盲人

The Blind Man

閱讀小提示：耐性終極考驗到了！本文篇幅較長，同學們可要做好準備哦。文章按照故事情節層層發展，結構清晰易懂。原文為法語，但這個英文譯本表達地道，形容詞、動詞等使用更是生動具體，很值得多讀幾遍，仔細琢磨和學習哦。

How is it that the sunlight gives us such joy? Whydoes this radiance^[光輝]， when it falls on the earth， fill uswith the joy of living? The whole sky is blue， the fieldsare green， the houses all white， and our enchanted^[施魔法]eyes drink in those bright colors which bring delightto our souls. And then there springs^[跳] up in our heartsa desire to dance， to run， to sing， a happy lightnessof thought， a sort of enlarged tenderness; we feel alonging to embrace the sun.

The blind， as they sit in the doorways， impassive^[冷漠的]in their eternal^[永恒的] darkness， remain as calm asever in the midst of this fresh gaiety^[歡樂]， and， notunderstanding what is taking place around them， theycontinually check their dogs as they attempt to play.

When， at the close of the day， they are returninghome on the arm of a young brother or a little sister，if the child says: “It was a very fine day!” the otheranswers: “I could notice that it was fine. Loulouwouldn’t keep quiet.”

I knew one of these men whose life was one of themost cruel martyrdoms^[犧牲] that could possibly beconceived^[想象].

He was a peasant， the son of a Norman^{[諾曼人的]} farmer.As long as his father and mother lived， he was more orless taken care of; he suffered little save^{[除……之外]} fromhis horrible infirmity^[虛弱]; but as soon as the old peoplewere gone， an atrocious^[殘暴的] life of misery commenced^[開始] for him. Dependent on a sister of his， everybody inthe farmhouse treated him as a beggar who was eatingthe bread of strangers. At every meal the very food heswallowed was made a subject of reproach^[責備] againsthim; he was called a drone^{[依賴他人生活的人]}， a clown， and althoughhis brother-in-law had taken possession of hisportion of the inheritance^[遺產]， he was helped grudgingly^[勉強地] to soup， getting just enough to save him from starving.

His face was very pale and his two big white eyeslooked like wafers^{[圣餅，威化餅]}. He remained unmoved atall the insults^[辱罵] hurled^[猛擲] at him， so reserved^[緘默的]that one could not tell whether he felt them.

Moreover，he had never known any ten-derness，hi smother having always treat-ed him unkindly and caring very little forhim; for in country places useless personsare considered a nuisance^{[討厭的人]}， and the peasantswould be glad to kill the infirm of their species， aspoultry^[家禽] do.

As soon as he finished his soup he went and satoutside the door in summer and in winter beside thefireside， and did not stir^[移動] again all the evening.He made no gesture， no movement; only his eyelids，quivering^[顫抖] from some nervous affection， fell down sometimes over his white， sightless orbs^[眼球]. Had he anyintellect， any thinking faculty^[機能]， any consciousnessof his own existence? Nobody cared to inquire

For some years things went on in this fashion. But hisincapacity for work， as well as his impassiveness， eventuallyexasperated^[激怒] his relatives， and he became alaughingstock， a sort of butt^[靶垛] for merriment， a prey^[獵物]to the inborn ferocity^[兇殘]， to the savage^[野蠻的] gaiety of thebrutes^[畜生] who surrounded him.

It is easy to imagine all the cruel practical jokesinspired by his blindness. And， in order to have some fun inreturn for feeding him， they now converted^[轉變] his mealsinto hours of pleasure for the neighbors and of punishmentfor the helpless creature himself.

The peasants from the nearest houses came to thisentertainment; it was talked about from door to door， andevery day the kitchen of the farmhouse was full of people.Sometimes they placed before his plate， when he wasbeginning to eat his soup， a cat or dog. The animal instinctively^[本能地] perceived^[察覺] the man’s infirmity， and， softlyapproaching， commenced eating noiselessly， lapping^[舔]up the soup daintily^[挑剔地]; and， when they lapped the foodrather noisily， rousing the poor fellow’s attention， theywould prudently^[謹慎地] scamper^[蹦跳] away to avoid the blowof the spoon directed at random^[隨意地] by the blind man!

Then the spectators^[觀眾] ranged along the wall wouldburst out laughing， nudge^{[用肘輕推]} each other and stamptheir feet on the floor. And he， without ever uttering^[發出] a word， would continue eating with his right hand， whilestretching out his left to protect his plate.

other time they made him chew corks^[軟木]， bits ofwood， leaves or even filth^[垃圾]， which he was unable todistinguish^[區分].

