双语有声阅读：宽容(5)

They were pushed aside.

 

他们被推到一旁，

 

They complained of their lot.

 

嘴里还抱怨自己的命运不济，

 

They bewailed the ingratitude¹ of their children, but when the last wagon² pulled out of the village, they stopped the driver and forced him to take them along.

 

诅咒孩子们忘恩负义。下过，最后一辆马车驶出村子时，他们叫住了车夫，强迫他把他们带走。

 

The flight into the unknown had begun.

 

这样，投奔陌生世界的旅程开始了。

 

It was many years since the Wanderer had returned.

 

离那个漫游者回来的时间，已经过了很多年，

 

It was no easy task to discover the road he had mapped out.

 

所以要找到他开辟的道路并非易事。

 

Thousands fell a victim to hunger and thirst before the first cairn was found.

 

成千上万人死了，人们踏着他们的尸骨，才找到第一座用石子堆起的路标。

 

From there on the trip was less difficult.

 

此后，旅程中的磨难少了一些。

 

The careful pioneer had blazed a clear trail through the woods and amidst the endless wilderness³ of rock.

 

那个细心的先驱者已经在丛林和无际的荒野乱石中用人烧出了一条宽敞大道。

 

By easy stages it led to the green pastures of the new land.

 

它一步一步把人们引到新世界的绿色牧场。

 

Silently the people looked at each other.

 

大家相视无言。

 

He was right after all, they said. He was right, and the Old Men were wrong…

 

归根结底他是对了，人们说道。他对了，守旧老人错了。

 

He spoke⁴ the truth, and the Old Men lied…

 

他讲的是实话，守旧老人撒了谎…

 

His bones lie rotting at the foot of the cliffs, but the Old Men sit in our carts and chant their ancient lays…

 

他的尸首还在山崖下腐烂，可是守旧老人却坐在我们的车里，唱那些老掉牙的歌子。

 

He saved us, and we slew⁵ him…

 

他救了我们，我们反倒杀死了他。

 

We are sorry that it happened, but of course, if we could have known at the time…

 

对这件事我们的确很内疚，不过，假如当时我们知道的话，当然就…

 

Then they unharnessed their horses and their oxen and they drove their cows and their goats into the pastures and they built themselves houses and laid out their fields and they lived happily for a long time afterwards.

 

随后，人们解下马和牛的套具，把牛羊赶进牧场，建造起自己的房屋，规划自己的土地。从这以后很长时间，人们又过着幸福的生活。

 

A few years later an attempt was made to bury the brave pioneer in the fine new edifice⁶ which had been erected⁷ as a home for the Wise Old Men.

 

几年以后，人们建起了一座新大厦，作为智慧老人的住宅，并准备把勇敢先驱者的遗骨埋在里面。

 

A solemn procession went back to the now deserted⁸ valley, but when the spot was reached where his body ought to have been, it was no longer there.

 

一支肃穆的队伍回到了早已荒无人烟的山谷。但是，山脚下空空如也，先驱者的尸首荡然无存。

 

A hungry jackal had dragged it to his lair⁹.

 

一只饥饿的豺狗早己把尸首拖入自己的洞穴。

 

A small stone was then placed at the foot of the trail (now a magnificent highway).

 

人们把一块小石头放在先驱者足迹的尽头（现在那已是一条大道），

 

It gave the name of the man who had first defied the dark terror of the unknown, that his people might be guided into a new freedom.

 

石头上刻着先驱者的名字，一个首先向未知世界的黑暗和恐怖挑战的人的名字，他把人们引向了新的自由。

 

And it stated what it had been erected by a grateful posterity¹⁰.

 

石上还写明，它是由前来感恩朝礼的后代所建。

 

As it was in the beginning-as it is now-and as some day (so we hope) it shall no longer be.

 

这样的事情发生在过去，也发生在现在，不过将来（我们希望）这样的事不再发生了。

1 ingratitude   

n.忘恩负义

参考例句：

• Tim's parents were rather hurt by his ingratitude.蒂姆的父母对他的忘恩负义很痛心。
• His friends were shocked by his ingratitude to his parents.他对父母不孝，令他的朋友们大为吃惊。

2 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

3 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。

6 edifice   

n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室)

参考例句：

• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。
• There is a huge Victorian edifice in the area.该地区有一幢维多利亚式的庞大建筑物。

7 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

8 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

9 lair   

n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处

参考例句：

• How can you catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's lair?不入虎穴，焉得虎子？
• I retired to my lair,and wrote some letters.我回到自己的躲藏处，写了几封信。

10 posterity   

n.后裔，子孙，后代

参考例句：

• Few of his works will go down to posterity.他的作品没有几件会流传到后世。
• The names of those who died are recorded for posterity on a tablet at the back of the church.死者姓名都刻在教堂后面的一块石匾上以便后人铭记。