Poor John was in great tribulation， for his father was very ill， and could not get well again. Except these two， there was no one at all in the little room; the lamp on the table was nearly extinguished， and it was quite late in the evening.

\"You have been a good son， John，\" said the sick father. \"Providence will help you through the world. \"And he looked at him with mild earnest eyes， drew a deep breath， and died: it was just as if he slept. But John wept; for now he had no one in the world， neither father nor mother， neither sister nor brother. Poor John! He knelt down beside the bed， kissed his dead father's hand， and shed very many salt tears; but at last his eyes closed， and he went to sleep， lying with his head against the hard bed-board.

Then he dreamed a strange dream: he saw the sun and moon curtsy to him， and he beheld his father again， fresh， and well， and he heard his father laugh as he had always laughed when he was very glad. A beautiful girl， with a golden crown upon her long beautiful hair， gave him her hand; and his father said， \"Do you see what a bride you have gained? She is the most beautiful in the whole world!\" Then he awoke， and all the splendour was gone. His father was lying dead and cold in the bed， and there was no one at all with them. Poor John!

In the next week the dead man was buried. The son walked close behind the coffin， and could now no longer see the good father who had loved him so much. He heard how they threw the earth down upon the coffin， and stopped to see the last corner of it; but the next shovelfull of earth hid even that; then he felt just as if his heart would burst into pieces， so sorrowful was he. Around him they were singing a psalm; it sounded so beautifully， and the tears came into John' s eyes; he wept， and that did him good in his sorrow.

The sun shone magnificently on the green trees， just as if it would have said， \"You shall no longer be sorrowful， John! Do you see how beautifully blue the sky is? Your father is up there， and prays to the Father of all that it may be always well with you.\"

\"I will always be good，\" said John， \"then I shall go to heaven to my father; and what joy that will be when we see each other again! How much I shall then have to tell him! And he will show me so many things， and explain to me so much of the glories of heaven， just as he taught me here on earth. Oh， how joyful that will be!\"

He pictured that to himself so plainly， that he smiled， while the tears were still rolling down his cheeks. The little birds sat up in the chestnut trees， and twittered， \"Tweet-weet! Tweet-weet!\" They were joyful and merry， though they had been at the burying， but they knew quite well that the dead man was now in heaven; that he had wings， far larger and more beautiful than theirs; that he was now happy， because he had been a good man upon earth， and they were glad at it. John saw how they flew from the green trees out into the world， and he felt inclined to fly too. But first he cut out a great cross of wood to put on his father's grave; and when he brought it there in the evening the grave was decked with sand and flowers; strangers had done this， for they were all very fond of the good father who was now dead.

Early next morning John packed his little bundle， and put in his belt his whole inheritance， which consisted of fifty dollars and a few silver shillings; with this he intended to wander out into the world. But first he went to the churchyard， to his father's grave， repeated the Lord's Prayer， and said， \"Farewell， dear father， I will always be good， and so you may well venture to pray to the good God that things may go well with me.\"

Out in the field where he was walking all the flowers stood fresh and beautiful in the warm sunshine; and they nodded in the wind， just as if they would have said， \"Welcome to the green wood! Is it not fine here?\" But John turned back once more to look at the old church， in which he had been christened when he was a little child， and where he had been every Sunday with his father at the service， and had sung his psalm; then， high up in one of the openings of the tower， he saw the church-goblin standing in his little pointed red cap， shading his face with his bent arm， to keep the sun from shining in his eyes. John nodded a farewell to him， and the little goblin waved his red cap， laid his hand on his heart， and kissed his hand to John a great many times， to show that he wished the traveller well and hoped he would have a prosperous journey.

John thought what a number of fine things he would get to see in the great splendid world;and he went on farther--farther than he had ever been before. He did not know the places at all through which he came， nor the people whom he met. Now he was far away in a strange region.(to be continued)

可憐的約翰心里很難過，因為他的爸爸生病了，再也好不起來了。除了父子兩人，小屋里再沒有別人。桌上的燈火就要熄滅，夜已經(jīng)很深了。

“你是個孝順的孩子，約翰?！鄙〉母赣H說，“上帝會幫你在世上生活的?！彼脺睾汀┣械哪抗庾⒁曋鴥鹤?，深深地吸了一口氣，就要死了，好像是熟睡一樣。約翰痛哭起來，因為現(xiàn)在他在世上再也沒有親人了，沒有父母，沒有兄弟姐妹?？蓱z的約翰!他跪倒在床邊，吻著爸爸的手，灑下多少辛酸的淚水!最后他閉上眼睛，睡著了，腦袋搭在硬床板上。

