他们住在一个木房子里，共有兄弟三个。他们的大哥是一个水手。他昨天回家来告别，因为他要去作一次长途旅行。母亲在忙着替他收拾旅途中要用的一些零碎东西。这天晚上他父亲就要把行李送到城里去，想要在别离前再看儿子一次，同时代表母亲和他自己说几句告别的话。行李里还放有一瓶药酒，这时孩子们恰巧拿着他们找到的那个更结实的大瓶子走进来。比起那个小瓶子来，这瓶子能够装更多的酒，而且还是能治消化不良的好烧酒，里面浸有药草。瓶子里装的不是以前那样好的红酒，而是苦味的药酒，但这有时也是很好的——对于胃痛很好。现在要装进行李中去的就是这个新的大瓶子，而不是原来的那个小瓶子。因此这瓶子又开始旅行起来。它和彼得·演生一起上了船。这就是那个年轻的大副所乘的一条船。但是他没有看到这瓶子。的确，他不会知道，或者想到，这就是曾经倒出酒来、祝福他订婚和安全回家的那个瓶子。
Certainly the bottle no longer poured forth wine， but it contained something quite as good； and so it happened that whenever Peter Jensen brought it out， his messmates gave it the name of “the apothecary，” for it contained the best medicine to cure the stomach， and he gave it out quite willingly as long as a drop remained. Those were happy days， and the bottle would sing when rubbed with a cork， and it was called a great lark， “Peter Jensens lark.”
当然它里面没有好酒，但是它仍然装着同样好的东西。每当彼得·演生把它取出来时，他的朋友们总把它叫做“药店”。它里面装着好药——治腹痛的药。只要它还有一滴留下，它总是有用的。这要算是它幸福的时候了。当塞子擦着它的时候，它就唱出歌来。因此它被人叫做“大百灵鸟——彼得·演生的百灵鸟”。
Long days and months rolled by， during which the bottle stood empty in a corner， when a storm arose—whether on the passage out or home it could not tell， for it had never been ashore. It was a terrible storm， great waves arose， darkly heaving and tossing the vessel to and fro. The main mast was split asunderasunder adv.分离， 成碎片， the ship sprang a leak， and the pumps became useless， while all around was black as night.
漫长的岁月过去了。瓶子待在一个角落里，已经空了。这时出了一件事情——究竟是在出航时出的呢，还是在回家的途中出的，它说不大清楚，因为它从来没有上过岸。暴风雨起来了，巨浪在沉重地、阴森地颠簸着，船在起落不定。主桅在断裂；巨浪把船板撞开了；抽水机现在也无能为力了。这是漆黑的夜。船在下沉。
At the last moment， when the ship was sinking， the young mate wrote on a piece of paper， “We are going down： Gods will be done.” Then he wrote the name of his betrothed， his own name， and that of the ship. Then he put the leaf in an empty bottle that happened to be at hand， corked it down tightly， and threw it into the foamingfoaming adj.布满泡沫的 sea. He knew not that it was the very same bottle from which the goblet of joy and hope had once been filled for him， and now it was tossing on the waves with his last greeting， and a message from the dead.
但是在最后一瞬间，那个年轻的大副在一页纸上写下这样的字：“愿耶稣保佑！我们现在要沉了！”他写下他的未婚妻的名字，也写下自己的名字和船的名字，便把纸条塞在手边这只空瓶子里，然后把塞子塞好，把它扔进这波涛汹涌的大海里去。他不知道，它曾经为他和她倒出过幸福和希望的酒。现在它带着他的祝福和死神的祝福在浪花中漂流。
The ship sank， and the crew sank with her； but the bottle flew on like a bird， for it bore within it a loving letter from a loving heart. And as the sun rose and set， the bottle felt as at the time of its first existence， when in the heated glowing stove it had a longing to fly away.
船沉了，船员也一起沉了。瓶子像鸟儿似地飞着，因为它身体里带着一颗心和一封亲爱的信；太阳升起了，又落下了。对瓶子说来，这好像它在出生时所看见的那个红彤彤的熔炉——它那时多么希望能再跳进去啊！
It outlived the storms and the calm， it struck against no rocks， was not devoured by sharks， but drifted on for more than a year， sometimes towards the north， sometimes towards the south， just as the current carried it. It was in all other ways its own master， but even of that one may get tired.
