那天早晨，我去上學，去得非常晚，我好害怕被責駡，特別是，阿麥爾先生跟我們說過，他要考一考分詞規則，而我連頭一個字都不會。這時，在我的頭腦裏冒出了翹課、去田野跑一跑的念頭。天氣是那麼暖和，那麼晴朗！我聽見烏鴉在小樹林邊鳴叫，普魯士人正在鋸木廠後面的裏貝爾草地上操練。所有這一切都比分詞規則更吸引我，但我還是頂住了誘惑，加快腳步向學校方向跑去。
| I started for school very late that morning and was in great dread of a scolding, especially because M. Hamel had said that he would question us on participles, and I did not know the first word about them. For a moment I thought of running away and spending the day out of doors. It was so warm, so bright! The birds were chirping at the edge of the woods; and in the open field back of the sawmill the Prussian soldiers were drilling. It was all much more tempting than the rule for participles, but I had the strength to resist, and hurried off to school.
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從村政府門前經過的時候，我看見許多人站在小佈告欄前。這兩年來，所有的壞消息，諸如吃敗仗啦，徵兵徵物啦，還有普魯士佔領軍司令部發佈的命令啦，都是從那裏來的。我邊跑邊想：「又有什麼事嗎？」
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When I passed the town hall there was a crowd in front of the bulletin-board. For the last two years all our bad news had come from there—the lost battles, the draft, the orders of the commanding officer—and I thought to myself, without stopping: “What can be the matter now?”
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當我跑著穿過廣場的時候，正在佈告欄前和徒弟一起看佈告的瓦克特爾鐵匠朝我高喊：「小傢伙，不用趕得那麼急；你去得再晚也不會遲到的！」我以為他在跟我開玩笑，便上氣不接下氣地跑進阿麥爾先生的小教室。
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Then, as I hurried by as fast as I could go, the blacksmith, Wachter, who was there, with his apprentice, reading the bulletin, called after me: “Don’t go so fast, bub; you’ll get to your school in plenty of time!” I thought he was making fun of me, and reached M. Hamel’s little garden all out of breath.
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我打算趁這片嘈雜聲，偷偷地溜到我的座位上去。可是，這一天不同於往常，一切都很安靜，就像是星期天的早晨。透過敞開的窗戶，我看見同學們已經整整齊齊地坐在他們的座上，阿麥爾先生腋下夾著那把可怕的鐵戒尺，來回地踱著步子。必須推開教室門，在這一片靜謐中走進教室。你們想一想，當時我是多麼尷尬，多麼害怕！
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Usually, when school began, there was a great bustle, which could be heard out in the street, the opening and closing of desks, lessons repeated in unison, very loud, with our hands over our ears to understand better, and the teacher’s great ruler rapping on the table. But now it was all so still! I had counted on the commotion to get to my desk without being seen; but, of course, that day everything had to be as quiet as Sunday morning. Through the window I saw my classmates, already in their places, and M. Hamel walking up and down with his terrible iron ruler under his arm. I had to open the door and go in before everybody. You can imagine how I blushed and how frightened I was.
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可是，沒有。阿麥爾先生看著我，沒有生氣，而是非常溫和地對我說：「快點回到座位上，我的小法蘭茲；我們就要開始上課了。」
| But nothing happened. M. Hamel saw me and said very kindly: “Go to your place quickly, little Franz. We were beginning without you.”
