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Mein Herr unrolled the manuscript, but, to my great surprise, instead of reading it, he began to sing it, in a rich mellow voice that seemed to ring through the room.
我的主人展开手稿，但令我非常惊讶的是，他没有读它，而是开始用似乎响彻整个房间的醇厚嗓音唱它。
Here, with one of those convulsive starts that wake one up in the very act of dropping off to sleep, I became conscious that the deep musical tones that thrilled me did not belong to Mein Herr, but to the French Count. The old man was still conning the manuscript.
在这里，我突然惊醒，因为我正要入睡，我意识到那使我激动的深沉音乐声调不属于 Mein Herr，而是属于法国伯爵。老人仍在仔细研究手稿。
“I beg your pardon for keeping you waiting!” he said. ‘’I was just making sure that I knew the English for all the words. I am quite ready now.” And he read me the following Legend:
“请原谅让你久等了！”他说。“我只是想确保我知道所有单词的英语。我现在准备好了。”然后他给我读了下面的传说：
“In a city that stands in the very centre of Africa, and is rarely visited by the casual tourist, the people had always bought eggs—a daily necessary in a climate where egg-flip was the usual diet—from a Merchant who came to their gates once a week.
“在一个位于非洲中心的城市，很少有游客光顾，那里的人们总是从一个每周来一次城门的商人那里购买鸡蛋——在一个以蛋饼为日常饮食的气候中，鸡蛋是每天必需的——。
And the people always bid wildly against each other: so there was quite a lively auction every time the Merchant came, and the last egg in his basket used to fetch the value of two or three camels, or thereabouts.
而且人们总是互相疯狂出价：所以每次商人来的时候，都会有一场相当热闹的拍卖会，他篮子里的最后一个鸡蛋通常能卖到两三头骆驼的价值，或者差不多。
And still they drank their egg-flip, and wondered where all their money went to.
但他们仍然喝着蛋饼，想知道他们的钱都花到哪里去了。
“And there came a day when they put their heads together. And they understood what donkeys they had been.
“终于有一天，他们聚在一起商量。他们明白自己一直是多么愚蠢。
“And next day, when the Merchant came, only one Man went forth. And he said ‘Oh, thou of the hook-nose and the goggle-eyes, thou of the measureless beard, how much for that lot of eggs?’
“第二天，当商人来的时候，只有一个人走了出来。他说：‘哦，你这个鹰钩鼻、大眼睛、长胡子的家伙，那一堆鸡蛋要多少钱？’”
“And the Merchant answered him ‘I could let thee have that lot at ten thousand piastres the dozen’.
“商人回答他：‘我可以让你以一万皮阿斯特一打买下那堆鸡蛋。’
“And the Man chuckled inwardly, and said ’Ten piastres the dozen I offer thee, and no more, oh descendant of a distinguished grandfather!’
“那个人暗自笑了笑，说：‘我出价十皮阿斯特一打，不能再多了，哦，杰出祖父的后代！’
“And the Merchant stroked his beard, and said ‘Hum! I will await the coming of thy friends.’ So he waited. And the Man waited with him. And they waited both together.”
“商人抚摸着他的胡子，说：‘哼！我等着你的朋友们来。’于是他等了。那个人也和他一起等。他们俩一起等着。”
“The manuscript breaks off here,” said Mein Herr, as he rolled it up again; “but it was enough to open our eyes.
“手稿在这里中断了，” Mein Herr 说着，又把它卷起来；“但这足以让我们睁开眼睛。
We saw what simpletons we had been—buying our Scholars much as those ignorant savages bought their eggs—and the ruinous system was abandoned.
我们看到我们是多么的傻瓜——像那些无知的野蛮人买鸡蛋一样买我们的学者——这个毁灭性的制度被放弃了。
If only we could have abandoned, along with it, all the other fashions we had borrowed from you, instead of carrying them to their logical results!
