书城外语幸福的伊甸园
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第36章 Mother Holle(2)

The girl told all her adventures;and as soon as the mother hear how she had come by SO much wealth,she was very anxious to obtain the same good luck for the ugly and lazy daughter.She had tO seat herself by the well and spin;and in order that her spindle might be stained with blood,she stuck her hand into a thom bush and pricked her finger.Then she threw her spindle into the well,and jumped in after it.

She came,like the other,to the beautiful meadow and walked along the very same path.When she got to the oven the bread again cried:“Oh,take me out!Take me out!Or I shall bum;I have been baked a long time!”But the lazy thing answered:“As if I had any wish to make myself dirty!”and on she went.Soon she came to the apple—tree,which cried:“Oh,shake me!Shake me!We apple are all ripe!”But she an—swered:“I dare say but one of you might fall on my head,’’and SO went on.When she came t0 Mother Holle’S house she was not afraid.for she had already heard of her big teeth,and she hired herself to her immediate—ly.

The first day she forced herself to work diligently.and obeyed Moth—er Holle when she told her to do anything,for she was thinking of all the gold that she would give her.But on the second day she began tO be la—zy,and on the third day still more SO,and then she would not get up in the morning at a11.Neither did she make Mother Holle’S bed as she ought,and did not shake it SO as tO make the feathers fly up.Mother Holle was soon tired of this,and gave her notice to leave.The lazy girl was willing enough to go,and thought that now the golden rain wouldcome.Mother Holle led her also to the great door;but whilewasstanding beneath it,instead of the gold a big kettleful of pitch was emp—tied over her.“That is the reward for your service,”said Mother Holle,and shut the door.So the lazy girl went home;but she was quite covered with pitch,and the cock on the well,as soon as he saw her,cried out:“Cock—a—doodle—doo!Our dirty girl come home again!”But the pitch clung fast to her,and could not be got off as long asshe 1ivedstepdaughter n.继女,过继的女儿Cinderella n.灰姑娘bloodstained adj.血污的,犯杀人罪的shook n.一套现成板料;禾束堆homesickness n.乡愁maiden n.年轻未婚女子,处女,少女

adj.未婚的,初次的,处女的pitch n.焦油,沥青

何勤妈妈

[德]雅科布·格林威廉·格林

从前,有一个寡妇,她有两个女儿,一个美丽勤劳,而另一个丑陋懒惰。可是,她更喜欢那个又丑又懒的姑娘,因为那是她的亲生女儿。另一个是她的继女,这个姑娘承担着所有活计,是家里的“灰姑娘”。每天这个可怜的姑娘都得在路边的井旁纺纱,纺呀纺呀,直到手指都磨出了鲜血。

有一次,线轴上沾满了血,于是,她把线轴蘸在水里,想把血清洗掉,但是线轴从手里滑落了,落到了井里。她哭着跑到后母那儿,告诉了她这件不幸的事。后母恶言恶语地责备她,然后冷酷地说:“既然是你把纺锤掉到井里,你就得负责把它捞上来。”

于是,姑娘回到井边,但却不知如何是好。由于心里害怕再受责备,她就真的跳进井里去捞线轴,接着她失去了知觉。等她苏醒时,发现自己在一片美丽的草地上,那里阳光明媚,百花盛开。她站了起来,穿过草地,来到一个装满面包的烤炉旁。面包在里面叫道:“哦,把我取出来,把我取出来,否则我就要烤焦了。我已烤了好长时间了!”于是她走到烤炉旁,用夹子把面包一个一个地拿了出来,继续朝前走去。她来到一棵结满果实的苹果树前,苹果树叫道:“摇摇我吧!摇摇我吧!我的这些苹果都熟透了。”她便上前去摇那苹果树,她不停地摇啊摇,直到树上的苹果都掉了下来。她把苹果拣起来,放成一堆,就继续向前走。

最后她来到一座小房子跟前,里边有一位老太婆正偷偷地向外面看,但是她的大门牙把姑娘给吓着了,姑娘想要逃跑。老太婆冲她喊道:“你怕什么,好孩子,待在我这儿吧,只要你把家务活儿干好,你会过上好日子的。你必须用心把我的床整理好,用力抖动被子,让羽毛飞扬,这样人间就会下雪了。我是荷勒妈妈。”

