少年维特的烦恼 英文版 The Sorrows of Young Werther
歌德 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
DECEMBER 20. Page 3
When the servant brought the pistols to Werther, the latter receivedthem with transports of delight upon hearing that Charlotte hadgiven them to him with her own hand. He ate some bread, dranksome wine, sent his servant to dinner, and then sat down to writeas follows:
"They have been in your hands you wiped the dust from them. Ikiss them a thousand times -- you have touched them. Yes, Heavenfavours my design, and you, Charlotte, provide me with the fatalinstruments. It was my desire to receive my death from your hands,and my wish is gratified. I have made inquiries of my servant.You trembled when you gave him the pistols, but you bade me noadieu. Wretched, wretched that I am -- not one farewell! Howcould you shut your heart against me in that hour which makes youmine for ever? Charlotte, ages cannot efface the impression -- Ifeel you cannot hate the man who so passionately loves you!"
After dinner he called his servant, desired him to finish thepacking up, destroyed many papers, and then went out to pay sometrifling debts. He soon returned home, then went out again,notwithstanding the rain, walked for some time in the count'sgarden, and afterward proceeded farther into the country. Towardevening he came back once more, and resumed his writing.
"Wilhelm, I have for the last time beheld the mountains, the forests,and the sky. Farewell! And you, my dearest mother, forgive me!Console her, Wilhelm. God bless you! I have settled all myaffairs! Farewell! We shall meet again, and be happier than ever."
nothing of Albert's distress, or of Charlotte's grief.and his sons followed the corpse to the.
"I have requited you badly, Albert; but you will forgive me. Ihave disturbed the peace of your home. I have sowed distrustbetween you. Farewell! I will end all this wretchedness. Andoh, that my death may render you happy! Albert, Albert! make thatangel happy, and the blessing of Heaven be upon you!"
He spent the rest of the evening in arranging his papers: he toreand burned a great many; others he sealed up, and directed toWilhelm. They contained some detached thoughts and maxims, someof which I have perused. At ten o'clock he ordered his fire tobe made up, and a bottle of wine to be brought to him. He thendismissed his servant, whose room, as well as the apartments ofthe rest of the family, was situated in another part of the house.The servant lay down without undressing, that he might be thesooner ready for his journey in the morning, his master havinginformed him that the post-horses would be at the door before sixo'clock.
"Past eleven o'clock! All is silent around me, and my soul iscalm. I thank thee, O God, that thou bestowest strength and courageupon me in these last moments! I approach the window, my dearestof friends; and through the clouds, which are at this moment drivenrapidly along by the impetuous winds, I behold the stars whichillumine the eternal heavens. No, you will not fall, celestialbodies: the hand of the Almighty supports both you and me! I havelooked for the last time upon the constellation of the GreaterBear: it is my favourite star; for when I bade you farewell atnight, Charlotte, and turned my steps from your door, it alwaysshone upon me. With what rapture have I at times beheld it! Howoften have I implored it with uplifted hands to witness my felicity!and even still -- But what object is there, Charlotte, which failsto summon up your image before me? Do you not surround me on allsides? and have I not, like a child, treasured up every triflewhich you have consecrated by your touch?
"Your profile, which was so dear to me, I return to you; and Ipray you to preserve it. Thousands of kisses have I imprintedupon it, and a thousand times has it gladdened my heart on departingfrom and returning to my home.
"I have implored your father to protect my remains. At the cornerof the churchyard, looking toward the fields, there are twolime-trees -- there I wish to lie. Your father can, and doubtlesswill, do this much for his friend. Implore it of him. But perhapspious Christians will not choose that their bodies should beburied near the corpse of a poor, unhappy wretch like me. Thenlet me be laid in some remote valley, or near the highway, wherethe priest and Levite may bless themselves as they pass by mytomb, whilst the Samaritan will shed a tear for my fate.
"See, Charlotte, I do not shudder to take the cold and fatal cup,from which I shall drink the draught of death. Your hand presentsit to me, and I do not tremble. All, all is now concluded: thewishes and the hopes of my existence are fulfilled. With cold,unflinching hand I knock at the brazen portals of Death. Oh, thatI had enjoyed the bliss of dying for you! how gladly would I havesacrificed myself for you; Charlotte! And could I but restorepeace and joy to your bosom, with what resolution, with what joy,would I not meet my fate! But it is the lot of only a chosen fewto shed their blood for their friends, and by their death toaugment, a thousand times, the happiness of those by whom they arebeloved.
"I wish, Charlotte, to be buried in the dress I wear at present:it has been rendered sacred by your touch. I have begged thisfavour of your father. My spirit soars above my sepulchre. Ido not wish my pockets to be searched. The knot of pink ribbonwhich you wore on your bosom the first time I saw you, surroundedby the children -- Oh, kiss them a thousand times for me, andtell them the fate of their unhappy friend! I think I see themplaying around me. The dear children! How warmly have I beenattached to you, Charlotte! Since the first hour I saw you, howimpossible have I found it to leave you. This ribbon must beburied with me: it was a present from you on my birthday. Howconfused it all appears! Little did I then think that I shouldjourney this road. But peace! I pray you, peace!
"They are loaded -- the clock strikes twelve. I say amen.Charlotte, Charlotte! farewell, farewell!"
A neighbour saw the flash, and heard the report of the pistol;but, as everything remained quiet, he thought no more of it.
In the morning, at six o'clock, the servant went into Werther'sroom with a candle. He found his master stretched upon the floor,weltering in his blood, and the pistols at his side. He called,he took him in his arms, but received no answer. Life was not yetquite extinct. The servant ran for a surgeon, and then went tofetch Albert. Charlotte heard the ringing of the bell: a coldshudder seized her. She wakened her husband, and they both rose.The servant, bathed in tears faltered forth the dreadful news.Charlotte fell senseless at Albert's feet.
When the surgeon came to the unfortunate Werther, he was stilllying on the floor; and his pulse beat, but his limbs were cold.The bullet, entering the forehead, over the right eye, hadpenetrated the skull. A vein was opened in his right arm: theblood came, and he still continued to breathe.
From the blood which flowed from the chair, it could be inferredthat he had committed the rash act sitting at his bureau, and thathe afterward fell upon the floor. He was found lying on his backnear the window. He was in full-dress costume.
The house, the neighbourhood, and the whole town were immediatelyin commotion. Albert arrived. They had laid Werther on the bed:his head was bound up, and the paleness of death was upon his face.His limbs were motionless; but he still breathed, at one timestrongly, then weaker -- his death was momently expected.
He had drunk only one glass of the wine. "Emilia Galotti" layopen upon his bureau.
I shall say nothing of Albert's distress, or of Charlotte's grief.
The old steward hastened to the house immediately upon hearing thenews: he embraced his dying friend amid a flood of tears. Hiseldest boys soon followed him on foot. In speechless sorrow theythrew themselves on their knees by the bedside, and kissed hishands and face. The eldest, who was his favourite, hung over himtill he expired; and even then he was removed by force. At twelveo'clock Werther breathed his last. The presence of the steward,and the precautions he had adopted, prevented a disturbance; andthat night, at the hour of eleven, he caused the body to be interredin the place which Werther had selected for himself.
The steward and his sons followed the corpse to the grave. Albertwas unable to accompany them. Charlotte's life was despaired of.The body was carried by labourers. No priest attended.