都德的《最后一課》相信大家都在課本上讀過，故事借亞爾薩斯省一個小孩小弗朗士的自述，具體地描寫一所小學所上的最后一堂法文課。作家回避了普法戰爭的正面戰場，而把筆墨轉向一幅極為平常的生活畫面：小學生遲到，老師講課、提問，習字，拼音練習，下課……描寫極為冷靜、客觀、樸素，卻極具感染力。我們就用這部名篇的英文譯本來體會一下：
I WAS very late for school that morning, and I was terribly afraid of being scolded[責罵], especially as Monsieur[法語:先生] Hamel had told us that he should examine us on participles[分詞], and I did not know the first thing about them. For a moment I thought of staying away from school and wandering about the fields. It was such a warm, lovely day. I could hear the blackbirds whistling on the edge of the wood, and in the Rippert field, behind the sawmill[鋸木廠], the Prussians going through their drill. All that was much more tempting to me than the rules concerning participles; but I had the strength to resist, and I ran as fast as I could to school.
那天早晨，我去上學，去得非常晚，我好害怕被責罵，特別是，阿麥爾先生跟我們說過，他要考一考分詞規則，而我連頭一個字都不會。這時，在我的頭腦里冒出了逃學、去田野跑一跑的念頭。天氣是那么暖和，那么晴朗!我聽見烏鴉在小樹林邊鳴叫，普魯士人正在鋸木廠后面的里貝爾草地上操練。所有這一切都比分詞規則更吸引我，但我還是頂住了誘惑，加快腳步向學校方向跑去。
As I passed the mayor’s office, I saw that there were people gathered about the little board on which notices were posted. For two years all our bad news had come from that board—battles lost, conscriptions[征兵], orders from headquarters; and I thought without stopping:
“What can it be now?”
從村政府門前經過的時候，我看見許多人站在小布告欄前。這兩年來，所有的壞消息，諸如吃敗仗啦，征兵征物啦，還有普魯士占領軍司令部發布的命令啦，都是從那里來的。我邊跑邊想：“又有什么事嗎?”
Then, as I ran across the square, Wachter the blacksmith, who stood there with his apprentice[學徒], reading the placard[布告], called out to me:
“Don’t hurry so, my boy; you’ll get to your school soon enough!”
I thought that he was making fun of me, and I ran into Monsieur Hamel’s little yard all out of breath.
當我跑著穿過廣場的時候，正在布告欄前和徒弟一起看布告的瓦克特爾鐵匠朝我高喊：“小家伙，不用趕得那么急;你去得再晚也不會遲到的!”我以為他在跟我開玩笑，便上氣不接下氣地跑進阿麥爾先生的小教室。
Usually, at the beginning of school, there was a great uproar[喧囂] which could be heard in the street, desks opening and closing, lessons repeated aloud in unison[一致], with our ears stuffed in order to learn quicker, and the teacher’s stout ruler beating on the desk:
“A little more quiet!”
往常，開始上課的時候，總是一片亂哄哄的嘈雜聲，斜面課桌的開關聲，同學們一起捂住耳朵高聲背誦課文的聲音，街上都聽得見。先生的大戒尺敲打著課桌：“安靜一點!”
I counted on all this noise to reach my bench unnoticed; but as it happened, that day everything was quiet, like a Sunday morning. Through the open window I saw my comrades already in their places, and Monsieur Hamel walking back and forth[向前] with the terrible iron ruler under his arm. I had no open the door and enter, in the midst of that perfect silence. You can imagine whether I blushed[羞愧] and whether I was afraid!
我打算趁這片嘈雜聲，偷偷地溜到我的座位上去?？墒?，這一天不同于往常，一切都很安靜，就像是星期天的早晨。透過敞開的窗戶，我看見同學們已經整整齊齊地坐在他們的座上，阿麥爾先生腋下夾著那把可怕的鐵戒尺，來回地踱著步子。必須推開教室門，在這一片靜謐中走進教室。你們想一想，當時我是多么尷尬，多么害怕!
But no! Monsieur Hamel looked at me with no sign of anger and said very gently:
“Go at once to your seat, my little Frantz; we were going to begin without you.”
