《少年维特的烦恼·第二部·1771 年 10 月至 1772 年 12 月》第21节
AUGUST 21. My sensations are constantly changing. Sometimes a happy prospect opens before me; but alas! it is only for a moment; and then, when I am lost in reverie, I cannot help saying to myself, "If Albert were to die?—Yes, she would become—and I should be"—and so I pursue a chimera, till it leads me to the edge of a precipice at which I shudder. When I pass through the same gate, and walk along the same road which first conducted me to Charlotte, my heart sinks within me at the change that has since taken place. All, all, is altered! No sentiment, no pulsation of my heart, is the same. My sensations are such as would occur to some departed prince whose spirit should return to visit the superb palace which he had built in happy times, adorned with costly magnificence, and left to a beloved son, but whose glory he should find departed, and its halls deserted and in ruins.
注释摘要
这封信坦露了维特在希望与绝望之间急促摆荡的内心节律，也首次触及一个他此前不敢形诸笔端的念头。八月二十一日，距他在公使馆受辱辞职已过去近五个月，他再次漫游到绿蒂附近，处于无职、无定所、亦无内心安宁的状态。开头那句“我的感觉不停地变化”并非修辞上的泛泛之谈：他刚为自己虚构出阿尔贝特死去的场景——“她会成为……而我将是……”，话只说到一半便用破折号中断，既是羞耻…