Hate(Excerpt)

仇 恨（节选）

Hendrik Willem Van Loon

亨德里克·威廉·房龙

Suddenly the war was over, and Hitler was captured and brought to Amsterdam. A military tribunal condemned him to death. But how should he die? To shoot or hang him seemed too quick, too merciful. Then someone uttered what was in everybody’s mind: the man who had caused such incredible suffering should be burned to death.

战争忽然结束，希特勒抓到了，押解到阿姆斯特丹。军事法庭判他死刑。可怎么个死法？枪毙了吧，上绞刑架吧，都未免死的太快、太便宜了他。后来，不知是谁说出了大家的心里话：此人造成的苦难简直令人难以置信，应该把他烧死。

“But,” objected one judge, “our biggest public square in Amsterdam holds only 10,000 people, and 7,000,000 Dutch men, women and children will want to be there to curse him during his dying moments.”

“可是，”有一名法官不赞成，“我们阿姆斯特丹最大的广场也只能容纳万把人，可他要死了，到时候男男女女，少小娃子，是荷兰人谁不想上前去咒他一句，总得有700万人啊。”

Then another judge had an idea. Hitler should be burned at the stake, but the wood was to be ignited by the explosion of a handful of gunpowder set off by a long fuse which should start in Rotterdam and follow the main road to Amsterdam by way of Delft, The Hague, Leiden and Haarlem. Thus millions of people crowding the wide avenues which connect those cities could watch the fuse burn its way northward to Herr Hitler’s funeral pyre.

于是又一名法官出了个点子，希特勒应该绑在火刑架上烧死，不过木柴要拿一把火药来点着，火药用一根长引线来引爆，引线应该从鹿特丹牵起，然后沿着主干公路，走德尔夫特、海牙、莱登、哈勒姆，再接到阿姆斯特丹。这样，千家万户平民百姓，簇拥在连接这几座城市的宽阔大道上，都可以一睹这根引线由南向北一路燃去，直到把为希特勒阁下举行火葬的柴火堆点着。

A plebiscite was taken as to whether this was a fitting punishment. There were 4,981,076 yeas and one nay. The nay was voted by a man who preferred that Hitler be pulled to pieces by four horses.

如此惩办是否妥当，还特地举行了一次公民投票。计有4981076票赞成，一票反对。投反对票者提出，应对希特勒处以四马分尸。

At last the great day came. The ceremony commenced at four o’clock on a June morning. The mother of three sons who had been shot by the Nazis for an act of sabotage they did not commit set fire to the fuse while a choir sang a solemn hymn of gratitude. Then the people burst forth into a shout of triumph.

这个盛大的日子终于来临6月的一天，清晨4时整，葬仪开始。有一位母亲，她的3个儿子都叫纳粹杀害了，说是犯有莫须有的破坏行为。如今引线就由她来点燃，这时唱诗班唱起了一首庄严的感恩赞美诗。接着人群里爆发出一阵胜利的欢呼。

The spark slowly made its way from Rotterdam to Delft, and on toward the great square in Amsterdam. People had come from every part of the country. Special seats had been provided for the aged and the lame and the relatives of murdered hostages.

火花从鹿特丹慢慢燃到德尔夫特，往前再奔阿姆斯特丹的广场。全国四面八方都来了人。上年纪的、有残疾的、遇害人质的亲属，都备有专席接待。

Hitler, clad in a long yellow shirt, had been chained to the stake. He preserved a stoical silence until a little boy climbed upon the pile of wood surrounding the former Fuhrer and placed there a placard which read, “This is the world’s greatest murderer.” This so aggravated Hitler’s pent-up feelings that he burst forth into one of his old harangues.

希特勒身穿黄色长衫，已经被锁链拴在了火刑柱上。他始终保持自制，默不作声，直到有个小男孩爬上这位元首身边的柴堆，贴上一张告示，写的是：“本人乃盖世元凶。”这下可激发了希特勒憋在心里的情绪，他居然故伎重演，破口大骂起来。

The crowd gaped, for it was a grotesque sight to see this little man ranting away just as if he were addressing his followers. Then a terrific howl of derision silenced him.

观众都傻了眼：这么个小小人物竟然大放厥词，活像是在对他的徒子徒孙训话，真是一大奇观，好不滑稽。接着是惊天动地的吼声一片，嘲笑四起，把他镇住了。

Now came the great moment of the day. About three o’clock in the afternoon the spark reached the outskirts of Amsterdam. Suddenly there was a roll of drums. Then, with an emotion such as they had never experienced before, the people sang the Wilhelmus, the national anthem. Hitler, now ashen-gray, futilely strained at his chains.

最隆重的时刻到了，下午3点钟光景，火花燃到了阿姆斯特丹的效区。刹时间鼓声震天。接着，人们怀着从来没有这么激动的心情，唱起了国歌《威尔海尔慕斯》。希特勒这时面如死灰，枉自在锁链里挣扎。

When the Wilhelmus came to an end the spark was only a few feet from the gunpowder; five more minutes and Hitler would die a horrible death. The crowd broke forth in a shout of hate. A minute went by. Another minute. Silence returned. Now the fuse had only a few inches to go. And at that moment the incredible happened.

国歌唱毕，火花离火药只有几英尺了，再过5分钟，希特勒就不得好死了。观众仇恨心切，一下子迸发出来，喊声大作。一分钟过去了，又过了一分钟，重新安静下来。眼看引线只剩下几英寸了。就在此时此刻，偏偏出了不可思议的事。

A wizened little man wriggled through the line of soldiers standing guard. Everybody knew who he was. Two of his sons had been machine-gunned to death by parachute troops; his wife and three daughters had perished in Rotterdam’s holocaust. Since then, the poor fellow had seemed deprived of reason, wandering aimlessly about and supported by public charity—an object of universal pity.

有个一身干瘪的小个子男人，拐弯抹角混过了执行警戒的士兵队列。谁都知道他。他有两个儿子，叫伞兵部队拿机枪扫死了；他的妻子，3个女儿，都在鹿特丹的大屠杀中杀丧生。从那时起，这个可怜的人就好像一直神志不清，他无所事事，到处流浪，全靠社会上的慈善团体养着——一个人人见了都同情的人物。

But what he did now made the crowd turn white with anger. For he deliberately stamped upon the fuse and put it out.

可眼下他的举动触犯了众怒，大家脸都气得刷白，原来他特意跑来踩那根引线，把火踩灭了。

“Kill him! Kill him!” the mob shouted. But the old man quietly faced the menacing populace. Slowly he lifted both arms toward heaven. Then in a voice charged with fury, he said:

“杀了他！杀了他！”众人叫嚷起来。只见老人面对着杀气腾腾的群众，神色从容。他缓缓地朝天举起双臂。接着，他愤恨地说：

“Now let us do it all over again!”

“咱们再从头点起来！”

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