它经历过晴朗的天气和新的暴风雨。但是它没有撞到石礁，也没有被什么鲨鱼吞掉。它这样漂流了不知多少年，有时漂向北，有时漂向南，完全由浪涛的流动来左右。除此以外，它可以算是独立自主了；但是一个人有时也不免对于这种自由感到厌倦起来。
The written leaf， the last farewell of the bridegroombridegroom n.新郎 to his bride， would only bring sorrow when once it reached her hands； but where were those hands， so soft and delicate， which had once spread the tablecloth on the fresh grass in the green wood， on the day of her betrothalbetrothal n.婚约， 订婚礼？ Ah， yes！ where was the furriers daughter？ and where was the land which might lie nearest to her home？
那张字条——那张代表恋人同未婚妻最后告别的字条，如果能到达她手中的话，只会带给她悲哀；但是那双白嫩的、曾在订婚那天在树林中新生的草地上铺过桌布的手现在在什么地方呢？那毛皮商的女儿在哪儿呢？是啊，那块土地，那块离她的住所最近的陆地在哪儿呢？
The bottle knew not， it travelled onward and onward， and at last all this wandering about became wearisome； at all events it was not its usual occupation. But it had to travel， till at length it reached land—a foreign country. Not a word spoken in this country could the bottle understand； it was a language it had never before heard， and it is a great loss not to be able to understand a language.
瓶子一点也不知道；它往前漂流着，漂流着；最后漂流得厌倦了，因为漂流究竟不是生活的目的。但是它不得不漂流，一直到最后它到达了陆地——到达一块陌生的陆地。这儿人们所讲的话，它一句也听不懂，因为这不是它从前听到过的语言。一个人不懂当地的语言，真是一件很大的损失。
The bottle was fished out of the water， and examined on all sides. The little letter contained within it was discovered， taken out， and turned and twisted in every direction； but the people could not understand what was written upon it. They could be quite sure that the bottle had been thrown overboard from a vesselvessel n.船， 容器， 器皿， 脉管， 导管， and that something about it was written on this paper： but what was written？ that was the question，—so the paper was put back into the bottle， and then both were put away in a large cupboard of one of the great houses of the town.
瓶子被捞起来了，而且也被检查过了。它里面的纸条也被发现了，被取了出来，同时被人翻来覆去地看，但是上面所写的字却没有人看得懂。他们知道瓶子一定是从船上抛下来的——纸条上一定写着这类事情。但是纸上写的是什么字呢？这个问题却是一个谜。于是纸条又被塞进瓶子里面去，而瓶子被放进一个大柜子里。它们现在都在一座大房子里的一个大房间里。
Whenever any strangers arrived， the paper was taken out and turned over and over， so that the address， which was only written in pencil， became almost illegibleillegible adj.难辨认的， 字迹模糊的， and at last no one could distinguish any letters on it at all.
每次有生人来访的时候，纸条就被取出来，翻来覆去地看，弄得上面铅笔写的字迹变得更模糊了，最后连上面的字母也没有人看得出来了。
For a whole year the bottle remained standing in the cupboard， and then it was taken up to the loft， where it soon became covered with dust and cobwebs. Ah！ how often then it thought of those better days—of the times when in the fresh， green wood， it had poured forth rich wine； or， while rocked by the swelling waves， it had carried in its bosom a secret， a letter， a last parting sigh.
瓶子在柜子里待了一年，后来被放到顶楼的储藏室里去了，全身都布满了灰尘和蜘蛛网。于是它就想起了自己的幸福的时光，想起它在树林里倒出红酒，想起它带着一个秘密、一个音信、一个别离的叹息在海上漂流。
For full twenty years it stood in the loft， and it might have stayed there longer but that the house was going to be rebuilt. The bottle was discovered when the roof was taken off； they talked about it， but the bottle did not understand what they said—a language is not to be learnt by living in a loft， even for twenty years.
它在顶楼里待了整整20年。要不是这座房子要重建的话，它可能待得更长。屋顶被拆掉了，瓶子也被人发现了。大家都谈论着它，但是它却听不懂他们的话，因为一个人被锁在顶楼里决不能学会一种语言的，哪怕他待上20年也不成。
“If I had been down stairs in the room，” thought the bottle， “I might have learnt it.”