“I was，as I have said，a boy，and only stood by and listened to what the others said，but it filled me with a strange emotionemotion n.情绪，情感，感情 to listen to the old man，and to watch how the color rose in his cheeks as he spoke of the days of their courtship，of how beautiful she was，and how many little tricks he had been guilty of，that he might meet her. And then he talked of his weddingday，and his eyes brightened，and he seemed to be carried back，by his words，to that joyful time. And yet there she was，lying in the next room，dead—an old woman，and he was an old man，speaking of the days of hope，long passed away.
“我已经说过，我那时很小，只能站在旁边听。我听到这老人讲话，我也注意到，当他一讲起他们的订婚经过、她是怎样的美丽、他怎样找出许多天真的托词去会见她的时候，他就活泼起来，他的双颊就渐渐红润起来；这时我就感到非常惊奇。于是他就谈起他结婚的那个日子，他的眼睛这时也发出闪光来。他似乎又回到那个快乐的年代里去了。从他的话语中流露着对那段快乐时常的留恋。但是她——一个老女人——却躺在隔壁房间里，死去了。他自己也是一个老头儿，谈论着过去那些充满了希望的日子！是的，是的，世事就是这样！
“Ah，well，so it is，then I was but a child，and now I am old，as old as Preben Schwane then was. Time passes away，and all things changed. I can remember quite well the day on which she was buried，and how Old Preben walked close behind the coffincoffin n.棺材。
“那时候我还不过是一个小孩子，不过现在我也老了，老了——像卜列本·斯万尼一样。时间过去了，一切事情都改变了！我记得她入葬那天的情景：卜列本·斯万尼是如何紧跟在棺材后边的。
“A few years before this time the old couple had had their gravestone prepared，with an inscription and their names，but not the date. In the evening the stone was taken to the churchyard，and laid on the grave. A year later it was taken up，that Old Preben might be laid by the side of his wife.
“好几年以前，这对夫妇就准备好了他们的墓碑，在那上面刻好了他们的名字和碑文——只是没有填上死的年月。在一天晚间，这墓碑被抬到教堂的墓地里去，放在坟上。一年以后，它又被揭开了，老卜列本在他妻子的身边躺下来。
“They did not leave behind them wealth，they left behind them far less than people had believed they possessed，what there was went to families distantly related to them，of whom，till then，no one had ever heard. The old house，with its balconybalcony n.阳台，包厢，（戏院）楼厅 of wickerworkwickerwork n.枝编工艺，and the bench at the top of the high steps，under the limetree，was considered，by the roadinspectors，too old and rotten to be left standing. Afterwards，when the same fate befell the conventconvent n.女修道会，女修道院 church，and the graveyard was destroyed，the gravestone of Preben and Martha，like everything else，was sold to whoever would buy it. And so it happened that this stone was not cut in two as many others had been，but now lies in the courtyard below，a scouring block for the maids，and a playground for the children. The paved street now passes over the resting place of Old Preben and his wife，no one thinks of them any more now.”
“他们不像人们所想像的和所讲的那样，身后并没有留下许多钱财。剩下的一点东西都送给了远房亲戚——直到那时人们才知道有这些亲戚。那座木房子——和它的台阶顶上菩提树下的一条凳子——已经被道路巡查部门拆除了，因为它太腐朽，不能再让它存留下去，后来那个修道院也遭受到同样的命运：那个墓地也铲平了，卜列本和玛尔塔的墓碑，像别的墓碑一样，也卖给任何愿意买它的人了。可喜的是，这块墓石居然没有被打碎，给人用掉；它却仍然躺在这院子地下，作为女佣人放厨房用具和孩子们玩耍的地方。在卜列本和他的妻子安息的地上现在铺出了一条街道。谁也不再记起他们了。”
And the old man who had spoken of all this shook his head mournfully，and said，“Forgotten！ Ah，yes，everything will be forgotten！” And then the conversation turned on other matters.
讲这故事的老人悲哀地摇摇头。“被遗忘了！”一切东西都会被遗忘了！”他说。于是他们在这房间里谈起别的事情来。
But the youngest child in the room，a boy，with large，earnest eyes，mounted upon a chair behind the window curtains，and looked out into the yard，where the moon was pouring a flood of light on the old gravestonegravestone n.墓石，墓碑，the stone that had always appeared to him so dull and flat，but which lay there now like a great leaf out of a book of history. All that the boy had heard of Old Preben and his wife seemed clearly defined on the stone，and as he gazed on it，and glancedglance vi.扫视，匆匆一看n.一瞥，眼光，匆匆一看 at the clear，bright moon shining in the pure air，it was as if the light of Gods countenance beamed over His beautiful world.
不过那个最小的孩子——那个有一双渴求的大眼睛的孩子——爬到窗帘后边的一个椅子上去，朝院子里眺望。月光明朗地正照在这块大墓石上——对他说来。这一直是一块平整和单调的石头。不过它现在躺在那儿像一整部历史中的一页。这孩子所听到的关于老卜列本和他的妻子的故事似乎就写在它上面。他望了望它，然后又望了望那个明朗高阔的天空，洁白的月亮。这很像造物主的面孔，向这整个的世界微笑。
“Forgotten！ Everything will be forgotten！” still echoed through the room，and in the same moment an invisible spirit whispered to the heart of the boy，“Preserve carefully the seed that has been entrusted to thee，that it may grow and thrive. Guard it well. Through thee，my child，shall the obliteratedobliterate vt.涂去，删除，使湮没 inscription on the old，weatherbeaten gravestone go forth to future generations in clear，golden characters. The old pair shall again wander through the streets arminarm，or sit with their fresh，healthy cheeks on the bench under the limetree，and smile and nod at rich and poor. The seed of this hour shall ripenripen vi.成熟vt.使成熟 in the course of years into a beautiful poem. The beautiful and the good are never forgotten，they live always in story or in song.”
“被遗忘了！一切东西都被遗忘了！”这句话仍回荡在这个房间里。这时候，有一个看不见的安琪儿飞进来，吻了这孩子的前额，同时低声地对他说：“好好地保管着这颗藏在你身体内的种子吧，一直到它成熟的时候！通过你，我的孩子，那块老墓石上模糊的碑文，它的每个字，将会射出金光，传到后代！那对老年夫妇将会手挽着手，在古老的街上走过，微笑着，在菩提树下现出他们新鲜和健康的面孔，在那个高台阶上的凳子上坐着，对过往的人点头——不论是贫或是富。从这时开始，这颗种子，到了适当的时候，将会成熟，开出花来，成为一首诗。美的和善的东西是永远不会给遗忘的；它将永远活在故事和歌谣中。”