小學(xué)英語(yǔ) 安徒生童話系列（四）the Old Grave-Stone老墓碑閱讀素材.docx

theoldgrave-stonebyhanschristianandersen（1852）inahouse，withalargecourtyard，inaprovincialtown，atthattimeoftheyearinwhichpeoplesaytheeveningsaregrowinglonger，afamilycircleweregatheredtogetherattheiroldhome.alampburnedonthetable，althoughtheweatherwasmildandwarm，andthelongcurtainshungdownbeforetheopenwindows，andwithoutthemoonshonebrightlyinthedark-bluesky.buttheywerenottalkingofthemoon，butofalarge，oldstonethatlaybelowinthecourtyardnotveryfarfromthekitchendoor.themaidsoftenlaidthecleancoppersaucepansandkitchenvesselsonthisstone，thattheymightdryinthesun，andthechildrenwerefondofplayingonit.itwas，infact，anoldgrave-stone.“yes，”saidthemasterofthehouse， “ibelievethestonecamefromthegraveyardoftheoldchurchoftheconventwhichwaspulleddown，andthepulpit，themonuments，andthegrave-stonessold.myfatherboughtthelatter；mostofthemwerecutintwoandusedforpaving-stones，butthatonestonewaspreservedwhole，andlaidinthecourtyard.”“anyonecanseethatitisagrave-stone，”saidtheeldestofthechildren； “therepresentationofanhour-glassandpartofthefigureofanangelcanstillbetraced，buttheinscriptionbeneathisquitewornout，exceptingthenamepreben，andalargesclosebyit，andalittlefartherdownthenameofmarthacanbeeasilyread.butnothingmore，andeventhatcannotbeseenunlessithasbeenraining，orwhenwehavewashedthestone.”“dearme！howsingular.whythatmustbethegrave-stoneofprebenschwaneandhiswife.”theoldmanwhosaidthislookedoldenoughtobethegrandfatherofallpresentintheroom.“yes，”hecontinued， “thesepeoplewereamongthelastwhowereburiedinthechurchyardoftheoldconvent.theywereaveryworthyoldcouple，icanrememberthemwellinthedaysofmyboyhood.everyoneknewthem，andtheywereesteemedbyall.theyweretheoldestresidentsinthetown，andpeoplesaidtheypossessedatonofgold，yettheywerealwaysveryplainlydressed，inthecoarseststuff，butwithlinenofthepurestwhiteness.prebenandmarthawereafineoldcouple，andwhentheybothsatonthebench，atthetopofthesteepstonesteps，infrontoftheirhouse，withthebranchesofthelinden-treewavingabovethem，andnoddedinagentle，friendlywaytopassersby，itreallymadeonefeelquitehappy.theywereverygoodtothepoor；theyfedthemandclothedthem，andintheirbenevolencetherewasjudgmentaswellastruechristianity.theoldwomandiedfirst；thatdayisstillquitevividlybeforemyeyes.iwasalittleboy，andhadaccompaniedmyfathertotheoldmanshouse.marthahadfallenintothesleepofdeathjustaswearrivedthere.thecorpselayinabedroom，neartotheoneinwhichwesat，andtheoldmanwasingreatdistressandweepinglikeachild.hespoketomyfather，andtoafewneighborswhowerethere，ofhowlonelyheshouldfeelnowshewasgone，andhowgoodandtrueshe，hisdeadwife，hadbeenduringthenumberofyearsthattheyhadpassedthroughlifetogether，andhowtheyhadbecomeacquainted，andlearnttoloveeachother.iwas，asihavesaid，aboy，andonlystoodbyandlistenedtowhattheotherssaid；butitfilledmewithastrangeemotiontolistentotheoldman，andtowatchhowthecolorroseinhischeeksashespokeofthedaysoftheircourtship，ofhowbeautifulshewas，andhowmanylittletrickshehadbeenguiltyof，thathemightmeether.andthenhetalkedofhiswedding-day；andhiseyesbrightened，andheseemedtobecarriedback，byhiswords，tothatjoyfultime.andyetthereshewas，lyinginthenextroom，deadanoldwoman，andhewasanoldman，speakingofthedaysofhope，longpassedaway.ah，well，soitis；theniwasbutachild，andnowiamold，asoldasprebenschwanethenwas.timepassesaway，andallthingschanged.icanrememberquitewellthedayonwhichshewasburied，andhowoldprebenwalkedclosebehindthecoffin.“afewyearsbeforethistimetheoldcouplehadhadtheirgrave-stoneprepared，withaninscriptionandtheirnames，butnotthedate.intheeveningthestonewastakentothechurchyard，andlaidonthegrave.ayearlateritwastakenup，thatoldprebenmightbelaidbythesideofhiswife.theydidnotleavebehindthemwealth，theyleftbehindthemfarlessthanpeoplehadbelievedtheypossessed；whattherewaswenttofamiliesdistantlyrelatedtothem，ofwhom，tillthen，noonehadeverheard.theoldhouse，withitsbalconyofwickerwork，andthebenchatthetopofthehighsteps，underthelime-tree，wasconsidered，bytheroad-inspectors，toooldandrottentobeleftstanding.afterwards，whenthesamefatebefelltheconventchurch，andthegraveyardwasdestroyed，thegrave-stoneofprebenandmartha，likeeverythingelse，wassoldtowhoeverwouldbuyit.andsoithappenedthatthisstonewasnotcutintwoasmanyothershadbeen，butnowliesinthecourtyardbelow，ascouringblockforthemaids，andaplaygroundforthechildren.thepavedstreetnowpassesovertherestingplaceofoldprebenandhiswife；noonethinksofthemanymorenow.”andtheoldmanwhohadspokenofallthisshookhisheadmournfully，andsaid， “forgotten！ah，yes，everythingwillbeforgotten！”andthentheconversationturnedonothermatters.buttheyoungestchildintheroom，aboy，withlarge，earnesteyes，mounteduponachairbehindthewindowcurtains，andlookedoutintotheyard，wherethemoonwaspouringafloodoflightontheoldgravestone，thestonethathadalwaysappearedtohimsodullandflat，butwhichlaytherenowlikeagreatleafoutofabookofhistory.allthattheboyhadheardofoldprebenandhiswifeseemedclearlydefinedonthestone，andashegazedonit，andglancedattheclear，brightmoonshininginthepureair，itwasasifthelightofgodscountenancebeamedoverhisbeautifulworld.“forgotten！everythingwillbeforgotten！”stillechoedthroughtheroom，andinthesamemomentaninvisiblespiritwhisperedtotheheartoftheboy， “preservecarefullytheseedthathasbeenentrustedtothee，thatitmaygrowandthrive.guarditwell.throughthee，mychild，shalltheobliteratedinscriptionontheold，weather-beatengrave-stonegoforthtofuturegenerationsinclear，goldencharacters.theoldpairshallagainwanderthroughthestreetsarm-in-arm，orsitwiththeirfresh，healthycheeksonthebenchunderthelime-tree，andsmileandnodatrichandpoor.theseedofthishourshallripeninthecourseofyearsintoabeautifulpoem.thebeautifulandthegoodareneverforgotten，theylivealwaysinstoryorinsong.”