14.Rumpelstiltskin淘气矮精灵-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《格林童话精选Grimms'FairyTales》

Rumpelstiltskin Once there was a miller who was poor,but who had a beautiful daughter.Now it happened that he had to go and speak to the King,and in order to make himself appear important he said to him,"I have a daughter who can spin straw into gold." The King said to the miller,"That is an art which pleases me well;if your daughter is as clever as you say,bring her tomorrow to my palace,and I will try what she can do.” And when the girl was brought to him he took her into a room which was quite full of straw,gave her a spinning-wheel and a reel,and said,"Now set to work, and if by tomorrow morning early you have not spun this straw into gold during the night,you must die."Thereupon he himself locked up the room,and left her in it alone.So there sat the poor miller's daughter,and for the life of her could not tell what to do;she had no idea how straw could be spun into gold,and she grew more and more miserable,until at last she began to weep. But all at once the door opened,and in came a little man,and said,"Good evening,Mistress Miller;why are you crying so?”“Alas!！”'answered the girl,“I have to spin straw into gold,and I do not know how to do it.""What will you give me,”said the manikin②，“if I do it for you?”“My necklace,”said the girl. The little man took the necklace,seated himself in front of the wheel,and"whirr, whirr,whirr,"three turns,and the reel was full;then he put another on,and whirr, ·162 淘气矮精灵 从前有个磨坊主，家里很穷，但女儿长得特别漂 亮。有一次他被叫到宫里见到了国王，为了抬高自己的 身价，他对国王说：“我有个女儿，她可以把稻草纺成 金线。”国王对磨坊主说：“这本领我很喜欢，如果你的 女儿真的像你说的那么聪明，明天就把她带到我的王宫 里，我要看看她能做什么。” 女孩被带到王宫后，国王把她领到一个装满稻草的 房间，给了她一辆纺车和一个线轴，然后对她说：“现 ①reel[ril:riln.线轴 在你就开始干活吧，如果到明天早晨你不能把这些稻草 纺成金线，你就得死。”他亲自锁上门，把她一个人留 在里面。那个可怜的磨坊主的女儿坐在里面，根本不知 道该做什么。她从来不知道稻草可以纺成金线，她越想 越觉得自己可怜，最后就开始哭了起来。 突然，门开了，进来了一个小矮人，他说：“晚上 好，我的小姐，你为什么哭得这么伤心呀？”“唉！” 女孩回答说，“我得把这些稻草纺成金线，可是我不知 道该怎么做。”小矮人说：“如果我帮你忙，你给我什 么呢？”“我的项链。”女孩说。小矮人拿了项链，坐在 ②manikin[maenikin】n.侏 纺车前，“呼啦，呼啦，呼啦”地转了三下，线轴上就 儒，矮人 缠满了金线，他又换了一个线轴，呼啦，呼啦，呼啦， 又是转了三下，第二个线轴上又缠满了金线。就这样 ·163· Rumpelstiltskin whirr,whirr,three times round,and the second was full too.And so it went on until the morning,when all the straw was spun,and all the reels were full of gold.By daybreak the King was already there,and when he saw the gold he was astonished and delighted,but his heart became only more greedy.He had the miller's daughter taken into another room full of straw,which was much larger,and commanded her to spin that also in one night if she valued her life.The girl knew not how to help herself,and was crying,when the door again opened,and the little man appeared, and said,"What will you give me if I spin that straw into gold for you?""The ring on my finger,"answered the girl.The little man took the ring,again began to turn the wheel,and by morning had spun all the straw into glittering gold. The King rejoiced beyond measure at the sight,but still he had not gold enough;and he had the miller's daughter taken into a still larger room full of straw, and said,"You must spin this,too,in the course of this night;but if you succeed, you shall be my wife.”“Even if she be a miller's daughter,”thought he,.“I could not find a richer wife in the whole world." When the girl was alone the manikin came again for the third time,and said, "What will you give me if I spin the straw for you this time also?""I have nothing left that I could give,"answered the girl."Then promise me,if you should become Queen,your first child.""Who knows whether that will ever happen?"thought the miller's daughter;and,not knowing how else to help herself in this strait2,she promised the manikin what he wanted,and for that he once more span the straw into gold. And when the King came in the morning,and found all as he had wished,he took her in marriage,and the pretty miller's daughter became a Queen. A year after,she had a beautiful child,and she never gave a thought to the manikin.But suddenly he came into her room,and said,"Now give me what you promised."The Queen was horror-struck,and offered the manikin all the riches of the kingdom if he would leave her the child.But the manikin said,"No,something that is living is dearer to me than all the treasures in the world."Then the Queen began to weep and cry,so that the manikin pitied her."I will give you three days' ·164· 淘气矮清灵 转呀转呀，一直转到第二天早晨，所有的稻草都纺好 了，所有的线轴上都缠绕着金线。