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The OldStreet Lamp老路灯Have youever heardthe storyof the old street lamp It is notreally veryamusing,but onecanbear tohear itonce,anyway.There wasonce arespectable oldstreet lampwho hadperformed hisdutiesfaithfully andwell formany years;but nowhad beendeclared to be tooold-fashioned.This was the last evening that it wouldhang from the lamppostand illuminatethe street;andhe feltlike aballerina who was dancingfor the last time and knewthat tomorrowshe would bea has-been.The lamp was veryfrightened of the comingday,for he had beentold that he wouldbeinspected by the six and thirty men of the town council.They wereto decidewhether the lampwas fitfor furtherservice and,if so,what kind.They mightsuggest that he behung overoneof thelesser bridges,or beso]d toa factory,or condemnedaltogether,which meantthat hewould be melted down.Then he would bemade intosomething else,of course;but whatworried himwasthat hedid not know whetherhewouldthen be able torecall thathe had been astreet lamp.No matterwhat happenedto him,one thingwas certain:tomorrow hewouldbeseparated fromthenight watchmanand his wife,and that was atragedy,for heconsidered themto behis family.He had been hungon hislamppost thevery yearthat theman became a night watchman.His wifehad been youngand snobbish.She wouldlook at the street lamp atnight butshe wouldn,t somuchas glanceatitin daylight.During recentyears,however,when all three of them--the nightwatchman,hiswife,and thestreet lamp--had grownold,the wifehad takencare ofthe lamp:polished itand filledit withoil.The old couple werean honestpair whohad nevercheated thelampout of a singledrop ofoil.This was to be the lastnight that the old lamp wouldshinedown upon the pavement.Tomorrow itwouldbetaken toa roomin the town hall.These twofactsmade the lamp feelso sadthatheflickered.Other thoughtscame:memories of all he had seen.He hadcast hislight uponmany acurious sightand hadseen morethan all the sixand thirtymen ofthetowncouncilput together.But the old lampwould neverhave expressedsuch athoughtout loud,for hehad thegreatest respectfor theauthorities.Itisalways pleasantfor the oldto reminisce,and eachtime the lamp rememberedsomething different,the flameinside himseemedto growbrighter.They willremember me as I remember them,〃thought the lamp.Many yearsagothere was a youngman whostood right under meand openeda letter.It hadbeen writtenonpink stationeryand thehandwriting was a woman,s.He readit twice;then hekissed it.His eyeswhenhe lookedup atme said,I amthe happiestofallmen.J Hehad receiveda loveletterfrom thegirl heloved;and onlyhe and I knewit.〃Irememberanother pairof eyes.How strangely一一one,s thoughtscan jump!There hadbeen afuneral.Someone whohad livedin thisstreet had一一died:a young,rich woman.The hearsehadbeendrawn byfour blackhorses and the coffinhad beencoveredwith flowers.The mournershad walkedbehind itcarrying torches,which hadoutshone mylight.But whenthe processionhad passedand Ithought thestreet wasdeserted oncemore,Isuddenly noticedsomeone standingrightundermeandweeping.I shallnever forgetthosesorrow-filled eyesthat staredright intome.〃Such werethe thoughts--the memoriesofthe oldstreet lamp as it shonefor thelast time.A sentrywho isto berelieved of his dutyis allowedtoexchange at least afew wordswith theman whowill takehis place.But the lamp didnot evenknowwho hissuccessor wouldbe,so hewould notbe able to givehim abit ofadvice about thewind,and tellhim fromwhich cornerit usuallyblew;or the moon,and explainhow itshone uponthesidewalk.Down in the gutterthere werethree who were readyto takeover thejob oflighting upthe streetassoon as it becamevacant;and thinkingthat the lamp couldappoint hisown successor,theypresented themselves tohim.The firstwasarotten herring head,which canshine in the dark,as youknow.It pointedout thathis appointmentwould meana greatsaving inoil.The secondwasan oldpiece ofdry rottenwood.It canalso glowand thata lotbrighter thanan oldcodfish,asitsaid itself.Besides,it was thelastpiece ofa treethat hadbeen thepride ofa wholeforest.The thirdwasaglowworm.The oldstreet lampcould notimagine whereit couldhave comefrom,but thereit wasshining likethe others.The herringhead andthe pieceof old,dry,rottenwood claimedthat theworm didnot glowall thetime butonly whenit hadfits,which ought todisqualify it.The old lamp triedto explainto themthat noneof themhad sufficientlight to become astreetlamp.But noneofthethree wouldbelieve that;and whenthey weretold that the lampcould not,in anycase,appoint hisown successor,they alldeclared thatthis wasgood news,for as they一一all agreedthe old lampwastoo senileto makesuch animportant decision.