要是我们能和它一起放弃我们从你们那里借来的所有其他时尚，而不是把它们推向逻辑的结果就好了！”
What ruined my country, and drove me from my home, was the introduction—into the Army, of all places—of your theory of Political Dichotomy!”
毁掉我的国家，把我赶出家园的，是你们的政治二分法理论——竟然被引入到军队中，所有的地方！
“Shall I trouble you too much,” I said, “if I ask you to explain what you mean by ‘the Theory of Political Dichotomy’?”
”我问道，“如果我请你解释一下‘政治二分法理论’是什么意思，会不会太麻烦你了？”
What started the thing, with us, was the report brought to us, by one of our most eminent statesmen, who had stayed some time in England, of the way affairs were managed there.
我们开始这件事的原因，是我们最杰出的政治家之一给我们带来的报告，他在英国呆了一段时间，了解了那里的事务管理方式。
It was a political necessity (so he assured us, and we believed him, though we had never discovered it till that moment) that there should be two Parties, in every affair and on every subject.
这是政治上的必要（他向我们保证，我们相信他，尽管直到那一刻我们才发现这一点），在每一件事情和每一个问题上都应该有两个党派。
In Politics, the two Parties, which you had found it necessary to institute, were called, he told us, ‘Whigs’ and ‘Tories’.”
在政治上，你们发现有必要设立的两个党派，他告诉我们，叫做‘辉格党’和‘托利党’。”
These two Parties—which were in chronic hostility to each other—took turns in conducting the Government; and the Party, that happened not to be in power, was called the ‘Opposition’, I believe?”
这两个政党——它们彼此之间长期处于敌对状态——轮流执政；而碰巧不在执政的政党，我相信被称为‘反对派’？”
“That is the right name,” I said. “There have always, so long as we have had a Parliament at all, two Parties, one ‘in’, and one ‘out’.”
“这是正确的名称，”我说。“只要我们有议会，就一直有两个政党，一个‘在’，一个‘出’。”
“Well, the function of the ‘Ins’ (if I may so call them) was to do the best they could for the national welfare—in such things as making war or peace, commercial, treaties, and so forth?”
“那么，‘在’的政党（如果我可以这样称呼他们）的职能是尽他们所能为国家福利做最好的事情——比如发动战争或和平，商业条约等等？”
“And the function of the ‘Outs’ was (so our traveler assured us, though we were very incredulous at first) to prevent the ‘Ins’ from succeeding in any of these things?”
“而‘在野党’的职责（我们的旅行者这样告诉我们，尽管我们一开始非常难以置信）是阻止‘在朝党’在这些事情上取得成功吗？”
“To criticize and to amend their proceedings,” I corrected him. “It would be unpatriotic to hinder the Government in doing what was for the good of the Nation! We have always held a Patriot to be the greatest of heroes, and an unpatriotic spirit to be one of the worst of human ills!”
“是批评和修正他们的行为，”我纠正他。“阻碍政府做对国家有益的事情是不爱国的！我们一直认为爱国者是最伟大的英雄，而不爱国的精神是人类最严重的弊病之一！”
“Excuse me for a moment,” the old gentleman courteously replied, taking out his pocket-book.
“请原谅我片刻，”老绅士礼貌地回答，拿出他的袖珍笔记本。
“I have a few memoranda here, of a correspondence I had with our tourist, and, if you will allow me, I’ll just refresh my memory—although I quite agree with you—it is, as you say, one of the worst of human ills—” And, here Mein Herr began singing again:
“我这里有一些我和我们的游客的通信备忘录，如果你允许的话，我就刷新一下我的记忆——尽管我完全同意你的看法——正如你所说，这是人类最严重的弊病之一——”然后，Mein Herr 又开始唱歌：
Once more I started into wakefulness, and realized that Mein Herr was not the singer. He was still consulting his memoranda.
