《钟》，1845 年
“the bell, 1845”
---
钟的主题是德国和丹麦浪漫主义诗人喜爱的主题之一，通过其宗教联想唤起崇敬，通过其声学奇观唤起敬畏。
the motif of the bell is a favorite one among German and danish Romantic poets, evoking reverence through its religious associations and awe through its acoustical wonders.
德国诗人弗里德里希?席勒着名的《钟之歌》（1799 年）为安徒生所熟知，他写了一个关于其创作的故事叫《老教堂的钟》（1862 年），在这个故事中，他明显与席勒产生共鸣，席勒在贫困中长大，但却获得了艺术上的卓越成就。
the renowned “Song of the bell” (1799) by the German poet Friedrich Schiller was familiar to Andersen, and he wrote a story about its position called “the old church bell” (1862), in which he clearly identifies with Schiller, who grew up in poverty but rose to artistic distinction.
席勒的诗转向了政治、意识形态，而不是朝着美学、宗教的方向发展。
Schiller’s poem takes a political, ideological turn rather than moving in an aesthetic, religious direction.
在写《钟》的十二年后，安徒生发表了《钟渊》（1857 年），这个故事捕捉了关于欧登塞的一个河鬼和从河里响起的一个神秘钟声的传说的主要特征。
twelve years after writing “the bell, “ Andersen published “the bell deep” (1857), a story capturing the main features of a legend about a river ghost in odense and about a mysterious bell that rings from the river.
《钟》是安徒生诗歌更深刻、更广泛的展现，演绎了一个将诗歌与自然结合起来的寓言，并传播了一种民主理想，在这个理想中，王子与穷人携手。
“the bell” is a deeper, broader staging of Andersen’s poetics, enacting an allegory that unites poetry with nature and broadcasting a democratic ideal in which a prince joins hands with a pauper.
这个故事在安徒生的文学作品中提供了一个至高无上的乌托邦时刻，而描述森林之美的场景提醒我们，视觉上的愉悦对安徒生来说和钟那引人入胜的声学魅力一样重要。
the tale provides a crowning utopian moment in Andersen’s literary work, and the scenes describing the beauties of the forest remind us that visual delights were as important to Andersen as the arresting acoustical enchantments of the bell.
就像在《皇帝的新装》中一样，孩子比成年人更有见识，安徒生对王子和穷人携手的动人描绘提醒我们，对人性的深刻愤世嫉俗与对我们转变能力的基本信念并不矛盾。
As in “the Emperor’s New clothes,” the child is more knowing than adults, and Andersen’s moving portrait of prince and pauper joining hands reminds us that deep cynicism about human nature is not inconsistent with a bedrock of faith in our capacity for transformation.
---
人们说：“晚钟正在敲响，太阳正在落山。” 因为在一个大城市狭窄的街道上听到了一种奇怪而奇妙的声音。它就像教堂的钟声：但只听到了一会儿，因为马车的滚动声和人群的嘈杂声太大了。
people said “the Evening bell is sounding, the sun is setting.” For a strange wondrous tone was heard in the narrow streets of a large town. It was like the sound of a church-bell: but it was only heard for a moment, for the rolling of the carriages and the voices of the multitude made too great a noise.
那些在城外行走的人，那里的房子相距较远，中间有花园或小块田地，可以更好地看到傍晚的天空，也更清楚地听到钟声。就好像声音是从寂静森林中的一座教堂传来的；人们朝那个方向望去，感到他们的心灵被极其庄严地协调起来。
those persons who were walking outside the town, where the houses were farther apart, with gardens or little fields between them, could see the evening sky still better, and heard the sound of the bell much more distinctly. It was as if the tones came from a church in the still forest; people looked thitherward, and felt their minds attuned most solemnly.
很长时间过去了，人们相互说道：“我想知道森林里是否有一座教堂？钟声有一种奇妙的甜美音调；让我们漫步到那里，更仔细地查看一下这件事。” 富人们驾车出去，穷人们步行，但对他们来说路似乎奇怪地漫长；当他们来到长在森林边缘的一丛柳树旁时，他们坐下来，抬头看着长长的树枝，想象着他们现在已经在绿色森林的深处了。
A long time passed, and people said to each other— “I wonder if there is a church out in the wood? the bell has a tone that is wondrous sweet; let us stroll thither, and examine the matter nearer.” And the rich people drove out, and the poor walked, but the way seemed strangely long to them; and when they came to a clump of willows which grew on the skirts of the forest, they sat down, and looked up at the long branches, and fancied they were now in the depth of the green wood.
