HAPPY, happy, never-returning time of childhood!

 

幸福的，幸福的，一去不返的童年时代啊！

How can we help loving and dwelling upon its recollections?

怎能不爱惜，不珍重对童年的回忆呢？

They cheer and elevate the soul, and become to one a source of higher joys.

这些回忆使我精神舒爽，心情振奋，是我的无上乐趣的泉源。

Sometimes, when dreaming of bygone days, I fancy that, tired out with running about, I have sat down, as of old, in my high arm-chair by the tea-table.

跑够了，你就坐在茶桌旁那把高背的安乐椅里；时候不早了，

It is late, and I have long since drunk my cup of milk.

你早就喝完了你那杯加糖的牛奶，

My eyes are heavy with sleep as I sit there and listen.

睡意蒙胧的闭上眼睛，但是一动也不动地坐着谛听。

How could I not listen, seeing that Mamma is speaking to somebody, and that the sound of her voice is so melodious and kind?

你怎么能不听呢？妈妈在同什么人谈话，她的声音是那么悦耳，那么动人。

How much its echoes recall to my heart!

单单这种声音就给我的心灵很大的启发！

With my eyes veiled with drowsiness I gaze at her wistfully.

我用蒙胧的睡眼凝视着她的脸，

Suddenly she seems to grow smaller and smaller, and her face vanishes to a point; yet I can still see it--can still see her as she looks at me and smiles.

她突然变得愈来愈小，她的脸只有钮扣那么大；但我不是看得非常清楚：我看见，她望了我一眼，微微一笑。

Somehow it pleases me to see her grown so small.

我喜欢看见她只有这么一点点大。

I blink and blink, yet she looks no larger than a boy reflected in the pupil of an eye.

我把眼睛眯缝得更细一些，她变得还没有瞳仁里的小人都么大了；

Then I rouse myself, and the picture fades.

但是我动了一下，这种魔力就破灭了。

Once more I half-close my eyes, and cast about to try and recall the dream, but it has gone,I rise to my feet, only to fall back comfortably into the armchair.

我眯起眼睛，扭过身去，拚命想使这种现象重现，但是徒劳无益。我站起来，连脚带腿蜷缩成一团，舒适地躺到安乐椅里。

There! You are failing asleep again, little Nicolas, says Mamma. You had better go to by-by.

你又要睡着了，尼古连卡 ，妈妈对我说，你最好上楼去。

No, I won't go to sleep, Mamma, I reply, though almost inaudibly, for pleasant dreams are filling all my soul.

我不想睡，妈妈，我回答她，但是模糊而甜美的幻想充满我的脑际，

The sound sleep of childhood is weighing my eyelids down, and for a few moments I sink into slumber and oblivion until awakened by some one.

健康的孩子的睡意使我的眼睛闭拢，转瞬就进入梦乡，一直睡到我被唤醒为止。

I feel in my sleep as though a soft hand were caressing me.

蒙胧中我常常感到什么人温存的手抚摩我；

I know it by the touch, and, though still dreaming, I seize hold of it and press it to my lips.

单凭这种抚摩，我就知道是她，还在梦中我就不由自主地拉住那只手，把它紧紧地，紧紧地按在嘴唇上。

Every one else has gone to bed, and only one candle remains burning in the drawing-room.

所有的人都已经散去；客厅里只点着一根蜡烛；

Mamma has said that she herself will wake me. She sits down on the arm of the chair in which I am asleep, with her soft hand stroking my hair, and I hear her beloved, well-known voice say in my ear:

妈妈说，她要亲自唤醒我；是她坐在我睡的那张椅子上，用那温柔得惊人的手抚摩着我的头发，用我听惯了的、可爱的声音在我耳边说：

Get up, my darling. It is time to go by-by.

起来，我的宝贝，该去睡了。

No envious gaze sees her now.

没有任何人的冷淡的眼光会使她拘束：

She is not afraid to shed upon me the whole of her tenderness and love.

她不怕把她的全部温柔和慈爱倾注到我身上。

I do not wake up, yet I kiss and kiss her hand.

我动也不动，又是更加热烈地吻她的手。

Get up, then, my angel.

起来，我的好宝贝！

She passes her other arm round my neck, and her fingers tickle me as they move across it.

她用另外一只手托住我的脖子，她的手指迅速地动着，搔着我。

The room is quiet and in half-darkness, but the tickling has touched my nerves and I begin to awake.

房间里一片寂静，半明半暗；搔痒使我清醒，使我的神经兴奋；

Mamma is sitting near me--that I can tell--and touching me; I can hear her voice and feel her presence.

妈妈坐在我身边；她爱抚着我；我闻到她的香味，听到她的声音。

This at last rouses me to spring up, to throw my arms around her neck, to hide my head in her bosom, and to say with a sigh:

这一切使我跳起来，双手搂住她的脖颈，把头偎在她怀里，上气不接下气地说：

Ah, dear, darling Mamma, how much I love you!

噢，亲爱的，亲爱的妈妈，我多么爱你呀！