凡高艺术馆

凡高来到英国的海滨小镇拉姆斯盖特，在斯托克斯先生办的寄宿学校开始当临时老师。
这是他从那里写给父母的信。

Letter 060

Ramsgate, 17 April 1876
拉姆斯盖特 1876年4月17日

Dear Father and Mother, 亲爱的父亲和母亲

You have probably received my telegram 电报 , but you will be glad to hear some more particulars. On the train I wrote down a few things, and I am sending them to you, so that you will know all about my journey. 在火车上我写了一些东西，我把这些寄给你们，你们就可以了解我的这次行程了。

Friday. 星期五（4月13日）

In thought we will stay together today. Which do you think is better … the joy of meeting or the sorrow of parting 悲伤的离别? We have often parted already; this time there was more sorrow in it than there used to be, but also more courage because of the firmer hope 更牢固的希望 , the stronger desire 渴望、期望, for God' s blessing. And didn' t nature seem to share our feelings, everything looked so grey and dull 阴暗的 a few hours ago.

Now I am looking across the vast expanse of meadows 茫茫一片草地, and everything is very quiet; the sun is disappearing again behind the grey clouds, but sheds 放射 a golden light over the fields.

These first hours after our parting - which you are spending in church, and I at the station and on the train - how we are longing for each other and how we think of the others, of Theo and Anna 凡高的妹妹 and the other little sisters and the brother. Just now we passed Zevenbergen 泽文博根 [地名] 凡高11岁那年,被送到位于泽文博根的普罗维利膳宿学校学习（Mr.Provilys' boarding school）; I thought of the day you took me there, 1 and I stood on the steps at Mr. Provily's, looking after your carriage on the wet road; and then of that evening when my father came to visit me for the first time. And of that first homecoming at Christmas!

Saturday and Sunday. 星期六（4月14日）和星期日（4月15日）

On the steamer 轮船 I thought often of Anna - everything reminded me of our journey together.

The weather was clear, and the river was especially beautiful, and also the view, seen from the sea, of the dunes 沙丘, dazzling 闪耀 white in the sun. The last I saw of Holland 荷兰 was a little grey church spire 尖塔 . I stayed on deck 甲板 until sunset, but then it became too cold and rough.

At dawn 黎明 the next morning on the train from Harwich to London it was beautiful to see the black fields and green meadows with sheep and lambs and an occasional thornbush 有刺的灌木 and a few large oak trees 栎树、橡树 with dark twigs 小树枝 and grey moss-covered trunks 灰色有苔藓覆盖的树干 ; the shimmering blue sky with a few stars still, and a bank of grey clouds at the horizon 地平线 . Before sunrise I had already heard the lark 百灵鸟、云雀 . When we were near the last station before London, the sun rose. The bank of grey clouds had disappeared and there was the sun, as simple and grand as ever I saw it, a real Easter sun. The grass sparkled 闪光 with dew 露水 and night frost 霜 . But I still prefer that grey hour when we parted.

Saturday afternoon I stayed on deck till the sun had set. The water was fairly dark blue with rather high white-crested waves as far as one could see. The coast had already disappeared from sight. The sky was one vast light blue, without a single little cloud. And the sunset cast a streak of glittering light on the water 在夕阳的投射下，出现一道波光粼粼的水面. It was indeed a grand and majestic 雄伟的、宏大的 sight, but still the simpler, quieter things touch one so much more deeply. 越是简单，越是宁静的事物越能深深的触动人的心灵。

The train for Ramsgate 拉姆斯盖特 left two hours after I arrived in London. That is still about four and a half hours by train. It is a beautiful route 路程 ; for instance, we passed one part that was quite hilly 多小山的 . At the base the hills are covered with scanty grass 稀疏的草 , and at the top, with oak woods. It reminded me of our dunes. Between the hills was a village with a grey church overgrown with ivy 长满了常春藤 like most of the houses. The orchards 果园 were in full bloom and the sky was a light blue with grey and white clouds.

We also passed Canterbury 坎特伯雷（英国东南部城市）, a city with many medieval buildings 中世纪建筑 , especially a beautiful cathedral 大教堂 , surrounded by old elm trees 榆树 . I have often seen pictures of it.

You can imagine, I was looking out the window for Ramsgate a long time before we got there.

At one o'clock I arrived at Mr. Stokes's 斯托克先生家（凡高将在斯托克先生做办的学校当老师）; he was not home but will be back tonight. During his absence his place was taken by his son (twenty-three years old, I think), a teacher in London. I saw Mrs. Stokes at dinner. There are twenty-four boys from ten to fourteen years. (It is a pleasant sight to see them at their dinner.) So the school is not large. The window looks out on the sea. After dinner we took a walk out on the shore; it was very beautiful. The houses on the shore are mostly built of yellow stone in simple Gothic style 哥特式 , and have gardens full of cedars 西洋杉、香柏 and other dark evergreens 常春植物 . There is a harbour 港口 full of ships, shut in between stone jetties 码头 on which one can walk. And then there is the unspoiled 未受损的 sea, and that is very beautiful. Yesterday everything was grey. In the evening we went with the boys to church. On the wall of the church was written: “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

The boys go to bed at eight o'clock, and they rise at six.

There is another assistant teacher, seventeen years old. He, four boys and myself sleep in another house near by, where I have a little room that is waiting for some prints on the wall.

And now enough for today. What happy days we spent together! Thanks, thanks for everything. Love to all and a handshake from

Your loving, Vincent

Thanks for your letters, they arrived just now. I shall write soon, when I have been here a few days and have seen Mr. Stokes.

1. To boarding school.

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