双语美文之似水流年 （127）宽容(2)
Their whitened bones lay at the foot of the cliffs.
但他们陈尸石崖脚下，白骨累累。
The years came and the years went by.
日月流逝，年复一年。
Happily lived Mankind in the peaceful Valley of Ignorance.
在宁静的无知山谷里，人们过着幸福的生活。
Out of the darkness crept a man.
外面是一片漆黑，一个人正在爬行。
The nails of his hands were torn.
他手上的指甲已经磨破。
His feet were covered with rags, red with the blood of long marches.
他的脚上缠着破布，布上浸透着长途跋涉留下的鲜血。
He stumbled to the door o f the nearest hut and knocked.
他跌跌撞撞来到附近一间草房，敲了敲门。
Then he fainted. By the light of a frightened candle, he was carried to a cot.
接着他昏了过去。借着颤动的烛光，他被抬上一张吊床。
In the morning throughout the village it was known:He has come back.
到了早晨，全村都已知道：他回来了。
The neighbors stood around and shook their heads.
邻居们站在他的周围，摇着头。
They had always known that this was to be the end.
他们明白，这样的结局是注定的。
Defeat and surrender awaited those who dared to stroll away from the foot of the mountains.
对于敢于离开山脚的人，等待他的是屈服和失败。
And in one corner of the village the Old Men shook their heads and whispered burning words.
在村子的一角，守旧老人们摇着头，低声倾吐着恶狠狠的词句。
They did not mean to be cruel, but the Law was the Law..
他们并不是天性残忍，但律法毕竟是律法。
Bitterly this man had sinned against the wishes of Those Who Knew.
他违背了守旧老人的意愿，犯了弥天大罪。
As soon as his wounds were healed he must be brought to trial.
他的伤一旦治愈，就必须接受审判。
They meant to be lenient.
守旧老人本想宽大为怀。
They remembered the strange, burning eyes of his mother.
他们没有忘记他母亲的那双奇异闪亮的眸子，
They recalled the tragedy of his father, lost in the desert these thirty years ago.
也回忆起他父亲三十年前在沙漠里失踪的悲剧。
The Law, however, was the Law; and the Law must be obeyed.
不过，律法毕竟是律法，必须遵守。
The Men Who Knew would see to that.
守旧老人是它的执行者。
They carried the wanderer to the Market Place, and the people stood around in respectful silence.
守旧老人把漫游者抬到集市区，人们毕恭毕敬地站在周围，鸦雀无声。
He was still weak from hunger and thirst and the Elders bade him sit down.
漫游者由于饥渴，身体还很衰弱，老者让他坐下。
He refused.
他拒绝了。
房龙
亨德里克威廉房龙（Hendrik Willem Van Loon 1882–1944），荷裔美国人，著名学者，作家，历史地理学家。1882年出生在荷兰鹿特丹，他是出色的通俗作家，在历史、文化、文明、科学等方面都有著作，而且读者众多，是伟大的文化普及者，大师级的人物。