老人和他的三个儿子

The Old Man and His Three Sons

冯雪峰

Feng Xuefeng

一位老人有三个儿子。大儿子是一个非凡的水手：坚强、勇敢、尽职，而且富于冒险精神。老人真的爱他，认为这是个做父亲的值得骄傲的光荣。可是，在一次暴风雨中，这个儿子以他的大胆和勇猛，葬身于大海的狂涛骇浪里了。

An old man had three sons. The eldest was an extraordinary sailor—tough, brave, dutiful and adventurous. The old man loved him indeed, thinking he was the kind of son for a father to be proud of. But caught in a tempest on the sea, this tough and brave son of his was engulfed in the stormy waves.

二儿子是一个不知道辛苦和疲劳的、力气比一般伙伴都更大的健壮的矿工，又很诚实和守信义，乐意帮助伙伴和朋友，所以矿工们，尤其是青年们都和他做朋友，以得到他的友谊为快乐。那父亲也真爱他，尤其是在大儿子死了以后，更认为这是上天给他的最大的弥补。可是，不久，二儿子也殉身于自己的勇敢和自我牺牲的行为了。因为这一天他在煤矿中工作，矿坑因为支柱损坏而崩坍，他英勇地撑住一根支柱，救出了许多伙伴，而他自己却被压死了。

His second son was a strong coal miner, stronger than the other miners. No hard work could ever fatigue him. Besides, he was honest and trustworthy, willing to help others. Therefore, his fellow miners, especially the young ones, sought for his friendship and took pleasure in being friends with him. His father cherished him as a godsend—a great compensation for the loss of his eldest son. But unfortunately, he also lost his life in a brave act of self-sacrifice. One day, when he was working down the pit, the props, damaged, gave way and the pit caved in. he grasped one prop that was about to fall and held fast to it. Many of the miners got out of danger, but he was crushed in the pit.

老人的伤痛是不用说的，他马上变成了一个非常衰败、软弱的人了。不过，还剩下一个小儿子，这是做父亲的唯一的安慰。老人改变了主意，决心不让小儿子成为一个出众的英雄好汉的人物，因为他实在不能再忍受那种折损儿子的痛苦。他叹息着说：“唉，与其因为他有才能而被夺走，我宁愿他是一个一无所长的没有出息的人呵。”这样，老人就亲自教育这个小儿子，采取了一种连那些老婆婆们教育女娃娃都很少采用的教育方法。而这个小儿子，也真孝顺，果然没有叫父亲失望。就是说，他让自己成为一个又懦弱又自私而真的一无用处的人了。可是，真没有想到，到了这个时候，这个老人感到从来没有过的悲哀和不幸了。他一边痛悔自己的错误，一边憎恨而又可怜自己的小儿子说：“这就叫做废物，这就叫做脓包，是我一向所痛恨的。现在因为我自私，亲手把他制造出来了！嗳，嗳，这样一个海淹不死、山压不死的人，他活着到底做什么的？”

There were no words to describe how grieved the old man was. Soon he became weak and flabby. However, he had another son—the youngest one—to fall back on. This time he changed his mind. He did not encourage him to become a hero, because he could no longer stand the poignancy of losing his last child. He sighed, “I would rather he be a mediocrity than a talented person losing his life.” He set about educating him in such a way that even old women would not adopt in educating their granddaughters. And this son of his turned out to be very obedient—he didn’t let him down. In other words, he became a weak, selfish and worthless person. It was not until then that the old man found himself a sad and most unfortunate man he had never been before. He was full of remorse for the mistake he had made. He said in a tone filled with anger and pity for his son, “This is what is called good-for-nothing. He has now become the very kind of person I dislike. I am to blame though, for I’ve made him like this with my own doing. Ah, I wonder if life has any meaning to such a creature, though he is not drowned in the sea, nor buried in the pit.

这个老人实在无法爱他的小儿子，因为他只能爱波澜壮阔的海和巍峨坚实的山，以及像他大儿子、二儿子那样的人。因此，他现在做父亲的心，不得不无限地痛苦，这是他一度错误的想法和他亲手毁坏了小儿子这件事情的一个惩罚。”

The old man could not bring himself to love his son any more, for he could only love stormy seas, lofty mountains and heroic people like his first two sons. Being a father, he was now suffering from a broken heart—a punishment brought on himself for ruining his youngest son as a result of his own mistake.

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