Between the darkness of earth and heaven she was burning fiercely upon a disc of purple sea shot by the blood-red play of gleams; upon a disc of water glittering and sinister. A high, clear flame, an immense and lonely flame, ascended from the ocean, and from its summit the black smoke poured continuously at the sky. She burned furiously, mournful and imposing like a funeral pile kindled in the night, surround-ed by the sea, watched over by the stars.

A magnificent death had come like a grace, like a gift, like a reward to that old ship at the end of her laborious days. The surrender of her weary ghost to the keeping of stars and sea was stirring like the sight of a glorious triumph. The masts fell just before daybreak, and for a moment there was a burst and turmoil of sparks that seemed to fill with flying fire the night patient and watchful, the vast night lying silent upon the sea.

在黑暗的天地之间，船在熊熊燃烧，周围海面在血红的火光的照耀下呈紫色，闪闪发亮，杀气腾腾。一个高大、明亮、孤独的巨大火柱在海面上升起，火柱的顶端不停地朝空中喷着黑烟。船轰轰烈烈地燃烧着，极为悲壮，恰似在黑夜里点燃的火葬柴堆，由大海护卫，由星星照看。

这艘老破船度过了辛苦的一生，最终迎来了辉煌的死亡，如同蒙受天恩，如同领赏获奖。它将自己疲惫的灵魂交给了星星和大海，这一幕真像壮观的胜利庆典一样令人激动。桅杆在黎明将至时倒下，刹那间火星四处乱迸，飞舞的火花似乎一下子洒满了耐心看护的夜空，洒满了海面上那浩淼静谧的夜空。

背景介绍：

作者约瑟夫·康拉德(JosephConrad,1857-1924),英国著名小说家。他的中长篇代表作包括：《黑暗的心灵》(HeartofDarkness)和《特务》(TheSecretAgent)等。

《青春》是康拉德的短篇小说，讲述了充满青春激情的小伙子马洛的首次东方之旅。马洛在破旧的“圣地”号货船上任二副，他和同伴经历了水与火的洗礼，勇往直前。虽然“圣地”号后来遭到灭顶之灾，但全体水手分乘救生艇继续前进。马洛指挥最小的救生艇率先抵达陌生的海岸，赢得了胜利。选文描绘的是着火的“圣地”号在黑夜即将沉入大海的悲壮情景。