可是，沒有。阿麥爾先生看著我，沒有生氣，而是非常溫和地對我說：“快點回到座位上，我的小弗朗茨;我們就要開始上課了?！?/p>
I stepped over the bench and sat down at once at my desk. Not until then, when I had partly recovered from my fright, did I notice that our teacher had on his handsome blue coat, his plaited ruff, and the black silk embroidered breeches, which he wore only on days of inspection or of distribution of prizes. Moreover, there was something extraordinary, something solemn about the whole class. But what surprised me most was to see at the back of the room, on the benches which were usually empty, some people from the village sitting, as silent as we were: old Hauser with his three-cornered hat, the ex-mayor, the ex-postman, and others besides. They all seemed depressed; and Hauser had brought an old spelling-book with gnawed edges, which he held wide-open on his knee, with his great spectacles askew.
我跨過凳子，馬上坐到座位上。我從驚慌中稍稍定下神來，這才注意到，我們的老師穿著他那件漂亮的綠色常禮服，領口系著折迭得很精致的領結，頭上戴著那頂刺繡的黑綢小圓帽，這套裝束，只有在上頭派人來學校視察或學校發獎時他才穿戴的。此外，整個教室也有一種不同尋常的莊嚴的氣氛。但是，最使我吃驚的是，看到教室面，那些平常空著的凳子上，坐著一些跟我們一樣默不作聲的村里的人，有頭戴三角帽的奧澤爾老人，有前任鎮長，有以前的郵遞員，另外還有其他人。所有這些人都顯得很憂傷;奧澤爾老人還帶了一本邊角都已破損的舊識字課本，攤放在膝頭上，課本上橫放著他那副大眼鏡。
While I was wondering at all this, Monsieur Hamel had mounted his platform, and in the same gentle and serious voice with which he had welcomed me, he said to us:
“My children, this is the last time that I shall teach you. Orders have come from Berlin to teach nothing but German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The new teacher arrives to-morrow. This is the last class in French, so I beg you to be very attentive.”
正當我對這一切感到驚詫莫名時，阿麥爾先生在椅子上坐下，用剛才對我說話的那種既溫和又莊重的聲音，對我們說道：“孩子們，我這是最后一次給你們上課了。柏林來了命令，阿爾薩斯和洛林兩省的學校只準教德語……新的老師明天就到。今天是你們最后一堂法語課，所以我請你們一定專心聽講?！?/p>
Those few words overwhelmed me. Ah! the villains! that was what they had posted at the mayor’s office.
這幾句話使我驚呆了。啊!這些壞蛋，他們貼在村政府布告欄上的就是這個消息。
My last class in French!
And I barely knew how to write! So I should never learn! I must stop short where I was! How angry I was with myself because of the time I had wasted, the lessons I had missed, running about after nests, or sliding on the Saar! My books, which only a moment before I thought so tiresome, so heavy to carry—my grammar, my sacred history—seemed to me now like old friends, from whom I should be terribly grieved to part. And it was the same about Monsieur Hamel. The thought that he was going away, that I should never see him again, made me forget the punishments, the blows with the ruler.
我的最后一堂法語課!……我只是剛剛學會寫字!今后永遠也學不到法語!法語就到此為止了!我現在是多么悔恨自己蹉跎光陰啊!悔恨自己從前逃課去掏鳥窩，去薩爾河溜冰!我的那些書，我的語法課本，我的神圣的歷史書，剛才背在身上還覺得那么討厭，那么沉重，現在卻像老朋友一樣，讓我難舍難分。還有阿麥爾先生。一想到他就要走了，再也見不到了，我就忘記了以前的處懲和挨打。
Poor man! It was in honour of that last lesson that he had put on his fine Sunday clothes; and I understood now why those old fellows from the village were sitting at the end of the room. It seemed to mean that they regretted not having come oftener to the school. It was also a way of thanking our teacher for his forty years of faithful service, and of paying their respects to the fatherland which was vanishing.
