ONCE upon a time there lived a man whose one wish and prayer was to get rich. —
从前有一个人,他的一个愿望和祈祷就是变得富有。 —

Day and night he thought of nothing else, and at last his prayers were granted, and he became very wealthy. —
他日夜思考的唯一事情就是这个,最后他的祈祷应验了,他变得非常富有。 —

Now being so rich, and having so much to lose, he felt that it would be a terrible thing to die and leave all his possessions behind; —
现在他有那么多东西可以失去,他觉得死去并把所有财产留下将是一件可怕的事情,于是他决定出发寻找一个没有死亡的地方。 —

so he made up his mind to set out in search of a land where there was no death. —
他准备好开始旅程,向妻子告别,出发了。 —

He got ready for his journey, took leave of his wife, and started. —
每当他来到一个新的国家,他首先问的问题就是那里的人会不会死亡,当他听到他们不会死亡时,他又继续他的追求。 —

Whenever he came to a new country the first question that he asked was whether people died in that land, and when he heard that they did, he set out again on his quest. —
最后他来到一个国家,据告诉他那里的人甚至不知道死亡这个词的含义。 —

At last he reached a country where he was told that the people did not even know the meaning of the word death. —
当他听到这个消息时,他非常高兴,说道: —

Our traveller was delighted when he heard this, and said:
“但是你们的国家肯定有很多人,如果没有人会死亡的话?”

‘But surely there are great numbers of people in your land, if no one ever dies?’
“是的”,回答道,“我们的国家的人口众多。”

‘No,’ they replied, ‘there are not great numbers, for you see from time to time a voice is heard calling first one and then another, and whoever hears that voice gets up and goes away, and never comes back.’
‘不,’他们回答道,‘那些人并不多,因为你看,不时会听到一个声音先叫一个人,然后又叫另一个人,谁听到声音谁就会起身离开,再也不回来了。’

‘And do they see the person who calls them,’ he asked, ‘or do they only hear his voice?’
‘他们能看见叫他们的人吗,’他问道,‘还是只能听见声音?’

‘They both see and hear him,’ was the answer.
‘他们又能看见,又能听见他,’回答说。

Well, the man was amazed when he heard that the people were stupid enough to follow the voice, though they knew that if they went when it called them they would never return. —
当他听到那些人竟然愚蠢到跟随那个声音时,他感到非常惊讶,尽管他们知道如果去跟随声音他们将永远不会回来。 —

And he went back to his own home and got all his possessions together, and, taking his wife and family, he set out resolved to go and live in that country where the people did not die, but where instead they heard a voice calling them, which they followed into a land from which they never returned. —
于是他回到自己的家,把所有的财产准备好,带上妻子和家人,决定去生活在那个人们不会死亡的国家,而是听到一个呼唤他们的声音,他们跟随着声音进入一个永不回返的土地。 —

For he had made up his own mind that when he or any of his family heard that voice they would pay no heed to it, however loudly it called.
因为他已经下定决心,当他或他的家人听到那个声音时,不管它叫得多么大声,他们都不会理会。

After he had settled down in his new home, and had got everything in order about him, he warned his wife and family that, unless they wanted to die, they must on no account listen to a voice which they might some day hear calling them.
在他安顿下来,把周围的一切都安排好之后,他警告妻子和家人,如果他们不想死,千万不要听从他们可能某一天听到的声音。

For some years everything went well with them, and they lived happily in their new home. —
几年来,他们一切进展顺利,在新家中过得幸福快乐。 —

But one day, while they were all sitting together round the table, his wife suddenly started up, exclaiming in a loud voice:
但有一天,当他们一家人坐在桌子旁时,他的妻子突然跳起来,大声喊道:

‘I am coming! I am coming!’
‘我来了!我来了!’

And she began to look round the room for her fur coat, but her husband jumped up, and taking firm hold of her by the hand, held her fast, and reproached her, saying:
她开始在房间里四处找她的皮大衣,但她的丈夫跳起来,紧紧抓住她的手,牢牢地握住,责备她说:

‘Don’t you remember what I told you? Stay where you are unless you wish to die.’
‘你难道不记得我告诉过你的吗?待在原地,除非你想死。

‘But don’t you hear that voice calling me?’ she answered. —
‘但是你听不到那个呼唤我的声音吗?’她回答道。 —

‘I am merely going to see why I am wanted. —
‘我只是去看看为什么有人叫我。 —

I shall come back directly.’
我马上就回来。

So she fought and struggled to get away from her husband, and to go where the voice summoned. —
于是她拼命挣扎着想挣脱丈夫的控制,去到声音召唤的地方。 —

But he would not let her go, and had all the doors of the house shut and bolted. —
但他不让她离开,将房屋的所有门都关严并上了门闩。 —

When she saw that he had done this, she said:
当她看到他这样做时,她说道:

‘Very well, dear husband, I shall do what you wish, and remain where I am.’
‘好的,亲爱的丈夫,我会按照你的愿望行事,留在这里。’

