With fingers suddenly strengthened into the power of iron, she swung herself down by brier, and broom, and heather, and dwarf-birch.

她用手指发力，将自己甩到了野蔷薇、金雀花、海瑟以及矮桦丛中。

There, a loosened stone leaped over a ledge, and no sound was heard, so far down was its fall.

那里一块松动的石头掉了下去，没有发出声响，它落下的地方该有多深啊。

There, the shingle rattled down the rocks, and she hesitated not to follow.

鹅卵石和岩石碰撞发出响声，她没有犹豫就跟着跳下去。

Her feet bounded against the huge stone that stopped them, but she felt no pain. Her body was callous as the cliff.

她的脚被一块巨大的石头绊住了，但她感觉不到疼痛。她的体肤和这个悬崖绝壁一样坚硬。

Steep as the upright wall of a house was now the face of the precipice.

悬崖像房子中树立的墙一样陡峭，

But it was matted with ivy, centuries old, long ago dead, and without a single green leaf,

但是上面满是枯死好几个世纪的常青藤，没有一片绿叶，

but with thousands of arm-thick stems, petrified into the rock, and covering it as with a trellis.

不过它上面有成千上万根和手臂一样粗细的茎干，嵌入岩石中，岩石的表面好像覆盖着一层篱笆。

She bound her baby to her neck, and, with hands and feet, clung to that fearful ladder.

她把孩子绑到脖子上，手脚并用，爬上那让人害怕的梯子。

Turning round her head and looking down, lo! the whole population of the parish—so great was the multitude—on their knees!

她回过头来向下看，瞧！能看见整个教区的人——很多人——在下跪！

And hush! the voice of psalms! a hymn, breathing the spirit of one united prayer!

很肃静！旧约的声音!一首圣歌，这是在聚集祷告！

Sad and solemn was the strain, but nothing dirge-like—breathing not of death, but of deliverance.

悲伤而又神圣，但是不像是在哀悼——不是死亡的呼吸，而是解脱。

An unseen hand seemed fastening her fingers to the ribs of ivy;

有一双看不见的手好像抓住了她握着藤蔓的手；

and, in sudden inspiration, believing that her life was to be saved, she became almost as fearless as if she had been changed into a winged creature.

一种突然的灵感让她感觉得到了救赎，她变得几乎无所畏惧，就像是长出了翅膀。

Again her feet touched stones and earth.

她的脚再次触碰到了石头和土地。

The psalm was hushed; but a tremulous, sobbing voice was close beside her, and, lo! a she-goat, with two little kids, at her feet!

耳边没有了圣歌的声音；但是她听到身旁有一个颤抖的啜泣声，她一看，竟然是带着两只小羊的母山羊在她脚下！

"Wild heights," thought she, "do these creatures climb, but the dam will lead down her kids by the easiest paths;

“这么高，”她想，“这些动物也会爬，但即使是走最好走的路，这两只小羊也会掉下来；

for oh, even in the brute creatures, what is the power of a mother's love!" and, turning her head, she kissed her sleeping baby, and, for the first time, she wept.

以为，噢，就算是野蛮的动物，母爱的力量也是伟大的！”她回过头亲了一口熟睡中的孩子，第一次留下眼泪。