野天鹅(上)

野天鹅（上）

作者：

来源：《阅读与作文（英语初中版）》2008年第03期

Ｆar away, where the swallows fly when our winter comes on, lived a King, who had eleven sons, and one daughter named Eliza. The eleven brothers were Princes, and each went to school with a star on his breast and his sword by his side. They wrote with pencils of diamond upon slates of gold, and learned by heart just as well as they read; one could see directly that they were Princes. Their sister Eliza sat upon a little stool of plate glass, and had a picture-book which had been bought for the value of half a kingdom.

Oh, the children were particularly well off; but it was not always to remain so.

Their father, who was King of the whole country, married a bad Queen who did not 1ove the poor children at all. On the very first day they could notice this. In the whole palace there was great feasting, and the children were playing at receiving guests; but instead of these children receiving, as they had been accustomed to do, all the spare cake and all the roasted apples, they only had some sand given them in a tea-cup, and were told that they might make believe that was something good. The next week the Queen took the little sister Eliza into the country, to a peasant and his wife; and but a short time had elapsed before she told the King so many falsehoods about the poor Princes that he did not trouble himself any more about them.

\"Fly out into the world and get your own living,\" said the wicked Queen.\"Fly like great birds without a voice.\"

But she could not make it so bad for them as she would have liked, for they became eleven

magnificent wild swans. With a strange cry they flew out of the palace windows, far over the park and into the wood.

It was yet quite early morning when they came by the place where their sister Eliza lay asleep in the peasant's room. Here they hovered over the roof, turned their long necks, and flapped their wings; but no one heard or saw it. They were obliged to fly on, high up towards the clouds, far away into the wide world; there they flew into a great dark wood, which stretched away to the sea shore.

Poor little Eliza stood in the peasant' s room and played with a green leaf, for she had no other playthings. And she pricked a hole in the leaf, and looked through it up at the sun, and it seemed to her that she saw her brothers' clear eyes; each time the warm sun shone upon her cheeks she thought of all the kisses they had given her.

Each day passed just like the rest. When the wind swept through the great rose hedges outside the house, it seemed to whisper to them, \"What can be more beautiful than you?\" But the roses shook their heads and answered,\"Eliza!\" And when the old woman sat in front of her door on Sunday and read in

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her hymn-book, the wind turned the leaves and said to the book,\"Who can be more pious than you?\" and the hymn-book said, \"Eliza!\" And what the rose bushes and the hymn-book said was the simple truth.

When she was fifteen years old she was to go home. And when the Queen saw how beautiful she was, she became spiteful and filled with hatred towards her. She would have been glad to change her into a wild swan, like her brothers, but she did not dare to do so at once, because the King wished to see his daughter.

Early in the morning the Queen went into the bath, which was built of white marble, and decked with soft cushions and the most splendid tapestry; and she took three toads and kissed them, and said to the first,\"Sit upon Eliza's head when she comes into the bath, that she may become as stupid as you. --Seat yourself upon her forehead,\" she said to the second,\"that she may become as ugly as you, and her father may not know her. --Rest on her heart,\" she whispered to the third, \"that she may receive an evil mind and suffer pain from it.\"

Then she put the toads into the clear water, which at once assumed a green colour; and calling Eliza, caused her to undress and step into the water. And while Eliza dived, one of the toads sat upon her hair, and the second on her forehead, and the third on her heart; but she did not seem to notice it; and as soon as she rose, three red poppies were floating on the water. If the creatures had not been poisonous, and if the witch had not kissed them, they would have been changed into red roses. But at any rate they became flowers, because they had rested on the girl's head, and forehead, and heart. She was too good and innocent for sorcery to have power over her.

When the wicked Queen saw that, she rubbed Eliza with walnut juice, so that the girl became dark brown, and smeared an evil-smelling ointment on her face, and let her beautiful hair hang in confusion. It was quite impossible to recognize the pretty Eliza.

When her father saw her he was much shocked, and declared this was not his daughter. No one but the yard dog and the swallows would recognize her; but they were poor animals who had nothing to say in the matter.

Then poor Eliza wept, and thought of her eleven brothers who were all away. Sorrowfully she crept out of the castle, and walked all day over field and moor till she came into the great wood. She did not know whither she wished to go, only she felt very downcast and longed for her brothers; they had certainly been, like herself, thrust forth into the world, and she would seek for them and find them. She had been only a short time in the wood when the night fell; she quite lost the path, therefore she lay down upon the soft moss, said her evening prayer, and leaned her head against the stump of a tree. Deep silence reigned around, the air was mild, and in the grass and in the moss gleamed like a green fire hundreds of glowworms when she lightly touched one of the twigs with her hand, the shining insects fell down upon her like shooting stars.

