安徒生童話09THE BELL鐘聲

<p>[00:28.00]THE BELL<br /> [00:29.46]<br /> [00:29.69]People said "The Evening Bell is sounding, the sun is setting." For a strange<br /> [00:34.34]wondrous tone was heard in the narrow streets of a large town. It was like the<br /> [00:38.98]sound of a church-bell: but it was only heard for a moment, for the rolling of<br /> [00:43.73]the carriages and the voices of the multitude made too great a noise.<br /> [00:47.80]<br /> [00:48.02]Those persons who were walking outside the town, where the houses were farther<br /> [00:52.04]apart, with gardens or little fields between them, could see the evening sky<br /> [00:56.36]still better, and heard the sound of the bell much more distinctly. It was as<br /> [01:00.79]if the tones came from a church in the still forest; people looked<br /> [01:05.43]thitherward, and felt their minds attuned most solemnly.<br /> [01:09.06]<br /> [01:09.28]A long time passed, and people said to each other--"I wonder if there is a<br /> [01:14.43]church out in the wood? The bell has a tone that is wondrous sweet; let us<br /> [01:18.96]stroll thither, and examine the matter nearer." And the rich people drove out,<br /> [01:24.10]and the poor walked, but the way seemed strangely long to them; and when they<br /> [01:29.00]came to a clump of willows which grew on the skirts of the forest, they sat<br /> [01:32.72]down, and looked up at the long branches, and fancied they were now in the<br /> [01:38.39]depth of the green wood. The confectioner of the town came out, and set up his<br /> [01:43.32]booth there; and soon after came another confectioner, who hung a bell over<br /> [01:47.62]his stand, as a sign or ornament, but it had no clapper, and it was tarred<br /> [01:53.16]over to preserve it from the rain. When all the people returned home, they<br /> [01:57.57]said it had been very romantic, and that it was quite a different sort of<br /> [02:01.67]thing to a pic-nic or tea-party. There were three persons who asserted they<br /> [02:05.91]had penetrated to the end of the forest, and that they had always heard the<br /> [02:09.68]wonderful sounds of the bell, but it had seemed to them as if it had come from<br /> [02:13.80]the town. One wrote a whole poem about it, and said the bell sounded like the<br /> [02:18.92]voice of a mother to a good dear child, and that no melody was sweeter than<br /> [02:23.14]the tones of the bell. The king of the country was also observant of it, and<br /> [02:28.13]vowed that he who could discover whence the sounds proceeded, should have the<br /> [02:32.53]title of "Universal Bell-ringer," even if it were not really a bell.<br /> [02:37.46]<br /> [02:37.67]Many persons now went to the wood, for the sake of getting the place, but one<br /> [02:42.66]only returned with a sort of explanation; for nobody went far enough, that one<br /> [02:47.25]not further than the others. However, he said that the sound proceeded from a<br /> [02:52.08]very large owl, in a hollow tree; a sort of learned owl, that continually<br /> [02:57.54]knocked its head against the branches. But whether the sound came from<br /> [03:01.46]his head or from the hollow tree, that no one could say with certainty. So now<br /> [03:06.15]he got the place of "Universal Bell-ringer," and wrote yearly a short treatise<br /> [03:12.15]"On the Owl"; but everybody was just as wise as before.<br /> [03:16.16]<br /> [03:16.39]It was the day of confirmation. The clergyman had spoken so touchingly, the<br /> [03:21.86]children who were confirmed had been greatly moved; it was an eventful day for<br /> [03:26.60]them; from children they become all at once grown-up-persons; it was as if<br /> [03:31.60]their infant souls were now to fly all at once into persons with more<br /> [03:35.41]understanding. The sun was shining gloriously; the children that had been<br /> [03:39.87]confirmed went out of the town; and from the wood was borne towards them the<br /> [03:44.35]sounds of the unknown bell with wonderful distinctness. They all immediately<br /> [03:49.25]felt a wish to go thither; all except three. One of them had to go home to try<br /> [03:55.00]on a ball-dress; for it was just the dress and the ball which had caused her<br /> [03:59.24]to be confirmed this time, for otherwise she would not have come; the other<br /> [04:03.14]was a poor boy, who had borrowed his coat and boots to be confirmed in from<br /> [04:07.33]the innkeeper's son, and he was to give them back by a certain hour; the third<br /> [04:12.18]said that he never went to a strange place if his parents were not with<br /> [04:16.34]him--that he had always been a good boy hitherto, and would still be so now<br /> [04:20.75]that he was confirmed, and that one ought not to laugh at him for it: the<br /> [04:25.56]others, however, did make fun of him, after all.