目 录 上一节 下一节 
哦,我会做些准备,等过些日子再说吧。" "When?" said Miss Ophelia." 什么时候?"奥菲利亚紧问不舍。 "O, one of these days." " 噢,就这几天。" "What if you should die first?" " 如果你先死了,那可怎么办?" "Cousin, what's the matter?" said St. Clare, laying down his paper and looking at her. "Do you think I show symptoms of yellow fever or cholera, that you are making post mortem arrangements with such zeal?"" 姐姐,你到底怎么回事?"圣克莱尔终于无可忍耐了,他放下报纸,看着她,"我是得了黄热病还是霍乱病怎么着,你怎么这么积极地为我安排后事?" 
我生即我死。"奥菲利亚小姐说。 St. Clare rose up, and laying the paper down, carelessly, walked to the door that stood open on the verandah, to put an end to a conversation that was not agreeable to him. Mechanically, he repeated the last word again,--_"Death!"_--and, as he leaned against the railings, and watched the sparkling water as it rose and fell in the fountain; and, as in a dim and dizzy haze, saw flowers and trees and vases of the courts, he repeated, again the mystic word so common in every mouth, yet of such fearful power,--"DEATH!" "Strange that there should be such a word," he said, "and such a thing, and we ever forget it; that one should be living, warm and beautiful, full of hopes, desires and wants, one day, and the next be gone, utterly gone, and forever!" 圣克莱尔站起来,懒洋洋地收起报纸,朝面向走廊的门边走去,想趁机结束这次不愉快的谈话。他嘴里机械地重复着"死亡"两个字,然后倚在走廊上的栏杆边,注视着喷泉上溅起的亮晶晶的小水珠。他隔着水帘看院子里的花草树木盆景,就像透过迷雾一般亦真亦幻。他又反复咂摸着"死亡"这神秘的字眼--人们时常提起它,却又视为畏途。"真奇怪啊!世间竟有这样的字眼,"他说,"并且确有此事,而我们总是忘掉它;一个人今天还活得美好滋润,充满企盼、幻想和希冀,明天竟然会结束生命,就此一去不返了。" It was a warm, golden evening; and, as he walked to the other end of the verandah, he saw Tom busily intent on his Bible, pointing, as he did so, with his finger to each successive word, and whispering them to himself with an earnest air. 这是一个彩霞满天的黄昏,当圣克莱尔走到走廊另一端时,发现汤姆正在那儿全神贯注地阅读《圣经》呢。他一面看,一面用手指在书上一个字一个字点着,嘴巴里还轻声念着。 "Want me to read to you, Tom?" said St. Clare, seating himself carelessly by him." 要我念给你听吗,汤姆?"圣克莱尔说着,坐在了汤姆身边。 "If Mas'r pleases," said Tom, gratefully, "Mas'r makes it so much plainer."" 那就有劳您了。"汤姆感激地说,"老爷念起来就清楚多了。" 
圣克莱尔看了一眼汤姆念过的地方,就念起用粗线划过的一段《圣经》来,这一段经文是这样的: "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all his holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." St. Clare read on in an animated voice, till he came to the last of the verses." 基督耶稣集荣耀之光同诸天使下临人间时,要坐在他尊贵荣耀的宝座上,万民都聚集在他周围。他将把他们分开,就像牧羊人把羊分开一样。"圣克莱尔声调激昂,一直念到最后一节。 "Then shall the king say unto him on his left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire: for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, an ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: I was sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they answer unto Him, Lord when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he say unto them, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not to me."" 然后主对人们说,'你们这些受诅咒的人,远离我到那不灭的烈火中去吧,因为我饥饿时,你们不给我食物;我口渴时,你们不给我水喝;我漂流他乡时,你们不让我住宿;我赤身裸体时,你们不给我衣服;我病在狱中时,你们不来看望我。'人们会说,'主啊,我们什么时候看见您饿了,渴了,流落在外或赤身裸体或病倒牢中没人照顾呢?'主会回答说,'这些事你们不做在我这些兄弟中最小的一个身上,也就是没做在我身上。'" St. Clare seemed struck with this last passage, for he read it twice,--the second time slowly, and as if he were revolving the words in his mind. 圣克莱尔被这一段深深打动了,他念了两遍。念第二遍时,他的速度非常缓慢,好像在用心地领会每个字每句话的意义。 "Tom," he said, "these folks that get such hard measure seem to have been doing just what I have,--living good, easy, respectable lives; and not troubling themselves to inquire how many of their brethren were hungry or athirst, or sick, or in prison."" 汤姆,"他说,"我的所作所为与这些受严惩的人有什么区别呢?一辈子过着宽裕安逸、锦衣玉食的生活,却从来没去想过我的兄弟还有多少人在受冻挨饿、疾病缠身或身陷囹圄。" 
