THE DUMB BOOK故事

英语自学网

　　THE DUMB BOOK故事
　　    IN the high-road which led through a wood stood a solitary
　　    farm-house; the road, in fact, ran right through its yard. The
　　    sun was shining and all the windows were open; within the
　　    house people were very busy. 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. 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. Every one of the flowers in it was connected with some
　　    chapter of his life.
　　    "Who is the dead man?" we asked.
　　    "The old student," was the reply. "They say that he was
　　    once an energetic young man, that he studied the dead
　　    languages, and sang and even composed many songs; then
　　    something had happened to him, and in consequence of this he
　　    gave himself up to drink, body and mind. When at last he had
　　    ruined his health, they brought him into the country, where
　　    someone paid for his board and residence. He was gentle as a
　　    child as long as the sullen mood did not come over him; but
　　    when it came he was fierce, became as strong as a giant, and
　　    ran about in the wood like a chased deer. But when we
　　    succeeded in bringing him home, and prevailed upon him to open
　　    the book with the dried-up plants in it, he would sometimes
　　    sit for a whole day looking at this or that plant, while
　　    frequently the tears rolled over his cheeks. God knows what
　　    was in his mind; but he requested us to put the book into his
　　    coffin, and now he lies there. In a little while the lid will
　　    be placed upon the coffin, and he will have sweet rest in the
　　    grave!"
　　    The cloth which covered his face was lifted up; the dead
　　    man's face expressed peace- a sunbeam fell upon it. A swallow
            
            

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　　    flew with the swiftness of an arrow into the arbour, turning
　　    in its flight, and twittered over the dead man's head.
　　    What a strange feeling it is- surely we all know it- to
　　    look through old letters of our young days; a different life
　　    rises up out of the past, as it were, with all its hopes and
　　    sorrows. How many of the people with whom in those days we
　　    used to be on intimate terms appear to us as if dead, and yet
　　    they are still alive- only we have not thought of them for
　　    such a long time, whom we imagined we should retain in our
　　    memories for ever, and share every joy and sorrow with them.
　　    The withered oak leaf in the book here recalled the
　　    friend, the schoolfellow, who was to be his friend for life.
　　    He fixed the leaf to the student's cap in the green wood, when
　　    they vowed eternal friendship. Where does he dwell now? The
　　    leaf is kept, but the friendship does no longer exist. Here is
　　    a foreign hothouse plant, too tender for the gardens of the
　　    North. It is almost as if its leaves still smelt sweet! She
　　    gave it to him out of her own garden- a nobleman's daughter.
　　    Here is a water-lily that he had plucked himself, and
　　    watered with salt tears- a lily of sweet water. And here is a
　　    nettle: what may its leaves tell us? What might he have
　　    thought when he plucked and kept it? Here is a little snowdrop
　　    out of the solitary wood; here is an evergreen from the
　　    flower-pot at the tavern; and here is a simple blade of grass.
　　    The lilac bends its fresh fragrant flowers over the dead
　　    man's head; the swallow passes again- "twit, twit;" now the
　　    men come with hammer and nails, the lid is placed over the
　　    dead man, while his head rests on the du
　　mb book- so long
　　    cherished, now closed for ever!
　　    THE END