《一個故事》，1851 年

A Story, 1851

花園裡所有的蘋果樹都開花了。

In the garden all the apple-trees were in blossom.

它們還沒長出綠葉就急著開花了，院子裡所有的小鴨都走來走去，貓也在：它在陽光下曬太陽，還舔著自己爪子上的陽光。

they had hastened to bring forth flowers before they got green leaves, and in the yard all the ducklings walked up and down, and the cat too: it basked in the sun and licked the sunshine from its own paws.

當人們望向田野，麥子長得多麼漂亮，綠油油的，無與倫比！所有的小鳥都嘰嘰喳喳、飛來飛去，彷彿這一天是個盛大的節日；而事實上也的確如此，因為這天是星期日。

And when one looked at the fields, how beautifully the corn stood and how green it shone, without parison! and there was a twittering and a fluttering of all the little birds, as if the day were a great festival; and so it was, for it was Sunday.

所有的鐘都在敲響，所有的人都去做禮拜了，他們看上去心情愉悅，穿著自己最好的衣服。

All the bells were ringing, and all the people went to church, looking cheerful, and dressed in their best clothes.

一切都洋溢著歡快的神情。

there was a look of cheerfulness on everything.

天氣是如此溫暖、如此美好，人們完全可以說：“上帝對我們人類的慈愛真是無邊無際。”

the day was so warm and beautiful that one might well have said: “God’s kindness to us men is beyond all limits.”

但在教堂裡面，牧師站在講道壇上，大聲且憤怒地講著話。

but inside the church the pastor stood in the pulpit, and spoke very loudly and angrily.

他說所有人都是邪惡的，上帝會因為他們的罪孽懲罰他們，而且邪惡的人死後會被扔進地獄，永遠受煎熬。

he said that all men were wicked, and God would punish them for their sins, and that the wicked, when they died, would be cast into hell, to burn for ever and eve