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第3节

a04-第3节

小说: a04 字数: 每页4000字

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ntrance。 Why? Fortune would not turn because she turned。 She looked at the stone in the walls which had once formed part of the castle of Marck Stig; and perhaps she thought of his daughters and of the old song;…
〃The eldest and youngest; hand…in…hand;
Went forth alone to a distant land。〃
These were only two; here there were three; and their father with them
also。 They walked along the high…road; where once they had driven in
their splendid carriage; they went forth with their father as beggars。
They wandered across an open field to a mud hut; which they rented for a dollar and a half a year; a new home; with bare walls and empty
cupboards。 Crows and magpies fluttered about them; and cried; as if in contempt; 'Caw; caw; turned out of our nest… caw; caw;' as they had done in the wood at Borreby; when the trees were felled。 Daa and his daughters could not help hearing it; so I blew about their ears to
drown the noise; what use was it that they should listen? So they went
to live in the mud hut in the open field; and I wandered away; over
moor and meadow; through bare bushes and leafless forests; to the open sea; to the broad shores in other lands; 'Whir…r…r; whir…r…r! Away; away!' year after year。〃

And what became of Waldemar Daa and his daughters? Listen; the
Wind will tell us:

〃The last I saw of them was the pale hyacinth; Anna Dorothea。 She
was old and bent then; for fifty years had passed and she had outlived them all。 She could relate the history。 Yonder; on the heath; near the town of Wiborg; in Jutland; stood the fine new house of the canon。 It was built of red brick; with projecting gables。 It was inhabited; for the smoke curled up thickly from the chimneys。 The canon's gentle lady and her beautiful daughters sat in the bay…window; and looked over the hawthorn hedge of the garden towards the brown heath。 What were they looking at? Their glances fell upon a stork's nest; which was built upon an old tumbledown hut。 The roof; as far as one existed at all; was covered with moss and lichen。 The stork's nest covered the greater part of it; and that alone was in a good condition; for it was kept in order by the stork himself。 That is a house to be looked at; and not to be touched;〃 said the Wind。 〃For the sake of the stork's nest it had been allowed to remain; although it is a blot on the landscape。

They did not like to drive the stork away; therefore the old shed was
left standing; and the poor woman who dwelt in it allowed to stay。 
She had the Egyptian bird to thank for that; or was it perchance her
reward for having once interceded for the preservation of the nest of
its black brother in the forest of Borreby? At that time she; the
poor woman; was a young child; a white hyacinth in a rich garden。 
She remembered that time well; for it was Anna Dorothea。

〃'O…h; o…h;' she sighed; for people can sigh like the moaning of
the wind among the reeds and rushes。 'O…h; o…h;' she would say; 'no
bell sounded at thy burial; Waldemar Daa。 The poor school…boys did not even sing a psalm when the former lord of Borreby was laid in the
earth to rest。 O…h; everything has an end; even misery。 Sister Ida
became the wife of a peasant; that was the hardest trial which
befell our father; that the husband of his own daughter should be a
miserable serf; whom his owner could place for punishment on the
wooden horse。 I suppose he is under the ground now; and Ida… alas!
alas! it is not ended yet; miserable that I am! Kind Heaven; grant
me that I may die。'

〃That was Anna Dorothea's prayer in the wretched hut that was left
standing for the sake of the stork。 I took pity on the proudest of the
sisters;〃 said the Wind。 〃Her courage was like that of a man; and in
man's clothes she served as a sailor on board ship。 She was of few
words; and of a dark countenance; but she did not know how to climb; so I blew her overboard before any one found out that she was a woman; and; in my opinion; that was well done;〃 said the Wind。

On such another Easter morning as that on which Waldemar Daa
imagined he had discovered the art of making gold; I heard the tones
of a psalm under the stork's nest; and within the crumbling walls。
It was Anna Dorothea's last song。 There was no window in the hut; only a hole in the wall; and the sun rose like a globe of burnished gold
and looked through。 With what splendor he filled that dismal dwelling!

Her eyes were glazing; and her heart breaking; but so it would have
been; even had the sun not shone that morning on Anna Dorothea。 
The stork's nest had secured her a home till her death。 I sung over her
grave; I sung at her father's grave。 I know where it lies; and where
her grave is too; but nobody else knows it。

〃New times now; all is changed。 The old high…road is lost amid
cultivated fields; the new one now winds along over covered graves;
and soon the railway will come; with its train of carriages; and
rush over graves where lie those whose very names are forgoten。 All
passed away; passed away!

〃This is the story of Waldemar Daa and his daughters。 Tell it
better; any of you; if you know how;〃 said the Wind; and he rushed
away; and was gone。

THE END

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Written By Anderson




 

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