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我跨過凳子，馬上坐到座位上。我從驚慌中稍稍定下神來，這才注意到，我們的老師穿著他那件漂亮的綠色常禮服，領口系著折疊得很精緻的領結，頭上戴著那頂刺繡的黑綢小圓帽，這套裝束，只有在上頭派人來學校視察或學校發獎時他才穿戴的。此外，整個教室也有一種不同尋常的莊嚴的氣氛。但是，最使我吃驚的是，看到教室面，那些平常空著的凳子上，坐著一些跟我們一樣默不作聲的村裏的人，有頭戴三角帽的奧澤爾老人，有前任鎮長，有以前的郵遞員，另外還有其他人。所有這些人都顯得很憂傷；奧澤爾老人還帶了一本邊角都已破損的舊識字課本，攤放在膝頭上，課本上橫放著他那副大眼鏡。
| I jumped over the bench and sat down at my desk. Not till then, when I had got a little over my fright, did I see that our teacher had on his beautiful green coat, his frilled shirt, and the little black silk cap, all embroidered, that he never wore except on inspection and prize days. Besides, the whole school seemed so strange and solemn. But the thing that surprised me most was to see, on the back benches that were always empty, the village people sitting quietly like ourselves; old Hauser, with his three-cornered hat, the former mayor, the former postmaster, and several others besides. Everybody looked sad; and Hauser had brought an old primer, thumbed at the edges, and he held it open on his knees with his great spectacles lying across the pages.
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正當我對這一切感到驚詫莫名時，阿麥爾先生在椅子上坐下，用剛才對我說話的那種既溫和又莊重的聲音，對我們說道：「孩子們，我這是最後一次給你們上課了。柏林來了命令，亞爾薩斯和洛林兩省的學校只准教德語……新的老師明天就到。今天是你們最後一堂法語課，所以我請你們一定專心聽講。」這幾句話使我驚呆了。啊！這些壞蛋，他們貼在村政府佈告欄上的就是這個消息。
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While I was wondering about it all, M. Hamel mounted his chair, and, in the same grave and gentle tone which he had used to me, said: “My children, this is the last lesson I shall give you. The order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The new master comes to-morrow. This is your last French lesson. I want you to be very attentive.” What a thunderclap these words were to me! Oh, the wretches; that was what they had put up at the town-hall!
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我的最後一堂法語課！……我只是剛剛學會寫字！今後永遠也學不到法語！法語就到此為止了！我現在是多麼悔恨自己蹉跎光陰啊！悔恨自己從前蹺課去掏鳥窩，去薩爾河溜冰！我的那些書，我的語法課本，我的神聖的歷史書，剛才背在身上還覺得那麼討厭，那麼沉重，現在卻像老朋友一樣，讓我難捨難分。還有阿麥爾先生。一想到他就要走了，再也見不到了，我就忘記了以前的處懲和挨打。
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My last French lesson! Why, I hardly knew how to write! I should never learn any more! I must stop there, then! Oh, how sorry I was for not learning my lessons, for seeking birds’ eggs, or going sliding on the Saar! My books, that had seemed such a nuisance a while ago, so heavy to carry, my grammar, and my history of the saints, were old friends now that I couldn’t give up. And M. Hamel, too; the idea that he was going away, that I should never see him again, made me forget all about his ruler and how cranky he was.
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可憐的人！他身著漂亮的節日盛裝，為的是慶賀這最後的一堂課。現在，我明白了為什麼村裏的老人都坐在教室後面。這好像在說，他們後悔從前不常來學校。這也像是對我們的老師四十年的優秀教學，對今後不屬於他們的國土表示他們的敬意的一種方式……
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Poor man! It was in honor of this last lesson that he had put on his fine Sunday clothes, and now I understood why the old men of the village were sitting there in the back of the room. It was because they were sorry, too, that they had not gone to school more. It was their way of thanking our master for his forty years of faithful service and of showing their respect for the country that was theirs no more.
