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All round his little house the mountain was flat, and the ground was rich; and there were the rice fields of all the people who lived in the village at the mountain’s foot.
他的小房子周围，山是平坦的，土地肥沃；山脚下村庄里所有居民的稻田都在那里。
Mornings and evenings, the old man and his little grandson, who lived with him, used to look far down on the people at work in the village, and watch the blue sea which lay all round the land, so close that there was no room for fields below, only for houses.
每天早晚，老人和与他同住的小孙子常常远远地俯视着村里劳作的人们，看着环绕着这片土地的蓝色大海，如此靠近，以至于下面没有空间容纳田地，只有房屋。
The little boy loved the rice fields, dearly, for he knew that all the good food for all the people came from them; and he often helped his grand father to watch over them.
小男孩非常热爱稻田，因为他知道所有的人都从那里获得了所有的好食物；他经常帮助他的祖父照看它们。
One day, the grandfather was standing alone, before his house, looking far down at the people, and out at the sea, when, suddenly, he saw something very strange far off where the sea and sky meet.
有一天，祖父独自一人站在他的房子前，远远地望着人们，望着大海，突然，他看到了在海天相接的远处有一些非常奇怪的东西。
Something like a great cloud was rising there, as if the sea were lifting itself high into the sky.
那里好像升起了一朵巨大的云，仿佛大海把自己高高地举向天空。
The old man put his hands to his eyes and looked again, hard as his old sight could.
老人把手放在眼睛上，又使劲看了看，尽其视力所能。
The little grandson could not imagine what his grandfather wanted with fire, but he always obeyed, so he ran quickly and brought the brand.
小孙子无法想象他的爷爷要火干什么，但他总是服从，所以他迅速跑去拿来了火把。
But what was his horror to see his grandfather thrust his burning brand into the ripe dry rice, where it stood.
但他惊恐地看到爷爷把燃烧的火把插进了成熟干燥的稻谷里，火把就立在那里。
“Oh, Grandfather, Grandfather!” screamed the little boy, “what are you doing?”
“哦，爷爷，爷爷！”小男孩尖叫道，“你在干什么？”
Yone thought his dear grandfather had lost his mind, and he began to sob; but a little Japanese boy always obeys, so though he sobbed, he thrust his torch in, and the sharp flame ran up the dry stalks, red and yellow.
哟内以为他亲爱的爷爷失去了理智，他开始抽泣；但一个日本小男孩总是会听话的，所以尽管他抽泣着，还是把他的火把插了进去，尖锐的火焰顺着干燥的茎秆燃烧起来，红的黄的。
In an instant, the field was ablaze, and thick black smoke began to pour up, on the mountain side.
瞬间，田野一片火海，浓浓的黑烟开始在山坡上涌起。
It rose like a cloud, black and fierce, and in no time the people below saw that their precious rice fields were on fire.
它像一朵云一样升起，黑色而凶猛，很快下面的人就看到他们珍贵的稻田着火了。
Men, women, and children climbed the mountain, running as fast as they could to save the rice; not one soul stayed behind.
男人、女人和孩子都爬上了山，尽可能快地跑去拯救水稻；没有一个人留在后面。
And when they came to the mountain top, and saw the beautiful rice-crop all in flames, beyond help, they cried bitterly, “Who has done this thing? How did it happen?”
当他们来到山顶，看到美丽的水稻作物都在火焰中，无法挽救时，他们痛苦地哭着，“是谁做了这件事？怎么发生的？”
“I set fire,” said the old man, very solemnly; and the little grandson sobbed, “Grandfather set fire.”
“我放火了，”老人非常严肃地说；小孙子抽泣着说，“爷爷放火了。”
But when they came fiercely round the old man, with “Why? Why?” he only turned and pointed to the sea. “Look!” he said.
但是当他们愤怒地围着老人，问“为什么？为什么？”时，他只是转过身，指着大海。“看！”他说。
And there, where the blue sea had lain, so calm, a mighty wall of water, reaching from earth to sky, was rolling in.
在那里，原本平静的蓝色大海，现在是一道从地球到天空的巨大水墙，正在滚滚而来。
The wall of water rolled in on the land, passed quite over the place where the village had been, and broke, with an awful sound, on the mountain side.
水墙滚滚涌上陆地，完全越过了曾经有村庄的地方，然后在山边发出可怕的声音破裂了。
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