scene that had been exhibited in the old times — a scene painted by nature herself, namely, the mountains between Sorento and Amalfi. the singer gaily mounted the ancient stage, and sang. the place inspired her, and she reminded me of a wild Arab horse, that rushes headlong on with snorting nostrils and flying mane — her song was so light and yet so firm. Anon I thought of the mourning mother beneath the cross at Golgotha, so deep was the expression of pain. And, just as it had done thousands of years ago, the sound of applause and delight now filled the theatre. ‘happy, gifted creature!’ all the hearers exclaimed. Five minutes more, and the stage was empty, the pany had vanished, and not a sound more was heard — all were gone. but the ruins stood unchanged, as they will stand when centuries shall have gone by, and when none shall know of the momentary applause and of the triumph of the fair songstress; when all will be forgotten and gone, and even for me this hour will be but a dream of the past.”

第十二個晚上

twELFth EVENING

“我透過一位編輯的窗戶向裡看。” 月亮說。“那是在德國的某個地方。我看到漂亮的傢俱、很多書和一堆雜亂的報紙。

“I looked through the windows of an editor’s house,” said the moon. “It was somewhere in Germany. I saw handsome furniture, many books, and a chaos of newspapers.

有幾個年輕人在那裡：編輯本人站在他的書桌旁，可以看到兩本小書，都是年輕作者寫的。“這本是寄給我的。” 他說。“我還沒讀呢；你覺得內容怎麼樣？”“哦，” 被問到的人說 —— 他自己也是個詩人 ——“還不錯；當然有點淺顯；但是，你知道，作者還年輕。詩句本可以更好，這是肯定的；思想是正確的，儘管其中肯定有很多陳詞濫調。但你還能要求什麼呢？你不可能總是得到新東西。我不相信他會寫出什麼偉大的作品，但你可以放心地讚揚他。他學識