The Last Class (Excerpt)《最后一課》（ 節選）

Alphonse Daudet

作者：

阿爾豐斯·都德（Alphonse Daudet，1840—1897），法國人，杰出的愛國作家。1857年，都德開始文學創作。1869年，都德發表短篇小說集《磨坊文札》。他的短篇小說《最后一課》和《柏林之圍》由于具有深刻的愛國主義內容和精湛的藝術技巧而享有極高的聲譽，成為世界短篇小說中的杰作。

作品：

本文節選自阿爾豐斯·都德的《最后一課》，節選時有刪改。在普法戰爭中被普魯士強行割讓的一所鄉村小學在上著告別自己母語的最后一堂課……

I was very late for school thatmorning， and I was terribly afraid of beingscolded， especially as Monsieur Hamelhad told us that he should examine us onparticiples， and I knew nothing aboutthem. For a moment I thought of stayingaway from school and wandering about thefields. It was such a warm， lovely day. Icould hear the blackbirds whistling on theedge of the wood. But I had the strength to resist， and I ran as fast as I could to school.

Usually， at the beginning of school，there was a great noise which could beheard in the street， desks opening andclosing， lessons repeated aloud. I countedon all this noise to reach my benchunnoticed; but it happened that day everythingwas quiet， like a Sunday morning.Through the open window I saw my classmatesalready in their places， and Monsieur Hamel walking back and forth. I had toopen the door and enter， in the midst ofthat perfect silence. You can imaginewhether I blushed and whether I wasafraid！

But Monsieur Hamel looked at mewith no sign of anger and said very gently，“Go at once to your seat， my little Frantz;we were going to begin without you.”

I stepped over the bench and satdown at once at my desk. Not until then，when I had partly recovered from myfright， did I notice that our teacher hadon his handsome blue coat， which hewore only on days of inspection or ofdistribution of prizes. But what surprisedme most was to see at the back of the room，on the benches which were usually empty，some people from the village sitting， assilent as we were. They all seemeddepressed.

While I was wondering at all this，Monsieur Hamel had mounted hisplatform， and in the same gentle andserious voice with which he had welcomedme， he said to us， “My children， this isthe last time that I shall teach you. Ordershave come from Berlin to teach nothingbut German in the schools of Alsaceand Lorraine. The new teacher arrives tomorrow. This is the last class in French，so I beg you to be very attentive.”

Those few words overwhelmed me.My last class in French！ How angry I waswith myself because of the time I hadwasted and the lessons I had missed. Mybooks， which only a moment before Ithought so tiresome and so heavy to carry—my grammar and my history—seemed tome now like old friends. And it was thesame about Monsieur Hamel. The thoughtthat he was going away and that I shouldnever see him again， made me forget thepunishments.

Poor man！ It was in honour of that lastlesson that he had put on his fine clothes;and I understood now why those oldfellows from the village were sitting at theend of the room. It seemed to mean thatthey regretted not having come oftener tothe school. It was also a way of thankingour teacher for his forty years of faithfulservice， and of paying their respect to thefatherland which was vanishing.

Reading Check

Why were there people from the village sitting in the back of the classroom？

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________