天刚刚亮，国王就 来了，他看到那么多金线真是又惊又喜，但他的心变 得越发贪婪了。他把磨坊主的女儿带到另一个装满稻 草的房间，那个房间更大，他要求她还是用一个晚上 把这些稻草纺成金线，否则就要她的命。女孩不知道 该怎么办，开始哭了起来。这时，门又开了，小矮人 出现在她面前。他说：“如果我帮你把这些稻草纺成金 子，你给我什么？”“我的戒指。”女孩回答说。小矮人 拿了戒指，又开始转动纺车，到了早晨已经把所有的 ①glittering[glitarin]a.闪 闪发光的 稻草都纺成了亮闪闪的金线。 国王看到那么多金子高兴得无法形容，但他还想要 更多的金子，于是他把磨坊主的女儿带到一个更大的房 间里，那里装满了稻草。他说：“今天晚上你必须把这 些稻草纺成金线，如果你做到了，我就娶你为妻。”“虽 然她只是个磨坊主的女儿，”他心想，“但在这世上再也 找不到比她更加富有的妻子了。” 等到了女孩一个人的时候，小矮人又来了，他说： “如果我帮你把这些稻草纺成金线，你给我什么？”“我 没有东西可以给你了，”女孩回答说。“那你答应我，如 果你当了王后，把你的第一个孩子给我。”“谁知道以后 ②strait[streit]n.困境 会怎么样呢？”磨坊主的女儿心想，现在处于这样的困 境她也不知道该怎么办，只好答应了小矮人的要求。小 矮人又一次把稻草全纺成了金线。 第二天早晨国王来的时候，发现自己又得到了那么 多金子。他娶了磨坊主美丽的女儿为妻，她成了王后。 一年后，她生了一个漂亮的孩子，她从来没有想到 过小矮人。可是他突然进了她的房间，对她说：“现在 把你答应给我的东西给我吧。”王后吓坏了，对小矮人 说，如果他把孩子留下，她可以给他整个王国的财富。 可是小矮人说：“不，对我来说，活着的东西比世界上 所有的财富都要宝贵。”王后开始哭了起来，小矮人看 ·165· Rumpelstiltskin time,"said he,"if by that time you find out my name,then shall you keep your child.” So the Queen thought the whole night of all the names that she had ever heard, and she sent a messenger over the country to inquire,far and wide,for any other names that there might be.When the manikin came the next day,she began with Caspar,Melchior,Balthazar,and said all the names she knew,one after another;but to every one the little man said,"That is not my name."On the second day she had inquiries made in the neighborhood as to the names of the people there,and she repeated to the manikin the most uncommon and curious."Perhaps your name is Shortribs,or Sheepshanks,or Laceleg?"but he always answered,"That is not my name.” On the third day the messenger came back again,and said,"I have not been able to find a single new name,but as I came to a high mountain at the end of the forest,where the fox and the hare bid each other good night,there I saw a little house,and before the house a fire was burning,and round about the fire quite a ridiculous little man was jumping:he hopped upon one leg,and shouted- “Today I bake,tomorrow brew②， The next I'll have the young Queen's child. Ha!glad am I that no one knew That Rumpelstiltskin I am styled." You may think how glad the Queen was when she heard the name!And when soon afterwards the little man came in,and asked,"Now,Mistress Queen,what is my name?"at first she said,'Is your name Conrad?”No.”“Is your name Harry?“No.” "Perhaps your name is Rumpelstiltskin?" "The devil has told you that!the devil has told you that!"cried the little man, and in his anger he plunged his right foot so deep into the earth that his whole leg went in;and then in rage he pulled at his left leg so hard with both hands that he tore himself in two. ·166· 淘气矮清灵 她可怜，就对她说：“我给你三天时间，如果到时候你 知道我叫什么名字，我就让你留下孩子。” 王后整个晚上都在想她听到过的所有名字，她派 了一个信使到全国四处打听，看看还有没有其他名字。 第二天，小矮人来了，她说了所有她知道的名字，什 么卡斯帕、梅尔肖、巴萨泽，一个接一个地说，可是 每听到一个名字，小矮人就说：“这不是我的名字。” 第二天，她打听了住在附近的所有人的名字，她把那 ①inquiry[in'kwaiari].询 问，打听 些最奇怪的名字说给小矮人听。“也许你叫短肋骨，或 是羊小腿，或是蕾丝腿？”但他一直说：“这不是我的 名字。” 第三天，信使又回来了，他报告说：“我没有发现 新的名字，但是我走到森林尽头的高山上时，看到孤狸 和野兔在互道晚安，我在那里看到一间小房子，房子面 前烧着一堆火，一个样子滑稽的小矮人在围着火蹦蹦跳 跳。他单脚跳着，嘴里卿唧咕咕地说： “今天烤面包，明天煮肉汤， 后天王后的孩子就归我了。 ②brew[brtk酿造（啤 哈哈真得意！谁也不知道 酒等) 我的大号叫朗博斯提斯金。” 你可以想象王后听到这个名字会多么高兴啊！很 快，小矮人又来了，他问道：“告诉我，亲爱的王后， 我叫什么名字？”她先问：“你是不是叫康纳德？”“不 对。”“那你叫哈利？”“不对。” “也许你的名字叫朗博斯提斯金？” “一定是魔鬼告诉了你！一定是魔鬼告诉了你！” 小矮人气呼呼地跺着脚叫了起来，他一下把右脚跺进土 ③plunge [plAnd3]g使陷入 里，整条腿都陷了进去，狂怒中他用双手拉着自己的左 腿，结果太用劲了，把自己撕成了两半。 ·167·