最后一课TheLastClass(4)

　　“我不责备你，我的小弗朗茨，你可能受够了惩罚……事情就是如此。每天，我们都对自己说：算了吧！我有的是时间。我明天再学。现在，你知道出了什么事……唉！我们阿尔萨斯人的最大不幸就是把教育拖延到明天。现在，那些人有权利对我们说：”怎么！你们声称自己是法国人，可你们即不会说也不会写你们的语言！’……我可怜的弗朗茨，造成所有这一切，责任最大的并不是你。我们每个人都有许多应该责备自己的地方。

　　“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？”

　　“你们的父母没有尽心让你们好好读书。他们宁愿把你们打发到田里或纱厂里去干活，为的是多挣几个钱。我自己呢，难道我一点也没有应该责备自己的地方吗？我不也是经常让你们到我的花园浇水以此代替学习吗？当我想钓鳟鱼的时候，我不是随随便便就给你们放假吗？”

　　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.

　　阿麦尔先生从一件事谈到另一件事，然后开始给我们讲法语，他说，法语是世界上最优美的语言，是最清晰的语言，最严谨的语言，我们应该掌握它，永远也不要忘记，因为，当一个民族沦为奴隶时，只要它好好地保存自己的语言，就好像掌握了打开监牢的钥匙……然后，他拿了一本语法书，我们开始朗诵课文。令我吃惊的是，我竟理解得这么透彻。他所讲的一切对我都显得很容易，很容易。我同样觉得，我还从来没有这么认真听讲过，他也从来没有这样耐心讲解过。这个可怜的人，仿佛想在离开这里以前，把他全部的知识都灌输给我们，让我们一下子掌握这些知识。