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LESSON 35 The deluge
第三十五課 大洪水
Look for a moment on the catastrophe of the Deluge. And let not our attention be so engrossed by its dread and awful character, as to overlook all that preceded it, and see nothing but the flood and its devouring waters.
我們來看洪水這一大災難。我們不要太過專注于它的可怕特性而就此忽略了在這之前的一切，否則除了洪水和它所吞噬的水域外我們都將如若無睹。
The waters rise till rivers swell into lakes, and lakes become seas, and the sea stretches out her arms along fertile plains to seize their flying population. Still the waters rise; and now, mingled with beasts that terror has tamed, men climb to the mountain-tops, with the flood roaring at their heels. Still the waters rise; and now each summit stands above them like a separate and sea-girt isle.
水位在漲，直到河流膨脹變成湖泊、湖泊變成海洋，海洋則沿著肥沃的平原伸展她的手臂抓住那些逃亡的人群。水位繼續上漲，此刻，人類及那些被恐懼驅使的野獸爬上了山頂，洪水在他們腳下咆哮。水位仍舊在漲，此時，每一座山峰都像一個獨立的被海水環繞的島嶼聳立在他們的頭頂之上。
Still the waters rise; and, crowding closer on the narrow spaces of lessening hill-tops, men and beasts fight for standing-room. Still the thunders roar, and the lightnings flash, and the rains descend, and the waters rise, till the last survivor of the shrieking crowd is washed off, and the head of the highest Alp goes down beneath the wave.
同樣，水位在漲。越來越多的生物擠在空間越來越小的山頂之上，人類和野獸為了站立的空間開始相互爭斗。雷聲還在咆哮，閃電還在打閃，雨還在下，水還在漲，直到尖叫的人群中最后的幸存者被大水沖走，直到最高的山峰被海浪淹沒。
Now the waters rise no more. God's servant has done his work. He rests from his labours; and, all land drowned, all life destroyed, an awful silence reigning and a shoreless ocean rolling, Death for once has nothing to do but ride in triumph on the top of some giant billow, which, meeting no coast, no continent, no Alp, no Andes against which to break, sweeps round and round the world.
現在，海水停止了上漲。上帝的仆人結束了工作，開始休憩。而，所有土地已被淹沒，所有生命已被摧毀，只有可怕的寂靜籠罩著大地，只有無邊的大海咆哮翻滾。這一次，死亡在巨大的浪頭上凱旋而歸，它沒有遇見海岸，沒有遇見大陸，沒有遇見高山，也沒有需要沖破的安第斯山脈，它把世界橫掃殆盡。
