小學(xué)英語 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.”在一個小鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)里，有一個人自己擁有一幢房子。有一天晚上，他全家的人圍坐在一起。這正是人們所常說的“夜長”的季節(jié)。這種時刻既溫暖，又舒適。燈亮了；長長的窗簾拉下來了。窗子上擺著許多花盆；外面是一片美麗的月光。不過他們并不是在談?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。事實上它是一個古老的墓碑?！笆堑模狈孔拥闹魅苏f，“我相信它是從那個拆除了的老修道院搬來的。人們把里面的宣講臺、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，不過這塊墓石留下來了，一直躺在院子那兒沒有動?！薄叭藗円谎劬涂梢钥闯?，這是一塊墓石，”最大的一個孩子說，“我們?nèi)匀豢梢钥闯鏊厦婵痰糜幸粋€滴漏1和一個安琪兒的片斷。不過它上面的字差不多全都模糊了，只剩下卜列本這個名字和后邊的一個大字母s，以及離此更遠一點的”瑪爾塔“！此外甚么東西也看不見了。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?！?這是古代一種最原始的鐘。它是由上下兩個玻璃球作成的，由一個小頸聯(lián)在一起。上面的球裝滿沙子或水銀，通過這小頸流到下面的一個球里去。這個過程所花的時間，一般是一小時。時刻就以這流盡的過程為單位計算。古代教堂里常用這種鐘?！疤炷?，這就是卜列本斯萬尼和他妻子的墓石！”一個老人插進來說。他是那么老，簡直可以作為這所房子里所有人的祖父?！笆堑模麄兪亲詈舐裨谶@個老修道院墓地里的一對夫婦。他們從我小時起就是一對老好人。大家都認(rèn)識他們，大家都喜歡他們。他們是這小城里的一對元老。大家都說他們所有的金子一個桶也裝不完。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可愛的夫婦！當(dāng)他們坐在屋子面前那個很高的石臺階上的一條凳子上時，老菩提樹就把枝子罩在他們頭上；他們和善地、溫柔地對你點著頭這使你感到愉快。他們對窮人非常好，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?！碧热ナ?！那一天我記得清清楚楚。我那時是一個很小的孩子，跟著爸爸一起到老卜列本家里去，那時她剛剛合上眼睛，這老頭兒非常難過，哭得像一個小孩子。她的屍體還放在睡房里，離我們現(xiàn)在坐的這地方不遠。他那時對我的爸爸和幾個鄰人說，他此后將會多么孤獨，她曾經(jīng)多么好，他們曾經(jīng)怎樣在一起生活了多少年，他們是怎樣先認(rèn)識的，然后又怎樣相愛起來。我已經(jīng)說過，我那時很小，只能站在旁邊聽。我聽到這老人講話，我也注意到，當(dāng)他一講起他們的訂婚經(jīng)過、她是怎樣的美麗、他怎樣找出許多天真的托詞去會見她的時候，他就活潑起來，他的雙頰就漸漸紅潤起來；這時我就感到非常驚奇。於是他就談起他結(jié)婚的那個日子；他的眼睛這時也發(fā)出閃光來。他似乎又回到那個快樂的年代里去了。但是她一個老女人卻躺在隔壁房間里，死去了。他自己也是一個老頭兒，談?wù)撝^去那些充滿了希望的日子！是的，是的，世事就是這樣！“那時候我還不過是一個小孩子，不過現(xiàn)在我也老了，老了像卜列本斯萬尼一樣。時間過去了，一切事情都改變了！我記得她入葬那天的情景：卜列本斯萬尼緊跟在棺材后邊。好幾年以前，這對夫婦就準(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，它又被揭開了，老卜列本又在他妻子的身邊躺下去了?！彼麄儾幌袢藗兯胂竦暮退v的那樣，身后并沒有留下許多錢財。剩下的一點東西都送給了遠房親戚直到那時人們才知道有這些親戚。那座木房子和它的臺階頂上菩提樹下的一條凳子已經(jīng)被市政府拆除了，因為它太腐朽，不能再讓它存留下去，后來那個修道院也遭受到同樣的命運：那個墓地也剷平了，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