我正限于沉思之中，突然我听见叫我的名字。轮到我背分词规则了。要是我能把这条重要的分词规则大声、清晰、准确无误地从头背到尾，有什么代价我不愿付出呢？但是，我连开始的那些词都搞不清楚。我站在凳子前面，左摇右晃，心里难受极了，不敢抬头。我听见阿麦尔先生说话：

“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。

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！”

课文讲解完了，我们开始练习写字。这一天，阿麦尔先生为我们准备了许多崭新的字卡样，上面用美丽的圆体字写着：法兰西，阿尔萨斯，法兰西，阿尔萨斯。这些字帖卡片悬挂在我们课桌的金属杆上，就像许多小旗在教室里飘扬。该知道每个人都是那样聚精会神，教室里是那样寂静无声！只听得见笔尖在纸上的沙沙声。有一回，几只金龟子跑进了教室，但是谁也不去注意它们，连年龄最小的也不例外，他们正专心致志地练直杠笔划，仿佛这些笔划也是法语……学校的屋顶上，鸽子低声地咕咕地叫着，我一边听，一边寻思：“他们该不会强迫这些鸽子用德语唱歌吧？”

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.

我时不时地从书本上抬起眼睛，看见阿麦尔先生一动不动地坐在椅子上，注视着周围的一切东西，仿佛要把这个小小教室里的一切都装进目光里带走……可想而知！四十年来，他一直呆在这个地方，守着对面的院子和一直没有变样的教室。唯独教室里的凳子、课桌被学生磨光滑了；院子里的胡桃树长高了，他自己亲手种下的那棵啤酒花如今爬满了窗户，爬上了屋顶。这个可怜的人听到他妹妹在楼上的卧室里来来回回地收拾行李，想到自己就要告别眼前的一切，这对他来说是多么伤心难过的事啊！因为，他们明天就要动身了，永远离开自己的家乡。

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.

他竟然还有勇气把我们的课上完。习字过后，我们上了历史课；接着小家伙们一起唱起了Ba　Be　Bi　Bo　Bu.教室后头，奥泽尔老人戴上了眼镜，两手捧着识字课本，跟我们一起拼读。我发现他也一样专心，他的声音由于激动而颤抖，听起来很滑稽，叫我们又想笑又想哭。噢！我将永远也不会忘记这最后的一课……

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，教堂的钟声敲了十二下，而后是祈祷的钟声。与此同时，普鲁士士兵的操练完回营的号声在我们的窗户下回响……阿麦尔先生从椅子上站了起来，面色十分苍白。他在我的心目中，从来也没有显得这么高大。

“My friends，” he said， “my friends， I—I—”

“我的朋友们，”他说道，“我的朋友们，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，有什么东西堵住了他的喉咙。他没能说完这句话。这时，他转过身子，拿起一截粉笔，使尽了全身力气，在黑板上尽可能大地写下几个字：

“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.”

“法兰西万岁！”

然后，他呆在那里，头靠着墙壁，一句话也不说，只是用手向我们示意：

“课完了……你们走吧”

经典阅读：最后一课 The Last Class

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