第70章 啞書 The Dumb Book(第1/4 頁)

《啞書》，1851 年

the dumb book, 1851

在穿過一片樹林的大路上，孤零零地立著一座農舍；實際上，大路正好從農舍的院子中間穿過。

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

陽光明媚，所有的窗戶都敞開著；屋裡的人們都在忙碌著。

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

在院子裡，一個由盛開的丁香花叢構成的涼棚下，放著一口敞開的棺材；他們已經把一個死人抬到了那裡，當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.

沒有人為他掉一滴眼淚；他的臉被一塊白布蓋著，在他頭下，他們放了一本又大又厚的書，書頁是用摺疊起來的吸墨紙做成的，書頁間還夾著枯萎的花朵；這是他在各地採集的植物標本集，按照他自己的意願，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.

標本集裡的每一朵花都和他人生的某個篇章相關聯。

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

“死者是誰？” 我們問道。

“who is the dead man?” we asked.

“那個老學生，” 有人回答說。“他們說他曾經是個精力充沛的年輕人，學習過古代語言，還唱歌，甚至創作了很多歌曲；後來他遭遇了一些變故，結果就身心都沉溺於飲酒了。當他最終搞垮了自己的身體後，他們就把他帶到了鄉下，在那裡有人為他支付食宿費用。只要他不陷入陰鬱的情緒，他就溫順得像個孩子；但一旦情緒低落，他就會變得很兇，力大如巨人，在樹林裡跑來跑去，就像一隻被追趕的鹿。”

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