In the purple air gleamed the bright Star，and its beams fell upon him and upon the marble Psyche. He trembled as he looked at that picture of immortality immortality n.不朽，不朽的声名，and his glance seemed impure to him. He threw the cloth over the statue，and then touched it once more to unveil the form—but he was not able to look again at his own work.
那颗明亮的星在紫红色的天空中闪闪发着光。它的光辉照在他身上，照在那尊大理石雕的素琪身上。他看到这个不朽的形象的时候，就颤抖起来，他似乎觉得自己的视线污浊不堪。他用布把她盖起来。在他要揭开时，他摸了她一次，但是再也没有气力看自己的作品了。
Gloomy，quiet，absorbed in his own thoughts，he sat there through the long day，he heard nothing of what was going on around him，and no man guessed what was passing in this human soul.
他坐在那儿满面愁容，一言不发，陷入沉思。他坐了一整天，他听不见周围发生的一切事情。谁也猜不出这个人的心里到底在想着什么东西。
And days and weeks went by，but the nights passed more slowly than the days. The flashing Star beheld him one morning as he rose，pale and trembling with fever，from his sad couch，then he stepped towards the statue，threw back the covering，took one long，sorrowful gaze at his work，and then，almost sinking beneath the burden，he dragged the statue out into the garden. In that place was an old dry well，now nothing but a hole. Into this he cast the Psyche，threw earth in above her，and covered up the spot with twigs twig n.嫩枝，小枝，末梢v.注意，了解 and nettles.
许多日子、许多星期过去了。黑夜是最为漫长的。有一天早上，那颗闪亮的星儿看见他，他的面孔发白，全身因为发热而颤抖，他走近那座大理石像，把那块覆盖着的布拉向一边，以无比悲恸的眼光，把他的作品凝望了许久。最后他把这座石像拖向花园里去，它的重量差点把他压倒了。这儿有一口颓败的枯井，它除了一个洞口以外什么也没有。他就把这个素琪推到了里面去，接着用土把她严严实实地盖上，最后他用枝条和荨麻掩住了这个洞口。
“Away！ Begone！” Such was the short epitaph epitaph n.墓志铭，碑文 he spoke.
“走开吧，滚开吧！”这是他的十分简洁有力的送葬辞。
The Star beheld all this from the pink morning sky，and its beam trembled upon two great tears upon the pale feverish cheeks of the young man，and soon it was said that he was sick unto death，and he lay stretched upon a bed of pain.
那颗星儿在清晨的玫瑰色的天空中看到了这幅情景。它的光在这年轻人苍白的面孔上的两颗沉重的眼泪里颤动着。他在发烧，病得很厉害，人们说他就要断气了。
The convent Brother Ignatius visited him as a physician and a friend，and brought him words of comfort，of religion，and spoke to him of the peace and happiness of the church，of the sinfulness of man，of rest and mercy to be found in heaven.
修道士依洛纳提乌斯作为一个朋友和医生来看望他，带给他宗教上的安慰的话语，谈起宗教中的和平与快乐。人类的种种罪过，和从上帝所能得到的慈悲和安息。
And the words fell like warm sunbeams upon a teeming teeming adj.丰富的 soil. The soil smoked and sent up clouds of mist，fantastic pictures，pictures in which there was reality，and from these floating islands he looked across at human life. He found it vanity and delusion delusion n.错觉—and vanity and delusion it had been to him. They told him that art was a sorcerer，betraying us to vanity and to earthly lusts，that we are false to ourselves，unfaithful to our friends，unfaithful towards Heaven，and that the serpent was always repeating within us，“Eat，and thou shalt become as God.”
这番话如温暖的阳光，照在肥沃的土壤上。土壤冒着水蒸气，升起一层雾，形成一系列的内心思维图画，但这些图画是有现实基础的。从这些浮着的岛上，他遥望下边人类的生活：这生活充满了错误和失望——而他自己的生活也却是如此。艺术是一个女巫师，把我们带进虚荣和世间的情欲里去。我们对自己虚伪，对朋友虚伪，对上帝也虚伪。那条蛇总是不停地在我们的心里讲：“吃吧，你将会像上帝一样。”
And it appeared to him as if now，for the first time，he knew himself，and had found the way that leads to truth and to peace. In the church was the light and the brightness of God—in the monks cell he should find the rest through which the tree of human life might grow on into eternity eternity n.永远，来世，不朽，来世，来生。
他觉得他这时第一次看清楚自己，找到了真理和和平的道路。教会就是上帝的光和光明——在修道士的静修室内他将找到安静，在安静中人生的树将能永恒地生长下去。
Brother Ignatius strengthened his longings，and the determination became firm within him. A child of the world became a servant of the church—the young artist renounced the world，and retired into the cloister cloister n.回廊，修道院。
师兄依洛纳提乌斯支持他的信心，他的决心也因此更为坚定。人间的儿子现在变成了教会的一个仆人——这个年轻艺术家丢弃了人世，到修道院里去隐居起来了。
The brothers came forward affectionately to welcome him，and his inauguration inauguration n.就职典礼，开幕式 was as a Sunday feast. Heaven seemed to him to dwell in the sunshine of the church，and to beam upon him from the holy pictures and from the cross. And when，in the evening，at the sunset hour，he stood in his little cell，and，opening the window，looked out upon old Rome，upon the desolated temples，and the great dead Coliseum—when he saw all this in its spring garb，when the acacias bloomed，and the ivy was fresh，and roses burst forth everywhere，and the citron and orange were in the height of their beauty，and the palm trees waved their branches—then he felt a deeper emotion than had ever yet thrilled thrill v.发抖 through him. The quiet open Campagna spread itself forth towards the blue snowcovered mountains，which seemed to be painted in the air，all the outlines melting into each other，breathing peace and beauty，floating，dreaming—and all appearing like a dream！
师兄师弟们是多么热情地迎接他啊！他参加教会，成了一个节日。在他看来，上帝就生活在教会的太阳光里，从那些神圣的画像和明亮的十字架上向他射出光来。在黄昏，当太阳落下去的时候，他打开他的静修室里的窗子，向古老的罗马，朝那些残破的庙宇和那庄严的、毁灭了的“诃里生”眺望。他在春天里看到这一切。这时候槐树开满了朴素花，常春藤在现出新鲜的绿色，玫瑰花在遍地舒展着花瓣，圆佛手柑和橙子在发着光，棕榈树在摇动着枝叶。这时他感到一种他从没有感到过的。激动着他的感觉。那片辽阔的、宁静的坎帕尼亚向那蓝色的、盖满积雪的高山展开去，仿佛它是被绘在空中般的。它们都相互融成一个整体，呈现出和平甜美的气息。它们在一种梦境中漂浮着，这全都是一个梦！
Yes，this world was a dream，and the dream lasts for hours，and may return for hours，but convent life is a life of years—long years，and many years.
是的，这个世界是一个梦。这个梦能一连做很久很久，做完了又继续做下去。但修道院的生活是经年累月的生活——是无穷尽的岁月的生活。
One day，after the lapse of many years，he met Angelo，who recognized him.
许多年之后，有一天他遇到了还能认出他的安吉罗。
“Man！” exclaimed Angelo. “Yes，it is thou！ Art thou happy now？ Thou hast sinned against God，and cast away His boon from thee—hast neglected thy mission in this world！ Read the parable of the intrusted talent！ The master，who spoke that parable，spoke the truth！ What hast thou gained？ What hast thou found？ Dost thou not fashion for thyself thyself pron.你自己 a religion and a dreamy life after thine own idea，as almost all do？ Suppose all this is a dream，a fair delusion！”