美國語文第六冊 第48期:耐兒之死(5)
他們馬上就要為她的靈床灑下新鮮樹葉和漿果。
And now the bell, the bell she had so often heard by night and day, and listened to with solemn pleasure,
現(xiàn)在那個(gè)鐘聲，她過去常常聽到的鐘聲，不論晚上白天總是用一種肅穆的愉快心情靜靜地聽著的鐘聲，
almost as a living voice, rung its remorseless toll for her, so young, so beautiful, so good.
幾乎把它當(dāng)做一種被賦予生命的聲音，就要無情地為她徐徐敲響了。她那樣年輕，那般美麗，又是何等善良。
Decrepit age, and vigorous life, and blooming youth, and helpless infancy,—on crutches,
上了年紀(jì)的老人、健康的成年人、朝氣蓬勃的年輕人、需要父母幫助的小孩子——一齊涌了出來，
in the pride of health and strength, in the full blush of promise, in the mere dawn of life, gathered round her.
這些人或以健康和體力為傲，或前途一片光明，或正值人生之黎明——都一起聚在她的墓前。
Old men were there, whose eyes were dim and senses failing,
老年人在那里，他們老眼昏花，知覺也衰退了;
grandmothers, who might have died ten years ago, and still been old, the deaf, the blind, the lame, the palsied,
祖母們也在那里，本來十年前她們就到壽了，不過仍然活著——聾子、瞎子、瘸子、半身不遂的人、
the living dead, in many shapes and forms, to see the closing of that early grave.
各式各樣的活死人，在墳?zāi)辜磳⒎忾]時(shí)都趕來看最后一眼。
Along the crowded path they bore her now, pure as the newly fallen snow that covered it, whose day on earth had been as fleeting.
他們從擠滿各色人等的道路中抬著她走，她全身潔白得像是剛剛落到地面的雪花兒，而她在塵世上的日子竟轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝。
Under that porch, where she had sat when heaven, in its mercy, brought her to that peaceful spot,
人們抬著她從門廊底下穿過，那是她從前經(jīng)常坐著玩耍的地方，當(dāng)上天仁慈地把她帶到那個(gè)安靜的地方時(shí)，
she passed again, and the old church received her in its quiet shade.
她又一次從這里經(jīng)過，那古老的教堂把她接到它那靜謐的蔭蔽處安葬。