城里的糖果商来到这里，在那里支起了他的货摊；不久又来了一个糖果商，他在自己的摊位上方挂了一个铃铛，作为标志或装饰品，但铃铛没有钟舌，而且为了防止被雨淋，铃铛上涂了柏油。
the confectioner of the town came out, and set up his booth there; and soon after came another confectioner, who hung a bell over his stand, as a sign or ornament, but it had no clapper, and it was tarred over to preserve it from the rain.
当所有人都回家时，他们说这非常浪漫，这和野餐或茶会完全是不同的事情。
when all the people returned home, they said it had been very romantic, and that it was quite a different sort of thing to a pic-nic or tea-party.
有三个人声称他们已经深入到森林的尽头，并且他们一直听到那美妙的钟声，但对他们来说，这声音似乎是从城里传来的。
there were three persons who asserted they had penetrated to the end of the forest, and that they had always heard the wonderful sounds of the bell, but it had seemed to them as if it had e from the town.
一个人为此写了一整首诗，说钟声听起来就像母亲对一个乖孩子的声音，没有比钟声更甜美的旋律了。
one wrote a whole poem about it, and said the bell sounded like the voice of a mother to a good dear child, and that no melody was sweeter than the tones of the bell.
这个国家的国王也注意到了这件事，并发誓说，谁能找出声音的来源，谁就应该获得 “万能敲钟人” 的称号，即使那实际上不是一个钟。
the king of the country was also observant of it, and vowed that he who could discover whence the sounds proceeded, should have the title of “Universal bell-ringer,” even if it were not really a bell.
现在很多人去了森林，为了找到那个地方，但只有一个人带着一种解释回来了；因为没有人走得足够远，那个人也没有比其他人走得更远。然而，他说声音是从一棵空心树里的一只非常大的猫头鹰那里传来的；一只博学的猫头鹰，它不断地用头撞树枝。但是声音是来自它的头还是来自空心树，没有人能确定地说出来。
many persons now went to the wood, for the sake of getting the place, but one only returned with a sort of explanation; for nobody went far enough, that one not further than the others. however, he said that the sound proceeded from a very large owl, in a hollow tree; a sort of learned owl, that continually knocked its head against the branches. but whether the sound came from his head or from the hollow tree, that no one could say with certainty.
所以现在他得到了 “万能敲钟人” 的职位，并每年写一篇简短的论文《论猫头鹰》；但每个人都和以前一样聪明。
So now he got the place of “Universal bell-ringer,” and wrote yearly a short treatise “on the owl”; but everybody was just as wise as before.
这是坚信礼的日子。牧师讲得如此动人，接受坚信礼的孩子们深受感动；对他们来说，这是一个重要的日子；他们一下子从孩子变成了成年人；就好像他们幼小的灵魂现在一下子要飞进更有理解力的人的身体里。
It was the day of confirmation. the clergyman had spoken so touchingly, the children who were confirmed had been greatly moved; it was an eventful day for them; from children they bee all at once grown-up-persons; it was as if their infant souls were now to fly all at once into persons with more understanding.
阳光灿烂地照耀着；接受坚信礼的孩子们走出城镇；从森林里传来那不知名的钟声，异常清晰。他们立刻都想去那里；除了三个人之外。
the sun was shining gloriously; the children that had been confirmed went out of the town; and from the wood was borne towards them the sounds of the unknown bell with wonderful distinctness. they all immediately felt a wish to go thither; all except three.