這時他做了一個奇怪的夢:他看見太陽和月亮向他行禮;他又看見了自己的爸爸，那么健康，那么有活力;他又聽到了爸爸的笑聲，平時高興的時候，他都是這么笑的。有一個漂亮的姑娘，長長的秀發(fā)上戴著頂金王冠，把手伸了過來。他爸爸說:“你看，你的新娘多么漂亮呀!她是全世界最美的人啦?！比缓笏托蚜?，所有壯麗的景象都從他眼前消失得無影無蹤。爸爸還躺在床上，尸體發(fā)僵，他身邊一個人也沒有?？蓱z的約翰啊!

在下一個星期，死去的爸爸被埋葬了。兒子緊貼著棺材，他再也見不到親愛的爸爸了，而爸爸曾是那么地愛他。他聽到人們把上蓋在棺材上的聲音，抬頭看了棺材最后一眼。再加上一锨上，連棺材的一角也看不見了。他覺得自己心疼得都快碎了。在他的周圍響起唱圣詩的歌聲，聽起來是那么美，淚水又一次溢滿了他的雙眼。他失聲痛哭，在悲痛中，哭對他倒是件好事。

太陽燦爛地照在綠樹上，好像它想說:“你不要這么傷心了，約翰。你看到藍(lán)藍(lán)的天空是多么好看嗎?你爸爸就在上面，向上帝祈禱吧，它會永遠(yuǎn)伴隨在你身邊?！?/p>

“我會一輩子做好事的，”約翰說，“到時候我也要到天堂去，到我的爸爸身邊。我們再次重逢的時候，會多么快樂!我有多少話要對他說呀!他肯定會帶我看許多東西，告訴我天國的輝煌，就像他在人世間教育我時一樣。啊，那有多快樂呀!”

他心里描畫著，這些圖景是那么真切，他笑了，盡管淚珠還順著臉朝下滾落。站在栗子樹上的小鳥叫了起來，“啾啾，啾啾!”它們是那么歡快。盡管它們看到了老人被埋葬，但它們十分清楚，這個死去的人現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)在天堂里了。他長了翅膀，而且比它們的翅膀又大又漂亮。他現(xiàn)在很快樂，因為他在人間的時候是個善良的人。鳥兒都為此而高興。約翰看到它們飛離綠樹林，飛進(jìn)大干世界，自己也禁不住想飛。但他先得刻一個大木十字架，放在爸爸的墳上。當(dāng)他晚上帶著十字架到了墳地的時候，墳上已經(jīng)點綴上了沙子和鮮花。這是陌生人做的，他們都喜歡這個死去的好父親。

第二天一早，約翰打好自己的一個小袋行李，將自己得到的所有遺產(chǎn)都放在皮帶里，那只有五十塊錢和一些零頭。他帶著這些東西，想去世界上闖蕩闖蕩。但他先去了墓地，到了爸爸的墳上，再一次祈禱，說:“再見，親愛的爸爸。我會永遠(yuǎn)善良的，請您向慈愛的上帝禱告，保佑我一切順利。”

他走在野外，在溫暖的陽光下，所有新鮮的、美麗的花兒都挺立著。它們在風(fēng)中點著頭，仿佛在說:“歡迎你到綠森林來!這兒不是很美嗎?”但約翰又一次轉(zhuǎn)過頭，望著古老的教堂，當(dāng)他還是個孩子時，他就是在那里受洗的;每個星期天，他都和爸爸一起在那兒守禮拜，唱贊美詩。這時，在教堂塔頂?shù)囊粋€洞里，他看見了教堂的小精靈戴著小紅帽站在那兒，彎起胳膊遮住臉，以免陽光照到自己的眼睛上。約翰沖他點頭告別，小精靈也揮了揮自己的小紅帽，把另一只手放在胸口，不停地對著約翰做吻手的動作，表示自己祝愿他一路平安，希望他能有一個美好的旅程。

約翰想，他到五彩繽紛的世界去，會看到多少好東西呀。他越走越遠(yuǎn)，走得比以前經(jīng)過的都要遠(yuǎn)。他不知道自己走過的是什么地方，也不認(rèn)識遇見的人們。現(xiàn)在他已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)在陌生的地方了。

(未完待續(xù))