By+Stefan+Zweig

Even today， when I say the word “summer”， I instinctively think of the glorious July days that I spent in Baden（巴登， 維也納附近的小鎮(zhèn)）near Vienna that year. I had gone to stay quietly there， in the romantic little spa town that Beethoven（貝多芬）liked to visit in summer. I was planning to concentrate entirely on work for that month， and then spend the rest of the summer with my revered（受崇敬的）friend Verhaeren1 at his little house in the Belgian countryside. When you are staying in Baden， you do not have to go out of the town to enjoy the landscape. Beautiful woods， covering the gently rolling hills nearby， make their way imperceptibly（覺察不到地）in among the low-built， Biedermeier2 houses， which still have the simplicity and charm of Beethovens time. You can sit out of doors when you visit a café or restaurant， mingling（相交往，相往來）as you please with the cheerful guests relaxing at the spa resort（溫泉療養(yǎng)地）， promenading（散步）in the park or losing their way as they stroll along secluded（隱蔽的）woodland paths.

It was 29th June， celebrated by staunchly（忠實(shí)的）Catholic Austria as the Feast of St Peter and St Paul3， and the day before a great many visitor had arrived from Vienna. In pale summer clothes， happy and carefree， the crowd walked around the spa park to the sound of music. The day was mild， there was not a cloud in the sky above the spreading chestnu（t栗子）trees， it was a day to feel happy. Soon it would be the holiday season for these people and their children， and with this first festival of summer they were looking forward， so to speak，to the whole season with its delightful air， lush（茂盛的）green leaves， and a chance to forget all their daily anxieties. At the time I was sitting a little way off from the crowd in the spa park， reading a book with interest and close attention. I still remember what book it was—Merezhkovskys Tolstoy and Dostoevsky4. Yet the wind in the trees， the birdsong and the music wafting through（飄過）the air from the park still made their way into my mind.

So my mind was instinctively distracted from my reading when the music abruptly stopped. I did not know what musical piece the spa band had been playing， I only sensed that the music had suddenly broken off， and I automatically looked up from my book. A change also seemed to come over the crowd promenading among the trees like a single pale entity flowing along. It too stopped walking up and down. Something must have happened. I stood up and saw the musicians leaving the bandstand（演奏臺(tái)）. That was strange as well， because the band usually performed for an hour or more. There must be some reason why it had stopped so abruptly. Coming closer， I saw that excited groups of people were crowding around a communiqué（公告）that had just been pinned up on the bandstand. A few minutes later I discovered that it was the text of the telegram announcing that His Imperial Highness Franz Ferdinand5， the heir to the throne（王位繼承人）， and his wife， both of them in Bosnia6 to inspect military manoeuvres（演習(xí)）， had been the victims of a political assassination（刺殺）in Sarajevo（薩拉熱窩，波黑首都）.

More and more people came up， thronging（蜂擁而至）around this notice. The unexpected news passed from mouth to mouth. But to be honest， there was no special shock or dismay（沮喪）to be seen on the faces of the crowd， for the heir to the throne had not by any means been popular. I still remember another day， in my earliest childhood， when Crown Prince Rudolf 7， the Emperors only son， was found shot dead at Mayerling（梅耶林）. Then， the whole city had been in emotional turmoil（混亂）， and enormous crowds had gone to see him lying in state（葬前供公眾瞻仰）， expressing their overwhelming sympathy for the Emperor and their horror at the idea that his only son and heir， of whom the nation had cherished great expectations as a progressive member of the Habsburg dynasty8 who was personally unusually likable， had died in the prime of life（壯年時(shí)期）. Franz Ferdinand， however， lacked what mattered most for anyone to win true popularity in Austria—an attractive personality， natural charm and a friendly manner. I had often seen him at the theatre. He sat there in his box， a powerful， broad figure with cold， fixed eyes， never casting a single friendly glance at the audience， or encouraging the actors by applauding them warmly. You never saw him smile， no photograph showed him in a relaxed mood. He had no feeling for music and no sense of humor， and his wife looked just as unapproachable. There was a chilly aura（氣氛）around the couple. It was common knowledge that they had no friends， and that the old Emperor heartily disliked his heir， who was not tactful（老練的，機(jī)智的）enough to conceal his impatience to come to the throne and begin his reign（統(tǒng)治時(shí)期）. And my almost eerie presentiment（可怕的預(yù)感）that this man with the bulldog neck（脖子粗如斗牛犬）and cold， staring eyes would bring some kind of misfortune on us was not peculiar to me， but widespread in the country， so that the news of his assassination did not arouse any deep sympathy. Two hours later there was no sign of real grief to be seen. People were talking and laughing， later that evening musicians performed in the cafés again. There were many in Austria who secretly breathed a sigh of relief that day， because now the old Emperors former heir had been replaced by young Archduke （大公）Karl9， a far more popular figure.

