and I said, “Why are you here?”
And he looked at me in astonishment, and he said, “It is an unseemly question, yet I will answer you. My father would make of me a reproduction of himself, so also would my uncle. My mother would have me the image of her farmous father, and my sister regards her seafaring husband as the perfect example for me to follow. My brother thinks I should be like him, a fine athlete. “And my teachers also, the doctor of philosophy, and the music-master, and the logician, they too were determined, and each would have me but a reflection of his own face in a mirror.
“Therefore I came to this place. I find it more sane here. At least, I can be myself.”
Then of a sudden he turned to me and he said,“But tell me, were you also driven to this place by education and good counsel?”
And I answered,“No, I am a visitor.”
And he answered,“Oh, you are one of those who live in the madhouse on the other side of the wall.”
青 蛙
盛夏之日，一只蛙对他的伴侣说：“恐怕我们的晚歌打扰了岸上房里的人。”
他的妻子回答道：“可是，他们白日里的谈话不也搅扰了我们的清修吗?”
雄蛙说：“别忘了我们晚上可能唱得太多了。”
雌蛙回答道：“别忘了，白日里他们很多时候也喋喋不休，大喊大叫。”
雄蛙说：“牛蛙用他那上帝禁止的轰鸣吵得街坊邻居不得安宁，你觉得如何呢?”
他的妻子又说了：“是，可那些来这岸边的政治家、神父和科学家们，搞得到处都喧嚣嘈杂，你又怎么说啊?”
流浪者 第四章（2）
雄蛙说：“那么，让我们做得比那些人类还好吧。我们晚上就安静地待着，把那些歌都藏在心里，即使月亮需要我们的旋律，星辰需要我们的韵律。至少让我们安静一两个晚上吧，甚至三个晚上。”
他的妻子说：“好吧，我同意。让我们看看你的宽宏大量能产生什么结果。”
那天晚上，群蛙们安静了，第二天晚上也很安静，接着第三天晚上也没动静。
说来也奇怪，湖边住着的一个多嘴多舌的女人，第三天起来吃早饭时，对她的丈夫吼道：“这三天我都没睡着觉。有蛙在耳边吵时我睡得很安稳。一定出什么事了，蛙们已经有三天没唱了，我都快被失眠折腾疯了。”
听了这些，雄蛙转过头，对他的妻子眨了眨眼睛，说：“我们也几乎被自己的寂静逼疯了，不是吗？”
他的妻子回答说：“是的，暗夜的寂静太沉重了。现在我明白了，我们根本就没有必要为了别人的安宁舒适而停止歌唱，他们非得要用喧嚣来填充他们的空虚。”
那天夜里，月亮就不是白白为青蛙的旋律而等待了，繁星就不是白白地为青蛙的韵律而等待了。
The Frogs
Upon a summer day a frog said to his mate, “I fear those people living in that house on the shore are disturbed by our night-songs.”
And his mate answered and said, “Well, do they not annoy our silence during the day with their talking?”
The frog said,“Let us not forget that we may sing too much in the night.”
And his mate answered, “Let us not forget that they chatter and shout overmuch during the day.”
Said the frog,“How about the bullfrog who disturbs the whole neighborhood with his God-forbidden booming?”
And his mate replied,“Aye, and what say you of the politician and the priest and the scientist who come to these shores and fill the air with noisy and rhymeless sound?”
Then the frog said,“Well, let us be better than these human beings. Let us be quiet at night, and keep our songs in our hearts, even though the moon calls for our rhythm and the stars for our rhyme. At least, let us be silent for a night or two, or even for three nights.”
And his mate said,“Very well, I agree. We shall see what your bountiful heart will bring forth.”
That night the frogs were silent, and they were silent the following night also, and again upon the third night.
And strange to relate, the talkative woman who lived in the house beside the lake came down to breakfast on that third day and shouted to her husband, “I have not slept these three nights. I was secure with sleep when the noise of the frogs was in my ear. But something must have happened. They have not sung now for three nights, and I am almost maddened with sleeplessness.”
The frog heard this and turned to his mate and said, winking his eye,“And we were almost maddened with our silence, were we not?”*本*作*品*由**網*友*整*理*上*傳*
And his mate answered,“Yes, the silence of the night was heavy upon us. And I can see now that there is no need for us to cease our singing for the comfort of those who must needs fill their emptiness with noise.”
And that night the moon called not in vain for their rhythm nor the stars for their rhythm.
流浪者 第四章（3）
法律和立法
很多年前，有一位伟大的国王，他非常英明。他想给他的臣民制定法律。他从一千个不同的部落里挑出一千位智者，把他们召到国会来制定法律。
一切都照办了。
这一千条法律写在羊皮纸上，呈到了国王面前。他审阅之后，却不无辛酸地哭了，因为他以前不知道在他的国家有一千种罪行。
然后他召来书吏，嘴边挂着微笑，口述了律令。而他只列了七条。
这一千位智者生气地离去了，带着他们自己制定的法律回到了自己的部落。每个部落都遵守着自己的智者制定的法律。
因此，直到今天，他们也还有一千条律令。
那是一个大国，但它有一千个监狱，监狱里人满为患，都是触犯这一千条律令的男男女女。
那确实是一个大国，而其子民是这一千条律令的制定者和一位英明的国王的后裔。
Laws and Law-giv