The Headless Horseman无头骑士

One cold winter night, early in the New Year, a certain Dutchman left the tavern in Tarrytown and started walking to his home in the hollow nearby. His path led next to the old Sleepy Hollow cemetery where a headless Hessian soldier was buried. At midnight, the Dutchman came within site of the graveyard. The weather had warmed up during the week, and the snow was almost gone from the road. It was a dark night with no moon, and the only light came from his lantern. Note注: Hessian soldier A German mercenary in the British army in America during the Revolutionary War. 黑森雇佣兵：在美国革命战争时期，在美国的英国军队中的德国雇佣兵 新年伊始的一个寒冷冬夜，有一个荷兰人离开塔利镇的小酒馆，徒步走向附近山谷中的家。回家时他要经过一座古老的断头谷公墓，公墓里埋葬着一位无头黑森士兵。午夜时分，荷兰人进入了公墓。这一周来天气不断回暖，此时路上的积雪差不多都融化了。天很黑，没有月亮，唯一的亮光是从他的灯笼里发出的。 The Dutchman was nervous about passing the graveyard, remembering the rumors of a galloping ghost that he had heard at the tavern. He stumbled along, humming to himself to keep up his courage. Suddenly, his eye was caught by a light rising from the ground in the cemetery. He stopped, his heart pounding in fear. Before his startled eyes, a white mist burst forth from an unmarked grave and formed into a large horse carrying a headless rider. 荷兰人正要穿过墓地，想起小酒馆里听到的鬼故事，一个鬼奔腾而来，便神经紧张起来。他东倒西歪地走着，哼着歌曲给自己壮胆。突然，他的眼睛被墓地升起的亮光所吸引。他停下脚步，心在怦怦地跳。一阵白雾从一座没有墓碑的坟中喷涌而出，变成一匹巨大的马，上面骑着一个无头骑士，让他惊恐万状。 The Dutchman let out a terrible scream as the horse leapt toward him at a full gallop. He took to his heels, running as fast as he could, making for the bridge since he knew that ghosts and evil spirits did not care to cross running water. He stumbled suddenly and fell, rolling off the road into a melting patch of snow. The headless rider thundered past him, and the man got a second look at the headless ghost. It was wearing a Hessian commander’s uniform. 那匹马全速向着荷兰人飞奔过来，他大叫一声，恐怖之极。他撒腿就跑，拼了命地跑，向桥头扑去，因为他知道鬼和邪恶的魂灵不敢趟水过河。他突然绊倒在地，滚到了一堆还没化尽的积雪上。无头骑士轰隆隆地呼啸而过，他又看了一眼那个无头的鬼，这鬼穿着司令官的军服。 The Dutchman waited a good hour after the ghost disappeared before crawling out of the bushes and making his way home. After fortifying himself with schnapps, the Dutchman told his wife about the ghost. By noon of the next day, the story was all over Tarrytown. The good Dutch folk were divided in their opinions. Some thought that the ghost must be roaming the roads at night in search of its head. Others claimed that the Hessian soldier rose from the grave to lead the Hessian soldiers in a charge up nearby Chatterton Hill, not knowing that the hill had already been taken by the British. 无头骑士消失之后，荷兰人整整等了一个小时才敢从灌木丛里爬出来，一路赶回家。到了家里，荷兰人喝了好几杯杜松子酒才振作起来，告诉了妻子他遇到了鬼。第二天中午，故事便传遍了整个塔利镇。好心的荷兰人意见不一，分成了两派。一派认为那个鬼一定是夜里四处游荡，搜寻他被砍下的脑袋。另一派则认为这个黑森士兵从坟墓里爬出来率领黑森士兵向附近的查特顿山冲锋，可他还不知道那座山已被英国人占领。 Whatever the reason, the Headless Horseman continues to roam the roads near Tarrytown on dark nights from that day to this. 不知是什么原因，打那天起直到今天，无头骑士总会在黑漆漆的夜里沿着塔利镇附近的马路荡来荡去。