少年维特的烦恼 英文版 The Sorrows of Young Werther
歌德 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
NOVEMBER 3.
Witness, Heaven, how often I lie down in my bed with a wish, andeven a hope, that I may never awaken again. And in the morning,when I open my eyes, I behold the sun once more, and am wretched.If I were whimsical, I might blame the weather, or an acquaintance,or some personal disappointment, for my discontented mind; and thenthis insupportable load of trouble would not rest entirely uponmyself. But, alas! I feel it too sadly. I am alone the causeof my own woe, am I not? Truly, my own bosom contains the sourceof all my sorrow, as it previously contained the source of all mypleasure. Am I not the same being who once enjoyed an excess ofhappiness, who, at every step, saw paradise open before him, andwhose heart was ever expanded toward the whole world? And thisheart is now dead, no sentiment can revive it; my eyes are dry;and my senses, no more refreshed by the influence of soft tears,wither and consume my brain. I suffer much, for I have lost theonly charm of life: that active, sacred power which created worldsaround me, -- it is no more. When I look from my window at thedistant hills, and behold the morning sun breaking through themists, and illuminating the country around, which is still wrappedin silence, whilst the soft stream winds gently through the willows,which have shed their leaves; when glorious nature displays allher beauties before me, and her wondrous prospects are ineffectualto extract one tear of joy from my withered heart, I feel that insuch a moment I stand like a reprobate before heaven, hardened,insensible, and unmoved. Oftentimes do I then bend my knee to theearth, and implore God for the blessing of tears, as the despondinglabourer in some scorching climate prays for the dews of heavento moisten his parched corn.
But I feel that God does not grant sunshine or rain to ourimportunate entreaties. And oh, those bygone days, whose memorynow torments me! why were they so fortunate? Because I thenwaited with patience for the blessings of the Eternal, and receivedhis gifts with the grateful feelings of a thankful heart.