LESSON 25 THE RIGHTEOUS NEVER FORSAKEN 公正不會缺席

1.It was Saturday night, and the widow of the Pine Cottage sat by her blazing fagots^[1], with her fi ve tattered children at her side, endeavoring by listening to the artlessness of their prattle^[2] to dissipate^[3] the heavy gloom that pressed upon her mind.For a year, her own feeble hand had provided for her helpless family, for she had no supporter: she thought of no friend in all the wide, unfriendly world around.

2.But that mysterious Providence, the wisdom of whose ways is above human comprehension, had visited her with wasting sickness, and her little means had become exhausted.It was now, too, midwinter, and the snow lay heavy and deep through all the surrounding forests, while storms still seemed gathering in the heavens, and the driving wind roared amid the neighboring pines, and rocked her puny^[4] mansion.

3.The last herring smoked upon the coals before her; it was the only article of food she possessed, and no wonder her forlorn, desolate state brought up in her lone bosom all the anxieties of a mother when she looked upon her children: and no wonder, forlorn as she was, if she suff ered the heart swellings of despair to rise, even though she knew that He, whose promise is to the widow and to the orphan, can not forget his word.

4.Providence had many years before taken from her her eldest son, who went from his forest home to try his fortune on the high seas, since which she had heard no tidings of him; and in her latter time had, by the hand of death, deprived her of the companion and staff of her earthly pilgrimage^[5], in the person of her husband.Yet to this hour she had upborne; she had not only been able to provide for her little fl ock, but had never lost an opportunity of ministering to the wants of the miserable and destitute.

5.The indolent may well bear with poverty while the ability to gain sustenance^[6] remains.The individual who has but his own wants to supply may suff er with fortitude^[7] the winter of want; his aff ections are not wounded, his heart is not wrung.The most desolate in populous cities may hope, for charity has not quite closed her hand and heart, and shut her eyes on misery.

6.But the industrious mother of helpless and depending children, far from the reach of human charity, has none of these to console her.And such a one was the widow of the Pine Cottage; but as she bent over the fi re, and took up the last scanty remnant of food to spread before her children, her spirits seemed to brighten up, as by some sudden and mysterious impulse, and Cowper’s beautiful lines came uncalled across her mind:

“Judge not the Lord by feeble sense.

But trust him for his grace;

Behind a frowning Providence

He hides a smiling face.”

7.The smoked herring was scarcely laid upon the table, when a gentle rap at the door, and the loud barking of a dog, attracted the attention of the family.The children flew to open it, and a weary traveler, in tattered garments and in apparently indiff erent^[8] health; entered, and begged a lodging and a mouthful of food.Said he: “It is now twenty-four hours since I tasted bread.” The widow’s heart bled anew, as under a fresh complication^[9] of distresses; for her sympathies^[10] lingered not around her fi reside.She hesitated not even now; rest, and a share of all she had, she proff ered^[11] to the stranger.“We shall not be forsaken,” said she, “or suff er deeper for an act of charity.”

8.The traveler drew near the board, but when he saw the scanty fare, he raised his eyes toward heaven with astonishment: “And is this all your store?” said he;“and a share of this do you off er to one you know not? then never saw I charity before! But, madam,” said he, continuing, “do you not wrong your children by giving a part of your last mouthful to a stranger?”

9.“Ah,” said the poor widow—and the tear-drops gushed into her eyes as she said it—“I have a boy, a darling son, somewhere on the face of the wide world, unless Heaven has taken him away, and I only act toward you as I would that others should act toward him.God, who sent manna^[12] from heaven, can provide for us as he did for Israel; and how should I this night offend him, if my son should be a wanderer, destitute as you, and he should have provided for him a home, even poor as this, were I to turn you unrelieved away!”

10.The widow ended, and the stranger, springing from his seat, clasped her in his arms.“God indeed has provided your son a home, and has given him wealth to reward the goodness of his benefactress: my mother! oh, my mother!” It was her long lost son, returned to her bosom from the Indies.He had chosen that disguise that he might the more completely surprise his family; and never was surprise more perfect, or followed by a sweeter cup of joy.

