这里安息着一个快乐的人，也就是说，一个出身高贵、地位显赫的人，这对他来说可真是幸运，否则他几乎就不值得一提了。

here rests a happy man, that is to say, a man of high birth and position, which was very lucky for him, otherwise he would have been scarcely worth notice.

观察大自然是如何明智地安排这些事情是很有意思的。他穿着一件满身绣花的外套四处走动，在上流社会的客厅里，他看上去就像那些只是用来做装饰的、缀满珍珠绣花的门铃拉绳一样；而在它们后面总是挂着一根又粗又好用的绳子以备实际使用。

It is beautiful to observe how wisely nature orders these things. he walked about in a coat embroidered all over, and in the drawing-rooms of society looked just like one of those rich pearl-embroidered bell-pulls, which are only made for show; and behind them always hangs a good thick cord for use.

这个人背后也有一个强壮、能干的替身，替他干活，帮他干所有的脏活累活。而且，即使是现在，在其他那些绣花门铃绳后面也还有这些有用的绳子呢。这一切安排得如此明智，让人心情很不错。

this man also had a stout, useful substitute behind him, who did duty for him, and performed all his dirty work. And there are still, even now, these serviceable cords behind other embroidered bell-ropes. It is all so wisely arranged, that a man may well be in a good humor.

这里安息着 —— 啊，一想到他就让人觉得难过！—— 但这里安息着一个人，在六十七年的时间里，从来没人记得他说过一句中听的话；他活着只是怀着能想出一个好点子的希望。

here rests, — ah, it makes one feel mournful to think of him! — but here rests a man who, during sixty-seven years, was never remembered to have said a good thing; he lived only in the hope of having a good idea.

最后，他自己心里深信自己真的想出了一个好点子，高兴得不得了，一想到终于想出了一个点子，就高兴得一命呜呼了。可没人从中得到什么好处；实际上，甚至没人听说过那个好点子到底是什么。

At last he felt convinced, in his own mind, that he really had one, and was so delighted that he positively died of joy at the thought of having at last caught an idea. Nobody got anything by it; indeed, no one even heard what the good thing was.

现在我能想象，同样是这个念头可能会让他在坟墓里都不得安宁；因为假设为了产生好的效果，必须在早餐时说出他的新点子，而他又只能像人们普遍认为的鬼魂那样在午夜时分现身人间；那么这个好点子就不合时宜了，这个人就不得不又把它带回坟墓里去 —— 那肯定是一座不得安宁的坟墓。

Now I can imagine that this same idea may prevent him from resting quietly in his grave; for suppose that to produce a good effect, it is necessary to bring out his new idea at breakfast, and that he can only make his appearance on earth at midnight, as ghosts are believed generally to be; why then this good idea would not suit the hour, and the man would have to carry it down again with him into the grave — that must be a troubled grave.

躺在这里的这个女人极其吝啬，生前她会在夜里起来喵喵叫，好让邻居们以为她养了猫。她可真是个守财奴啊！

the woman who lies here was so remarkably stingy, that during her life she would get up in the night and mew, that her neighbors might think she kept a cat. what a miser she was!

这里安息着一位出身良好的年轻女士，她在上流社会总是要让别人听到她的声音，当她唱 “我失声了”（意大利语：mi manca la voce）这句歌词时，那是她一生中说过的唯一一句真话。

here rests a young lady, of a good family, who would always make her voice heard in society, and when she sang “mi manca la voce,” it was the only true thing she ever said in her life.

这里躺着另一种类型的少女。她曾经订过婚 —— 不过，她的故事是日常生活中常见的那种；我们还是让她在坟墓里安息吧。

here lies a maiden of another description. She was engaged to be married, — but, her story is one of every-day life; we will leave her to rest in the grave.

这里安息着一位寡妇，她嘴里说着动听的话，心里却怀着怨恨。她过去常常在附近的各家各户间走动，挑出他们的毛病，然后带着她天性中的所有嫉妒和恶意去攻击人家。

here rests a widow, who, with music in her tongue, carried gall in her heart. She used to go round among the families near, and search out their faults, upon which she preyed with all the envy and malice of her nature.

这是一座家族墓地。这个家族的成员们在观点上紧紧抱成一团，以至于他们不相信其他任何观点。

this is a family grave. the members of this family held so firmly together in their opinions, that they would believe in no other.

如果报纸，甚至是全世界，对某个问题都说：“事情就是如此这般”；而一个小学生宣称他所学的完全不同，他们就会把他的说法当作唯一正确的，因为他属于这个家族。

If the newspapers, or even the whole world, said of a certain subject, “It is so-and-so;” and a little schoolboy declared he had learned quite differently, they would take his assertion as the only true one, because he belonged to the family.

而且众所周知，如果这个家族的院子里的公鸡碰巧在午夜打鸣，他们就会宣称已经是早晨了，尽管守夜人和城里所有的钟表都在报时说是夜里十二点。

And it is well known that if the yard-cock belonging to this family happened to crow at midnight, they would declare it was morning, although the watchman and all the clocks in the town were proclaiming the hour of twelve at night.

伟大的诗人歌德在他的《浮士德》结尾处写着：“（故事）有待续写”；我们在教堂墓地的漫步也可以这样续写下去。

the great poet Goethe concludes his Faust with the words, “may be continued;” so might our wanderings in the churchyard be continued.

我经常来这里，如果我的任何朋友，或者那些不是我朋友的人让我太受不了了，我就会出去选一块地把他或她 “埋葬” 在那里。

I e here often, and if any of my friends, or those who are not my friends, are too much for me, I go out and choose a plot of ground in which to bury him or her.

然后可以说我就把他们 “埋葬” 了；他们就躺在那里，死了且无能为力，直到他们以全新的、更好的品性归来。

then I bury them, as it were; there they lie, dead and powerless, until they e back new and better characters.

他们的生活和行为，按照我自己的方式去看待，我会写在我的日记里，每个人都应该这么做。

their lives and their deeds, looked at after my own fashion, I write down in my diary, as every one ought to do.

然后，如果我们的任何朋友行为荒唐，谁也不必为此烦恼。让他们把冒犯者 “埋葬” 得看不见，并且保持好心情。

then, if any of our friends act absurdly, no one need to be vexed about it. Let them bury the offenders out of sight, and keep their good temper.

他们也可以读《信使报》，这是一份由人们撰写的报纸，（仿佛）是在众人引导下写成的。

they can also read the Intelligencer, which is a paper written by the people, with their hands guided.

当我生命的历史到了该被坟墓束缚的时候，他们就会把这句话作为我的墓志铭写在上面 ——

“when the time es for the history of my life, to be met by the grave, then they will write upon it as my epitaph —

“那个有着开朗性情的人。”

“the man with a cheerful temper.”

这就是我的故事。

And this is my story.

“我想要一种声音”，或者 “我没有声音”。

“I want a voice,” or, “I have no voice.”