chapter 28

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这天晚上，被美人鱼的歌声所迷住的渔夫又来到了大海边……

But the Mermaid shook her head. 'Thou hast a human soul,' she answered. 'If only thou wouldst send away thy soul, then could I love thee.'

And the young Fisherman said to himself, 'Of what use is my soul to me? I cannot see it. I may not touch it. I do not know it. Surely I will send it away from me, and much gladness shall be mine.'

And a cry of joy broke from his lips, and standing up in the painted boat, he held out his arms to the Mermaid.

'I will send my soul away,' he cried, 'and you shall be my bride, and I will be thy bridegroom, and in the depth of the sea we will dwell together, and all that thou hast sung of thou shalt show me, and all that thou desirest I will do, nor shall our lives be divided.'

And the little Mermaid laughed for pleasure and hid her face in her hands.

'But how shall I send my soul from me?' cried the young Fisherman. 'Tell me how I may do it, and lo! it shall be done.'

'Alas! I know not,' said the little Mermaid: 'the Sea-folk have no souls.' And she sank down into the deep, looking wistfully（若有所思地） at him.

* * * * * * *

Now early on the next morning, before the sun was the span of a man's hand above the hill, the young Fisherman went to the house of the Priest（神父） and knocked three times at the door.

The novice（见习修士） looked out through the wicket（小门）, and when he saw who it was, he drew back the latch（门闩） and said to him, 'Enter.'

And the young Fisherman passed in, and knelt down on the sweet- smelling rushes of the floor, and cried to the Priest who was reading out of the Holy Book and said to him, 'Father, I am in love with one of the Sea-folk, and my soul hindereth（阻挠） me from having my desire.

Tell me how I can send my soul away from me, for in truth I have no need of it. Of what value is my soul to me? I cannot see it. I may not touch it. I do not know it.'

And the Priest beat his breast, and answered, 'Alack, alack, thou art mad, or hast eaten of some poisonous herb, for the soul is the noblest part of man, and was given to us by God that we should nobly use it.

There is no thing more precious than a human soul, nor any earthly thing that can be weighed with it. It is worth all the gold that is in the world, and is more precious than the rubies of the kings.

Therefore, my son, think not any more of this matter, for it is a sin（罪过） that may not be forgiven.

And as for the Sea-folk, they are lost, and they who would traffic with them are lost also. They are as the beasts of the field that know not good from evil, and for them the Lord has not died.'

The young Fisherman's eyes filled with tears when he heard the bitter words of the Priest, and he rose up from his knees and said to him,

'Father, the Fauns（牧神） live in the forest and are glad, and on the rocks sit the Mermen with their harps of red gold. Let me be as they are, I beseech（恳求） thee, for their days are as the days of flowers.

And as for my soul, what doth my soul profit me, if it stand between me and the thing that I love?'

'The love of the body is vile（卑鄙的）,' cried the Priest, knitting（皱眉） his brows, 'and vile and evil are the pagan（异教的） things God suffers to wander through His world.

Accursed be the Fauns of the woodland, and accursed be the singers of the sea! I have heard them at night-time, and they sought to lure me from my beads. They tap at the window, and laugh. They whisper into my ears the tale of their perilous joys.

They tempt me with temptations, and when I pray they make mouths at me. They are lost, I tell thee, they are lost. For them there is no heaven nor hell, and in neither shall they praise God's name.'

'Father,' cried the young Fisherman, 'thou knowest not what thou sayest. Once in my net I snared the daughter of a King.

She is fairer than the morning star, and whiter than the moon. For her body I would give my soul, and for her love I would surrender heaven. Tell me what I ask of thee, and let me go in peace.'

'Away! Away!' cried the Priest: 'thy leman（爱人） is lost, and thou shalt be lost with her.'

And he gave him no blessing, but drove him from his door.

And the young Fisherman went down into the market-place, and he walked slowly, and with bowed head（低着头）, as one who is in sorrow.

And when the merchants saw him, they began to whisper to each other, and one of them came forth to meet him, and called him by name, and said to him, 'What hast thou to sell?'

'I will sell thee my soul,' he answered. 'I pray thee buy it of me, for I am weary of it. Of what use is my soul to me? I cannot see it. I may not touch it. I do not know it.'

But the merchants mocked at him, and said, 'Of what use is a man's soul to us? It is not worth a clipped（半边的） piece of silver.

Sell us thy body for a slave, and we will clothe thee in sea-purple, and put a ring upon thy finger, and make thee the minion（宠儿） of the great Queen.

But talk not of the soul, for to us it is nought（零）, nor has it any value for our service.'

And the young Fisherman said to himself: 'How strange a thing this is! The Priest telleth me that the soul is worth all the gold in the world, and the merchants say that it is not worth a clipped piece of silver.'

And he passed out of the market-place, and went down to the shore of the sea, and began to ponder on what he should do.

（1087 words）

今日短语：

1. send away:送走，驱逐

2. kneel down:跪下

3. weigh with: 与…权衡

4. stand between: 妨碍（某人做某事）

5. seek to: 力图，设法

6. tap at: 轻拍

7. be weary of: 对…感到厌倦

8. mock at: 嘲弄

9. pass out of: 离开

10. ponder on: 思考，沉思

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