《最不可思議的事》，1870 年

the most Incredible thing, 1870

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首先發表於美國的《河濱青少年雜誌》，《最驚人的事》被安徒生認為是他最好的故事之一。

First published in the United States in the Riverside magazine for Young people, “the most Astonishing thing” was considered by Andersen to be one of his best stories.

這是他晚年所寫的一個故事，對於一本兒童雜誌來說它不太合適，因為在這個故事裡安徒生總結了藝術的精髓。

A tale written near the end of his life, it is an unlikely candidate for a children’s magazine, for in it Andersen summed up the essence of art.

作為 “最驚人的事” 的時鐘代表了暫時性和超越性。

the clock that serves as “the most astonishing thing” represents both temporality and transcendence.

它計時，但它也是一件藝術品，不懼毀壞，即使被砸成碎片也能復活。

It keeps time, but it is also an objet d’art that resists destruction, ing back to life even after it has been smashed to bits.

它包含了聖經元素和神話元素、季節和感官、視覺和聽覺、肉體和精神。

It houses the biblical and the mythical, the seasons and the senses, the visual and the acoustical, the carnal and the spiritual.

安徒生在藝術中所期望的一切都包含在那個令所有人驚歎的非凡時鐘裡。

Everything that Andersen wanted in art is housed in that extraordinary clock that astonishes everyone.

對安徒生來說，令人驚歎的藝術可不是小事。

the art of astonishment was no small matter to Andersen.

值得一提的是，這個故事中舉辦的比賽的獲勝者是一個創造出一個物體的人，這個物體之所以令人震驚正是因為它呈現出生命的表象。

It is telling that the winner of the contest staged in this story is a man who creates an object that shocks precisely because it provides the semblance of life.

這個謙遜的工匠製作的時鐘不僅僅是一個機