可憐的人!他身著漂亮的節日盛裝，為的是慶賀這最后的一堂課?，F在，我明白了為什么村里的老人都坐在教室后面。這好像在說，他們后悔從前不常來學校。這也像是對我們的老師四十年的優秀教學，對今后不屬于他們的國土表示他們的敬意的一種方式……”
I was at that point in my reflections, when I heard my name called. It was my turn to recite. What would I not have given to be able to say from beginning to end that famous rule about participles, in a loud, distinct voice, without a slip! But I got mixed up at the first words, and I stood there swaying against my bench, with a full heart, afraid to raise my head. I heard Monsieur Hamel speaking to me:
我正限于沉思之中，突然我聽見叫我的名字。輪到我背分詞規則了。要是我能把這條重要的分詞規則大聲、清晰、準確無誤地從頭背到尾，有什么代價我不愿付出呢?但是，我連開始的那些詞都搞不清楚。我站在凳子前面，左搖右晃，心里難受極了，不敢抬頭。我聽見阿麥爾先生說話：
“I will not scold you, my little Frantz; you must be punished enough; that is the way it goes; every day we say to ourselves: ‘Pshaw! I have time enough. I will learn to-morrow.’ And then you see what happens. Ah! it has been the great misfortune of our Alsace always to postpone its lessons until to-morrow. Now those people are entitled to say to us: ‘What! you claim to be French, and you can neither speak nor write your language!’ In all this, my poor Frantz, you are not the guiltiest one. We all have our fair share of reproaches to address to ourselves.
“我不責備你，我的小弗朗茨，你可能受夠了懲罰……事情就是如此。每天，我們都對自己說：算了吧!我有的是時間。我明天再學?，F在，你知道出了什么事…… 唉!我們阿爾薩斯人的最大不幸就是把教育拖延到明天?，F在，那些人有權利對我們說：‘怎么!你們聲稱自己是法國人，可你們即不會說也不會寫你們的語言!’……我可憐的弗朗茨，造成所有這一切，責任最大的并不是你。我們每個人都有許多應該責備自己的地方。
“Your parents have not been careful enough to see that you were educated. They preferred to send you to work in the fields or in the factories, in order to have a few more sous. And have I nothing to reproach myself for? Have I not often made you water my garden instead of studying? And when I wanted to go fishing for trout, have I ever hesitated to dismiss you?”
“你們的父母沒有盡心讓你們好好讀書。他們寧愿把你們打發到田里或紗廠里去干活，為的是多掙幾個錢。我自己呢，難道我一點也沒有應該責備自己的地方嗎?我不也是經常讓你們到我的花園澆水以此代替學習嗎?當我想釣鱒魚的時候，我不是隨隨便便就給你們放假嗎?”
Then, passing from one thing to another, Monsieur Hamel began to talk to us about the French language, saying that it was the most beautiful language in the world, the most clear, the most substantial; that we must always retain it among ourselves, and never forget it, because when a people falls into servitude, “so long as it clings to its language, it is as if it held the key to its prison.” Then he took the grammer and read us our lesson. I was amazed to see how readily I understood. Everything that he said seemed so easy to me, so easy. I believed, too, that I had never listened so closely, and that he, for his part, had never been so patient with his explanations. One would have said that, before going away, the poor man desired to give us all his knowledge, to force it all into our heads at a single blow.
阿麥爾先生從一件事談到另一件事，然后開始給我們講法語，他說，法語是世界上最優美的語言，是最清晰的語言，最嚴謹的語言，我們應該掌握它，永遠也不要忘記，因為，當一個民族淪為奴隸時，只要它好好地保存自己的語言，就好像掌握了打開監牢的鑰匙……然后，他拿了一本語法書，我們開始朗誦課文。令我吃驚的是，我竟理解得這么透徹。他所講的一切對我都顯得很容易，很容易。我同樣覺得，我還從來沒有這么認真聽講過，他也從來沒有這樣耐心講解過。這個可憐的人，仿佛想在離開這里以前，把他全部的知識都灌輸給我們，讓我們一下子掌握這些知識。
When the lesson was at an end, we passed to writing. For that day Monsieur Hamel had prepared some entirely new examples, on which was written in a fine, round hand: “France, Alsace, France, Alsace.” They were like little flags, waving all about the class, hanging from the rods of our desks. You should have seen how hard we all worked and how silent it was! Nothing could be heard save the grinding of the pens over the paper. At one time some cock-chafers flew in; but no one paid any attention to them, not even the little fellows who were struggling with their straight lines, with a will and conscientious application, as if even the lines were French. On the roof of the schoolhouse, pigeons cooed in low tones, and I said to myself as I listened to them:
“I wonder if they are going to compel them to sing in German too!”
