Nobody shed a tear over him; his face was covered over with a white cloth, under his head they had placed a large thick book, the leaves of which consisted of folded sheets of blotting-paper, and withered flowers lay between them; it was the herbarium which he had gathered in various places and was to be buried with him, according to his own wish.

标本集里的每一朵花都和他人生的某个篇章相关联。

Every one of the flowers in it was connected with some chapter of his life.

“死者是谁？” 我们问道。

“who is the dead man?” we asked.

“那个老学生，” 有人回答说。“他们说他曾经是个精力充沛的年轻人，学习过古代语言，还唱歌，甚至创作了很多歌曲；后来他遭遇了一些变故，结果就身心都沉溺于饮酒了。当他最终搞垮了自己的身体后，他们就把他带到了乡下，在那里有人为他支付食宿费用。只要他不陷入阴郁的情绪，他就温顺得像个孩子；但一旦情绪低落，他就会变得很凶，力大如巨人，在树林里跑来跑去，就像一只被追赶的鹿。”

“the old student,” was the reply. “they say that he was once an energetic y