Over the next few days， of course， the newspapers published extensive obituaries（訃告）expressing appropriate horror at the assassination. There was nothing， however， to indicate that the incident would be exploited in the cause of political action against Serbia（塞爾維亞）. Initially， the death of the Emperors heir to the throne left the Imperial House in a very different quandary（窘境）， concerning the nature of the funeral. In view of his rank as next in line to the throne， and particularly the fact that he had died while doing his duty on behalf of the monarchy（王室）， Franz Ferdinand would of course normally have been laid to rest in the Capuchin vault（天主教圣芳濟(jì)教會(huì)的地下墓室）， the historical burial place of the Habsburgs. However， after a long and bitter battle with the Imperial Family， he had married a Countess（女伯爵）Chotek， who did indeed come from the upper ranks of the aristocracy（貴族）but， according to the mysterious centuries-old tradition of the Habsburgs， was not his equal by birth， and the Archduchesses（女大公）insisted that on great occasions they had the right of precedence（優(yōu)先權(quán)）over the wife of the heir to the throne， whose children also had no hereditary claim to the succession（世襲繼承）. In its arrogance（傲慢，自大）， the Court disowned（與……脫離關(guān)系）her even now that she was dead. Was a mere Countess Chotek to be buried in the Habsburg imperial vault？ Heaven forbid！ A tremendous intrigue（陰謀）began， with the Archduchesses up in the arms（武裝起來準(zhǔn)備打架）against the old Emperor. While deep mourning for the whole nation was officially decreed（頒發(fā)）， acrimony was rife（充滿尖刻的言辭）at the Hofburg Palace， and as might have been expected the dead woman came off worst. The masters of ceremonies invented a story， to the effect that Franz Ferdinands own wish had been to be buried in the small provincial Austrian town of Artstetten， and on this pseudo-respectful pretext（偽善的借口）they were able to suppress any idea of a public lying-in-state or funeral procession， with all the quarrels over rank and precedence that would entail（帶來）. The coffins of the two assassination victims were quietly taken to Artstetten and laid to rest there. Vienna， deprived of an occasion to satisfy its eternal love of a good spectacle， was already beginning to forget the whole incident. After all， the violent deaths of Empress Elisabeth and the Crown Prince10， and the scandalous defection（可恥的變節(jié)）from court of many members of the Imperial House， had long ago accustomed the Austrians to the idea that the old Emperor， alone and solid as a rock， would survive his entire family， doomed as they seemed to be like the descendants of the house of Atreus11. Another few weeks， and the name and person of Franz Ferdinand would have disappeared from history for ever.

However， about a week later a good deal of verbal sniping（口頭誹謗）suddenly began to appear in the papers， all of it reaching a crescendo（高潮）too simultaneously to be entirely a matter of chance. The Serbian government was accused of collusion（勾結(jié)，共謀）in the assassination， and it was insinuated（暗示） that Austria could not let the murder of its allegedly（據(jù)稱）beloved heir to the throne pass without any repercussions（反響，后果）. It was impossible not to feel that the press was preparing the country for action of some kind， but no one thought of war. No banks， businesses or private citizens changed their plans. There was skirmishing（沖突）with Serbia all the time anyway. Fundamentally， as every knew， it had started over some trade agreements concerning the export of Serbian pigs， but what did that dispute have to do with us？ My bags were packed for my journey to Belgium to visit Verhaeren， my work was going well； how could the dead Archduke in his sarcophagus（雕刻精美的石棺）affect my life？ It was a beautiful summer， and promised to get even better； we all felt carefree as we looked out at the world. I remember how a friend and I were walking through the vineyards on my last day in Baden， and an old workman there told us，“Weve not had a summer like this many a long year. Well have a great vintage（葡萄豐收季節(jié)）if the weather holds. Ah， folks will remember this summer for a long while to come！”

The old man in his blue vintners（釀造葡萄酒的人）overall had no idea how dreadfully true his words were.

