The Lioness and the She-Bear

Mamma lioness had lost one of her cubs. Some hunter had made away with it, and the poor unfortunate mother roared out her wailings to such an extent that all the inhabitants of the forest were seriously disturbed. The spells of the night, its darkness and its silence, were powerless to hush the tumult of the queen of the forest. Sleep was driven from every animal within hearing.

母狮妈妈失去了她的一只幼崽。是某个猎人把它掳走了，这可怜不幸的母亲哭天抢地，哀号得整片森林里的居民都被吵得不得安宁。夜晚的魔力，它的黑暗与寂静，都无法平息这位森林女王心中的悲痛喧嚣。方圆之内，所有的动物都被吓得睡意全无。

At last the she-bear rose up and coming to the wailing lioness said, "Good Gossip, just one word with you. All those little ones that have passed between your teeth, had they neither fathers nor mothers?"

终于，母熊起身走到这位哭泣的母狮跟前，说道：“亲爱的朋友，容我说一句话。所有那些曾经从你牙齿间经过的小家伙们，难道它们就没有父母吗？”

"To be sure they had."

“它们当然有父母。”

"Then if that be so, and as none have come to mourn their dead in cries which would split our heads: if so many mothers have borne their loss silently, why cannot you be silent also?"

“既然如此，而且从没见过哪个母亲跑来为这些死去的孩子哭得撕心裂肺——如果有那么多母亲都能默默承受这样的丧失，你为什么就不能也保持沉默呢？”

"I? I be silent? Unhappy I? Ah! I have lost my son! There is nought for me but to drag out a miserable old age."

“我？我保持沉默？我这般不幸的人？啊！我失去了我的孩子！除了拖着悲惨的余生苟活，我别无他法。”

"But pray tell me what obliges you to do so."

“可请你告诉我，是什么逼得你非要如此不可呢？”

"Alas! Destiny. It is Destiny that hates me."

“唉！是命运。是命运在憎恨我。”

Those are the words that are for ever in the mouths of us all.

这些话，正是我们所有人时时刻刻挂在嘴边的。

Unhappy human kind, let this address itself to you. I hear nothing but the echoing murmur of trifling complaints. Whoever, in like case, believes himself the hated of the gods, let him consider Hecuba, and he will render thanks for their clemency.

不幸的人类啊，让这番话也说给你们听吧。我耳边听到的，只是一片琐碎抱怨的回响。无论是谁，若在类似的境况下，自认为是被神明所憎恨的人，不妨想想赫库芭吧，他便会为神明的仁慈而心存感激。