热啤酒让她有了些力气，美食的香味也让她觉得很惬意。

the warm beer had strengthened her, and the smell of the good food had been pleasant to her.

“多谢你，好心人。” 她对玛莎说。

“many thanks, you good soul,” she said to martha.

“现在男孩睡着了，我要把一切都告诉你。他很快就睡着了。他闭着眼睛躺在那儿，看起来多么温柔可爱呀！他不知道他母亲受过多少苦；愿上天保佑他永远也别知道。我在市长的父亲，也就是那位顾问家里当佣人，碰巧他最小的儿子，那个大学生回家了。我那时还是个年轻任性的女孩，但很诚实；我可以当着上天的面发誓。那个大学生快乐又开朗，勇敢又深情；他身上的每一滴血都是善良而高尚的；世上再也找不到比他更好的人了。他是这户人家的少爷，而我只是个女仆；但他真诚而高尚地爱着我，还把这事告诉了他母亲。她对他来说就像人间的天使；她是那么睿智又慈爱。”

“Now the boy is asleep, I will tell you all. he is soon asleep. how gentle and sweet he looks as he lies there with his eyes closed! he does not know how his mother has suffered; and heaven grant he never may know it. I was in service at the counsellor’s, the father of the mayor, and it happened that the youngest of his sons, the student, came home. I was a young wild girl then, but honest; that I can declare in the sight of heaven. the student was merry and gay, brave and affectionate; every drop of blood in him was good and honorable; a better man never lived on earth. he was the son of the house, and I was only a maid; but he loved me truly and honorably, and he told his mother of it. She was to him as an angel upon earth; she was so wise and loving.

他外出旅行去了，出发前，他把一枚金戒指戴在了我的手指上；他刚一离开家，我的女主人就派人来叫我。

he went to travel, and before he started he placed a gold ring on my finger; and as soon as he was out of the house, my mistress sent for me.

她温柔而诚挚地把我拉到她身边，说话的样子就好像天使在说话一样。

Gently and earnestly she drew me to her, and spake as if an angel were speaking.

她清清楚楚、实实在在地向我表明了我和他之间的差别。

She showed me clearly, in spirit and in truth, the difference there was between him and me.

“他现在是因为你漂亮的脸蛋而喜欢你，” 她说，“但美貌不会长久。你没有像他那样受过教育。你们在心智和地位上并不平等，而这其中就潜藏着不幸。”

‘he is pleased now,’ she said, ‘with your pretty face; but good looks do not long. You have not been educated like he has. You are not equals in mind and rank, and therein lies the misfortune.

“我尊重穷人，” 她接着说，“在上帝眼中，他们可能比许多富人占据更高的地位；但在尘世之中，我们必须谨防走上错误的道路，以免我们的计划落空，就像一辆行驶在危险道路上的马车会翻车一样。我知道一个不错的人，一个工匠，他想娶你。我指的是埃里克，那个做手套的。他是个鳏夫，没有孩子，而且境况不错。你愿意考虑一下吗？” 她所说的每一个字都像一把刀刺痛了我的心；但我知道她是对的，这个想法沉重地压在我心头。

‘I esteem the poor,’ she added. ‘In the sight of God, they may occupy a higher place than many of the rich; but here upon earth we must beware of entering upon a false track, lest we are overturned in our plans, like a carriage that travels by a dangerous road. I know a worthy man, an artisan, who wishes to marry you. I mean Eric, the glovemaker. he is a widower, without children, and in a good position. will you think it over?’ Every word she said pierced my heart like a knife; but I know she is right, and the thought pressed heavily upon me.

我吻了她的手，流下了苦涩的泪水，回到房间扑倒在床上时，我哭得更厉害了。

I kissed her hand, and wept bitter tears, and I wept still more when I went to my room, and threw myself on the bed.

我度过了一个可怕的夜晚；天知道我遭受了怎样的痛苦，又是怎样挣扎的。

I passed through a dreadful night; God knows what I suffered, and how I struggled.

接下来的那个星期天，我去了教堂祈祷，祈求能得到指引我人生道路的光亮。

the following Sunday I went to the house of God to pray for light to direct my path.

我走出教堂时，埃里克朝我走来，这似乎是上天的安排；于是我心里不再有任何疑虑。

It seemed like a providence that as I stepped out of church Eric came towards me; and then there remained not a doubt in my mind.

我们在地位和境遇方面彼此相配。

we were suited to each other in rank and circumstances.

甚至在那时，他就是个家境殷实的人。

he was, even then, a man of good means.

