茵梦湖中英文版 Immensee（完）:五十The Old Man

The Old Man

月光不再照进玻璃窗，屋里暗起来了；可老人依旧坐在扶手椅中，手握着手，呆呆地凝视着前方。渐渐地，在他眼前，那包围着他的黑暗化成了一个宽阔幽深的大湖，黑黝黝的湖水一浪一浪向前涌去，越涌越低，越涌越远；在最远最远那道几乎为老人目力所不及的水波上，在一些很大很宽的叶子中间，孤零零地飘浮着一朵洁白的睡莲……

房门开了，一道亮光射进屋中。“您来得正好，布莉基特，”老人说，“请把灯放在桌上吧。”

随后，他把椅子也移到桌前，拿起一本摊开的书，专心致志地研究起他年轻时就已下过功夫的学问来。
The moon had ceased to shine in through the window-panes, and it had grown quite dark; but the old man still sat in his arm-chair with folded hands and gazed before him into the emptiness of the room.

Gradually. the murky darkness around him dissolved away before his eyes and changed into a broad dark lake; one black wave after another went rolling on farther and farther, and on the last one, so far away as to be almost beyond the reach of the old man's vision, floated lonely among its broad leaves a white water-lily.

The door opened, and a bright glare of light filled the room.

"I am glad that you have come, Bridget," said the old man. "Set the lamp upon the table."

Then he drew his chair up to the table, took one of the open books and buried himself in studies to which he had once applied all the strength of his youth.