“Yes, then,” you say; “but in our own days?”

我们看到一只又一只天鹅展开壮丽的飞翔翱翔而过。

we have seen swan after swan soar by in glorious flight.

有一只天鹅让它的羽翼在金色竖琴的琴弦上滑过，琴音在北方大地回响。

one let his pinions glide over the strings of the golden harp, and it resounded through the North.

挪威的山峦在往昔的阳光照耀下似乎显得更高了；松树和白桦林间沙沙作响；北方的众神、英雄和高贵的女子们在黑暗的森林深处现身。

Norway’s mountains seemed to rise higher in the sunlight of former days; there was a rustling among the pine trees and the birches; the gods of the North, the heroes, and the noble women, showed themselves in the dark forest depths.

我们看到一只天鹅用翅膀拍打大理石峭壁，以至于峭壁崩裂，被禁锢在石头里的美丽形体迈步走到阳光之下，周围各地的人们都抬起头来瞻仰这些雄伟的形体。

we have seen a swan beat with his wings upon the marble crag, so that it burst, and the forms of beauty imprisoned in the stone stepped out to the sunny day, and men in the lands round about lifted up their heads to behold these mighty forms.

我们看到第三只天鹅在编织着连接世界各国的思想之线，这样话语就能以闪电般的速度在各国之间传递。

we have seen a third swan spinning the thread of thought that is fastened from country to country round the world, so that the word may fly with lightning speed from land to land.

我们的主喜爱波罗的海和北海之间的那个古老的天鹅巢。

And our Lord loves the old swan’s nest between the baltic and the North Sea.

当那些强大的鸟儿振翅高飞想要摧毁它时，即使是羽翼未丰的幼鸟也会在巢边围成一圈，尽管它们的胸脯可能会被击中，鲜血直流，但它们会忍受着，并用翅膀和爪子进行回击。

And when the mighty birds e soaring through the air to destroy it, even the callow young stand round in a circle on the margin of the nest, and though their breasts may be struck so that their blood flows, they bear it, and strike with their wings and their claws.

几个世纪将会过去，天鹅会从巢中飞出，人们会在世间看到它们、听到它们的声音，在人们能从内心深处、真心实意地说出 “这是最后一只天鹅 —— 来自天鹅巢的最后一首歌” 之前，还需要经历漫长的时间。

centuries will pass by, swans will fly forth from the nest, men will see them and hear them in the world, before it shall be said in spirit and in truth, “this is the last swan — the last song from the swan’s nest.”