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我正限於沉思之中，突然我聽見叫我的名字。輪到我背分詞規則了。要是我能把這條重要的分詞規則大聲、清晰、準確無誤地從頭背到尾，有什麼代價我不願付出呢？但是，我連開始的那些詞都搞不清楚。我站在凳子前面，左搖右晃，心裏難受極了，不敢抬頭。我聽見阿麥爾先生說話：
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While I was thinking of all this, I heard my name called. It was my turn to recite. What would I not have given to be able to say that dreadful rule for the participle all through, very loud and clear, and without one mistake? But I got mixed up on the first words and stood there, holding on to my desk, my heart beating, and not daring to look up. I heard M. Hamel say to me:
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「我不責備你，我的小法蘭茲，你可能受夠了懲罰……事情就是如此。每天，我們都對自己說：算了吧！我有的是時間。我明天再學。現在，你知道出了什麼事……唉！我們亞爾薩斯人的最大不幸就是把教育拖延到明天。現在，那些人有權利對我們說：『怎麼！你們聲稱自己是法國人，可你們即不會說也不會寫你們的語言！』…… 我可憐的法蘭茲，造成所有這一切，責任最大的並不是你。我們每個人都有許多應該責備自己的地方。
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“I won’t scold you, little Franz; you must feel bad enough. See how it is! Every day we have said to ourselves: ‘Bah! I’ve plenty of time. I’ll learn it to-morrow.’ And now you see where we’ve come out. Ah, that’s the great trouble with Alsace; she puts off learning till to-morrow. Now those fellows out there will have the right to say to you: ‘How is it; you pretend to be Frenchmen, and yet you can neither speak nor write your own language?’ But you are not the worst, poor little Franz. We’ve all a great deal to reproach ourselves with.
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「你們的父母沒有盡心讓你們好好讀書。他們寧願把你們打發到田裏或紗廠裏去幹活，為的是多掙幾個錢。我自己呢，難道我一點也沒有應該責備自己的地方嗎？我不也是經常讓你們到我的花園澆水以此代替學習嗎？當我想釣鱒魚的時候，我不是隨隨便便就給你們放假嗎？」
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“Your parents were not anxious enough to have you learn. They preferred to put you to work on a farm or at the mills, so as to have a little more money. And I? I’ve been to blame also. Have I not often sent you to water my flowers instead of learning your lessons? And when I wanted to go fishing, did I not just give you a holiday?”
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阿麥爾先生從一件事談到另一件事，然後開始給我們講法語，他說，法語是世界上最優美的語言，是最清晰的語言，最嚴謹的語言，我們應該掌握它，永遠也不要忘記，因為，當一個民族淪為奴隸時，只要它好好地保存自己的語言，就好像掌握了打開監牢的鑰匙……然後，他拿了一本語法書，我們開始朗誦課文。令我吃驚的是，我竟理解得這麼透徹。他所講的一切對我都顯得很容易，很容易。我同樣覺得，我還從來沒有這麼認真聽講過，他也從來沒有這樣耐心講解過。這個可憐的人，仿佛想在離開這裏以前，把他全部的知識都灌輸給我們，讓我們一下子掌握這些知識。
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Then, from one thing to another, M. Hamel went on to talk of the French language, saying that it was the most beautiful language in the world—the clearest, the most logical; that we must guard it among us and never forget it, because when a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their prison. Then he opened a grammar and read us our lesson. I was amazed to see how well I understood it. All he said seemed so easy, so easy! I think, too, that I had never listened so carefully, and that he had never explained everything with so much patience. It seemed almost as if the poor man wanted to give us all he knew before going away, and to put it all into our heads at one stroke.
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課文講解完了，我們開始練習寫字。這一天，阿麥爾先生為我們準備了許多嶄新的字卡樣，上面用美麗的圓體字寫著：法蘭西，亞爾薩斯，法蘭西，亞爾薩斯。這些字帖卡片懸掛在我們課桌的金屬杆上，就像許多小旗在教室裏飄揚。該知道每個人都是那樣聚精會神，教室裏是那樣寂靜無聲！只聽得見筆尖在紙上的沙沙聲。有一回，幾隻金龜子跑進了教室，但是誰也不去注意它們，連年齡最小的也不例外，他們正專心致志地練直杠筆劃，仿佛這些筆劃也是法語……學校的屋頂上，鴿子低聲地咕咕地叫著，我一邊聽，一邊尋思：「他們該不會強迫這些鴿子用德語唱歌吧？」
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After the grammar, we had a lesson in writing. That day M. Hamel had new copies for us, written in a beautiful round hand: France, Alsace, France, Alsace. They looked like little flags floating everywhere in the school-room, hung from the rod at the top of our desks. You ought to have seen how every one set to work, and how quiet it was! The only sound was the scratching of the pens over the paper. Once some beetles flew in; but nobody paid any attention to them, not even the littlest ones, who worked right on tracing their fish-hooks, as if that was French, too. On the roof the pigeons cooed very low, and I thought to myself: “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?”
