14.The Ungrateful Soldier忘恩负义的士兵-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《西方老故事50篇Fifty Famous Stories Retold》

Fifty Famous Stories Retold 14.The Ungrateful Soldier Here is another story of the battlefield,and it is much like the one which I have just told you. Not quite a hundred years after the time of Sir Philip Sidney there was a war between the Swedes and the Danes.One day a great battle was fought,and the Swedes were beaten,and driven from the field.A soldier of the Danes who had been slightly wounded was sitting on the ground.He was about to take a drink from a flask.All at once he heard some one say,- “osir!give me a drink,for I am dying.” It was a wounded Swede who spoke.He was lying on the ground only a little way off.The Dane went to him at once.He knelt down by the side of his fallen foe,and pressed the flask to his lips. Drink,.”said he,.“for thy need is greater than mine.” Hardly had he spoken these words,when the Swede raised himself on his elbow. He pulled a pistol from his pocket,and shot at the man who would have befriended him.The bullet grazed the Dane's shoulder,but did not do him much harm. "Ah,you rascal!"he cried."I was going to befriend you,and you repay me by trying to kill me.Now I will punish you.I would have given you all the water, but now you shall have only half."And with that he drank the half of it,and then gave the rest to the Swede. ·082· 西方老故事50篇 14.忘恩负义的士兵 这个故事依然发生在战场上，跟我刚才讲的那个 相似。 菲利普·锡德尼爵士去世后不到一百年，瑞典人和 丹麦人之间爆发了一场战争。一天，一场激战中瑞典人 吃了败仗，被赶出了战场。一名受了轻伤的丹麦士兵坐 在地上拿起水瓶准备喝水，忽然听到旁边有人说话： ①ask[Iask]n.长颈瓶 “噢，先生！能不能给我喝一点，我快要不行了。” 原来是一个负了伤的瑞典兵，就躺在离丹麦兵不远 的地方。丹麦兵立刻走过去跪下身子，把水瓶放到瑞典 兵的嘴边。 “喝吧！”丹麦兵说，“你比我更需要喝水。” 可是还没等他把话说完，那个瑞典兵就用胳膊撑起 身体，从口袋里拔出一只手枪，突然朝这个向他表示友 好的人开了枪。子弹擦着丹麦兵的肩膀飞了出去，所幸 并没有造成严重的伤害。 “啊，你这个混蛋！”丹麦兵大叫了起来，“我想 ②rascal[ra:skal]n.恶棍 帮助你，你却要我的命。现在我要惩罚你，本来我想把 这些水都给你喝，现在只给你一半。”说完，他喝掉了 一半的水，把剩下的另一半给了那个瑞典兵。 ·083· Fifty Famous Stories Retold When the King of the Danes heard about this,he sent for the soldier and had him tell the story just as it was. "Why did you spare the life of the Swede after he had tried to kill you?" asked the king. "Because,sir,"said the soldier,"I could never kill a wounded enemy." "Then you deserve to be a nobleman,"said the king.And he rewarded him by making him a knight,and giving him a noble title. ·084· 西方老故事50篇 丹麦国王听说了这件事，便派人把这个士兵叫来， 让他把事情的经过再讲一遍。 “那个瑞典人要杀你，你为什么还要饶他的性命？” 国王问。 “陛下，”士兵说，“我绝不会伤害一个受了伤的 敌人。” “你的品德高尚，理应成为一名贵族。”国王说。 于是，国王册封这个士兵为骑士，还赐予他高贵的头衔。 ·085·