ybhxz 的个人博客

After the First World War, a small group of veterans(老兵) returned to their village in France. Most of them managed to get along quite well, but one—Francois Lebeau, who had been gassed and never recovered his strength—was unable to work regularly. In time he became poverty-stricken. Yet he was too proud to accept charity from the people in the village.

Once each year the veterans held a reunion dinner. On one of these occasions they met in the home of Jules Grandin, who had made a good deal of money and had grown fat and pompous. Grandin produced a curiosity—a large coin on whose age, rarity and value he dwelt at some length. Each man examined it with interest as it passed around the long table. All, however, had drunk wine freely and the room was resounded with noisy talk, so that the gold piece was soon forgotten. Later, when Grandin remembered it and asked for it, the coin was missing.

   Instantly there arose a hubbub(喧嚷) of questions and denials. Finally the village attorney(律师) suggested everyone be searched, to which all agreed—except Lebeau. His companions looked at him with surprise.

   “You refuse, then?” asked Grandin.

   Lebeau flushed. “Yes,” he said. “I cant allow it.”

   “Do you realize,” asked the owner of the gold piece, “What you refusal implies?”

   “I did not steal the gold piece, and I will not submit to such a search,” Lebeau answered.

   One be one, the rest of the group turned out their pockets. When the coin failed to appear, attention was focused once more on poor Lebeau.

   “Surely you will not persist in your refusal?” the attorney demanded. Lebeau made no reply. Grandin stalked out of the room in anger. No one addressed another word to Lebeau and, amid the pitying stares of his friends, he walked out with the hangdog(自觉有罪的) air of a prisoner and returned to his home.

   From that day, Lebeau was a disgraced man. People averted(转移) their eyes when they met him. He grew poorer, and when his wife died not long afterward no one knew whether it was from want or shame.

   A few years later, when the incident had become almost legendary, Grandin made some alterations in his house. A workman found the gold coin, buried in dirt between planks(地板木条) of the floor in the room where the reunion had been held.

   Pompous though he was, Grandin was a just man and now that he had proof that Lebeau wan innocent he was quick to make amends(赔罪). Hurrying to Lebeau’s humble house, he told him of the amazing discovery of the coin and apologized for having suspected him.

   “But,” he said, “you knew that the gold piece was not on your person—why did you not allow yourself to be searched?”

   Lebeau, shabby, old before his time, looked at Grandin blankly. “Because I was a thief,”he said brokenly. “For weeks my family and I had not had enough to eat—and my pockets were full of food that I had taken from the table to carry home to my wife and hungry children.”

     第一次世界大战结束后，一小批老兵回到了法莫道不消魂国的家乡。他们大多数人都过得很好，但有一个名叫弗朗索瓦·勒博的，因在战争中受到毒气伤害，体力一直未能恢复，无法正常工作。最后他终于沦至赤贫的地步。但他自尊心很强，不愿接受村民的施舍。

    这些老兵每年都要举行一次重逢聚餐会。有一次聚餐时，他们相聚在于连·格朗丹的家中；此人已赚了大钱，身体发胖，人也变得傲慢自负了。他拿出一件古董 ? 一枚金币，并就金币的年代、珍贵之处，侃侃细说了一遍。金币沿餐桌一一传递过去，人人都兴致勃勃地细看玩味一番。然而，当时大家都在开怀畅饮，屋子里谈话声一片嘈杂，不多一会儿金币就被人丢置脑后。等后来格朗丹记起金币想收回时，金币已没了踪影。

    屋子里顿时出现一阵骚动，询问、否认之声四起。最后村里的律师建议挨个儿进行搜身。大家都表示同意，唯独勒博除外。伙伴们惊讶地看着他。

    “这么说。你拒绝搜身喽？”格朗丹问。

    勒博涨红了脸。“是的，”他说，“我不允许别人对我搜身。”

    “你知道你的拒绝意味着什么吗？”金币的主人问道。

    “我没有偷金币，我也不能让你们搜身，”勒博回答说。

    其他人一个挨一个把口袋掏翻出来。金币还是没出现，这一来众人的注意力再次集中到可怜的勒博身上。

    “你肯定不会再执意拒绝搜身吧?”律师问。勒博没有回答。格朗丹盛怒之下大步走出了屋子。谁也不再跟勒博讲话，于是在朋友们怜悯的目光下，他带着羞愧畏缩的神态，像个囚犯似的走了出去，回到自己家中。

    从此以后，勒博就成了个体面丧尽的人。大伙儿一见到他就赶紧掉过脸，不看他。他越来越穷了；此后不久他妻子去世时，竟无人知道也无人关心她是死于贫困还是死于羞愧。

    几年之后，这件事几乎已成了尽人皆知的丑闻。这时格朗丹对房子进行装修。有个工人在当年聚会的那个房间里的地板木条缝里，发现了那枚尘封的金币。

    格朗丹尽管傲慢，却是个正直的人。既然他已有证据说明勒博是无辜的，他便急于要去赔罪。他匆匆赶到勒博那个破败寒碜的住所，把意外发现金币的经过告诉他，并对当初怀疑他的做法表示歉意。

    “可是，”他最后说，“你明知道金币不在你身上，为什么就是不让搜身呢?”

    衣衫褴褛、过早衰老的勒博，漠然地看着格朗丹。“因为我的确是个小偷，”他结结巴巴地说，“当时我家一连好几个星期没有足够的食物填饱肚子 ? 我的口袋里塞满了食物，全是我从餐桌上拿的，准备带回家给我那老婆和饥肠辘辘的孩子们。”