English Original
In the garden all the apple-trees were in blossom. They had hastened to bring forth flowers before they got green leaves, and in the yard all the ducklings walked up and down, and the cat too: it basked in the sun and licked the sunshine from its own paws. And when one looked at the fields, how beautifully the corn stood and how green it shone! There was a twittering and a fluttering of all the little birds, as if the day were a great festival; and so it was, for it was Sunday. All the bells were ringing, and all the people went to church, looking cheerful. The day was so warm and beautiful that one might well have said: "God's kindness to us men is beyond all limits."
But inside the church the pastor stood in the pulpit, and spoke very loudly and angrily. He said that all men were wicked, and God would punish them for their sins, and that the wicked, when they died, would be cast into hell, to burn for ever and ever. He described hell as a miserable hole where all the refuse of the world gathers. It was dreadful to hear all that. Meanwhile, the birds sang merrily outside, and the sun was shining so beautifully warm.
The same evening, the pastor noticed his wife sitting quiet and pensive.
"What is the matter with you?" he asked.
"I cannot grasp the meaning of what you said today," she said. "That there are so many wicked people, and that they should burn eternally. Alas! How long! I should not have the heart to let even the worst sinner burn for ever, and how could our Lord do so, who is so infinitely good?"
It was autumn; the trees dropped their leaves. The pastor sat at the bedside of his dying wife. A pious, faithful soul closed her eyes forever.
She was buried; two large tears rolled over the cheeks of the earnest man.
It was night. A being stood before his bed, looking like the ghost of his deceased wife.
"Not even you can find eternal rest! You suffer?" the pastor asked.
The dead woman nodded and put her hand on her breast.
"And can I not obtain rest in the grave for you?"
"Yes," was the answer. "Give me one hair—only one single hair—from the head of the sinner for whom the fire shall never be extinguished."
"Follow me," said the dead woman. "We shall penetrate into their most secret chambers; but you must find him who is destined to eternal torture before the cock crows!"
As quickly as if carried by winged thoughts, they were in the great city. They stood before the magnificently illuminated gate of a grand house where Pride resided, seeing only a foolish footman. They flew into the wretched dwelling of the Miser, seeing a man ill with joyless madness. They came before the beds of criminals, witnessing violence, guilt, and inner torment.
They flew through rich halls and wretched hovels; all the deadly sins passed before them. An angel of justice read their crimes and their defence before God, Who reads the heart, Who is mercy and love personified.
The pastor's hand trembled; he dared not stretch it out to pull a hair from any sinner's head. And tears gushed from his eyes like a stream of mercy and love.
Just then the cock crowed.
"Father of all mercy, grant Thou to her the peace that I was unable to procure for her!"
"I have it now!" said the dead woman. "It was your hard words, your despair of mankind, which drove me to you. Learn to know mankind! Even in the wicked one lives a part of God—and this extinguishes the flame of hell!"
The pastor felt a kiss on his lips; God's bright sun shone into the room, and his wife, alive, sweet and full of love, awoke him from a dream.
中文翻译
花园里，所有的苹果树都开花了。它们急着在长出绿叶之前就绽放花朵，院子里，所有的小鸭子走来走去，猫也一样：它在阳光下舒展身体，舔着爪子上的阳光。望向田野，谷物长得多么美丽，绿意盎然，无可比拟！所有的小鸟都在啁啾飞舞，仿佛这一天是个盛大的节日；确实如此，因为这是星期天。所有的钟声都在鸣响，所有人都穿着最好的衣服，高高兴兴地去教堂。一切都显得欢欣鼓舞。天气如此温暖美好，人们完全可以说：“上帝对我们的仁慈是无限的。”
但在教堂里，牧师站在讲坛上，非常大声而愤怒地讲道。他说所有人都是邪恶的，上帝会因他们的罪而惩罚他们，恶人死后将被投入地狱，永远燃烧。他将地狱描述为一个聚集了世间所有垃圾的悲惨深渊。听着这一切非常可怕。与此同时，外面的鸟儿在欢快地歌唱，阳光明媚而温暖。
同一天晚上，牧师注意到他的妻子安静而沉思地坐着。
“你怎么了？”他问。
“我无法理解你今天说的话，”她说。“说有那么多邪恶的人，他们要永远燃烧。唉！永远——多久啊！我甚至不忍心让最坏的罪人永远燃烧，而我们无限仁慈的主又怎么会这样做呢？”
秋天到了；树叶飘落。牧师坐在他垂死的妻子床边。一个虔诚、忠诚的灵魂永远闭上了眼睛。
她被埋葬了；两行热泪从这位严肃男子的脸颊滚落。
夜晚，一个身影站在他的床前，看起来像他已故妻子的幽灵。
“连你也得不到永恒的安息！你在受苦吗？”牧师问道。
死去的女人点点头，把手放在胸前。
“难道我不能为你求得坟墓中的安息吗？”
“可以，”回答是。“给我一根头发——只要一根——来自那个永不熄灭的火焰为之燃烧的罪人头上的头发。”
“跟我来，”死去的女人说。“我们将潜入他们最隐秘的居所；但你必须在鸡叫之前找到那个注定要受永恒折磨的人！”
仿佛乘着思想的翅膀，他们迅速来到了大城市。他们站在一座豪宅灯火辉煌的大门前，那里住着“骄傲”，却只看到一个愚蠢的仆人。他们飞进吝啬鬼破败的住所，看到一个被无欢的疯狂所困的病人。他们来到罪犯的床前，目睹暴力、罪恶和内心的折磨。
他们飞过富丽的大厅和破败的棚屋；所有的致命罪过都在他们眼前经过。一位正义的天使在上帝面前宣读他们的罪行和辩护，上帝能洞察人心，是仁慈与爱的化身。
牧师的手颤抖着；他不敢伸出手去拔任何罪人头上的头发。泪水像仁慈与爱的洪流般从他眼中涌出。
就在这时，鸡叫了。
“万慈之父，请赐予她我未能为她求得的安宁吧！”
“我现在得到了！”死去的女人说。“是你苛刻的言辞，你对人类的绝望，驱使我来到你身边。去了解人类吧！即使在恶人心中，也存有上帝的一部分——而这足以熄灭地狱的火焰！”
牧师感到唇上一吻；上帝明亮的阳光照进房间，他活生生的、甜美而充满爱意的妻子，将他从上帝赐予的梦境中唤醒。