在一個(gè)小鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)里，有一個(gè)人自己擁有一幢房子。有一天晚上，他全家的人圍坐在一起。這正是人們所常說(shuō)的“夜長(zhǎng)”的季節(jié)。這種時(shí)刻既溫暖，又舒適。燈亮了；長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的窗簾拉下來(lái)了。窗子上擺著許多花盆；外面是一片美麗的月光。不過(guò)他們并不是在談?wù)撨@件事。他們是在談?wù)撝粔K古老的大石頭。這塊石頭躺在院子里、緊靠著廚房門旁邊。女傭人常常把擦過(guò)了的銅制的用具放在上面曬；孩子們也喜歡在上面玩耍。事實(shí)上它是一個(gè)古老的墓碑。“是的，”房子的主人說(shuō)，“我相信它是從那個(gè)拆除了的老修道院搬來(lái)的。人們把里面的宣講臺(tái)、紀(jì)念牌和墓碑全都賣了！我去世了的父親買了好幾塊墓石，每塊都打斷了，當(dāng)做鋪道石用，不過(guò)這塊墓石留下來(lái)了，一直躺在院子那兒沒(méi)有動(dòng)?！薄叭藗円谎劬涂梢钥闯觯@是一塊墓石，”最大的一個(gè)孩子說(shuō)，“我們?nèi)匀豢梢钥闯鏊厦婵痰糜幸粋€(gè)滴漏1和一個(gè)安琪兒的片斷。不過(guò)它上面的字差不多全都模糊了，只剩下卜列本這個(gè)名字和后邊的一個(gè)大字母s，以及離此更遠(yuǎn)一點(diǎn)的”瑪爾塔“！此外甚么東西也看不見(jiàn)了。只有在下了雨，或者當(dāng)我們把它洗凈了以后，我們才能看得清楚。”1這是古代一種最原始的鐘。它是由上下兩個(gè)玻璃球作成的，由一個(gè)小頸聯(lián)在一起。上面的球裝滿沙子或水銀，通過(guò)這小頸流到下面的一個(gè)球里去。這個(gè)過(guò)程所花的時(shí)間，一般是一小時(shí)。時(shí)刻就以這流盡的過(guò)程為單位計(jì)算。古代教堂里常用這種鐘。“天哪，這就是卜列本斯萬(wàn)尼和他妻子的墓石！”一個(gè)老人插進(jìn)來(lái)說(shuō)。他是那么老，簡(jiǎn)直可以作為這所房子里所有人的祖父?！笆堑?，他們是最后埋在這個(gè)老修道院墓地里的一對(duì)夫婦。他們從我小時(shí)起就是一對(duì)老好人。大家都認(rèn)識(shí)他們，大家都喜歡他們。他們是這小城里的一對(duì)元老。大家都說(shuō)他們所有的金子一個(gè)桶也裝不完。但是他們穿的衣服卻非常樸素，總是粗料子做的；不過(guò)他們的桌布、被單等總是雪白的。他們卜列本和瑪爾塔是一對(duì)可愛(ài)的夫婦！當(dāng)他們坐在屋子面前那個(gè)很高的石臺(tái)階上的一條凳子上時(shí)，老菩提樹(shù)就把枝子罩在他們頭上；他們和善地、溫柔地對(duì)你點(diǎn)著頭這使你感到愉快。他們對(duì)窮人非常好，給他們飯吃，給他們衣服穿。他們的慈善行為充分地表示出他們的善意和基督精神。”太太先去世！那一天我記得清清楚楚。我那時(shí)是一個(gè)很小的孩子，跟著爸爸一起到老卜列本家里去，那時(shí)她剛剛合上眼睛，這老頭兒非常難過(guò)，哭得像一個(gè)小孩子。她的屍體還放在睡房里，離我們現(xiàn)在坐的這地方不遠(yuǎn)。他那時(shí)對(duì)我的爸爸和幾個(gè)鄰人說(shuō)，他此后將會(huì)多么孤獨(dú)，她曾經(jīng)多么好，他們?cè)?jīng)怎樣在一起生活了多少年，他們是怎樣先認(rèn)識(shí)的，然后又怎樣相愛(ài)起來(lái)。我已經(jīng)說(shuō)過(guò)，我那時(shí)很小，只能站在旁邊聽(tīng)。我聽(tīng)到這老人講話，我也注意到，當(dāng)他一講起他們的訂婚經(jīng)過(guò)、她是怎樣的美麗、他怎樣找出許多天真的托詞去會(huì)見(jiàn)她的時(shí)候，他就活潑起來(lái)，他的雙頰就漸漸紅潤(rùn)起來(lái)；這時(shí)我就感到非常驚奇。於是他就談起他結(jié)婚的那個(gè)日子；他的眼睛這時(shí)也發(fā)出閃光來(lái)。他似乎又回到那個(gè)快樂(lè)的年代里去了。但是她一個(gè)老女人卻躺在隔壁房間里，死去了。他自己也是一個(gè)老頭兒，談?wù)撝^(guò)去那些充滿了希望的日子！是的，是的，世事就是這樣！“那時(shí)候我還不過(guò)是一個(gè)小孩子，不過(guò)現(xiàn)在我也老了，老了像卜列本斯萬(wàn)尼一樣。時(shí)間過(guò)去了，一切事情都改變了！我記得她入葬那天的情景：卜列本斯萬(wàn)尼緊跟在棺材后邊。好幾年以前，這對(duì)夫婦就準(zhǔn)備好了他們的墓碑，在那上面刻好了他們的名字和碑文只是沒(méi)有填上死的年月。在一天晚間，這墓碑被抬到教堂的墓地里去，放在墳上。一年以后，它又被揭開(kāi)了，老卜列本又在他妻子的身邊躺下去了。”他們不像人們所想像的和所講的那樣，身后并沒(méi)有留下許多錢財(cái)。剩下的一點(diǎn)東西都送給了遠(yuǎn)房親戚直到那時(shí)人們才知道有這些親戚。那座木房子和它的臺(tái)階頂上菩提樹(shù)下的一條凳子已經(jīng)被市政府拆除了，因?yàn)樗?，不能再讓它存留下去，后?lái)那個(gè)修道院也遭受到同樣的命運(yùn)：那個(gè)墓地也剷平了，卜列本和瑪爾塔的墓碑，像別的墓碑一樣，也賣給任何愿意買它的人了。現(xiàn)在事又湊