一一Just thenthe windcame aroundthe cornerand whistledthrough the cowl ofthe lamp.“Whatsthis Ihear aboutyour leavingus tomorrowWill thisbethelasteveningthat I shall findyouhere Well,let megive youa farewellpresent,since wemust part.Ishallblow yourbrain cleanofall cobwebs,so that you willnot onlybe ableto remembereverything youhave everheard orseen,but youwill be ableto see clearly anything thatis toldor read aloud inyour presence,as well.z,z,What amarvelous gift!”said the old lamp.〃If onlyI amnot melted down.”〃It hasn,t happenedyet,〃replied the wind.And nowr11blow onyour memory.If you can getafew morepresents likemine,your retirementand oldage willbeapleasure.”“But whatif I am melteddown”sighed the lamp.Can youensure mymemory thentoo”〃Bereasonable,oldlamp,“said the wind,and blewwith allits might.Just thenthemooncame outfrombehind acloud.〃What willyou givethe oldlamp”asked thewind.“Me Iwill givehim nothing,said themoon.〃I amon thedecline;besides,the lamphas nevershonefor me,though I have shonefor him.〃And themoon hidbehind theclouds becauseit hatedanyonewho madedemands onit.A dropof waterfell upon thecowl.It announcedthat it had beensentbythegray cloudsabove and that itbrought avaluable gift.Now that I aminside ofyou,youcanrust intodust in one night--any nightthat youchoose,even tonight.〃The lampthoughtthat a very poorpresent andthewindagreed withhim.,,Hasn,t anyoneanything betterto offer...anything betterto offer”screeched thewind asloudly asit could.A shootingstar fellfromthe sky,making anarch offire.“What wasthat”shouted theherringhead.〃I thinka starfell rightdown into the oldlamp!Well,if theoffice isbeing soughtby thoseof suchhigh rank,the restof usmight as well gohome.z,And thatwas whatallthreeofthemdid.The oldlamp shonemore brightlythan iteverhad before.That wasa lovelygift!”exclaimed thelamp.The brilliantstars above,whom Ihavealways admiredand whoshine somuch moreclearly thanI haveever doneeven thoughI have一一striven,throughout mywhole life,to dojust thathave sentdown tome poor,dim street lamp一一一一that I am amost wonderfulgift!They have given methe powerto makethose whomI lovesee一一clearlyanything that I can rememberor imagine.What amarvelous present!For thathappinessthat cannotbe sharedwith othersis onlyhalf asvaluable as the onethat can.〃〃A veryrespectableand decentsentiment,oldlamp,〃said thewind.〃I amafraid,though,that theyforgot totellyou thatyou needto havea lightedwax candleinside youin orderfor anythingto happen.Withoutthe burningcandle,nobody willever see anything.The starsprobably didn,t thinkabout tellingyoubecause theythink thatanythingthatshines downhere hasatleastone wax candle insideit.But nowIamtired.I thinkI11rest./z Andthewindwas gone.The next day...Oh,we mightaswellskip thenextday and jumpto thenext evening,when wefindthelamplying in an easy chair.But whereIn thehome ofthe oldnight watchman.He hadpetitionedthe sixand thirtymenofthetowncouncil toreward hislong andfaithful servicebygiving himthe oldstreet lamp.Although theylaughed,it hadbeen good-naturedly,and theold man hadbeen allowedto takethelamphome withhim.Now thelamp lay inthe easychairnextto thestove andlooked twiceas bigasit had whenit hungfromthelamppost.The old couple,whowerehaving supper,looked fondlytoward it.They wouldhavegiventhelampa seatat thetablehad therebeen apoint toit.The roomwhere theylived wasin acellar,two feetunderthe ground,which hadtobeentered througha stone-paved corridor.Around thedoor there wasweather stripping,andthe room waswarm.It wasalso clean,neat,and cozy.Curtains concealedthebed andcovered thetwo tinywindows.On thewindow ledgesstood twostrange-looking flowerpotswhichtheir neighbor,whowasa sailor,had broughthome fromthe Indies--whether it was theEastor theWest Indies,the oldpeople didn,t know.They weretwo ceramicelephants whosebacks