老太婆这么温柔地对她讲话,姑娘也就鼓起勇气,同意为她干活。她尽心尽力地做好每件事,让她的女主人满意,她总是使劲地抖动被子以便使羽毛像雪花一样飞舞。姑娘在荷勒妈妈身边过得非常舒心,没听到过恶毒的言语,每天都有煮肉和煎肉吃。

过了一段时间,她感到伤心起来。刚开始还不知道她是怎么了,最后她发现自己想家了,尽管在这儿远比在家里好上千百倍,但她还是想回家。最后,姑娘对荷勒妈妈说:“我想念家乡了,无论我在这过得多好,我都不能待下去了,我一定要回去看看家里的人。”荷勒妈妈说:“听你说要回家,我很高兴。你这么勤勤恳恳地为我干活,我要亲自把你送走。”随后,她拉着姑娘的手,把她引到一个大门前。门打开了,正当这个少女站到门下时,落了一阵金雨,金雨沾在她身上,使她浑身都盖满了金子。

荷勒妈妈说:“这是你勤劳所得。”还把姑娘掉在井里的那个纺锤还给了她,随即门“砰”的一声关上了,姑娘发现自己又回到地上,站在离家不远的地方。

当她走进院子时,站在井旁的公鸡叫道:

“喔喔喔,我们的金姑娘又回来了。”

当她进屋时,她浑身都是金子,因此后母和妹妹都热情地接待了她。

她把自己的奇遇告诉了她们,后母一听到她是怎么得到这么多金子时,就急于想让自己那又丑又懒的女儿也能如此的走运。懒姑娘被迫坐在井边纺线;为了使线轴上沾上血,她把手插进荆棘丛中,刺破了自己的手指。然后,她把线轴扔进井里,随后自己也跳了进去。她和那个姑娘一样也来到那片美丽的草地上,沿着同一条路往前走。当她经过面包炉前,面包也叫道:“把我取出来,把我取出来,我快要烤焦了。我已烤了好长时间了。”但赖姑娘却答道:“我可不想把自己弄脏。”就径直向前走去。不

一会儿,她来到苹果树下,树喊道:“摇我吧,摇我吧,我的这些苹果都熟透了。”可是她回答说:“我才不呢!我打保票你的苹果一定会掉我头上的,哪怕是一个。”说着,她继续往前走。当她来到荷勒妈妈的小屋时,因事先已经知道这位老人的大门牙,她一点儿也不害怕,立即答应为老人家工作。

第一天,她强迫自己努力干活,按照荷勒妈妈的要求去做,因为她心想荷勒妈妈将会送给她很多金子;可是第二天她的懒筋就抽了起来,第三天更是如此。后来她甚至早上都不起床了。她既没有把荷勒妈妈的床铺好,也没用劲去抖动被子好使羽毛飞起来。不久,荷勒妈妈就厌倦这些,示意让她离开。懒姑娘倒很高兴离开,她以为要降金雨了;荷勒妈妈也把她送到大门口,当她站在门下时,一大壶柏油倾倒下来,而不是金子。“这是你干活的报酬。”荷勒妈妈一边说一边把门给关上了。

于是,懒姑娘回家去了,她浑身沾满了柏油。当井旁的公鸡看到她时,喊道:

“喔喔喔,我们的脏姑娘回来了。”柏油在她的身上黏的紧紧的,一辈子也洗不掉了。

开心一刻

Initate BirdSA man tried t0 get a job in a stage show.“What can you do?’’asked the producer.

“Imitate birds.”the man said.

“Are you kidding?”answered the producer.“People like that area dime a dozen.’’“Well,I guess that’s that.”said the actor,as he spread hisand flew out the window.

模仿鸟儿

一个人想在一个舞台剧中找份工作。“你能干什么呢?”负责人问。“模仿鸟儿。”那人说。“你在开玩笑吧?”负责人答道,“那样的人一毛钱可以找一打。”

“噢,那就算了。”那名演员说着,展开翅膀,飞出了窗口。