【中文閱讀】

1.一個周六的夜晚，松木小屋里的寡婦坐在燃燒著的柴薪旁邊，五個衣衫襤褸的孩子在她身邊嘰嘰喳喳地咿呀嬉鬧著。她聽著他們不諳人世的純真話語，心中那沉重的陰霾似乎消散了一些。這一年來，她用羸弱的雙手獨自支撐起這個貧苦無靠的家庭，求告無門。在這個偌大寒冷的世界上，她舉目無親，無所可依。

2.但是，世事難料，上帝的智慧不是人類所能理解的：她染上了慢性疾病，微薄的家產也逐漸消耗殆盡。現在正值隆冬，四周森林莽野，積雪深厚，暴風雪仍在天空中不斷聚集，隨時可能襲來，料峭的寒風在松樹林間呼嘯而過，不斷搖撼著她弱小的棚屋。

3.最后一條熏鯡魚在她面前的炭火上燎起輕煙，這是她僅剩的最后一點食物。面對著這點食物，看著身旁天真爛漫的孩子們，她孤獨的心里充滿了焦慮，那是身為母親的無助。毋庸多說，她倍感孤獨，盡管她知道，上帝曾向貧困中的孤兒寡母許下允諾，絕不會違背他的諾言，她還是感到最后的絕望仍在心中蔓延開來。

4.很多年前，上帝曾將她的長子從她身邊帶走。他走出這個林間小屋，去大海上闖蕩。從那以后，她再也沒聽到他的音訊。后來，死神最終奪去了他的丈夫——她生命旅程中的伴侶以及家庭支柱。即便那時，她仍懷有支撐下去的信念。她不但獨自養活家里嗷嗷待哺的孩子們，對于那些處境更窮困潦倒的人們，她也總是伸出援手。

5.懶惰者即使擁有維持生計的能力，仍然會一直保持貧窮。那些自身匱乏卻始終給予奉獻的人，雖然也要飽經塵世苦難，但他始終擁有愛人的能力，他的心從不曾被扭曲。在人口稠密的喧囂城市，那里的窮人也許心懷希望，因為慈善的人會向他們敞開心靈，伸出援手，那些善良的人不會對悲慘境況視若無睹。

6.然而，這個勤勞無助而依賴孩子的母親，遠離人間行善，亦未曾接受任何仁慈，以慰藉她那顆飽經滄桑的心。但是，這位松木小屋里的寡母，當她彎腰從火堆上拿起這條最后僅存的熏鯡魚，分給身旁的孩子們，她的心情似乎開朗了些許，仿佛受到某種突如其來的神秘感召，考珀優美的詩句驀然在她心頭想起：

別用你的無知來論斷神。

相信他會為你帶來恩典。

在每個困窘的處境背后，

都隱藏著上帝的笑臉。

7.烤好的熏鯡魚被一點一點地分到盤子里，放在桌上。這時，門上響起輕輕的叩門聲，狗吠也隨之響起，吸引了全家人的目光。孩子們飛奔過去打開門，一個疲憊的旅行者走進來。他衣衫襤褸，看起來倒還健康。他請求在這里住上一晚，并給他點吃的東西。他說：“我已經一天一夜沒吃過東西了。”寡母的心又再度揪痛起來，新的困厄到來更是雪上加霜；畢竟，她的同情心絕不會讓她無動于衷地坐在火堆旁。她毫不猶豫地請他住下，并向陌生人遞上了自己的那份熏鯡魚。“我們不會因為做了善事，”她說，“而被上帝拋棄，或承受更深的痛苦。”

8.旅行者走近桌子，看見桌上那一丁點兒食物，他驚訝地抬眼問道：“這就是您所有的食物？”他不可置信地說，“而您竟愿意將它分給一個陌生人？我從未見過這樣的善行！但是，夫人，”他說，“您將最后這點食物分給一個陌生人，難道不委屈您的孩子們嗎？”

9.“啊，”這個可憐的寡婦說著，淚如泉涌，“我有個兒子，他是我心愛的孩子，他活在這廣闊世界上的某個地方，除非天父將他帶走。我為你做這些事，就是指望別人也能這樣善待他。我的上帝，會從天上為我們降下救恩，正如他曾為以色列人所做的那樣。如果我的兒子也正在流浪，像你一樣窮困潦倒，我多么希望上帝也為他提供一個落腳處，哪怕像我們這間小屋一樣簡陋。如果我拒絕落難中的你，我又怎能指望別人為他做點什么！”

10.寡婦剛說完，那個陌生人“騰”地從椅子上跳起來，將她緊緊抱住，“上帝確實為你的兒子提供了住處，并賜予他財富，來回報收留他的這位善良女主人：媽媽！噢，我的媽媽！”原來，這便是她失散多年的兒子，從印度群島回到她的懷抱。他裝扮成過路人，為的是給全家人一個驚喜。再沒有比這更大的驚喜了，隨后，這個小木屋頓時變成一片歡樂的海洋。

---

【注釋】

[1] Fagots, bundles of sticks used for fuel.

[2] Prattle, trif ling talk.

[3] Dissipate, to scatter.

[4] Puny, small and weak.

[5] Pilgrimage, a journey.

[6] Sustenance, that which supports life.

[7] Fortitude, resolute endurance.

[8] Indif ferent, neither very good nor very bad.

[9] Complication, entanglement.

[10] Sympathies, compassion.

[11] Prof fered, of fered to give.

[12] Manna, food miraculously provided by God for the Israelites.