hadholesin themthat couldbe filled with earth.In onethere grewleeks,and thatwastheold couple,s vegetablegarden.In theother ageranium bloomed,and thatwas theirflower garden.On thewallhung alarge coloredprint ofThe Congressof Vienna.In thispicture,all thekings andemperorsof Europewere portrayed,and youcould see them allinoneglance.In thecorner anoldgrandfather clockticked away.It wasalways fastbut,astheoldmansaid,thatwasbetterthan ifithadbeen slow.While theold couplewere eatingdinner,thelamplayintheeasychair-aswe havealready beentold-near theold stove.The lampfelt abit as if hisworld hadbeen turnedupsidedown.But assoon astheoldman beganreminiscing,talking aboutall thethings thatheand thelamp hadexperienced togetherin rainand shine,during theclear summernights and一一the longcold winterones--thelamprealized howpleasant itwastobe sittingby awarm stoveinthe cellar.The lampremembered everythingas vividlyasifithadjust happened.The windhadreally donea goodjob ofrefreshing itsmemory.The oldpeople werevery hard-working;they neverwasted amoment.Sunday afternoon,the oldwatchmanwould takedown abook andreadaloud.He preferredtravel books,especially onesaboutAfrica.He likedto readaboutthegreat tropicalforests where the elephantsroamed.His wifewouldglance upatthewindow ledgeswherethetwo clayelephants wereand say,〃Icanalmostsee it all.〃How muchtheoldstreet lampwished hehad alighted candleinside him!Then theoldpeople wouldbeabletoseeitalljust ashe envisionedit.He sawthe talltrees growingsoclose togetherthat theirbranches intertwined;the nakednatives ridingon horses;and herdsofelephants trampingthrough theunderbrush,crushing reedsand breakingsaplings withtheirgreat broadfeet.〃What isthe goodof mygift ifthey haveno wax candles”sighed thestreetlamp.“They cannotaffordthem;they aretoo poorto ownanything buttallow candlesor oil.But onedaya whole handfulof waxcandle stumpsarrived inthe cellar.The oldcouple usedthelarger onesfor light,but itnever occurredto themto putone intheoldstreetlamp.With thesmallerpieces ofcandle thewoman waxedher threadfor sewing.“Here Isit,possessing araregift,z,complained thelamp.〃Ihaveawholeworld withinme,andIcannot shareit withthe oldcouple.They don,tknowthatI could decoratethese whitewashedwalls withthe mostsplendidtapestries.They couldseetherichest forest....They couldseeanythingthey desired;butalas!they donot knowit.〃The lamphadbeenpolished andcleaned andnow stoodinacomer whereallthevisitors couldseeit.Most ofthem thoughtitwasa pieceof oldrubbish,but the nightwatchmanand hiswife trulylovedthelamp.It wasthenightwatchmans birthday.The old woman stoodbefore thelamp andsaid witha smile,〃I thinkthatyououghttobe illuminatedin hishonor.z,Hopefully,thelampthought,〃A lighthasdawned onthem.Now theywill givemeawaxcandle.,z Theoldwomanfilled thelamp oncemorewith oiland heburned allevening.And nowhe feltcertain thatthe giftthe starshad givenhim-the bestpresent hehad everreceived--would remaina useless,hidden treasureduring therestofhislife.That nighthe dreamed--and anyonewho possessesa talentas greatasthelampsreally candream-thattheoldcouplehad diedandthathehadbeen senttothefoundry tobe melteddown.He wasjust asfrightened ashehadbeen onthe daythatthesixandthirtymenhad inspectedhim.But eventhough hehad theability torust anddisappear intodust,he didn,t makeuse ofit.When hehadbeenmelteddown,the ironwas usedto makethe mostbeautiful candlestick,whichwas castintheshape ofan angelholding abouquet offlowers.In thecenter,among theflowers,therewasa holefor awaxcandle.The candlestickwas placedon agreen writingdesk thatstoodin avery cozyroom,which wasfilledwithbooks andhad manypaintings hangingonthewalls.It wasthe roomofapoet.All thatthe poetthought,imagined,and wrotedown seemed to existwithintheroom.The darksolemn woods,the sunlitmeadows wherethe storkstrode,even thedeckof aship sailingonthebillowy sea.“What agift Ihave!”said theoldlamp.〃Icouldalmost wishtobemelteddown.No!Not aslongastheoldcoupleare alive.They loveme formyself.Iamlike achild tothem;they havegivenme oiland polishedme.They honormeasmuch asthey doThe Congressof Viennaand thatpictureis highborn.From thenon,theoldstreetlampseemedtohave acquiredwithin himthe peacethathedeserved;he was,after all,averyrespectable oldstreetlamp.。