其中一个必须回家去试穿一件舞会礼服；因为正是这件礼服和舞会让她这次接受了坚信礼，否则她是不会来的；另一个是一个穷孩子，他从旅店老板的儿子那里借了外套和靴子来参加坚信礼，他必须在一定的时间把它们还回去；第三个说如果他的父母不在他身边，他从不去陌生的地方 —— 到目前为止他一直是个好孩子，现在他接受了坚信礼，他仍然会是个好孩子，不应该为此嘲笑他：然而，其他人还是嘲笑了他。
one of them had to go home to try on a ball-dress; for it was just the dress and the ball which had caused her to be confirmed this time, for otherwise she would not have e; the other was a poor boy, who had borrowed his coat and boots to be confirmed in from the innkeeper’s son, and he was to give them back by a certain hour; the third said that he never went to a strange place if his parents were not with him — that he had always been a good boy hitherto, and would still be so now that he was confirmed, and that one ought not to laugh at him for it: the others, however, did make fun of him, after all.
因此，有三个人没有去；其他人急忙赶去。
there were three, therefore, that did not go; the others hastened on.
阳光照耀着，鸟儿歌唱着，孩子们也唱着歌，他们手牵着手；因为到目前为止他们中还没有人担任任何要职，在上帝的眼中他们都是平等的。
the sun shone, the birds sang, and the children sang too, and each held the other by the hand; for as yet they had none of them any high office, and were all of equal rank in the eye of God.
但是两个最小的孩子很快就累了，他们都回到了城里；两个小女孩坐下来编花环，所以她们也没有去；当其他人到达柳树那里，也就是糖果商在的地方时，他们说：“现在我们到了！实际上钟并不存在；这只是人们脑海中的幻想！”
but two of the youngest soon grew tired, and both returned to town; two little girls sat down, and twined garlands, so they did not go either; and when the others reached the willow-tree, where the confectioner was, they said, “Now we are there! In reality the bell does not exist; it is only a fancy that people have taken into their heads!”
就在这时，钟声在森林深处响起，如此清晰而庄严，以至于有五六个孩子决定再往深处走一点。森林非常茂密，树叶也很浓密，继续前进非常累人。鹿蹄草和银莲花长得几乎太高了；盛开的旋花和黑莓灌木丛从一棵树垂挂到另一棵树，形成长长的花环，夜莺在那里歌唱，阳光在嬉戏：这里非常美丽，但不是女孩们该去的地方；她们的衣服会被扯破的。大块的石头躺在那里，长满了各种颜色的苔藓；清澈的泉水汩汩涌出，发出奇怪的汩汩声。
At the same moment the bell sounded deep in the wood, so clear and solemnly that five or six determined to penetrate somewhat further. It was so thick, and the foliage so dense, that it was quite fatiguing to proceed. woodroof and anemonies grew almost too high; blooming convolvuluses and blackberry-bushes hung in long garlands from tree to tree, where the nightingale sang and the sunbeams were playing: it was very beautiful, but it was no place for girls to go; their clothes would get so torn. Large blocks of stone lay there, overgrown with moss of every color; the fresh spring bubbled forth, and made a strange gurgling sound.
“那肯定不是钟声。” 一个孩子说着，躺下来听。“这件事必须查清楚。” 于是他留下来，让其他人继续往前走而没有他。
“that surely cannot be the bell,” said one of the children, lying down and listening. “this must be looked to.” So he remained, and let the others go on without him.
他们后来来到一座用树枝和树皮建造的小房子前；一棵巨大的野苹果树向它弯下腰，仿佛要把它所有的祝福都洒在屋顶上，那里玫瑰正在绽放。
they afterwards came to a little house, made of branches and the bark of trees; a large wild apple-tree bent over it, as if it would shower down all its blessings on the roof, where roses were blooming.
长长的茎蔓缠绕在山墙上，山墙上挂着一个小铃铛。
the long stems twined round the gable, on which there hung a small bell.
是人们听到的那个声音吗？
was it that which people had heard?
是的，在这个问题上每个人都意见一致，除了一个人，他说这个铃铛太小太精致了，在那么远的距离是听不到的，而且它的音调与那些能如此打动人心的音调非常不同。
Yes, everybody was unanimous on the subject, except one, who said that the bell was too small and too fine to be heard at so great a distance, and besides it was very different tones to those that could move a human heart in such a manner.
说话的是一个王子；于是其他人说：“这种人总是想比其他人都聪明。”
It was a king’s son who spoke; whereon the others said, “Such people always want to be wiser than everybody else.”