After this they got tired even of these practical jokes，and the brother-in-law， angry at having to support himalways， struck him， cuffed^{[掌摑，毆打]} him incessantly^{[不間斷地]}，laughing at his futile^[無用的] efforts to ward off^[擋開] orreturn the blows. Then came a new pleasure – the pleasureof smacking^[摑] his face. And the ploughmen^[把犁人]， theservant girls and even every passing vagabond^[流氓] wereevery moment giving him cuffs， which caused his eyelashesto twitch^[抽搐] spasmodically^{[間歇性地]}. He did not knowwhere to hide himself and remained with his arms alwaysheld out to guard against people coming too close to him.

At last he was forced to beg.

He was placed somewhere on the high-road onmarket-days， and as soon as he heard the sound offootsteps or the rolling of a ve-hicle，he reached out his hat，stammering^{[口吃地說]}:

“Charity， if you please!”

But the peasant was not lavish^[慷慨的]， and for wholeweeks he did not bring back a sou^{[昔日法國的一種貨幣]}.

Then he became the victim of furious^[狂暴的]， pitilesshatred. And this is how he died.

One winter the ground was covered with snow， andit was freezing hard. His brother-in-law led him onemorning a great distance along the high-road in orderthat he might solicit^[懇求] alms^[施舍]. The blind man wasleft there all day; and when night came on， the brotherin-law toldthe peopleof his housethat hecould find notrace of themendicant^[乞丐]. Then headded:

“Pooh!Best notbotherabout him!He was coldand got someone to take him away.Never fear!He’s not lost.He’llturn up soon enough tomorrow to eat the soup.”

Next day he did not come back.

After long hours of waiting， stiffened with the cold，feeling that he was dying， the blind man began to walk.Being unable to find his way along the road， owing to itsthick coating of ice， he went on at random， falling intoditches^[溝]， getting up again， without uttering a sound， hissole object being to find some house where he couldtake shelter^[避難].

But， by degrees， the descending^[下降] snow made a numbness^[麻木] steal over^{[漸漸彌漫]} him， and his feeble^[虛弱的] limbs beingincapable of carrying him farther， he sat down in themiddle of an open field. He did not get up again.

The white flakes which fell continuously buried him，so that his body， quite stiff and stark^[荒涼的]， disappeared underthe incessant accumulation^[積累] of their rapidly thickeningmass， and nothing was left to indicate the placewhere he lay.

His relatives made a pretence of inquiring about himand searching for him for about a week. They even made ashow of weeping.

The winter was severe^[嚴峻的]， and the thaw^[融化] did notset in quickly. Now， one Sunday， on their way to mass， thefarmers noticed a great flight of crows^[烏鴉]， who werewhirling^[盤旋] incessantly above the open field， and thendescending like a shower of black rain at the same spot，ever going and coming.

The following week these gloomy^[陰沉的] birds were stillthere. There was a crowd of them up in the air， as if theyhad gathered from all corners of the horizon， and theyswooped down with a great cawing^[呱呱叫] into the shiningsnow， which they covered like black patches， and in whichthey kept pecking^[啄食] obstinately^[頑固地]. A young fellowwent to see what they were doing and discovered the bodyof the blind man， already half devoured^[吞食]， mangled^[撕碎].His wan^[蒼白的] eyes had disappeared， pecked out by the long，voracious^[貪婪的] beaks.

And I can never feel the glad radiance of sunlit dayswithout sadly remembering and pondering^[沉思] over thefate of the beggar who was such an outcast in life-thathis horrible death was a relief to all who had knownhim.

陽光何以讓我們如此歡樂？為什么當陽光灑落在地球上時，我們的生活會滿溢幸福？整個天空湛藍清澈，草地青蔥翠綠，房屋雪白一片，我們著了魔似的眼睛將這些鮮明的顏色盡收眼底，這繽紛的顏色為我們的靈魂帶來了如許快樂。我們的心中突然蹦出一種欲望，愿為其起舞，飛奔，歌唱；一陣輕盈歡快的思緒，一抹蔓延擴散的溫柔；我們萌發出擁抱太陽的渴望。

盲人們坐在門口，面無表情地沉浸在他們永恒的黑暗里，在這清新的愉快氣氛中仍然保持慣有的平靜。