汤姆没有回答。 St. Clare rose up and walked thoughtfully up and down the verandah, seeming to forget everything in his own thoughts; so absorbed was he, that Tom had to remind him twice that the teabell had rung, before he could get his attention. 圣克莱尔站起身来,若有所思地在走廊上踱起步来,外面的一切似乎都不存在了,他完全沉浸在自己的思绪里,以至于午茶铃响也没有听见,直到汤姆提醒了他两遍,这才回过神来。 St. Clare was absent and thoughtful, all tea-time. After tea, he and Marie and Miss Ophelia took possession of the parlor almost in silence. 整个午茶时,圣克莱尔都满腹心事,思绪重重。喝过午茶后,他、玛丽以及奥菲利亚小姐各自走进客厅,谁也不开口说话。 Marie disposed herself on a lounge, under a silken mosquito curtain, and was soon sound asleep. Miss Ophelia silently busied herself with her knitting. St. Clare sat down to the piano, and began playing a soft and melancholy movement with the AEolian accompaniment. He seemed in a deep reverie, and to be soliloquizing to himself by music. After a little, he opened one of the drawers, took out an old music-book whose leaves were yellow with age, and began turning it over. 玛丽躺在一张挂有丝绸蚊帐的躺椅上,没多会儿就沉沉入梦了。奥菲利亚小姐默默地织着毛线。圣克莱尔坐到钢琴前,开始弹奏一段有低音伴奏的舒缓而忧郁的乐章,他仿佛潜入冥想之中,正通过音乐来倾诉。过了一会儿,他打开一个抽屉,取出一本泛黄的旧乐谱翻阅起来。 "There," he said to Miss Ophelia, "this was one of my mother's books,--and here is her handwriting,--come and look at it. She copied and arranged this from Mozart's Requiem." Miss Ophelia came accordingly." 你瞧,"他对奥菲利亚小姐说,"这本子是我母亲的,这儿还有她的亲笔字呢,你过来看看。这是她从莫扎特的《安魂曲》中摘录下来编辑成册的。"奥菲利亚小姐闻声走过来。 
这是她过去常唱的一支曲子,"圣克莱尔说,"现在我仍仿佛能听见她在唱。" He struck a few majestic chords, and began singing that grand old Latin piece, the "Dies Irae." 他弹了几段优美的和弦,便唱起那首庄严、古老的拉丁曲子《最后审判日》。 Tom, who was listening in the outer verandah, was drawn by the sound to the very door, where he stood earnestly. He did not understand the words, of course; but the music and manner of singing appeared to affect him strongly, especially when St. Clare sang the more pathetic parts. Tom would have sympathized more heartily, if he had known the meaning of the beautiful words: 汤姆一直站在走廊外听着,这会儿又被美妙的琴声吸引到门边,他站在那儿热切地听着。虽然他听不懂拉丁语的歌词,但那优美的旋律和圣克莱尔脸上的表情却让他深深感动,尤其是圣克莱尔唱到伤感的地方。如果汤姆能听懂那优美的歌词,他内心一定会产生强烈的共鸣。 Recordare Jesu pie Quod sum causa tuar viae Ne me perdas, illa die Querens me sedisti lassus Redemisti crucem passus Tantus laor non sit cassus.Think, O Jesus, for what reason Thou endured'st earth's spite and treason, Nor me lose, in that dread season; Seeking me, thy wom feet hasted, On the cross thy soul death tasted, Let not all these toils be wasted. [Mrs. Stowe's note.] 啊,耶稣,为什么,你忍受了人世间的凌辱和背弃,却不忍将我抛弃,即便在那可怕的岁月里,为了寻觅我,你疲乏的双脚急急奔忙,十字架上,你的灵魂经历了死亡;但愿这一切的辛劳不会付诸东流。 St. Clare threw a deep and pathetic expression into the words; for the shadowy veil of years seemed drawn away, and he seemed to hear his mother's voice leading his. Voice and instrument seemed both living, and threw out with vivid sympathy those strains which the ethereal Mozart first conceived as his own dying requiem. 圣克莱尔怀着深深的忧伤唱完了这首歌,逝去的岁月的影子又隐隐约约地浮了上来,他仿佛听见他的母亲的歌声在导引着他。歌声、琴声如此撩人心弦,又如此生动逼真,完全把离世前的莫扎特创作《安魂曲》的情景再现出来了。 
圣克莱尔唱完之后,头枕在手上靠了一会儿,就起身到客厅里踱起步来。 "What a sublime conception is that of a last judgment!" said he,--"a righting of all the wrongs of ages!--a solving of all moral problems, by an unanswerable wisdom! It is, indeed, a wonderful image."" 最后的审判日是一种崇高的构想啊!"圣克莱尔说,"千古的冤案都会昭雪,无上的智慧会解决一切道德问题,这的确是一种伟大的设想啊!" "It is a fearful one to us," said Miss Ophelia." 可对我们来说都是一种可怕的设想。"奥菲利亚小姐说。 "It ought to be to me, I suppose," said St. Clare stopping, thoughtfully. "I was reading to Tom, this afternoon, that chapter in Matthew that gives an account of it, and I have been quite struck with it. One should have expected some terrible enormities charged to those who are excluded from Heaven, as the reason; but no,--they are condemned for _not_ doing positive good, as if that included every possible harm."" 正是如此。"圣克莱尔说,他沉思了会儿,接着说,"今天下午我给汤姆念《马太福音》,讲到最后审判日那章时,真是慨叹良多。人们总以为被排除在天堂之外的人都是犯了滔天大罪,其实并非如此,他们只是在世时没有行善积德,而这似乎就将一切可能的有害行为都囊括了,所以他们也受到了惩罚。" "Perhaps," said Miss Ophelia, "it is impossible for a person who does no good not to do harm."" 或许如此,"奥菲利亚小姐说,"一个不做善事的人不可能没做坏事。"
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