1. 埃米勒·維爾哈倫（Emile Verhaeren， 1855—1916），比利時(shí)詩人、劇作家、文藝評(píng)論家。1883年發(fā)表第一部詩集《佛蘭芒女人》。維爾哈倫與斯蒂芬·茨威格友誼深厚，成為“忘年之交”。也是在他的介紹下，茨威格有幸結(jié)識(shí)了雕塑家羅丹。

2. 比德邁風(fēng)格的，藝術(shù)上一種介于新古典主義和浪漫主義之間過渡時(shí)期的風(fēng)格。19世紀(jì)早期和中期曾在德國、奧地利、意大利北部和斯堪的那維亞各國風(fēng)行。

3. 基督教于每年6月29日為了紀(jì)念耶穌的兩個(gè)忠實(shí)使徒圣彼得和圣保羅的殉道而設(shè)立的一個(gè)節(jié)日。

4. 梅列日科夫斯基（1865—1941），是俄國19世紀(jì)末20世紀(jì)前半期最有影響的作家、詩人、文學(xué)評(píng)論家和思想家之一?！锻袪査固┡c陀思妥耶夫斯基》（兩卷）寫于1900年到1902年。

5. 弗朗茨·斐迪南大公（1863—1914），奧匈帝國皇儲(chǔ)，弗朗茨·約瑟夫一世皇帝之弟卡爾·路德維希大公之子。皇帝獨(dú)子皇太子魯?shù)婪蛴?889年精神病自殺后，他成為了皇位繼承人。1914年與其庶妻“霍恩貝格女公爵蘇菲”在視察當(dāng)時(shí)奧匈帝國波黑省的首府薩拉熱窩時(shí)，被塞爾維亞民族主義者普林西普刺殺身亡?！八_拉熱窩事件”成為第一次世界大戰(zhàn)的導(dǎo)火線。

6. 波斯尼亞，位于原南斯拉夫中部，介于克羅地亞、塞爾維亞和黑山三個(gè)共和國之間，與黑塞哥維那一起簡稱“波黑”。

7. 皇太子魯?shù)婪颍?858—1889），奧匈帝國皇帝弗朗茨·約瑟夫一世的獨(dú)子，后因精神崩潰與女友一同殉情自殺。

8. 哈布斯堡王朝，是歐洲歷史上統(tǒng)治領(lǐng)域最廣的王室，曾統(tǒng)治神圣羅馬帝國、奧地利帝國、奧匈帝國和西班牙帝國。哈布斯堡王朝后期繁衍甚廣，因而出現(xiàn)奧地利哈布斯堡王朝、西班牙哈布斯堡王朝和哈布斯堡-洛林皇朝三個(gè)分支。

9. 卡爾一世（Karl I，1887—1922），是哈布斯堡王朝與奧匈帝國的末代皇帝?；蕛?chǔ)弗朗茨·斐迪南大公的子女因?yàn)槟赣H身份低賤而無皇位繼承權(quán)。1914年，卡爾在伯父斐迪南大公遇刺身亡后成為皇位繼承人，并在 1916年11月21日弗朗茨·約瑟夫一世逝世后即位。

10. 伊麗莎白皇后（通常被家人與朋友昵稱為“茜茜”）和她的兒子魯?shù)婪蛲踝印?/p>

11. 阿特柔斯，希臘邁錫尼的國王，珀羅普斯的兒子，阿伽門農(nóng)和斯巴達(dá)王的父親。阿特柔斯與他兄弟堤厄斯忒斯（Thuestes）爭奪王位，后者不惜勾引嫂子，為的是得到寶物金毛牡羊，因?yàn)檎l擁有它誰就能當(dāng)上國王；阿特柔斯勝利后放逐了堤氏，后來又故意與其和解，殺了他的兩個(gè)兒子作為佳肴款待他。這個(gè)家族因血親互相殘殺的惡習(xí)而遭到眾神詛咒。