英國語文第三冊(雙語):不要過于肯定(下)

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"Well, that was counting his chickens before they were hatched!" exclaimed the boy. "That was making too sure! How ashamed Bonaparte must afterwards have felt, whenever he thought of that medal!—Have you any more stories for me, father?"

“好吧，這就是所謂的雞還沒孵出就去數(shù)雞的數(shù)量！”男孩驚呼道。“他太自負了！此后他每次看到那枚勛章時肯定羞愧得無地自容！——爸爸，還有別的故事嗎？”

"Yes; I remember another, which I read some time ago," replied the father. "It's about a very different man from him who struck the medal;— it's about the Duke of Wellington—"

“有；我又想起了一個前段時間看過的故事，”爸爸回答道。“這個故事講述的是一個拿破侖不一樣的也鑄造勛章的人；——他就是惠靈頓公爵——”

"Who beat Napoleon Bonaparte himself at the battle of Waterloo!" cried Willie. "I hope that he hadn't his medal rely beforehand?"

“惠靈頓公爵在滑鐵盧打敗了拿破侖！”威利喊出聲來。“他事先并沒有給自己鑄造勛章吧？”

"You know, or perhaps you don't know, my lad, that Wellington was sent over to Portugal, to help the poor folk there who were fighting against the French. God gave wisdom to our great general, and success to a good cause. So the enemy's soldiers were driven out, and Portugal was free!"

“孩子，你知道，也有可能不知道，惠靈頓被派去了葡萄牙幫助可憐的葡萄牙民眾反擊法國。上帝賦予了這位偉大的將軍智慧，他毫無疑問贏得了戰(zhàn)爭。所以法軍被趕出了葡萄牙，從此葡萄牙自由了！”

"How glad the Portuguese must have been," cried Willie; "and how they must have honoured our Duke! That was the time for striking a medal—when the battle had been fought and won."

“葡萄牙人民該有多高興啊，”威利喊道；“他們肯定也很愛戴我們的公爵！那是那才是該鑄造勛章的時候——戰(zhàn)爭打贏的時候。”

"I don't know whether a medal was struck," said the father; "but I'll tell you what the Portuguese did. They had a print made of the general, and under it were these words, in Latin, 'Invincible Wellington, from grateful Portugal.'"

“我不知道他們有沒有鑄造勛章，”父親說道，“但是我能告訴你葡萄牙人當時做了些什么。他們把這位將軍印出來，在下面用拉丁文寫上，‘戰(zhàn)無不勝的惠靈頓將軍，葡萄牙人民感謝您’的字樣。”

"Oh, that was making too sure! The Duke might have won a hundred battles, but as long as he lived, no one could tell that he might not be beaten at last."

“噢，那也太絕對了吧！即使公爵沒有打過敗仗，但是只要他還在世上，就沒有人能確定他能否一直所向無敵。”

"Just hear the end of my story, my boy, and you'll see that the Duke was quite of your mind in that matter. A friend asked him to send him the print; so Wellington got a copy, and sent it.

“孩子，你先聽我說完，然后你會發(fā)現(xiàn)公爵是個什么樣的人。他的一個朋友請他送一個印章；所以惠靈頓復(fù)制了一個，送了過去。

"But he would not allow that boastful word to be at the bottom of his likeness, as if he thought himself sure of victory. He scored out 'invincible' with a dash of his pen, and underneath it he wrote, 'Don't halloo till you are out of the wood.'"

“但是他并沒有保留他肖像下面讓他看起來很自負的字。他劃掉了‘不可戰(zhàn)勝’這個詞，并在下面寫上，‘走出森林前還不是歡呼的時刻。’”

Willie burst out laughing. "That showed the Duke's good sense," said he.

威利笑著說道，“這體現(xiàn)了公爵的理智。”

"Ay, and good feeling too, my boy. It showed that he was not a man of a boastful spirit, but knew that the highest may have a fall. When you are tempted, Willie, to make too sure of the morrow, just think of Bonaparte and his medal—of Wellington and his print."

“是啊，還有他的自知之明，孩子。這體現(xiàn)了他不是一個自負的人，他懂得物極必反的道理。威利，每當你對未來太過自信時，相信拿破侖的勛章——也相信惠靈頓和他的印章。”

— A. L. O. E.

— A. L. O. E.