LESSON 36 The sheltering rock
第三十六課 避身的巖石
More than half a century passed away.
半個多世紀過去了。
That aged and faithful man of God had long ago been gathered to his fathers,
雖然他的記憶還在許多山谷中游蕩,
though his memory still lingered in many a retied glen, among the children's children of parents whom he had baptized.
在許多受過洗禮的孩子中傳播,那個年邁而忠誠于上帝的人早就去了上帝的身邊。
His son, whose locks were white with age, was preaching to a congregation of Highlanders in one of our great cities.
他那已經(jīng)滿頭白發(fā)的兒子正在一座城市中講經(jīng)布道,高地居民正在那里集會。
The subject of his discourse was the love of Christ.
他演講的主題是基督的愛。
In illustrating the self-sacrificing nature of that "love which seeketh not her own," he narrated the above story of the Highland widow,
在舉例證明“愛不為己”的自我犧牲精神時,他用了高地那個寡婦的例子。
whom he had himself known in his boyhood, and he asked, "If that child is now alive, what would you think of his heart, if he did not cherish an affection for his mother's memory;
他從小就知道這個故事。他問道:“如果那個孩子現(xiàn)在還活著,如果他不珍惜他母親的記憶;
and if the sight of her poor tattered shawl, which she had wrapped around him, in order to save his life at the cost of her own,
或者如果看到可憐的母親圍著襤褸的圍巾,而這襤褸的圍巾是母親在他小時候為了救他而犧牲自己時用來包裹他的;
did not fill him with gratitude and love too deep for words?
如果他不說出充滿感激和表達深愛的話語,你們會怎么看待他的心靈?
Yet what hearts have you, my hearers, if, in memory of your Saviour's sacrifice of himself, you do not feel them glow with deeper love and with adoring gratitude?"
但是,我的聽眾們,如果你沒有心懷更深的愛和崇敬的感激之情紀念為你犧牲的救世主,你的內(nèi)心又會怎樣呢?”
A few days later, a message was sent to this clergyman by a dying man, who requested to see him. The request was speedily complied with.
幾天后,一個奄奄一息的人給牧師傳來了一條口訊,要求面見牧師。牧師馬上答應(yīng)了他的請求。