<br /> [04:28.20]<br /> [04:28.40]There were three, therefore, that did not go; the others hastened on. The sun<br /> [04:33.70]shone, the birds sang, and the children sang too, and each held the other by<br /> [04:39.27]the hand; for as yet they had none of them any high office, and were all of<br /> [04:42.98]equal rank in the eye of God.<br /> [04:44.96]<br /> [04:45.19]But two of the youngest soon grew tired, and both returned to town; two little<br /> [04:50.35]girls sat down, and twined garlands, so they did not go either; and when the<br /> [04:55.81]others reached the willow-tree, where the confectioner was, they said, "Now we<br /> [04:59.24]are there! In reality the bell does not exist; it is only a fancy that people<br /> [05:04.52]have taken into their heads!"<br /> [05:06.33]<br /> [05:06.53]At the same moment the bell sounded deep in the wood, so clear and solemnly<br /> [05:11.22]that five or six determined to penetrate somewhat further. It was so thick,<br /> [05:16.39]and the foliage so dense, that it was quite fatiguing to proceed. Woodroof and<br /> [05:21.56]anemonies grew almost too high; blooming convolvuluses and blackberry-bushes<br /> [05:27.43]hung in long garlands from tree to tree, where the nightingale sang and the<br /> [05:31.78]sunbeams were playing: it was very beautiful, but it was no place for girls to<br /> [05:36.47]go; their clothes would get so torn. Large blocks of stone lay there,<br /> [05:41.29]overgrown with moss of every color; the fresh spring bubbled forth, and made a<br /> [05:46.88]strange gurgling sound.<br /> [05:48.80]<br /> [05:49.00]"That surely cannot be the bell," said one of the children, lying down and<br /> [05:52.76]listening. "This must be looked to." So he remained, and let the others go on<br /> [05:56.77]without him.<br /> [05:57.99]<br /> [05:58.23]They afterwards came to a little house, made of branches and the bark of<br /> [06:02.17]trees; a large wild apple-tree bent over it, as if it would shower down all<br /> [06:06.77]its blessings on the roof, where roses were blooming. The long stems twined<br /> [06:11.22]round the gable, on which there hung a small bell.<br /> [06:14.12]<br /> [06:14.36]Was it that which people had heard? Yes, everybody was unanimous on the<br /> [06:19.57]subject, except one, who said that the bell was too small and too fine to be<br /> [06:24.39]heard at so great a distance, and besides it was very different tones to those<br /> [06:28.45]that could move a human heart in such a manner. It was a king's son who spoke;<br /> [06:33.91]whereon the others said, "Such people always want to be wiser than everybody<br /> [06:39.03]else."<br /> [06:39.80]<br /> [06:40.00]They now let him go on alone; and as he went, his breast was filled more and<br /> [06:44.65]more with the forest solitude; but he still heard the little bell with which<br /> [06:49.00]the others were so satisfied, and now and then, when the wind blew, he could<br /> [06:53.64]also hear the people singing who were sitting at tea where the confectioner<br /> [06:57.88]had his tent; but the deep sound of the bell rose louder; it was almost as if<br /> [07:03.12]an organ were accompanying it, and the tones came from the left hand, the side<br /> [07:08.04]where the heart is placed. A rustling was heard in the bushes, and a little<br /> [07:12.87]boy stood before the King's Son, a boy in wooden shoes, and with so short a<br /> [07:18.31]jacket that one could see what long wrists he had. Both knew each other: the<br /> [07:23.91]boy was that one among the children who could not come because he had to go<br /> [07:28.66]home and return his jacket and boots to the innkeeper's son. This he had done,<br /> [07:33.09]and was now going on in wooden shoes and in his humble dress, for the bell<br /> [07:38.18]sounded with so deep a tone, and with such strange power, that proceed he<br /> [07:42.84]must.<br /> [07:44.25]<br /> [07:44.49]"Why, then, we can go together," said the King's Son. But the poor child that<br /> [07:49.83]had been confirmed was quite ashamed; he looked at his wooden shoes, pulled at<br /> [07:54.36]the short sleeves of his jacket, and said that he was afraid he could not walk<br /> [07:58.29]so fast; besides, he thought that the bell must be looked for to the right;<br /> [08:02.80]for that was the place where all sorts of beautiful things were to be found.