“你们的父母没有尽心让你们好好读书。他们宁愿把你们打发到田里或纱厂里去干活，为的是多挣几个钱。我自己呢，难道我一点也没有应该责备自己的地方吗？我不也是经常让你们到我的花园浇水以此代替学习吗？当我想钓鳟鱼的时候，我不是随随便便就给你们放假吗？”

　　Then， passing from one thing to another， Monsieur Hamel began to talk to us about the French language， saying that it was the most beautiful language in the world， the most clear， the most substantial； that we must always retain it among ourselves， and never forget it， because when a people falls into servitude， “so long as it clings to its language， it is as if it held the key to its prison.”  Then he took the grammer and read us our lesson. I was amazed to see how readily I understood. Everything that he said seemed so easy to me， so easy. I believed， too， that I had never listened so closely， and that he， for his part， had never been so patient with his explanations. One would have said that， before going away， the poor man desired to give us all his knowledge， to force it all into our heads at a single blow.

　　阿麦尔先生从一件事谈到另一件事，然后开始给我们讲法语，他说，法语是世界上最优美的语言，是最清晰的语言，最严谨的语言，我们应该掌握它，永远也不要忘记，因为，当一个民族沦为奴隶时，只要它好好地保存自己的语言，就好像掌握了打开监牢的钥匙……然后，他拿了一本语法书，我们开始朗诵课文。令我吃惊的是，我竟理解得这么透彻。他所讲的一切对我都显得很容易，很容易。我同样觉得，我还从来没有这么认真听讲过，他也从来没有这样耐心讲解过。这个可怜的人，仿佛想在离开这里以前，把他全部的知识都灌输给我们，让我们一下子掌握这些知识。

　　When the lesson was at an end， we passed to writing. For that day Monsieur Hamel had prepared some entirely new examples， on which was written in a fine， round hand： “France， Alsace， France， Alsace.” They were like little flags， waving all about the class， hanging from the rods of our desks. You should have seen how hard we all worked and how silent it was！ Nothing could be heard save the grinding of the pens over the paper. At one time some cock-chafers flew in； but no one paid any attention to them， not even the little fellows who were struggling with their straight lines， with a will and conscientious application， as if even the lines were French. On the roof of the schoolhouse， pigeons cooed in low tones， and I said to myself as I listened to them：

　　“I wonder if they are going to compel them to sing in German too！”

　　课文讲解完了，我们开始练习写字。这一天，阿麦尔先生为我们准备了许多崭新的字卡样，上面用美丽的圆体字写着：法兰西，阿尔萨斯，法兰西，阿尔萨斯。这些字帖卡片悬挂在我们课桌的金属杆上，就像许多小旗在教室里飘扬。该知道每个人都是那样聚精会神，教室里是那样寂静无声！只听得见笔尖在纸上的沙沙声。有一回，几只金龟子跑进了教室，但是谁也不去注意它们，连年龄最小的也不例外，他们正专心致志地练直杠笔划，仿佛这些笔划也是法语……学校的屋顶上，鸽子低声地咕咕地叫着，我一边听，一边寻思：“他们该不会强迫这些鸽子用德语唱歌吧？”

　　From time to time， when I raised my eyes from my paper. I saw Monsieur Hamel sitting motionless in his chair and staring at the objects about him as if he wished to carry away in his glance the whole of his little schoolhouse. Think of it！ For forty years he had been there in the same place， with his yard in front of him and his class just as it was！ But the benches and desks were polished and rubbed by use； the walnuts in the yard had grown， and the hop-vine which he himself had planted now festooned the windows even to the roof. What a heart-rending thing it must have been for that poor man to leave all those things， and to hear his sister walking back and forth in the room overhead， packing their trunks！ For they were to go away the next day—to leave the province forever.