老人和他的三個兒子

The Old Man and His Three Sons

馮雪峰

Feng Xuefeng

一位老人有三個兒子。大兒子是一個非凡的水手：堅強、勇敢、盡職，而且富于冒險精神。老人真的愛他，認為這是個做父親的值得驕傲的光榮。可是，在一次暴風雨中，這個兒子以他的大膽和勇猛，葬身于大海的狂濤駭浪里了。

An old man had three sons. The eldest was an extraordinary sailor—tough, brave, dutiful and adventurous. The old man loved him indeed, thinking he was the kind of son for a father to be proud of. But caught in a tempest on the sea, this tough and brave son of his was engulfed in the stormy waves.

二兒子是一個不知道辛苦和疲勞的、力氣比一般伙伴都更大的健壯的礦工，又很誠實和守信義，樂意幫助伙伴和朋友，所以礦工們，尤其是青年們都和他做朋友，以得到他的友誼為快樂。那父親也真愛他，尤其是在大兒子死了以后，更認為這是上天給他的最大的彌補。可是，不久，二兒子也殉身于自己的勇敢和自我犧牲的行為了。因為這一天他在煤礦中工作，礦坑因為支柱損壞而崩坍，他英勇地撐住一根支柱，救出了許多伙伴，而他自己卻被壓死了。

His second son was a strong coal miner, stronger than the other miners. No hard work could ever fatigue him. Besides, he was honest and trustworthy, willing to help others. Therefore, his fellow miners, especially the young ones, sought for his friendship and took pleasure in being friends with him. His father cherished him as a godsend—a great compensation for the loss of his eldest son. But unfortunately, he also lost his life in a brave act of self-sacrifice. One day, when he was working down the pit, the props, damaged, gave way and the pit caved in. he grasped one prop that was about to fall and held fast to it. Many of the miners got out of danger, but he was crushed in the pit.

老人的傷痛是不用說的，他馬上變成了一個非常衰敗、軟弱的人了。不過，還剩下一個小兒子，這是做父親的唯一的安慰。老人改變了主意，決心不讓小兒子成為一個出眾的英雄好漢的人物，因為他實在不能再忍受那種折損兒子的痛苦。他嘆息著說：“唉，與其因為他有才能而被奪走，我寧愿他是一個一無所長的沒有出息的人呵。”這樣，老人就親自教育這個小兒子，采取了一種連那些老婆婆們教育女娃娃都很少采用的教育方法。而這個小兒子，也真孝順，果然沒有叫父親失望。就是說，他讓自己成為一個又懦弱又自私而真的一無用處的人了。可是，真沒有想到，到了這個時候，這個老人感到從來沒有過的悲哀和不幸了。他一邊痛悔自己的錯誤，一邊憎恨而又可憐自己的小兒子說：“這就叫做廢物，這就叫做膿包，是我一向所痛恨的。現(xiàn)在因為我自私，親手把他制造出來了！噯，噯，這樣一個海淹不死、山壓不死的人，他活著到底做什么的？”

There were no words to describe how grieved the old man was. Soon he became weak and flabby. However, he had another son—the youngest one—to fall back on. This time he changed his mind. He did not encourage him to become a hero, because he could no longer stand the poignancy of losing his last child. He sighed, “I would rather he be a mediocrity than a talented person losing his life.” He set about educating him in such a way that even old women would not adopt in educating their granddaughters. And this son of his turned out to be very obedient—he didn’t let him down. In other words, he became a weak, selfish and worthless person. It was not until then that the old man found himself a sad and most unfortunate man he had never been before. He was full of remorse for the mistake he had made. He said in a tone filled with anger and pity for his son, “This is what is called good-for-nothing. He has now become the very kind of person I dislike. I am to blame though, for I’ve made him like this with my own doing. Ah, I wonder if life has any meaning to such a creature, though he is not drowned in the sea, nor buried in the pit.

這個老人實在無法愛他的小兒子，因為他只能愛波瀾壯闊的海和巍峨堅實的山，以及像他大兒子、二兒子那樣的人。因此，他現(xiàn)在做父親的心，不得不無限地痛苦，這是他一度錯誤的想法和他親手毀壞了小兒子這件事情的一個懲罰。”

The old man could not bring himself to love his son any more, for he could only love stormy seas, lofty mountains and heroic people like his first two sons. Being a father, he was now suffering from a broken heart—a punishment brought on himself for ruining his youngest son as a result of his own mistake.

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