評論
打印
The band ceased playing; the mayor made a sign, and every one kept quiet.
樂隊(duì)停止奏樂，因市長的號令，滿場肅靜了。
He began to speak. I did not understand the first words perfectly; but I gathered that he was telling the story of the boy's feat. Then he raised his voice, and it rang out so clear and sonorous through the whole court, that I did not lose another word: "When he saw, from the shore, his comrade struggling in the river, already overcome with the fear of death, he tore the clothes from his back, and hastened to his assistance, without hesitating an instant. They shouted to him, 'You will be drowned!'--he made no reply; they caught hold of him--he freed himself; they called him by name--he was already in the water. The river was swollen; the risk terrible, even for a man. But he flung himself to meet death with all the strength of his little body and of his great heart; he reached the unfortunate fellow and seized him just in time, when he was already under water, and dragged him to the surface; he fought furiously with the waves, which strove to overwhelm him, with his companion who tried to cling to him; and several times he disappeared beneath the water, and rose again with a desperate effort; obstinate, invincible in his purpose, not like a boy who was trying to save another boy, but like a man, like a father who is struggling to save his son, who is his hope and his life. In short, God did not permit so generous a prowess to be displayed in vain. The child swimmer tore the victim from the gigantic river, and brought him to land, and with the assistance of others, rendered him his first succor; after which he returned home quietly and alone, and ingenuously narrated his deed.
市長于是開始演說。開頭大概敘說少年的功績，不甚聽得清楚。后來聲音漸高，語音遍布全場，一句都不會漏了：“這少年在河岸上見自己的朋友將要沉下去，就毫不猶豫地脫去衣服，跳入水去救他。旁邊的孩子們想攔住他，說：‘你也要同他一起沉下去哩！’他不置辯躍入水去。河水正漲滿，連大人下去也不免危險(xiǎn)。他盡了力和急流奮斗，竟把快在水底淹死的友人撈著了，提了他浮上水面，幾次險(xiǎn)遭沉沒，終于鼓著勇氣游到岸邊。那種堅(jiān)忍和決死的精神，幾乎不像是少年的行徑，竟是大人救自己愛兒的情景。上帝鑒于這少年的勇敢行為，就助他成功，使他將快要死的友人從死亡中救出，更因了別人的助力，終于更生了。事后，他若無其事地回到家里，淡淡地把經(jīng)過報(bào)告家人知道。
