《最不可思议的事》，1870 年
the most Incredible thing, 1870
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首先发表于美国的《河滨青少年杂志》，《最惊人的事》被安徒生认为是他最好的故事之一。
First published in the United States in the Riverside magazine for Young people, “the most Astonishing thing” was considered by Andersen to be one of his best stories.
这是他晚年所写的一个故事，对于一本儿童杂志来说它不太合适，因为在这个故事里安徒生总结了艺术的精髓。
A tale written near the end of his life, it is an unlikely candidate for a children’s magazine, for in it Andersen summed up the essence of art.
作为 “最惊人的事” 的时钟代表了暂时性和超越性。
the clock that serves as “the most astonishing thing” represents both temporality and transcendence.
它计时，但它也是一件艺术品，不惧毁坏，即使被砸成碎片也能复活。
It keeps time, but it is also an objet d’art that resists destruction, ing back to life even after it has been smashed to bits.
它包含了圣经元素和神话元素、季节和感官、视觉和听觉、肉体和精神。
It houses the biblical and the mythical, the seasons and the senses, the visual and the acoustical, the carnal and the spiritual.
安徒生在艺术中所期望的一切都包含在那个令所有人惊叹的非凡时钟里。
Everything that Andersen wanted in art is housed in that extraordinary clock that astonishes everyone.
对安徒生来说，令人惊叹的艺术可不是小事。
the art of astonishment was no small matter to Andersen.
值得一提的是，这个故事中举办的比赛的获胜者是一个创造出一个物体的人，这个物体之所以令人震惊正是因为它呈现出生命的表象。
It is telling that the winner of the contest staged in this story is a man who creates an object that shocks precisely because it provides the semblance of life.
这个谦逊的工匠制作的时钟不仅仅是一个机械物件 —— 它充满生命活力并且抓住了所有看到它的人的想象力。
the modest craftsman makes a clock that is more than a mechanical thing—it pulses with life and captures the imagination of all who see it.
他制作的作品将世俗与神圣、异教与基督教融合在一起：它把先知和智者、僧侣和缪斯聚集在一起。
the work he produces mingles the secular with the sacred and the pagan with the christian: it brings together prophets and wise men, monks and muses.
最重要的是，它成为了第二次创造，一个有自己生命甚至某种程度上不朽的作品。
Above all, it bees a second creation, a work with a life of its own and even a degree of immortality.
时钟以及里面的人物，就像安徒生同名故事中的普绪克雕像一样，不惧毁灭，以人类无法做到的方式长存。在这里，如同在其他故事中一样，美超越了腐朽与毁灭。
the clock and the figures in it, like the statue of psyche in Andersen’s story of that name, defy destruction and live on in a way that humans cannot. here, as in other tales, beauty transcends decay and destruction.
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任何人只要能做出最不可思议的事，就能娶到公主并得到半个王国。
whosoever could do the most incredible thing was to have the King’s daughter and half of his kingdom.
年轻人，是的，还有老年人，都绞尽脑汁、竭尽全力想要获胜。
the young men, yes, and the old ones too, bent their heads, their muscles, and their hearts upon winning.
为了做出他们认为最不可思议的事，两个人把自己撑死了，还有一个人酗酒而死。
to do what they thought was the most incredible thing, two ate themselves to death, and one died of overdrinking.
甚至街上的男孩们都练习往自己背上吐痰，他们认为这是任何人能做的最不可思议的事。
Even the boys in the street practiced spitting on their own backs, which they supposed was the most incredible thing anyone could do.
在某一天，要举办一场最不可思议事物的展览，每个人都展示自己最棒的作品。评委被选定了，从三岁的孩子到九十岁的老人都有。
on a certain day there was to be an exhibition of things most incredible and everyone showed his best work. Judges were appointed, ranging from children of three to old men of ninety.
这是一场非凡事物的盛大展览，但每个人都立刻一致认为最不可思议的是一个大厅时钟 —— 一个从内到外都不同寻常的奇妙装置。
It was a grand exposition of things out of the ordinary, but everybody promptly agreed that most incredible of all was a great hall clock - an extraordinary contraption, outside and in.
当时钟敲响时，栩栩如生的人物就会出来报时。
when the clock struck, out came lifelike figures to tell the hour.
这些活动人偶有十二场不同的表演，有说有唱。人们说以前从未见过如此不可思议的东西。
there were twelve separate performances of these moving figures, with speaking and singing. people said that nothing so incredible had ever before been seen.
时钟敲响一下，摩西站在山上，正在石板上书写第一条伟大的戒律：“只有一位真神。” 时钟敲响两下，亚当和夏娃出现了，就像他们最初在伊甸园相遇时一样。
the clock struck one, and there stood moses on the mountain, writing in the tablets of the law the first great mandment: “there is only one true God.” the clock struck two, and there were Adam and Eve, just as they first met in the Garden of Eden.
哪有两个人如此幸运呢！他们连个衣柜都没有，而且也不需要。时钟敲响三下时，三位圣君出现了。
were ever two people so lucky! they didn’t own so much as a clothes - closet, and they didn’t need one. At the stroke of three the three holy Kings appeared.
其中一位黑得像煤炭，但他也没办法。是太阳把他晒黑的。
one was as black as a coal, but he couldn’t help that. the sun had blackened him.
这些君王带来了香料和珍贵的礼物。当钟声敲响四下时，四季依次出现。
these kings brought incense and precious gifts. when the stroke of four sounded, the seasons advanced in their order.
春天拿着一根发芽的山毛榉树枝，树枝上有一只布谷鸟在歌唱。
Spring carried a budding bough of beech, on which a cuckoo sang.
夏天的标志是一只站在成熟麦穗上的蚱蜢。秋天只有一个空的鹳巢，因为鸟儿都飞走了。
Summer had for her sign a grasshopper on a ripening ear of wheat. Autumn had only an empty stork’s nest, for the birds had flown away.
冬天温顺的乌鸦栖息在火炉的角落，讲述着往昔的古老故事。
winter’s tame crow perched on the corner of the stove, and told old tales of bygone days.
五点钟的时候，五官列队走过。视觉由一个制作眼镜的人代表。听觉是一个喧闹的铜匠。
At five o’clock there was a procession of the five senses. Sight was represented by a man who made spectacles. hearing was a noisy coppersmith.
嗅觉是一个卖紫罗兰的卖花女。味觉打扮成厨师的模样。触觉是一个哀悼者，黑纱一直垂到脚跟。
Smell was a flower girl with violets for sale. taste came dressed as a cook. Feeling was a mourner, with crape down to his heels.
时钟敲响六下时，有一个赌徒坐在那里，掷出最大的点数，结果骰子朝上的面都是六点。
As the clock struck six, there sat a gambler, throwing dice for the highest cast of all, and they fell with the sixes up.
然后是一周的七天出现了，或者也可能是七宗罪。
then came the seven days of the week, or they might be the seven deadly sins.
人们无法确定它们到底是什么，因为它们不容易区分。接着来了一群僧侣唱诗班，来唱八点钟的晚祷歌。
people could not be sure which they were, for they were not easy to distinguish. Next came a choir of monks, to sing the eight o’clock evensong.
时钟敲响九下时，九位缪斯女神出现了。一位是天文学家，一位记录历史典籍，其他的与戏剧有关。
At the stroke of nine, the nine muses appeared. one was an astronomer, one kept the books of history, and the others were connected with the theater.
十点钟敲响了，摩西再次出现，这次他带着刻有上帝全部十条戒律的石板。