<br /> [08:06.33]<br /> [08:06.55]"But there we shall not meet," said the King's Son, nodding at the same time<br /> [08:11.70]to the poor boy, who went into the darkest, thickest part of the wood, where<br /> [08:16.04]thorns tore his humble dress, and scratched his face and hands and feet till<br /> [08:20.95]they bled. The King's Son got some scratches too; but the sun shone on his<br /> [08:26.04]path, and it is him that we will follow, for he was an excellent and resolute<br /> [08:30.24]youth.<br /> [08:31.56]<br /> [08:31.74]"I must and will find the bell," said he, "even if I am obliged to go to the<br /> [08:36.68]end of the world."<br /> [08:37.74]<br /> [08:37.94]The ugly apes sat upon the trees, and grinned. "Shall we thrash him?" said<br /> [08:42.34]they. "Shall we thrash him? He is the son of a king!"<br /> [08:45.48]<br /> [08:45.70]But on he went, without being disheartened, deeper and deeper into the wood,<br /> [08:50.21]where the most wonderful flowers were growing. There stood white lilies with<br /> [08:54.66]blood-red stamina, skyblue tulips, which shone as they waved in the winds, and<br /> [09:00.67]apple-trees, the apples of which looked exactly like large soapbubbles: so<br /> [09:05.62]only think how the trees must have sparkled in the sunshine! Around the nicest<br /> [09:10.37]green meads, where the deer were playing in the grass, grew magnificent oaks<br /> [09:15.73]and beeches; and if the bark of one of the trees was cracked, there grass and<br /> [09:20.54]long creeping plants grew in the crevices. And there were large calm lakes<br /> [09:25.22]there too, in which white swans were swimming, and beat the air with their<br /> [09:30.71]wings. The King's Son often stood still and listened. He thought the bell<br /> [09:35.63]sounded from the depths of these still lakes; but then he remarked again that<br /> [09:39.96]the tone proceeded not from there, but farther off, from out the depths of the<br /> [09:44.45]forest.<br /> [09:45.32]<br /> [09:45.50]The sun now set: the atmosphere glowed like fire. It was still in the woods,<br /> [09:50.75]so very still; and he fell on his knees, sung his evening hymn, and said: "I<br /> [09:56.03]cannot find what I seek; the sun is going down, and night is coming--the dark,<br /> [10:01.15]dark night. Yet perhaps I may be able once more to see the round red sun<br /> [10:06.98]before he entirely disappears. I will climb up yonder rock."<br /> [10:10.95]<br /> [10:11.18]And he seized hold of the creeping-plants, and the roots of trees--climbed up<br /> [10:16.85]the moist stones where the water-snakes were writhing and the toads were<br /> [10:20.51]croaking--and he gained the summit before the sun had quite gone down. How<br /> [10:24.61]magnificent was the sight from this height! The sea--the great, the glorious<br /> [10:29.25]sea, that dashed its long waves against the coast--was stretched out before<br /> [10:34.13]him. And yonder, where sea and sky meet, stood the sun, like a large shining<br /> [10:40.35]altar, all melted together in the most glowing colors. And the wood and the<br /> [10:45.97]sea sang a song of rejoicing, and his heart sang with the rest: all nature was<br /> [10:51.39]a vast holy church, in which the trees and the buoyant clouds were the<br /> [10:57.12]pillars, flowers and grass the velvet carpeting, and heaven itself the large<br /> [11:01.43]cupola. The red colors above faded away as the sun vanished, but a million<br /> [11:08.00]stars were lighted, a million lamps shone; and the King's Son spread out his<br /> [11:13.14]arms towards heaven, and wood, and sea; when at the same moment, coming by a<br /> [11:19.95]path to the right, appeared, in his wooden shoes and jacket, the poor boy who<br /> [11:24.96]had been confirmed with him. He had followed his own path, and had reached the<br /> [11:29.84]spot just as soon as the son of the king had done. They ran towards each<br /> [11:34.05]other, and stood together hand in hand in the vast church of nature and of<br /> [11:39.44]poetry, while over them sounded the invisible holy bell: blessed spirits<br /> [11:44.35]floated around them, and lifted up their voices in a rejoicing hallelujah!<br /> [11:51.02]</p>

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