我又一次开始清醒，意识到我的先生不是歌手。他还在查阅他的备忘录。
“It is exactly what my friend told me,” he resumed, after conning over various papers. “ ‘Unpatriotic’ is the very word I had used, in writing to him, and ‘hinder’ is the very word he used in his reply! Allow me to read you a portion of his letter:
“这正是我的朋友告诉我的，”他在仔细研究了各种文件后继续说道，“‘不爱国’正是我在给他写信时使用的词，而‘阻碍’正是他在回信中使用的词！请允许我给你读一段他的信：
“ ‘I can assure you,’ he writes, ‘that unpatriotic as you may think it, the recognized function of the Opposition’ is to hinder in every manner not forbidden by the Law, the action of the Government.
“‘我可以向你保证，’他写道，‘尽管你可能认为这是不爱国的，但反对派公认的职责是在法律不禁止的范围内，以各种方式阻碍政府的行动。
This process is called ‘Legitimate Obstruction’: and the greatest triumph the ‘Opposition’ can ever enjoy, is when they are able to point out that, owing to their ‘Obstruction’ the Government have failed in everything they have tried to do for the good of the Nation!’ ”
这个过程被称为‘合法阻挠’：反对派所能享受的最大胜利，就是他们能够指出，由于他们的‘阻挠’，政府为国家利益所做的一切努力都失败了！’”
“Your friend has not put it quite correctly,” I said. “The Opposition would no doubt be glad to point out that the government had failed through their own fault; but not that they had failed on account of Obstruction!”
“你的朋友说得不太正确，”我说，“反对派无疑会很高兴指出政府失败是由于他们自己的过错；但不会说是因为阻挠！”
“You think so?” he gently replied. “Allow me now to read to you this newspaper-cutting, which my friend enclosed in his letter. It is part of the report of a public speech, made by a Statesman who was at the time a member of the ‘Opposition’:
“你这么认为？”他温和地回答，“现在请允许我给你读一下我朋友在信中附上的这篇剪报。这是一位政治家公开演讲的一部分，当时他是反对派成员：”
“‘At the close of the Session, he thought they had no reason to be discontented with the fortunes of the campaign. They had routed the enemy at every point. But the pursuit must be continued. They had only to follow up a disordered and dispirited foe.’ ”
“‘在会议结束时，他认为他们没有理由对竞选的命运感到不满。他们在每一个点上都击溃了敌人。但追击必须继续。他们只需要追击一个混乱和沮丧的敌人。’”
“Now to what portion of your national history would you guess that the speaker was referring?”
“现在你猜这位演讲者指的是你们国家历史的哪一部分？”
“Really, the number of successful wars we have waged during the last century”, I replied, with a glow of British pride, “is far too great for me to guess, with any chance of success, which it was we were then engaged in.
“真的，我们在上个世纪发动的成功战争的数量，”我带着英国式的自豪回答，“太多了，我无法猜测，当时我们参与的是哪一场战争。”
“Yet my friend tells me that the ‘disordered and dispirited foe’ simply meant the Statesmen who happened to be in power at the moment; that the ‘pursuit’ simply meant ‘Obstruction’; and that the words ‘they had routed the enemy’ simply meant that the ‘Opposition’ had succeeded in hindering the Government from doing any of the work which the Nation had empowered them to do!”
“然而，我的朋友告诉我，‘混乱和沮丧的敌人’仅仅意味着当时碰巧掌权的政治家；‘追击’仅仅意味着‘阻碍’；而‘他们击溃了敌人’这句话仅仅意味着‘反对派’成功地阻止了政府做国家授权他们做的任何工作！”
“It seemed queer to us, just at first,” he resumed, after courteously waiting a minute for me to speak: “but, when once we had mastered the idea, our respect for your Nation was so great that we carried it into every department of life!
“起初对我们来说似乎很奇怪，”他礼貌地等了一分钟让我说话后继续说道：“但是，一旦我们掌握了这个想法，我们对你们国家的尊重是如此之大，以至于我们将其带入了生活的各个领域！”
The next step (after reducing our Government to impotence, and putting a stop to all useful legislation, which did not take us long to do) was to introduce what we called ‘the glorious British Principle of Dichotomy’ into Agriculture.