我走向他，握住他的手，说：“你对我的感情还是一如既往吗？”“是的，一直都是。” 他说。

I went up to him, and took his hand, and said, ‘do you still feel the same for me?’ ‘Yes; ever and always,’ said he.

“那么，你愿意娶一个敬重你、尊重你的姑娘为妻吗？尽管她无法给予你爱情，但那份感情或许以后会有。”“会有的。” 他说；于是我们携手，我回到女主人那里。

‘will you, then, marry a maiden who honors and esteems you, although she cannot offer you her love? but that may e.’ ‘Yes, it may e,’ said he; and we joined our hands together, and I went home to my mistress.

她儿子给我的那枚金戒指，我一直贴身戴着。

the gold ring which her son had given me I wore next to my heart.

白天我没法把它戴在手指上，只有晚上上床睡觉时才会戴上。

I could not place it on my finger during the daytime, but only in the evening, when I went to bed.

我亲吻那枚戒指，直到嘴唇几乎要出血，然后我把它交给女主人，并告诉她，下星期就要为我和那个手套匠张贴结婚预告了。

I kissed the ring till my lips almost bled, and then I gave it to my mistress, and told her that the banns were to be put up for me and the glovemaker the following week.

然后女主人张开双臂搂住我，亲吻了我。

then my mistress threw her arms round me, and kissed me.

她可没说我 “一无是处”；很可能那时的我比现在要好；但那时我还不知道这世上的种种不幸。

She did not say that I was ‘good for nothing;’ very likely I was better then than I is now; but the misfortunes of this world, were unknown to me then.

在米迦勒节，我们结了婚，头一年我们诸事顺遂。

At michaelmas we were married, and for the first year everything went well with us.

我们雇了一个熟练工人和一个学徒，而你是我们的女仆，玛莎。”

we had a journeyman and an apprentice, and you were our servant, martha.”

“啊，是啊，你是一位亲切、善良的女主人，” 玛莎说，“我永远也忘不了你和你丈夫对我有多好。”

“Ah, yes, and you were a dear, good mistress,” said martha, “I shall never forget how kind you and your husband were to me.”

“是啊，你和我们在一起的那些年很幸福，虽然一开始我们没有孩子。

“Yes, those were happy years when you were with us, although we had no children at first.

那个大学生我再也没见过。

the student I never met again.

不过我见过他一次，尽管他没看见我。

Yet I saw him once, although he did not see me.

他来参加他母亲的葬礼。

he came to his mother’s funeral.

我看见他了，脸色苍白得像死人一样，神情极为忧伤，站在他母亲的墓前；因为那是他的母亲。

I saw him, looking pale as death, and deeply troubled, standing at her grave; for she was his mother.

过了一阵子，他父亲去世的时候，他在国外，没回家来。

Sometime after, when his father died, he was in foreign lands, and did not e home.

我知道他一直没结婚，我想他成了一名律师。

I know that he never married, I believe he became a lawyer.

他已经把我忘了，就算我们碰面了，他也认不出我了，因为我已经容颜不再，也许这样反倒最好。”

he had forgotten me, and even had we met he would not have known me, for I have lost all my good looks, and perhaps that is all for the best.”

然后她谈起了那些艰难困苦的日子，那时厄运降临到了他们头上。

And then she spoke of the dark days of trial, when misfortune had fallen upon them.

“我们有五百美元，” 她说，“街上有一所房子要卖两百美元，所以我们觉得把它拆了在原地盖一所新房子挺划算的；于是就把它买下来了。

“we had five hundred dollars,” she said, “and there was a house in the street to be sold for two hundred, so we thought it would be worth our while to pull it down and build a new one in its place; so it was bought.

建筑工人和木匠估算了一下，盖那所新房子要花一千零二十美元。

the builder and carpenter made an estimate that the new house would cost ten hundred and twenty dollars to build.

埃里克有信用，所以他在主要城镇借了钱。

Eric had credit, so he borrowed the money in the chief town.

但是送钱来的船长遭遇了海难，钱全没了。

but the captain, who was bringing it to him, was shipwrecked, and the money lost.

就在这个时候，我那亲爱的、正在那儿睡觉的小男孩出生了，而我丈夫也得了一场严重的慢性病。

Just about this time, my dear sweet boy, who lies sleeping there, was born, and my husband was attacked with a severe lingering illness.

有四分之三年的时间，我都得给他穿衣脱衣。

For three quarters of a year I was obliged to dress and undress him.