他们现在让他一个人继续走；当他走的时候，他的内心越来越充满森林的寂静；但他仍然能听到那个让其他人都很满意的小铃铛的声音，而且时不时地，当风吹起的时候，他还能听到那些坐在糖果商的帐篷那里喝茶的人们唱歌的声音；但是钟声的深沉声音越来越大；几乎就像有一架风琴在为它伴奏，而且音调是从左手边传来的，也就是心脏所在的那一边。
they now let him go on alone; and as he went, his breast was filled more and more with the forest solitude; but he still heard the little bell with which the others were so satisfied, and now and then, when the wind blew, he could also hear the people singing who were sitting at tea where the confectioner had his tent; but the deep sound of the bell rose louder; it was almost as if an organ were acpanying it, and the tones came from the left hand, the side where the heart is placed.
灌木丛中传来沙沙声，一个小男孩站在了王子面前，一个穿着木鞋、上衣很短的小男孩，短到可以看到他有多么长的手腕。
A rustling was heard in the bushes, and a little boy stood before the King’s Son, a boy in wooden shoes, and with so short a jacket that one could see what long wrists he had.
两人彼此认识：这个男孩就是那些不能来的孩子中的一个，因为他必须回家把夹克和靴子还给旅店老板的儿子。他已经这么做了，现在穿着木鞋，穿着寒酸的衣服继续前行，因为钟声带着如此深沉的音调，有着如此奇异的力量，他必须继续前进。
both knew each other: the boy was that one among the children who could not e because he had to go home and return his jacket and boots to the innkeeper’s son. this he had done, and was now going on in wooden shoes and in his humble dress, for the bell sounded with so deep a tone, and with such strange power, that proceed he must.
“那么，我们可以一起走。” 王子说。但是这个刚受坚信礼的穷孩子非常羞愧；他看着自己的木鞋，扯了扯夹克的短袖，说他恐怕走不了那么快；此外，他认为应该朝右边去找钟；因为那是能找到各种美丽东西的地方。
“why, then, we can go together,” said the King’s Son. but the poor child that had been confirmed was quite ashamed; he looked at his wooden shoes, pulled at the short sleeves of his jacket, and said that he was afraid he could not walk so fast; besides, he thought that the bell must be looked for to the right; for that was the place where all sorts of beautiful things were to be found.
“但是那样我们就遇不到了。” 王子说着，同时向这个穷孩子点了点头，这个穷孩子走进了森林最黑暗、最茂密的地方，那里荆棘撕破了他寒酸的衣服，划伤了他的脸、手和脚，直到流血。王子也被划伤了一些地方；但是阳光照在他的路上，我们要跟随的是他，因为他是一个优秀而坚定的年轻人。
“but there we shall not meet,” said the King’s Son, nodding at the same time to the poor boy, who went into the darkest, thickest part of the wood, where thorns tore his humble dress, and scratched his face and hands and feet till they bled. the King’s Son got some scratches too; but the sun shone on his path, and it is him that we will follow, for he was an excellent and resolute youth.
“我必须而且一定要找到那个钟，” 他说，“即使我不得不走到世界的尽头。”
“I must and will find the bell,” said he, “even if I am obliged to go to the end of the world.”
丑陋的猿猴坐在树上，咧嘴笑着。“我们要揍他吗？” 它们说。“我们要揍他吗？他是国王的儿子！” 但是他毫不气馁地继续往前走，走进森林更深处，那里生长着最奇妙的花朵。
the ugly apes sat upon the trees, and grinned. “Shall we thrash him?” said they. “Shall we thrash him? he is the son of a king!” but on he went, without being disheartened, deeper and deeper into the wood, where the most wonderful flowers were growing.