“下一步（在使我们的政府无能并停止所有有用的立法之后，这并没有花我们很长时间）是将我们所谓的‘光荣的英国二分原则’引入农业。”
We persuaded many of the well-to-do farmers to divide their staff of labourers into two Parties, and to set them one against the other.
“我们说服了许多富裕的农民将他们的劳动力分成两派，并让他们互相敌对。”
They were called, like our political Parties, the ‘Ins’ and the ‘Outs’: the business of the ‘Ins’ was to do as much of ploughing, sowing, or whatever might be needed, as they could manage in a day, and at night they were paid according to the amount they had done: the business of the ‘Outs’ was to hinder them, and they were paid for the amount they had hindered.
“他们像我们的政党一样被称为‘Ins’和‘Outs’：‘Ins’的工作是尽可能多地完成犁地、播种或任何可能需要的工作，他们在一天内可以完成，晚上他们根据完成的工作量获得报酬：‘Outs’的工作是阻碍他们，他们根据阻碍的工作量获得报酬。”
The farmers found they had to pay only half as much wages as they did before, and they didn’t observe that the amount of work done was only a quarter as much as was done before: so they took it up quite enthusiastically, at first.”
“农民发现他们只需要支付以前一半的工资，他们没有注意到完成的工作量只有以前的四分之一：所以他们一开始非常热情地接受了它。”
And the farmers never discovered, till most of them were ruined, that the rascals had agreed to manage it so, and had shared the pay between them!
直到大多数农民都破产了，他们才发现这些无赖已经同意这样管理，并在他们之间分享报酬！
Why, I’ve often watched a ploughman with two horses harnessed to the plough, doing his best to get it forwards; while the opposition-ploughman, with three donkeys harnessed at the other end, was doing his best to get it backwards!
哎呀，我经常看到一个带着两匹马套在犁上的犁地人，尽力让它向前；而反对派的犁地人，带着三头驴套在另一端，尽力让它向后！”
“Simply because you were less logical than we were,” replied Mein Herr. “There is sometimes an advantage in being a donk—Excuse me! No personal allusion intended. All this happened long ago, you know!”
“只是因为你们比我们更不逻辑，” Mein Herr 回答说。“有时候做一个笨蛋也有好处——对不起！没有个人影射的意思。你知道，这一切都发生在很久以前！”
The shop-keepers wouldn’t take it up, after once trying the plan of having half the attendants busy in folding up and carrying away the goods which the other half were trying to spread out upon the counters.
店主们试了一次后就不接受了，他们尝试了让一半店员忙着折叠和搬走另一半店员试图在柜台上展开的商品的计划。
And the end of it all was ” His voice suddenly dropped, almost to a whisper; and large tears began to roll down his cheeks.
而这一切的结果是”他的声音突然降低，几乎变成了耳语；大颗的泪珠开始从他的脸颊滚落。
“—the end was that we got involved in a war; and there was a great battle, in which we far out-numbered the enemy.
“——结果是我们卷入了一场战争；发生了一场大战，我们的人数远远超过了敌人。”
But what could one expect, when only half of our soldiers were fighting, and the other half pulling them back?
但当只有一半的士兵在战斗，另一半在拉他们回来时，能指望什么呢？
I myself was accused of Treason, for having so strongly advocated ‘the British Principle’.
我自己也因强烈倡导‘英国原则’而被指控叛国罪。
‘Now the mischief’s done,’ they said, ‘perhaps you’ll kindly leave the country?’
‘现在祸已经闯了，’他们说，‘也许你会好心地离开这个国家吧？’”
The melancholy tone became a wail: the wail became a chant: the chant became a song—though whether it was Mein Herr that was singing, this time, or somebody else, I could not feel certain.