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我時不時地從書本上抬起眼睛，看見阿麥爾先生一動不動地坐在椅子上，注視著周圍的一切東西，仿佛要把這個小小教室裏的一切都裝進目光裏帶走……可想而知！四十年來，他一直呆在這個地方，守著對面的院子和一直沒有變樣的教室。唯獨教室裏的凳子、課桌被學生磨光滑了；院子裏的胡桃樹長高了，他自己親手種下的那棵啤酒花如今爬滿了窗戶，爬上了屋頂。這個可憐的人聽到他妹妹在樓上的臥室裏來來回回地收拾行李，想到自己就要告別眼前的一切，這對他來說是多麼傷心難過的事啊！因為，他們明天就要動身了，永遠離開自己的家鄉。
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Whenever I looked up from my writing I saw M. Hamel sitting motionless in his chair and gazing first at one thing, then at another, as if he wanted to fix in his mind just how everything looked in that little school-room. Fancy! For forty years he had been there in the same place, with his garden outside the window and his class in front of him, just like that. Only the desks and benches had been worn smooth; the walnut-trees in the garden were taller, and the hopvine that he had planted himself twined about the windows to the roof. How it must have broken his heart to leave it all, poor man; to hear his sister moving about in the room above, packing their trunks! For they must leave the country next day.
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他竟然還有勇氣把我們的課上完。習字過後，我們上了歷史課；接著小傢伙們一起唱起了ＢａＢｅＢｉＢｏＢｕ。教室後頭，奧澤爾老人戴上了眼鏡，兩手捧著識字課本，跟我們一起拼讀。我發現他也一樣專心，他的聲音由於激動而顫抖，聽起來很滑稽，叫我們又想笑又想哭。噢！我將永遠也不會忘記這最後的一課……
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But he had the courage to hear every lesson to the very last. After the writing, we had a lesson in history, and then the babies chanted their ba, be bi, bo, bu. Down there at the back of the room old Hauser had put on his spectacles and, holding his primer in both hands, spelled the letters with them. You could see that he, too, was crying; his voice trembled with emotion, and it was so funny to hear him that we all wanted to laugh and cry. Ah, how well I remember it, that last lesson!
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突然，教堂的鐘聲敲了十二下，而後是祈禱的鐘聲。與此同時，普魯士士兵的操練完回營的號聲在我們的窗戶下迴響……阿麥爾先生從椅子上站了起來，面色十分蒼白。他在我的心目中，從來也沒有顯得這麼高大。
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All at once the church-clock struck twelve. Then the Angelus. At the same moment the trumpets of the Prussians, returning from drill, sounded under our windows. M. Hamel stood up, very pale, in his chair. I never saw him look so tall.
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「我的朋友們，」他說道，「我的朋友們，我……我……」但是，有什麼東西堵住了他的喉嚨。他沒能說完這句話。這時，他轉過身子，拿起一截粉筆，使盡了全身力氣，在黑板上盡可能大地寫下幾個字：
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“My friends,” said he, “I—I—” But something choked him. He could not go on. Then he turned to the blackboard, took a piece of chalk, and, bearing on with all his might, he wrote as large as he could:
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「法蘭西萬歲！」
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“Vive La France!”
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然後，他呆在那裏，頭靠著牆壁，一句話也不說，只是用手向我們示意：
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Then he stopped and leaned his head against the wall, and, without a word, he made a gesture to us with his hand:
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「課完了……你們走吧。」
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“School is dismissed—you may go.”
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