i was very late for school that morning， and i was terribly afraid of being scolded[责骂]， especially as monsieur[法语：先生] hamel had told us that he should examine us on participles[分词]， and i did not know the first thing about them. for a moment i thought of staying away from school and wandering about the fields. it was such a warm， lovely day. i could hear the blackbirds whistling on the edge of the wood， and in the rippert field， behind the sawmill[锯木厂]， the prussians going through their drill. all that was much more tempting to me than the rules concerning participles; but i had the strength to resist， and i ran as fast as i could to school.

　　那天早晨，我去上学，去得非常晚，我好害怕被责骂，特别是，阿麦尔先生跟我们说过，他要考一考分词规则，而我连头一个字都不会。这时，在我的头脑里冒出了逃学、去田野跑一跑的念头。天气是那么暖和，那么晴朗!我听见乌鸦在小树林边鸣叫，普鲁士人正在锯木厂后面的里贝尔草地上操练。所有这一切都比分词规则更吸引我，但我还是顶住了诱惑，加快脚步向学校方向跑去。

　　as i passed the mayor’s office， i saw that there were people gathered about the little board on which notices were posted. for two years all our bad news had come from that board—battles lost， conscriptions[征兵]， orders from headquarters; and i thought without stopping：

　　“what can it be now?”

　　从村政府门前经过的时候，我看见许多人站在小布告栏前。这两年来，所有的坏消息，诸如吃败仗啦，征兵征物啦，还有普鲁士占领军司令部发布的命令啦，都是从那里来的。我边跑边想：“又有什么事吗?”

　　then， as i ran across the square， wachter the blacksmith， who stood there with his apprentice[学徒]， reading the placard[布告]， called out to me：

　　“don’t hurry so， my boy; you’ll get to your school soon enough!”

　　i thought that he was making fun of me， and i ran into monsieur hamel’s little yard all out of breath.

　　当我跑着穿过广场的时候，正在布告栏前和徒弟一起看布告的瓦克特尔铁匠朝我高喊：“小家伙，不用赶得那么急;你去得再晚也不会迟到的!”我以为他在跟我开玩笑，便上气不接下气地跑进阿麦尔先生的小教室。

　　usually， at the beginning of school， there was a great uproar[喧嚣] which could be heard in the street， desks opening and closing， lessons repeated aloud in unison[一致]， with our ears stuffed in order to learn quicker， and the teacher’s stout ruler beating on the desk：