課文講解完了，我們開始練習寫字。這一天，阿麥爾先生為我們準備了許多嶄新的字卡樣，上面用美麗的圓體字寫著：法蘭西，阿爾薩斯，法蘭西，阿爾薩斯。這些字帖卡片懸掛在我們課桌的金屬桿上，就像許多小旗在教室里飄揚。該知道每個人都是那樣聚精會神，教室里是那樣寂靜無聲!只聽得見筆尖在紙上的沙沙聲。有一回，幾只金龜子跑進了教室，但是誰也不去注意它們，連年齡最小的也不例外，他們正專心致志地練直杠筆劃，仿佛這些筆劃也是法語……學校的屋頂上，鴿子低聲地咕咕地叫著，我一邊聽，一邊尋思：“他們該不會強迫這些鴿子用德語唱歌吧?”
From time to time, when I raised my eyes from my paper. I saw Monsieur Hamel sitting motionless in his chair and staring at the objects about him as if he wished to carry away in his glance the whole of his little schoolhouse. Think of it! For forty years he had been there in the same place, with his yard in front of him and his class just as it was! But the benches and desks were polished and rubbed by use; the walnuts in the yard had grown, and the hop-vine which he himself had planted now festooned the windows even to the roof. What a heart-rending thing it must have been for that poor man to leave all those things, and to hear his sister walking back and forth in the room overhead, packing their trunks! For they were to go away the next day—to leave the province forever.
我時不時地從書本上抬起眼睛，看見阿麥爾先生一動不動地坐在椅子上，注視著周圍的一切東西，仿佛要把這個小小教室里的一切都裝進目光里帶走……可想而知!四十年來，他一直呆在這個地方，守著對面的院子和一直沒有變樣的教室。唯獨教室里的凳子、課桌被學生磨光滑了;院子里的胡桃樹長高了，他自己親手種下的那棵啤酒花如今爬滿了窗戶，爬上了屋頂。這個可憐的人聽到他妹妹在樓上的臥室里來來回回地收拾行李，想到自己就要告別眼前的一切，這對他來說是多么傷心難過的事啊!因為，他們明天就要動身了，永遠離開自己的家鄉。
However, he had the courage to keep the class to the end. After the writing, we had the lesson in history; then the little ones sang all together the ba, be, bi, bo, bu. Yonder, at the back of the room, old Hauser had put on his spectacles, and, holding his spelling-book in both hands, he spelled out the letters with them. I could see that he too was applying himself. His voice shook with emotion, and it was so funny to hear him, that we all longed to laugh and to cry. Ah! I shall remember that last class.
他竟然還有勇氣把我們的課上完。習字過后，我們上了歷史課;接著小家伙們一起唱起了BaBeBiBoBu。教室后頭，奧澤爾老人戴上了眼鏡，兩手捧著識字課本，跟我們一起拼讀。我發現他也一樣專心，他的聲音由于激動而顫抖，聽起來很滑稽，叫我們又想笑又想哭。噢!我將永遠也不會忘記這最后的一課……
Suddenly the church clock struck twelve, then the Angelus rang. At the same moment, the bugles of the Prussians returning from drill blared under our windows. Monsieur Hamel rose, pale as death, from his chair. Never had he seemed to me so tall.
突然，教堂的鐘聲敲了十二下，而后是祈禱的鐘聲。與此同時，普魯士士兵的操練完回營的號聲在我們的窗戶下回響……阿麥爾先生從椅子上站了起來，面色十分蒼白。他在我的心目中，從來也沒有顯得這么高大。
“My friends,” he said, “my friends, I—I—”
“我的朋友們，”他說道，“我的朋友們，我……我……”
But something suffocated him. He could not finish the sentence.
Thereupon he turned to the blackboard, took a piece of chalk, and, bearing on with all his might, he wrote in the largest letters he could:
但是，有什么東西堵住了他的喉嚨。他沒能說完這句話。這時，他轉過身子，拿起一截粉筆，使盡了全身力氣，在黑板上盡可能大地寫下幾個字：
“VIVE LA FRANCE!”
Then he stood there, with his head resting against the wall, and without speaking, he motioned to us with his hand:
“That is all; go.”
“法蘭西萬歲!”
然后，他呆在那里，頭靠著墻壁，一句話也不說，只是用手向我們示意：
“課完了……你們走吧”
