1、The Last LessonAlphonse DaudetI was very late that morning on my way to school and was afraid of being scolded. The master had told us he would question us on verbs, and I did not know a thing about them, for I had not done my lesson.For a moment I thought of playing truant. The air was so warm and

2、bright, and I could hear the blackbirds whistling on the edge of the woods, and the Prussians drilling in the meadows behind the sawmill. I liked this much better than learning the rules of verbs, but I did not dare to stop, so I ran quickly towards school.Passing the mayor"s office, I saw peop

3、le standing before the little bulletin board. For two years it was there that we had received all the news of battles, of victories and defeats."What is it now?" I thought, without stopping.Then, as I ran along, the blacksmith, who was there reading the notice, cried out to me, "Not s

4、o fast, little one, you will reach your school soon enough." I thought he was making fun of me and ran faster than ever, reaching the schoolyard quite out of breath.Usually at the beginning of school, the noise of desks being opened and closed, and lessons repeated at the top of the children&qu

5、ot;s voices could be heard out in the street. Occasionally the master beat the table with the heavy ruler as he cried, "Silence, please, silence!" I had hoped to be able to take my seat in all this noise without being seen; but that morning the room was quiet and orderly.Through the open w

6、indow I saw my schoolmates already in their places. The master was walking up and down the room with the iron ruler under his arm and a book in his hand.As I entered he looked at me kindly, and said, without scolding, "Go quickly to your place, little Franz; we were going to begin without you.

7、You should have been here five minutes ago."I climbed over my bench and sat down at once at my desk. Just then I noticed, for the first time, that our master wore his fine green coat and his black silk embroidered cap.But what surprised me most was to see some of the village people seated on th

8、e benches at the end of the room. One of them was holding an old spelling book on his knee; and they all looked sadly at the master. While I was wondering at this, our schoolmaster took his place. "Children," he said, "this is the last time that I shall give you a lesson. An order has

9、 come from Berlin that no language but German may be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. A new master will come tomorrow who will teach you German. Today is your last lesson in French. I beg you to pay attention."These words frightened me. This was what they had posted on the bulletin

10、 board then! This was what the blacksmith was reading!My last lesson in French! I hardly knew how to write, and I never should learn now. How I regretted the hours wasted in the woods and fields, the days when I had played and should have studied!My books that a short time ago had seemed so tiresome

11、, so heavy to carry, now seemed to me like old friends.I was thinking of this when I heard my name called. It was my turn to recite. What would I not have given to be able to say the rules without a mistake! But I could not say a word, and stood at my bench without daring to lift my head. Then I hea

12、rd the master speaking to me."I shall not scold you, little Franz. You are punished enough now. Every day you have said to yourself, "I have plenty of time. I will learn my lessons tomorrow." Now you see what has happened."Then he began to talk to us about the French language, sa

13、ying that it was the most beautiful tongue in the world, and that we must keep it among us and never forget it.Finally he took the grammar and read us the lesson. I was surprised to see how well I understood. Everything seemed easy. I believed, too, that I had never listened so attentively; and it a

14、lmost seemed as if the good man were trying to teach us all he knew at this last lesson.When the lesson in grammar was over we began our writing. For that day the master had prepared some cards on which were written, "Alsace, France; Alsace, France."They seemed like so many little flags do

15、tted about the schoolroom. How we worked! Nothing was heard but the voice of the master and the scratching of pens on paper. There was no time for play now. On the roof of the schoolhouse some pigeons were softly cooing, and I said to myself, "Will they, too, be obliged to sing in German?"

16、From time to time, when I looked up from my page, I saw the master looking about him as if he wished to impress upon his mind everything in the room.After writing, we had a history lesson. Next, the little ones recited in concert their "Ba, be, bi, bo, bu".Oh, I shall always remember that

17、last lesson!Suddenly the church clock struck twelve. The master rose from his chair. "My friends," said he, "my friends, . I . I ." But something choked him; he could not finish the sentence. He returned to the blackboard, took a piece of chalk, and wrote in large letters, "

18、VIVE LA FRANCE."Then he stood leaning against the wall, unable to speak. He signed to us with his hand. "The lesson is over. You are dismissed." 參考譯文： 最后一課阿方斯?都德那天早上我很晚才去上學，心中害怕要挨訓斥。老師說過要問我們動詞的問題，可是我沒有溫習功課，一點也不會。逃學的念頭在我腦子里閃了一下。天氣多么暖和，多么晴朗呀！林邊樹梢上畫眉在吟唱，鋸木廠后面的草坪上傳來普魯士軍人操練的聲音。 此情此景比學習動詞規則

19、有趣多了，可是我不敢逗留，就趕緊朝學校跑去。 經過鎮公所，我看見一群人站在小布告牌前。這兩年，我們就是在這兒得到關于戰爭的各種消息，有打勝仗的，有吃敗仗的。 “又有什么事了？”我尋思著，沒停下腳步。 我剛跑過去，這時，在那兒看布告的鐵匠朝我喊道：“別跑那么快，小家伙，你來得及趕到學校的。”我以為他是同我開玩笑，便跑得更快了。到學校的時候，已經上氣不接下氣了。平時，剛開始上課的時候，在街上就能聽到課桌開開關關的乒乓聲和孩子們一遍遍高聲念課文的讀書聲。有時，老師還用大戒尺拍打講桌，喊道：“安靜點，請安靜點！”我本想趁著這陣喧鬧神不知鬼不覺地溜到自己的座位上。可是這天早上，教室里卻安安靜靜，規規矩矩

20、。 從開著的窗子望進去，我看到同學們已端坐在自己的座位上，老師手里拿著一本書，胳膊下夾著鐵戒尺，在教室里走過來走過去。 我走進教室，老師慈祥地看著我，口氣不帶責備地說：“快到座位上去吧，小弗朗茨，我們就要開始上課了，不準備等你了。你應該5分鐘前到教室才是。” 我跨過板凳，坐到座位上。這時我才發現，老師第一次穿上了他那件漂亮的綠上衣，戴著黑色繡邊絲帽。但是最叫我吃驚的是看到教室后面的凳子上坐著好些村民，有個人還在膝上放著一本舊拼寫書。他們個個都憂郁地望著老師。 我正感到納悶，只見老師登上了講臺，對我們說：“孩子們，這是我最后一次給你們上課了。柏林已下令，阿爾薩斯和洛林的學校只準教德語。明天新老師就來教你們德語。今天是你們最后一次法語課，我懇求你們用心聽講。” 聽了這幾句話，我嚇壞了。原來布告牌上講的是這么回事！原來鐵匠看的是這么一個布告！我最后一次上法語課了！我幾乎還不會作文呢，就再也不能學了。想起浪費在樹林和田野里的時光，想起本應學習卻只顧玩耍的那些日子，我真后悔極了！ 就在剛才還覺得那么討厭、那么沉重難帶的課本，此時對于我