Hate(Excerpt)

仇 恨（節選）

Hendrik Willem Van Loon

亨德里克·威廉·房龍

Suddenly the war was over, and Hitler was captured and brought to Amsterdam. A military tribunal condemned him to death. But how should he die? To shoot or hang him seemed too quick, too merciful. Then someone uttered what was in everybody’s mind: the man who had caused such incredible suffering should be burned to death.

戰爭忽然結束，希特勒抓到了，押解到阿姆斯特丹。軍事法庭判他死刑。可怎么個死法？槍斃了吧，上絞刑架吧，都未免死的太快、太便宜了他。后來，不知是誰說出了大家的心里話：此人造成的苦難簡直令人難以置信，應該把他燒死。

“But,” objected one judge, “our biggest public square in Amsterdam holds only 10,000 people, and 7,000,000 Dutch men, women and children will want to be there to curse him during his dying moments.”

“可是，”有一名法官不贊成，“我們阿姆斯特丹最大的廣場也只能容納萬把人，可他要死了，到時候男男女女，少小娃子，是荷蘭人誰不想上前去咒他一句，總得有700萬人啊。”

Then another judge had an idea. Hitler should be burned at the stake, but the wood was to be ignited by the explosion of a handful of gunpowder set off by a long fuse which should start in Rotterdam and follow the main road to Amsterdam by way of Delft, The Hague, Leiden and Haarlem. Thus millions of people crowding the wide avenues which connect those cities could watch the fuse burn its way northward to Herr Hitler’s funeral pyre.

于是又一名法官出了個點子，希特勒應該綁在火刑架上燒死，不過木柴要拿一把火藥來點著，火藥用一根長引線來引爆，引線應該從鹿特丹牽起，然后沿著主干公路，走德爾夫特、海牙、萊登、哈勒姆，再接到阿姆斯特丹。這樣，千家萬戶平民百姓，簇擁在連接這幾座城市的寬闊大道上，都可以一睹這根引線由南向北一路燃去，直到把為希特勒閣下舉行火葬的柴火堆點著。

A plebiscite was taken as to whether this was a fitting punishment. There were 4,981,076 yeas and one nay. The nay was voted by a man who preferred that Hitler be pulled to pieces by four horses.

如此懲辦是否妥當，還特地舉行了一次公民投票。計有4981076票贊成，一票反對。投反對票者提出，應對希特勒處以四馬分尸。

At last the great day came. The ceremony commenced at four o’clock on a June morning. The mother of three sons who had been shot by the Nazis for an act of sabotage they did not commit set fire to the fuse while a choir sang a solemn hymn of gratitude. Then the people burst forth into a shout of triumph.

這個盛大的日子終于來臨6月的一天，清晨4時整，葬儀開始。有一位母親，她的3個兒子都叫納粹殺害了，說是犯有莫須有的破壞行為。如今引線就由她來點燃，這時唱詩班唱起了一首莊嚴的感恩贊美詩。接著人群里爆發出一陣勝利的歡呼。

The spark slowly made its way from Rotterdam to Delft, and on toward the great square in Amsterdam. People had come from every part of the country. Special seats had been provided for the aged and the lame and the relatives of murdered hostages.

火花從鹿特丹慢慢燃到德爾夫特，往前再奔阿姆斯特丹的廣場。全國四面八方都來了人。上年紀的、有殘疾的、遇害人質的親屬，都備有專席接待。

Hitler, clad in a long yellow shirt, had been chained to the stake. He preserved a stoical silence until a little boy climbed upon the pile of wood surrounding the former Fuhrer and placed there a placard which read, “This is the world’s greatest murderer.” This so aggravated Hitler’s pent-up feelings that he burst forth into one of his old harangues.

希特勒身穿黃色長衫，已經被鎖鏈拴在了火刑柱上。他始終保持自制，默不作聲，直到有個小男孩爬上這位元首身邊的柴堆，貼上一張告示，寫的是：“本人乃蓋世元兇。”這下可激發了希特勒憋在心里的情緒，他居然故伎重演，破口大罵起來。

The crowd gaped, for it was a grotesque sight to see this little man ranting away just as if he were addressing his followers. Then a terrific howl of derision silenced him.

觀眾都傻了眼：這么個小小人物竟然大放厥詞，活像是在對他的徒子徒孫訓話，真是一大奇觀，好不滑稽。接著是驚天動地的吼聲一片，嘲笑四起，把他鎮住了。

Now came the great moment of the day. About three o’clock in the afternoon the spark reached the outskirts of Amsterdam. Suddenly there was a roll of drums. Then, with an emotion such as they had never experienced before, the people sang the Wilhelmus, the national anthem. Hitler, now ashen-gray, futilely strained at his chains.

最隆重的時刻到了，下午3點鐘光景，火花燃到了阿姆斯特丹的效區。剎時間鼓聲震天。接著，人們懷著從來沒有這么激動的心情，唱起了國歌《威爾海爾慕斯》。希特勒這時面如死灰，枉自在鎖鏈里掙扎。

When the Wilhelmus came to an end the spark was only a few feet from the gunpowder; five more minutes and Hitler would die a horrible death. The crowd broke forth in a shout of hate. A minute went by. Another minute. Silence returned. Now the fuse had only a few inches to go. And at that moment the incredible happened.

國歌唱畢，火花離火藥只有幾英尺了，再過5分鐘，希特勒就不得好死了。觀眾仇恨心切，一下子迸發出來，喊聲大作。一分鐘過去了，又過了一分鐘，重新安靜下來。眼看引線只剩下幾英寸了。就在此時此刻，偏偏出了不可思議的事。

A wizened little man wriggled through the line of soldiers standing guard. Everybody knew who he was. Two of his sons had been machine-gunned to death by parachute troops; his wife and three daughters had perished in Rotterdam’s holocaust. Since then, the poor fellow had seemed deprived of reason, wandering aimlessly about and supported by public charity—an object of universal pity.

有個一身干癟的小個子男人，拐彎抹角混過了執行警戒的士兵隊列。誰都知道他。他有兩個兒子，叫傘兵部隊拿機槍掃死了；他的妻子，3個女兒，都在鹿特丹的大屠殺中殺喪生。從那時起，這個可憐的人就好像一直神志不清，他無所事事，到處流浪，全靠社會上的慈善團體養著——一個人人見了都同情的人物。

But what he did now made the crowd turn white with anger. For he deliberately stamped upon the fuse and put it out.

可眼下他的舉動觸犯了眾怒，大家臉都氣得刷白，原來他特意跑來踩那根引線，把火踩滅了。

“Kill him! Kill him!” the mob shouted. But the old man quietly faced the menacing populace. Slowly he lifted both arms toward heaven. Then in a voice charged with fury, he said:

“殺了他！殺了他！”眾人叫嚷起來。只見老人面對著殺氣騰騰的群眾，神色從容。他緩緩地朝天舉起雙臂。接著，他憤恨地說：

“Now let us do it all over again!”

“咱們再從頭點起來！”

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