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The whole night long she dreamed of her brothers. They were children again playing together, writing with their diamond pencils upon their golden slates, and looking at the beautiful picture -- book which had cost half a kingdom. But on the slates they were not writing, as they had been accustomed to do, lines and letters, but the brave deeds they done, and all they had seen and

experienced; and in the picture-book everything was alive--the birds sang, and the people went out of the book and spoke with Eliza and her brothers. But when the leaf was turned, they jumped back again directly, so that there should be no confusion.

When she awoke, the sun was already standing high. She could certainly not see it, for the lofty trees spread their branches far and wide above her. But the rays played above them like a gauzy veil, there was a fragrance from the fresh verdures and the birds almost perched upon her shoulders. She heard the plashing of water; it was from a number of springs all flowing into a lake which had the

most delightful sandy bottom. It was surrounded by thick growing bushes, but at one part the stags had made a large opening, and here Eliza went down to the water. The lake was so clear, that if the wind had not stirred the branches and the bushes, so that they moved, one would have thought they were painted upon the depths of the lake, so clearly was every leaf mirrored, whether the sun shone upon it or whether it lay in shadow.

When Eliza saw her own face she was terrified--so brown and ugly was she; but when she wetted her little hand and rubbed her eyes and her forehead, the white skin gleamed forth again. Then she undressed and went down into the fresh water: a more beautiful King's daughter than she was could not be found in the world.

And when she had dressed herself again and plaited her long hair, she went to the bubbling spring, drank out of her hollow hand, and then wandered farther into the wood, not knowing whither she went. She thought of her dear brothers, and thought that Heaven would certainly not forsake her. It is God who lets the wild apples grow, to satisfy the hungry. He showed her a wild apple tree, with the boughs bending under the weight of the fruit. Here she took her midday meal, placed props under the boughs, and then went into the darkest part of the forest.（to be continued）

在遥远的地方，就是燕子飞去过冬天的地方，住着一个国王。他有11个儿子，还有一个女儿，名叫爱丽莎。11个兄弟都是王子，每人上学时，都带着一个星状的徽章，挎着宝剑。他们用钻石笔在金板上写字，而且他们学起来过目不忘。人们一眼就能看出他们是王子。他们的妹妹爱丽莎坐在玻璃面的凳子上。她有一本图画书，那是花了王国一半的财产才买来的。 啊，孩子们都过得很开心，但人生无常，不会一帆风顺的。

他们的父亲，就是统治全国的国王，又娶了一个很坏的王后为妻，她一点也不喜欢那些可怜的孩子们。在结婚的第一天，孩子们就感觉到了。整个王宫里举行了盛大的宴会，孩子们做

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起了请客吃饭的游戏。但和往常不同的是，孩子们没有得到多余的蛋糕和烤苹果，而是得到一茶杯的沙子。她还对孩子们说，就把这些东西当成好东西吧。

在接下来的一个星期，王后把小公主爱丽莎送到乡下，放在一个农民和他的妻子家里。但过了不久，她又编了许多关于王子们的瞎话，欺骗国王。这样，国王也不再关心王子们了。 “飞到外面去，自己谋生吧，”恶毒的王后说，“就像那些大笨鸟一样，一声不响地飞走吧。”

但她也不能事事随心所欲。他们变成了11只美丽的野天鹅。随着一声奇怪的鸣叫，他们飞出了王宫的窗户，越过王家花园，飞到森林里去了。

大清早，他们飞到了妹妹爱丽莎所在的农家小屋，她正在里面睡觉呢。他们在屋顶盘旋，转动着自己的长脖子，还拍打着翅膀。但没有人听到或看到。他们只好继续飞，穿入云霄，飞向陌生的地方。他们飞进了一个黑森林，森林一直延伸到大海边。

可怜的小爱丽莎站在农民的屋子里，手里拿着一片绿叶在地上玩，因为她没有别的玩具。她在叶子中间穿了个洞，透过它朝太阳望去。她觉得自己好像看到了哥哥们明亮的眼睛。每当温暖的太阳照在她脸庞上的时候，她都觉得那是哥哥们在亲吻她。

日子一天天地过去了。当风儿吹过房子外面的玫瑰篱笆时，它好像悄悄地跟玫瑰花说，“哪有什么比你们还美丽的呢?”但玫瑰摇摇头，说：“爱丽莎！”星期天，当老农妇坐在自家门前读《赞美诗集》时，风儿就吹动书页，对书说：“还有什么比你更善良的呢？”《赞美诗集》说：“爱丽莎！”玫瑰丛和《赞美诗集》说的可都是大实话。

