《上帝永遠不會死》，1836 年

God can Never die, 1836

那是一個星期天的早晨。

It was a Sunday morning.

陽光明亮而溫暖地照進房間，溫和清新的空氣從敞開的窗戶流進來。

the sun shone brightly and warmly into the room, as the air, mild and refreshing, flowed through the open window.

在上帝的藍天下，田野和草地覆蓋著綠色和花朵，所有的小鳥都在歡唱。

And out under God’s blue heaven, where fields and meadows were covered with greens and flowers, all the little birds rejoiced.

然而，當外面處處充滿歡樂和滿足時，房子裡卻充滿了悲傷和痛苦。

while joy and contentment were everywhere outside, in the house lived sorrow and misery.

就連平時總是心情很好的妻子，那天早上也坐在餐桌前，一臉沮喪；最後，她站起身，一口飯也沒吃，擦了擦眼淚，朝門口走去。

Even the wife, who otherwise always was in good spirits, sat that morning at the breakfast table with a downcast expression; finally she arose, without having touched a bite of her food, dried her eyes, and walked toward the door.

這個房子似乎真的被詛咒了。

It really seemed as if there were a curse hanging over this house.

生活費用高昂，食品供應短缺；稅收越來越重；年復一年，家庭財產不斷貶值，現在除了貧窮和苦難，已經沒有什麼可期待的了。

the cost of living was high, the food supply low; taxes had bee heavier and heavier; year after year the household belongings had depreciated more and more, and now at last there was nothing to look forward to but poverty and misery.

一直以來，這些都讓身為勤勞守法公民的丈夫感到沮喪；現在，想到未來，他滿心絕望；是的，他甚至多次威脅要結束自己痛苦而無望的生命。

For a long time all this had depressed the husband, who always had been a hard-working and law-abiding citizen; now the thought of the future filled