The Land Where There Were No Old Men
没有老人的国度
    In a country which must certainly have been a long way away from where we Rumanians live, all the young people decided to kill all the old people. It's an old, old story ... What was the use of their going on living with their white beards and all? They'd lived their life, they'd had their time and that was that.
    有一个国家，那儿离我们罗马尼亚人居住的地方非常遥远，那里所有年轻人决定杀死所有的老年人。这是一个古老的故事，这些老人的胡子都白了，活着还有什么意义呢？他们已经活了一辈子，他们的日子也已经到头了，就这样吧。


    What are you saying? That they are the only ones who can give people advice and encouragement? That they've got a head on their shoulders and brains under their caps?
    你说什么？只有他们才能够给我们建议和鼓励？他们有见识有智慧？


    But the king was young too, so giving the order didn't bother him. Anyone who reached the age of fifty or a bit over -- he was to be done away with.
    但是国王也很年轻，下达这个命令对他而言不是见让人犯难的事。任何50或50岁以上的老人要被杀死。
    Lots of wise old men were killed and lots of wisdom passed away with them.
    很多有智慧老人都被杀死了， 大量的智慧和财富也随着他们消失了。


   Only one kind-hearted young man, so they say, took pity on his father; after all, he owed his life to him in the first place. So he hid him away in a cellar and took care of him.
    据说，只有一位好心人很同情他的父亲，毕竟， 首先父亲赋予了他生命。于是他把父亲藏在地下室，精心照料着。

    Time passed and a terrible drought came. Meadows and ploughlands shrivelled and withered and all the springs dried up. There was a terrible famine, and sickness and all kinds of troubles came upon the young people thick and fast, and their hair began to go white before its time.
    时光流逝，他们遭遇到了一场大旱。牧场和耕地全部枯死了，河流泉水也全部干涸了。饥荒，疾病，各种各样的困难一起袭来，年轻人过早的长出了白发。


    They would have put up with everything as best they could, but more and worse troubles followed. The snow melted and spring was upon them without their having a single grain of seed to put in the ground.
    他们本可以努力忍受这一切的， 但更大更多的麻烦接踵而来。冬雪融化，春天来了，但是人们没有一粒谷物播种。


    They scraped the floors of all the barns that used to be stacked so high they could hardly hold all the grain. All the king's councillors held long talks with the king but there was nothing they could do to get themselves out of their terrible trouble. They couldn't borrow money from anywhere because their neighbours were all on bad terms with them. From bishop to farm worker the whole people were overcome with horror and fear at the thought that spring had come and there was nothing to sow their fields with.
    他们找遍了曾经堆满了谷物的谷仓，国王大臣们一次又一次的开会，但他们对如何摆脱困境依然束手无策。由于和邻国关系紧张，他们也无法借到钱。全国人民，大到主教，小到农民，一想到春天来了，而他们无种下地就充满了紧张和恐惧。


   The old man hidden in the cellar could see that his son was going about looking miserable all the time. One day he asked him: "What's making you look so thoughtful, my boy? Has anyone done you any harm? Are you in trouble? Tell your father all about it. He may be able to help you, even if it's only with words."
    藏身地窖的老人看出了儿子的紧张和恐惧。一天老人问他：“孩子，你到底在想什么？”“是不是有人伤害了你？”“你遇到困难了吗？告诉父亲，我或许能帮助你，即使只是一些建议。”


    The son told him all the troubles straight away, from beginning to end. The old man thought for a little and then he said: "Don't tell anybody anything for the time being. But when the last patches of snow melt on the fields, take your plough and go and plough up the lane in front of your house. Rake it over after that and ...stop worrying."
    老人的儿子立刻告诉了父亲整个事情的来龙去脉。老人想了一会儿，然后说： “暂时先别告诉任何人这件事，等到地里最后一片冰雪消融时，带上犁，把门前的小路犁了，在用耙子把它整平，别担心。”


    The boy followed the advice the old man had given him and what did he see? There came a quick spring rain and out of the ground there began to sprout wheat and maize, oats and barley and even beans and peas in some places.
    年轻人采纳了老人的建议。他看见了什么？一场及时的春雨后，小麦，玉米，燕麦，大麦，甚至在有些地方豆子，豌豆都已经开始发芽，破土而出了。


    Of course the king got to hear of it too. He quickly ordered the lad to be brought before him. So he presented himself and course he was now considered to be the wisest of the wise. "What did you do? How did you do it? Who told you what to do?" The king started asking him questions at once. All these questions eon/used the boy and he was afraid so he didn't tell him the true answer straight off. But in the end he admitted what had happened.
    后来国王当然也听到了这一消息。他马上派人将那少年带到了王宫。这少年被看作是智者中的智者。“你做了什么？“你是怎么做的？谁告诉你这样做的？”国王立刻开始问他问题。所有这些问题使着年轻人左右为难。他由于害怕没有把真相说出来。但到最后他还是以实相告。


   "Bring me your father here," the king Ordered. So the old man was brought along too. "What made you think there would be seeds in the roadway?" "Well, your Majesty, just think how many drop on the ground when people carry them home on their carts.
“把你父亲带到这来。”国王命令道。于是老人也被带来了。“是什么是你认为路边会有种子呢？”“噢，陛下，想一想人们在将收获的谷物运回家时地上会撒掉多少吧。”


   The old fellow was given a royal reward; he had saved the life of the whole nation and so the boy was pardoned too for not killing him.
    老人受到了皇室奖赏。他救了整个国家人民的生命，他儿子也没因没杀他而获罪。
   And even since then, my friends, they haven't killed the old men any more.
    从那以后，朋友们，他们在也没有杀过一个老人。


OVER~