那里生长着带有血红色花蕊的白百合、天蓝色的郁金香，它们在风中摇曳时闪闪发光，还有苹果树，苹果看起来就像大肥皂泡：想想这些树在阳光下一定是多么闪耀！在最美丽的绿色草地周围，鹿在草丛中嬉戏，生长着宏伟的橡树和山毛榉；如果一棵树的树皮裂开了，裂缝里就会长出草和长长的蔓生植物。
there stood white lilies with blood-red stamina, skyblue tulips, which shone as they waved in the winds, and apple-trees, the apples of which looked exactly like large soapbubbles: so only think how the trees must have sparkled in the sunshine! Around the nicest green meads, where the deer were playing in the grass, grew magnificent oaks and beeches; and if the bark of one of the trees was cracked, there grass and long creeping plants grew in the crevices.
那里也有巨大而平静的湖泊，白色的天鹅在里面游弋，用翅膀拍打着空气。
And there were large calm lakes there too, in which white swans were swimming, and beat the air with their wings.
王子常常停下来倾听。他以为钟声是从这些平静的湖泊深处传来的；但接着他又注意到声音不是从那里传来的，而是从更远的森林深处传来。
the King’s Son often stood still and listened. he thought the bell sounded from the depths of these still lakes; but then he remarked again that the tone proceeded not from there, but farther off, from out the depths of the forest.
现在太阳落山了：大气像火一样闪耀。森林里仍然很安静，非常安静；他跪下来，唱起了晚祷歌，说道：“我找不到我要找的东西；太阳正在落山，夜晚即将来临 —— 黑暗、黑暗的夜晚。然而也许在那圆圆的红日完全消失之前，我还能再看它一眼。我要爬上那边的岩石。”
the sun now set: the atmosphere glowed like fire. It was still in the woods, so very still; and he fell on his knees, sung his evening hymn, and said: “I cannot find what I seek; the sun is going down, and night is ing — the dark, dark night. Yet perhaps I may be able once more to see the round red sun before he entirely disappears. I will climb up yonder rock.”
他抓住蔓生植物和树根 —— 爬上潮湿的石头，那里水蛇在扭动，蟾蜍在呱呱叫 —— 在太阳完全落山之前他到达了山顶。
And he seized hold of the creeping-plants, and the roots of trees — climbed up the moist stones where the water-snakes were writhing and the toads were croaking — and he gained the summit before the sun had quite gone down.
从这个高度看景色是多么壮丽啊！大海 —— 浩瀚、壮丽的大海，它的长浪拍打着海岸 —— 展现在他的面前。
how magnificent was the sight from this height! the sea — the great, the glorious sea, that dashed its long waves against the coast — was stretched out before him.
在那边，海天相接之处，太阳像一个巨大闪亮的祭坛，所有的色彩都融合在一起，闪耀着最炽热的光芒。
And yonder, where sea and sky meet, stood the sun, like a large shining altar, all melted together in the most glowing colors.
森林和大海唱起了欢乐之歌，他的心也和它们一起歌唱：整个大自然是一座巨大的神圣教堂，树木和飘动的云朵是柱子，花朵和青草是天鹅绒地毯，天空本身是巨大的穹顶。
the wood and the sea sang a song of rejoicing, and his heart sang with the rest: all nature was a vast holy church, in which the trees and the buoyant clouds were the pillars, flowers and grass the velvet carpeting, and heaven itself the large cupola.
太阳消失时，上面的红色渐渐褪去，但百万颗星星亮了起来，百万盏灯闪耀着；王子向天空、森林和大海张开双臂；就在这时，那个穿着木鞋和夹克、和他一起受坚信礼的穷孩子从右边的一条小路出现了。
the red colors above faded away as the sun vanished, but a million stars were lighted, a million lamps shone; and the King’s Son spread out his arms towards heaven, and wood, and sea; when at the same moment, ing by a path to the right, appeared, in his wooden shoes and jacket, the poor boy who had been confirmed with him.
他沿着自己的路走，和王子同时到达了这个地方。
he had followed his own path, and had reached the spot just as soon as the son of the king had done.
他们向对方跑去，手牵手站在大自然和诗歌的巨大教堂里，与此同时，看不见的神圣钟声在他们头顶响起：有福的灵魂在他们周围飘荡，发出欢乐的哈利路亚的欢呼声！
they ran towards each other, and stood together hand in hand in the vast church of nature and of poetry, while over them sounded the invisible holy bell: blessed spirits floated around them, and lifted up their voices in a rejoicing hallelujah!