Last year (1861), on a beautiful May morning, a traveller, the person who is telling this story, was coming from Nivelles, and directing his course towards La Hulpe. He was on foot. —
去年（1861年）的一个五月早晨，一个旅行者，也就是讲述这个故事的人，从尼沃勒出发，前往拉伊吕普。他是步行的。 —

He was pursuing a broad paved road, which undulated between two rows of trees, over the hills which succeed each other, raise the road and let it fall again, and produce something in the nature of enormous waves.
他走在一条宽阔的铺砌道路上，道路在两排树木间起伏不定，在一座座相继而至的小山上升起，又降下去，形成了一种巨浪般的景观。

He had passed Lillois and Bois-Seigneur-Isaac. In the west he perceived the slate-roofed tower of Braine-l’Alleud, which has the form of a reversed vase. —
他已经经过了利瓦和布瓦—塞尼厄—伊萨克。在西方，他看到了布兰讷—阿列吕德的石板屋顶塔，它有着倒扣的花瓶形状。 —

He had just left behind a wood upon an eminence; —
他刚刚走出一个坡上的树林； —

and at the angle of the cross-road, by the side of a sort of mouldy gibbet bearing the inscription Ancient Barrier No. 4, a public house, bearing on its front this sign: —
在十字路口的拐角处，旁边有一座包着发霉的绞刑架的旧石，上面刻着“古防守栅栏4号”字样，一家小店立在其旁，门口挂着这个招牌： —

At the Four Winds (Aux Quatre Vents). Echabeau, Private Cafe.
四风（Aux Quatre Vents）旅馆，伊恰霍私人咖啡馆。

A quarter of a league further on, he arrived at the bottom of a little valley, where there is water which passes beneath an arch made through the embankment of the road. —
再走四分之一英里，他来到了一条小谷底，那里有一条水流经过一座穿过路基的拱门。 —

The clump of sparsely planted but very green trees, which fills the valley on one side of the road, is dispersed over the meadows on the other, and disappears gracefully and as in order in the direction of Braine-l’Alleud.
谷底一侧的稀疏种植但非常绿色的树丛，另一侧散布在草地上，优雅地消失在通往布兰讷—阿列吕德的方向。

On the right, close to the road, was an inn, with a four-wheeled cart at the door, a large bundle of hop-poles, a plough, a heap of dried brushwood near a flourishing hedge, lime smoking in a square hole, and a ladder suspended along an old penthouse with straw partitions. —
在右侧靠近公路的地方有一家客栈，门口停着一辆四轮马车，一大捆啤酒花棍，一把犁，一堆干枯的灌木丛旁边有一段火腾腾的石灰，一个悬挂在旧凉棚上的梯子有稻草隔板。 —

A young girl was weeding in a field, where a huge yellow poster, probably of some outside spectacle, such as a parish festival, was fluttering in the wind. —
一位少女在田地里除草，田地上飘扬着一块巨大的黄色海报，很可能是某个外部活动的宣传，比如一个教区庆典，被风吹动着。 —

At one corner of the inn, beside a pool in which a flotilla of ducks was navigating, a badly paved path plunged into the bushes. —
在客栈角落的一池水边，一群鸭正在航行，有一条铺设不好的小路沉入了灌木丛。 —

The wayfarer struck into this.
行人径直朝着那边走去。

After traversing a hundred paces, skirting a wall of the fifteenth century, surmounted by a pointed gable, with bricks set in contrast, he found himself before a large door of arched stone, with a rectilinear impost, in the sombre style of Louis XIV., flanked by two flat medallions. —
走过一百步，绕过一座凸起的15世纪围墙，上面有一个尖顶的山墙，砖块形成鲜明对比，他来到了一扇巨大的拱形石门前，门顶上是一根直线板，属于路易十四的严肃风格，门两侧各有一个扁平的圆形浮雕。 —

A severe facade rose above this door; a wall, perpendicular to the facade, almost touched the door, and flanked it with an abrupt right angle. —
门前矗立着一个严肃的正面墙；和门垂直的一侧几乎挨在门旁，形成一个突然的直角。 —

In the meadow before the door lay three harrows, through which, in disorder, grew all the flowers of May. The door was closed. —
门前的草地上铺着三把耙，上面长满了五月的鲜花。门是关着的。 —

The two decrepit leaves which barred it were ornamented with an old rusty knocker.
两片破旧的叶子挡住了门，上面挂着一个生锈的旧门环。

The sun was charming; the branches had that soft shivering of May, which seems to proceed rather from the nests than from the wind. —
阳光灿烂；树枝上微微颤动着五月的柔情，仿佛更多来自于鸟巢而非风。 —

A brave little bird, probably a lover, was carolling in a distracted manner in a large tree.
一只勇敢的小鸟，很可能是一只恋人，在一棵大树上疯狂地歌唱。

The wayfarer bent over and examined a rather large circular excavation, resembling the hollow of a sphere, in the stone on the left, at the foot of the pier of the door.
行人弯腰检查了一下左边门框下方一个较大的圆形凹洞，形状酷似一个空心的球形。

At this moment the leaves of the door parted, and a peasant woman emerged.
这时门叶分开，一个农妇走了出来。

She saw the wayfarer, and perceived what he was looking at.
她看见了行人，明白他在看什么。

“It was a French cannon-ball which made that,” she said to him. And she added:–
“那是法国的炮弹打出的，”她对他说。然后又补充道:–

“That which you see there, higher up in the door, near a nail, is the hole of a big iron bullet as large as an egg. —
“你看到上面的，靠近一个钉子的地方，在门上的凹痕，是一个像鸡蛋那么大的铁子弹。 —

The bullet did not pierce the wood.”
子弹没能穿透木头。”

“What is the name of this place?” inquired the wayfarer.
“这里叫什么地方?“行人问道。

“Hougomont,” said the peasant woman.
“骨岗,“农妇回答。

The traveller straightened himself up. He walked on a few paces, and went off to look over the tops of the hedges. —
旅行者挺直了身子。他走了几步，然后走开去越过篱笆顶端。 —

On the horizon through the trees, he perceived a sort of little elevation, and on this elevation something which at that distance resembled a lion.
透过树木，他在地平线上看到了一座小小的高出部分，而在这高出部分上有一样远远看去像是一只狮子的东西。

He was on the battle-field of Waterloo.
他站在水洼站的战场上。