她年满十五岁，该回家了。王后看到她长得那么漂亮，心里就嫉妒得要命，恨死她了。王后也准备像对付她哥哥们一样，把她变成天鹅。但她不敢仓促行动，因为国王还想见到自己的女儿呢。

一大早，王后去浴室洗澡。浴室是用白色大理石造的，还配有软软的坐垫和最华丽的地毯。她带着三只蛤蟆进去，并且对第一只说，“当爱丽莎进来时，你就坐到她的头上，这样她就和你一样傻了。”她又对第二只说，“坐在她的前额上，让她变得像你一样丑陋，这样她父亲就认不出她了。”她又悄悄地对第三只说，“躺在她的心上，让她产生罪恶的念头，并因此而感到痛苦。”

她把三只蛤蟆放进清水里，水马上变绿了。她叫来爱丽莎，让她脱下衣服，走进水里。当爱丽莎在水里的时候，一只蛤蟆蹲在她的头发上，第二只蹲在她的额头上，第三只蹲在她的心上。但爱丽莎似乎没有在意。当她从水里起身的时候，发现有三朵红罂粟漂在水上。如果这些蛤蟆没有毒，或者王后这个巫婆没有吻过它们，它们就会变成三朵红玫瑰。但不管怎样，它们都会变成花的，因为它们蹲在爱丽莎的头上、前额上和心上了。她是那么善良、无辜，魔力没有办法在她身上显现。

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当恶毒的王后看到这种情况时，她就用核桃汁来擦爱丽莎的身体，把孩子染成棕黑色，还在她的脸上涂了难闻的油，把她的头发搞得蓬乱不堪。人们很难认出那是爱丽莎了。 当她的父亲看到她时，不由得大吃一惊，说这不是他的女儿。只有院子里的狗和燕子还能认出她，但这些可怜的动物无法把这件事给说出来。

可怜的爱丽莎痛哭起来。她想到自己的11个哥哥，他们都远走高飞了。在悲哀中，她悄悄地走出王宫，走了一整天，穿过田野和沼泽，最后来到了大森林。她不知道自己该去哪儿，只是沉浸在悲伤之中，思念自己的哥哥们。他们肯定也和自己一样，被赶到了野外。她决心要寻找他们，找到他们。

她刚走进森林不久，天就黑了。她迷了路，只好躺在柔软的青苔上做晚祷，把头靠在一个树根上。四周一片寂静，天气温和，在树丛里，在青苔里，千百只萤火虫儿像绿火一样闪烁。当她摇动一根枝条的时候，亮晶晶的萤火虫儿纷纷落到她身上，像流星—样。

一整夜她都梦着自己的哥哥们。在梦里，他们还是孩子，在一块儿玩耍，用钻石笔在金板上写字，看漂亮的画书——那是花半个王国的财产买来的。但他们在金板上写的东西和以前不同，不再是线条和字母，而是他们伟大的事迹，都是他们亲眼看到和亲身经历过的。在画书上，一切东西都是活生生的——鸟在鸣叫，人们从书本里走出来，同爱丽莎和她的哥哥们说话。但当这一页翻过去的时候，它们又跳回到那页纸上，所以书本是不会被打乱的。 当她醒来的时候，太阳已经高高地挂在天上了。但她肯定没有看到，因为高大树木的深密枝叶遮住了她的视线。阳光在枝叶上玩耍，像一层薄而轻的面纱。从新鲜的绿枝上散发出阵阵清香，鸟儿差点就落到她的肩头了。她听到一阵水流的声音，是从几道泉水那儿传过来的。这些泉水都流进一个湖里，湖底是最美丽的沙石。湖四围绕着密密的灌木，但其中一角被鹿弄出了个缺口，于是爱丽莎就沿着缺口走到水边。湖水那么清澈，要不是有风吹动树枝和灌木的话，你会觉得湖中的倒影是画上去的。不管被阳光照耀，还是身处浓荫之中，每片叶子都清晰可见。

当爱丽莎从湖里看到自己的面庞时，不由得不吃一惊——她被搞得那么黑，那么丑。 不过她用手沾了些水，擦干净自己的眼睛和额头后，她洁白的皮肤又变得亮丽了。她脱下衣服，趟进清水里。世上恐怕再也找不到一个比她更漂亮的公主了。

当她重新穿好衣服，扎好长发后，她朝一个哗哗流动的泉水走去。她用手捧了些水喝，然后继续在丛林中行进，她自己也不知道自己是去哪里。她思念着亲爱的哥哥们，相信老天不会辜负她的。上帝让野苹果树生长，好满足那些饥饿的旅人。上帝引领她来到一棵野苹果树旁，上面果实累累，把树枝都压弯了。她在这儿吃了午饭，并且在压弯的枝条下面撑了些树棍，然后走入了丛林最深处。（未完待续）

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