So her husband believed that it was all right, and that she had thought better of it, and had got over her mad impulse to obey the voice. —
于是她的丈夫相信一切都会没事的,认为她已经想通了,不再盲从声音的冲动。 —

But a few minutes later she made a sudden dash for one of the doors, opened it and darted out, followed by her husband. —
但几分钟后,她突然冲向一扇门,打开它飞奔而出,丈夫紧随其后。 —

He caught her by the fur coat, and begged and implored her not to go, for if she did she would certainly never return. —
他抓住她的毛皮大衣,恳求她不要离开,因为如果她走了,她肯定不会回来。 —

She said nothing, but let her arms fall backwards, and suddenly bending herself forward, she slipped out of the coat, leaving it in her husband’s hands. —
她没有说话,只是让她的双臂向后摆动,然后突然向前弯下身子,从大衣中滑了出去,将大衣留在丈夫手中。 —

He, poor man, seemed turned to stone as he gazed after her hurrying away from him, and calling at the top of her voice, as she ran:
可怜的他望着她急急忙忙离去,她边跑边高声喊叫:

‘I am coming! I am coming!’
‘我来了!我来了!’

When she was quite out of sight her husband recovered his wits and went back into his house, murmuring:
当她完全看不见时,她的丈夫恢复了理智,走回了屋子里,喃喃自语道:

‘If she is so foolish as to wish to die, I can’t help it. —
“如果她如此愚蠢,希望去死,我没办法。 —

I warned and implored her to pay no heed to that voice, however loudly it might call.’
我警告并恳求她不要理会那个声音,无论它呼唤得有多大声。”

Well, days and weeks and months and years passed, and nothing happened to disturb the peace of the household. —
嗯,日子过去了,周周月月年年,家庭的平静没有被打破。 —

But one day the man was at the barber’s as usual, being shaved. —
但有一天,这个男人像往常一样去理发店剃须。 —

The shop was full of people, and his chin had just been covered with a lather of soap, when, suddenly starting up from the chair, he called out in a loud voice:
店里挤满了人,他的下巴刚被涂上了一层肥皂泡沫,突然从椅子上站起来,大声喊道:

‘I won’t come, do you hear? I won’t come!’
“我不来,听到了吗?我不来!”

The barber and the other people in the shop listened to him with amazement. But again looking towards the door, he exclaimed:
理发师和店里其他的人都惊讶地听着他。但是他再次往门口看去,他喊道:

‘I tell you, once and for all, I do not mean to come, so go away.’
“我告诉你,一劳永逸地,我不打算来,所以走开。”

And a few minutes later he called out again:
几分钟后他又喊了一声:

‘Go away, I tell you, or it will be the worse for you. —
“走开,我告诉你,否则你会后悔的。” —

You may call as much as you like but you will never get me to come.’
无论你打多少电话,也无法让我前来。

And he got so angry that you might have thought that some one was actually standing at the door, tormenting him. —
他变得如此愤怒,你可能会以为真有人站在门口,折磨着他。 —

At last he jumped up, and caught the razor out of the barber’s hand, exclaiming:
最后,他跳起来,夺过理发师手中的剃刀,大声喊道:

‘Give me that razor, and I’ll teach him to let people alone for the future.’
“把那把剃刀给我,我会教训他,让他以后别再打扰别人。”

And he rushed out of the house as if he were running after some one, whom no one else saw. —
他冲出房子,仿佛在追赶着一个其他人看不见的人。 —

The barber, determined not to lose his razor, pursued the man, and they both continued running at full speed till they had got well out of the town, when all of a sudden the man fell head foremost down a precipice, and never was seen again. —
理发师决心不让自己失去剃刀,便追赶着那个人,他们两个一直全速奔跑,直到离开城镇远去,突然那个人一头栽倒下了悬崖,再也没有出现过。 —

So he too, like the others, had been forced against his will to follow the voice that called him.
所以像其他人一样,他被强迫着追随着那个呼唤他的声音。

The barber, who went home whistling and congratulating himself on the escape he had made, described what had happened, and it was noised abroad in the country that the people who had gone away, and had never returned, had all fallen into that pit; —
这个理发师回家的时候吹着口哨,为自己躲过一劫而庆贺,他描述了发生的事情,消息在乡间传开,说那些离去却再也没有回来的人全部掉进了那个坑里; —

for till then they had never known what had happened to those who had heard the voice and obeyed its call.
因为在那之前,他们从来不知道听到声音并听从召唤的人发生了什么事。

But when crowds of people went out from the town to examine the ill-fated pit that had swallowed up such numbers, and yet never seemed to be full, they could discover nothing. —
但当成群的人从城里出来调查那个吞噬了这么多人却从来没有显得满的可怕深坑时,他们什么都发现不了。 —

All that they could see was a vast plain, that looked as if it had been there since the beginning of the world. —
他们所能看到的只是一片广阔的平原,从感觉上看好像从世界的开始就在那里。 —

And from that time the people of the country began to die like ordinary mortals all the world over.
从那时起,这个国家的人们开始像世界上的普通凡人一样死去。