我们的还款逾期了，又借了更多的钱，最后我们所有的东西都没了，都被变卖了，然后我丈夫也去世了。

we were backward in our payments, we borrowed more money, and all that we had was lost and sold, and then my husband died.

从那以后，为了孩子，我一直工作、辛苦劳作、努力打拼。

Since then I have worked, toiled, and striven for the sake of the child.

我既洗粗亚麻布也洗细亚麻布，可我还是没能让自己的生活好过些；这都是上帝的旨意。

I have scrubbed and washed both coarse and fine linen, but I have not been able to make myself better off; and it was God’s will.

到了合适的时候，他会把我接到他身边，但我知道他永远不会抛弃我的孩子。”

In his own time he will take me to himself, but I know he will never forsake my boy.”

然后她就睡着了。

then she fell asleep.

早上她感觉精神好多了，觉得自己身体也足够强壮，可以继续干活了。

In the morning she felt much refreshed, and strong enough, as she thought, to go on with her work.

但她刚一踏进冰冷的水里，突然一阵晕眩袭来；她的手在空中痉挛地抓着，向前迈了一步，就摔倒了。

but as soon as she stepped into the cold water, a sudden faintness seized her; she clutched at the air convulsively with her hand, took one step forward, and fell.

她的头靠在岸上，但脚还在水里；她那双只用一小缕稻草系着的木鞋被水流冲走了，玛莎来给她送咖啡的时候就是这么发现她的。

her head rested on dry land, but her feet were in the water; her wooden shoes, which were only tied on by a wisp of straw, were carried away by the stream, and thus she was found by martha when she came to bring her some coffee.

与此同时，市长派了一个信使到她家，说她必须马上到他那儿去，因为他有话要对她说。

In the meantime a messenger had been sent to her house by the mayor, to say that she must e to her immediately, as he had something to tell her.

但已经太晚了；已经派人去请外科医生来给她手臂放血了，但这个可怜的女人已经死了。

It was too late; a surgeon had been sent for to open a vein in her arm, but the poor woman was dead.

“她是喝酒喝死的。” 残忍的市长说。

“She has drunk herself to death,” said the cruel mayor.

在那封告知他弟弟死讯的信中提到，弟弟在遗嘱里留了一笔六百美元的遗产给那个曾做过他母亲女仆的手套匠的遗孀，可以酌情以大额或小额的方式支付给这位遗孀或她的孩子。

In the letter, containing the news of his brother’s death, it was stated that he had left in his will a legacy of six hundred dollars to the glovemaker’s widow, who had been his mother’s maid, to be paid with discretion, in large or small sums to the widow or her child.

“我记得我弟弟和她之间有点什么事，” 市长说，“她不在了倒是件好事，这样这孩子就能得到全部遗产了。我会把他交给正直的人抚养，让他将来能成为一个受人尊敬的劳动者。” 上帝的福佑降临在这些话语之上。

“there was something between my brother and her, I remember,” said the mayor; “it is a good thing that she is out of the way, for now the boy will have the whole. I will place him with honest people to bring him up, that he may bee a respectable working man.” And the blessing of God rested upon these words.

市长派人把男孩叫到跟前，承诺会照顾他，但又极其残忍地补充说他母亲死了是件好事，因为 “她一无是处”。

the mayor sent for the boy to e to him, and promised to take care of him, but most cruelly added that it was a good thing that his mother was dead, for “she was good for nothing.”

他们把她抬到了教堂墓地，就是埋葬穷人的那块墓地。

they carried her to the churchyard, the churchyard in which the poor were buried.

玛莎在坟上撒了沙子，还在上面种了一棵玫瑰树，男孩就站在她身旁。

martha strewed sand on the grave and planted a rose-tree upon it, and the boy stood by her side.

“哦，我可怜的母亲！” 他哭喊着，泪水顺着脸颊流淌下来。

“oh, my poor mother!” he cried, while the tears rolled down his cheeks.

“他们说的她一无是处，这是真的吗？”

“Is it true what they say, that she was good for nothing?”

“不，当然不是真的，” 老仆人抬起眼睛望着天空回答道，“她非常了不起；我很多年前就知道，从她生命的最后一晚过后，我对此就更加确定无疑了。我说她是个善良、高尚的女人，天上的上帝知道我所言属实，尽管世人现在可能还会说她一无是处。”

“No, indeed, it is not true,” replied the old servant, raising her eyes to heaven; “she was worth a great deal; I knew it years ago, and since the last night of her life I am more certain of it than ever. I say she was a good and worthy woman, and God, who is in heaven, knows I am speaking the truth, though the world may say, even now she was good for nothing.”