In a wooded area next to the road, there is a lonely farmstead. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoPeople can walk along the road all the way into the big yard of this farmhouse. The sun is shining here; All the windows are open. Inside the house is the sound of a busy one; But in the courtyard, under a gazebo of lilacs full of flowers, an open coffin rested. A dead man was already lying in it, and he was to be buried that morning. There was not a single person mourning the deceased by the coffin; No one shed a single tear for him. His face was covered with a white cloth, and under his head was a large thick book. The pages are made up of a single sheet of gray paper; On each page is a forgotten wilted flower. This is a complete herbarium that was collected in many different places. It was to be buried with the deceased, because it was his will. Each flower is linked to a chapter of his life.

Who is the deceased? We asked. The answer is: he is an old student of Ubsala (Note: Ubsala is an old university in Sweden. There are often students here who have not yet graduated. ）。 People say: he was once a lively young man; He knew ancient literature, he could sing, and he even wrote poetry. But because he had been in some kind of accident, he immersed his mind and his life in soju. When his health was finally ruined by the wine, he moved to the countryside. Others provided him with food and lodging. As long as gloomy emotions do not strike him, he is as pure as a child, for then he becomes very lively, running around the forest like a stag being chased. But as soon as we call him home and show him this book full of dried plants, he can sit all day and look at this plant and that plant for a while. Sometimes his tears rolled down his face: only God knows what he was thinking! But he asked for the book to be put in his coffin. So now it's lying there. In a few moments the lid of the coffin will be nailed shut, then he will have his rest in the grave.

His veil was lifted. There was a peaceful expression on the dead man's face. A ray of sunlight shone on it. A swallow flew into the pavilion like an arrow, and quickly turned around, and muttered a few times over the dead man's head.

We all know what a strange feeling we would have if we read the old letters of our youth! The whole life and the hopes and sorrows of this life will come to mind. How many of the people we were so close to at that time are dead now! Yet they are still alive, but we haven't thought of them for a long time. At that time, we thought that we would always live intimately with them, and we would share the joys and sorrows with them.

In this book there is a withered oak leaf. It reminds the owner of the book of an old friend, an old classmate, a lifelong friend. He put the leaf in a green grove and put it on his student hat, and from then on he became lifelong friends. Where does he live now? This leaf has been preserved, but the friendship has been forgotten!

There is an exotic plant grown in a greenhouse; It is too delicate for a garden in the Northland; Its leaves still seem to retain its aroma. It was plucked by a lady from a noble garden and given to him.

There's a water lily here. He plucked it with his own hands and moistened it with his salty tears over the water lily that grew in the sweet water.

There's a nettle here, and what does its leaf mean? What was on his mind when he picked it up and kept it?

Here there is a lily of the valley flower that lives in the forest; Here is a honeysuckle plucked from a hotel pot; There's a spiky blade of grass here!

The lilac full of flowers gently drooped its fresh, fragrant clusters over the deceased's head. The swallow flew over again. Haw! Haw! Then people came with nails and hammers. The coffin was draped over the deceased, and his head was laid to rest in this silent book. Buried and forgotten!

(1851)

This is a prose poem that is included in the 18th chapter of Hans Christian Andersen's travelogue In Sweden, published in 1851. This silent book actually says a lot about the life of an old student: what a strange feeling we would have if we took out the old letters of our youth and read them! The whole life and the hopes and sorrows of this life will come to mind. It is because the old student is going to put the book that holds the hopes and sorrows of his life into his coffin, then he will find his rest in the grave. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. (To be continued.) )