忧郁的语气变成了哀号：哀号变成了吟唱：吟唱变成了歌曲——尽管这次是 Mein Herr 在唱歌，还是其他人，我都不能确定。
The music seemed to die away. Mein Herr was again speaking in his ordinary voice. “Now tell me one thing more,” he said. “Am I right in thinking that in your Universities, though a man may reside some thirty or forty years, you examine him, once for all, at the end of the first three or four?”
“音乐似乎消失了。我的先生又用他平常的声音说话了。”现在再告诉我一件事，”他说。“我认为在你们的大学里，尽管一个人可能居住三十或四十年，但你们在最初的三四年结束时对他进行一次全面的考试，我这样想对吗？”
“Practically, then, you examine a man at the beginning of his career!” the old man said to himself rather than to me. “And what guarantee have you that he retains the knowledge for which you have rewarded him—beforehand, as we should say?”
“实际上，那么，你们在一个人的职业生涯开始时就对他进行考试！”老人自言自语，而不是对我说。“你们有什么保证他能保留你们预先奖励给他的知识呢？”
“None,” I admitted, feeling a little puzzled at the drift of his remarks. “How do you secure that object?”
“没有，”我承认，对他言论的方向感到有点困惑。“你们如何确保这一点？”
“By examining him at the end of his thirty or forty years—not at the beginning,” he gently replied.
“通过在他三十或四十年结束时对他进行考试——而不是在开始时，”他温和地回答。
“On an average, the knowledge then found is about one-fifth of what it was at first—the process of forgetting going on at a very steady uniform rate—and he, who forgets least, gets most honour, and most rewards.”
“平均来说，那时发现的知识大约是最初的五分之一——遗忘的过程以非常稳定的均匀速度进行——而遗忘最少的人，得到最多的荣誉和最多的奖励。”
“Then you give him the money when he needs it no longer? And you make him live most of his life on nothing!”
“那么你们在他不再需要钱的时候给他钱？你们让他大部分时间都靠一无所有生活！”
“Hardly that. He gives his orders to the tradesmen: they supply him, for forty, sometimes fifty years, at their own risk: then he gets his Fellowship—which pays him in one year as much as your Fellowships pay in fifty— and then he can easily pay all his bills, with interest.”
“几乎不是那样。他向商人下达命令：他们在自己的风险下供应他，四十年，有时甚至五十年：然后他得到他的奖学金——这在一年内支付给他的钱与你们的奖学金在五十年内支付给他的钱一样多——然后他可以轻松地支付所有账单，包括利息。”
“But suppose he fails to get his Fellowship? That must occasionally happen.”
“但是假设他没有获得奖学金呢？那肯定偶尔会发生。”
“That occasionally happens.” It was Mein Herr’s turn, now, to make admissions.
“那偶尔会发生。”现在轮到 Mein Herr 承认了。
“They calculate accordingly. When a man appears to be getting alarmingly ignorant, or stupid, they will sometimes refuse to supply him any longer. You have no idea with what enthusiasm a man will begin to rub up his ten sciences or languages, when his butcher has cut supply of beef and mutton!”
“他们会相应地计算。当一个人似乎变得惊人地无知或愚蠢时，他们有时会拒绝再为他供应。当他的屠夫停止供应牛肉和羊肉时，你无法想象一个人会以多么热情开始温习他的十门科学或语言！”
The young men who have just come, brimming over with knowledge. You would think it a curious sight,” he went on, “to see mere boys examining such old men. I have known a man set to examine his own grandfather. It was a little painful for both of them, no doubt. The gentleman was as bald as a coot—”
“那些刚刚到来，知识渊博的年轻人。你会认为看到仅仅是男孩在审查这样的老人是一个奇怪的景象，”他继续说道，“我知道一个人被安排去审查他自己的祖父。毫无疑问，这对他们两人来说都有点痛苦。这位绅士像一只老鸦一样秃顶——”
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