第4章 CASABIANCA 卡萨布兰卡
The boy stood on the burning deck,
Whence all but he had fled;
The flame, that lit the battle's wreck,
Shone round him—o'er the dead.
Yet beautiful and bright he stood,
As born to rule the storm;
A creature of heroic blood,
A proud though child-like form!
The flames rolled on—he would not go,
Without his father's word; —
That father, faint in death below,
His voice on longer heard.
He called aloud: “Say, father! say
If yet my task is done?”
He knew not that the chieftain lay
Unconscious of his son.
“Speak, father!” once again he cried,
“If I may yet be gone!”
And but the booming shots replied,
And fast the flames rolled on.
Upon his brow he felt their breath,
And in his waving hair,
And looked from that lone post of death,
In still, yet brave despair;
And shouted but once more aloud,
“My father! must I stay? ’
While o'er him fast,
through sail and shroud,
The wreathing fires made way:
They wrapped the ship in splendour wild,
They caught the flag on high.
And streamed above the gallant child,
Like banners in the sky.
There came a burst of thunder sound,
The boy! oh, where was he?
Ask of the winds, that far around
With fragments strewed the sea,
With mast, and helm, and pennon fair.
That well had borne their part!
But the noblest thing that perished there,
Was that young faithful heart!
—Mrs. Hemans
Pronunciation
burn'-ing chief'-tain de-spair' thun'-der
beau'-ti-ful un-con'-scious splend'-our frag'-ment
crea'-ture boom'-ing gal'-lant no'-blest
he-ro'-ic re-plied' ban'-ners per'-ished
男孩站在燃烧的甲板上，
一切皆已成灰，唯独剩他自己；
焚烧战争残骸的烈火
在他周围闪光，周围都是燃烧的尸体。
然而他站在那儿，优雅、聪敏，
如同生下来就能平息风暴；
稚嫩的外表，却有着高贵的思想，
骨子里流淌着英雄的血！
烈火燃烧，得不到父亲的准许，
他不会离开；
他的父亲在死亡的笼罩下无比虚弱，
再也没法听见他的声音；
他大声喊道：“父亲！
跟我说，我是否该去完成我的任务？”
他不知道这位将领
已经听不见儿子的话。
“跟我说话，父亲！”他又一次喊道，
我是否该去完成我的任务！
传来的只有枪炮的轰隆声，
火苗快速滚落。
他的额头可以感觉到它们的气息，
他头发迎风飞舞，
凝视着孤零零的尸体，
看似平静却陷入勇敢的绝望。
他再一次大声喊道，
“父亲，我必须留在这里吗？”
转瞬间在他上方，
翻滚的大火飞快穿过
船帆和绳索，烧出一条通路；
火舌迅速将船只包围起来，
将高悬的旗帜烧毁。
火焰在勇敢的少年头上飘扬，
犹如天空中的旗帜。
忽然迸发了雷鸣般的响声，
这个小男孩！他在哪儿？
遥远的风问道，
海上涌现了滚滚波浪。
烈火顷刻间
烧毁了桅杆、船舵和旗帜！
随之逝去的最珍贵的事物却是
那颗年轻忠诚的心。
——西曼斯夫人