The Two Roads 兩條路的抉擇

It was New Year’s night. An aged man was standing at a window. He raised his mournful eyes towards the deep blue sky, where the stars were floating like white lilies on the surface of a clear calm lake. Then he cast them on the earth, where few more hopeless people than himself now moved towards their certain goal—the tomb. He had already passed sixty, and he had brought from his journey nothing but errors and remorse. Now his health was poor, his mind empty, his heart sorrowful, and his old age short of comforts.

The days of his youth appeared like dreams before him, and he recalled the serious moment when his father placed him at the entrance of the two roads—one leading to a peaceful, sunny place, covered with flowers, fruits and resounding with soft, sweet songs; the other leading to a deep, dark cave, which was endless, where poison flowed instead of water and where devils and poisonous snakes hissed and crawled.

He looked towards the sky and cried painfully, “O youth, return! O my father, place me once more at the entrance to life, and I’ll choose the better way!” But both his father and the days of his youth had passed away.

He saw a star fall from the sky and disappeared, and this was the symbol of himself. His remorse, which was like a sharp arrow, struck deeply into his heart. Then he remembered his friends in his childhood, who entered in life together with him. But they had made their way to success and were now honoured and happy on this New Year’s night.

The clock in the high church tower struck and the sound made him remember his parents’ early love for him. They had taught him and prayed to God for his good. But he chose the wrong way. With shame and grief he dared no longer look towards that heaven where his father lives. His darkened eyes were full of tears, and with a despairing effort, he burst out a cry: “Come back, my early days! Come back!”

And his youth did return, for all this was only a dream which he had on New Year’s night. He was still young though his faults were real; he had not yet entered the deep, dark cave, and he was still free to walk on the road which leads to the peaceful and sunny land.

【日積月累】

mournful adj. 悲傷的

remorse n. 悔恨

resound v. 回響

hiss v. 嘶嘶作聲

grief n. 悲痛

【參考譯文】

這是新年之夜。一個老人站在櫥窗邊，他睜開悲傷的眼睛注視著深藍色的天空，只見繁星如同那白色的百合在清澈平靜的湖面上漂浮著。接著，他又把視線轉向地面，他看見有幾個比他更無助的人正朝著他們的目的地——墳墓——走去。他已經年過60，而他的人生經歷留給他的除了過失和悔恨以外，一無所有。而今他身體很差，精神空虛，內心悲傷，而且他的年邁急需慰藉。

年輕時候的日子仿佛夢一般在他眼前滑過，他想起了當初父親把他帶到那兩條路入口的嚴肅時刻——其中一條通往一個寧靜充滿陽光的地方，那里繁花盛開，果實累累，到處都是溫柔的甜蜜歌聲；而另一條路則通往一個深深的黑洞，沒有盡頭，沒有水，只有毒液四溢，魔鬼和毒蛇不斷挪動著發出嘶嘶的聲音。

他抬起頭看著天空痛苦地喊道：“噢，青春，回來吧！噢，父親，再把我放到那生活的入口吧，我一定選擇那條更好的路！”但是，他的父親以及他年輕時候的日子都已經逝去了。

他看到一顆流星劃過天空，消失了，這就是他的象征。悔恨像一枝利箭狠狠地刺進他的心臟。然后他想起了兒童時代的朋友，他們同他一起長大。但他們都已功成名就，在這個新年之夜享受著榮譽和快樂。

高高的教堂塔上的鐘聲響起了，這讓他想起父母當初對他的愛。他們教育他，并向上帝為他祈福。但他選擇了一條錯誤的路。羞愧和悲傷讓他不敢看父親現在身處的天堂。他暗淡的眼睛里充滿了淚水，他絕望地爆發出了一聲吶喊：“回來，我的青春！回來！”

然后他的青春真的回來了，原來這所有的一切都不過是他在新年之夜所做的一個夢。雖然他的錯誤是真的，但他依然年輕；他還沒有進入那個深深的黑洞，他也仍然可以自由踏上那條通往寧靜陽光之地的路。

【人生啟迪】

其實人生的選擇有時候并不會如同這兩條路一樣涇渭分明，讓人一眼就可以看出未來的歸宿。但無論如何，我們不會有這個人一樣的幸運，錯誤選擇帶來的悲慘命運只是一場夢，夢醒之后依舊可以重新再來。我們要做好無法挽回的心理準備，仔細考慮好之后再做決定，一旦決定了，就不要后悔。