十个小仙子

THE TEN FAIRIES
十个小仙子
Once upon a time there was a dear little girl, whose name was Elsa. Elsa's father and mother worked very hard and became rich. But they loved Elsa so much that they did not like to have her do any work; very foolishly, they let her play all the time. So when Elsa grew up, she did not know how to do anything; she could not make bread, she could not sweep a room, she could not sew a seam; she could only laugh and sing. But she was so sweet and merry that everybody loved her. And by and by, she married one of the people who loved her, and had a house of her own to take care of.

从前，有个可爱的小女孩叫埃尔莎。埃尔莎的父母亲勤勤恳恳地工作，后来便富裕起来了。可是这对父母是多么荒唐呀，因为他们非常疼爱埃尔莎，就让她一直玩啊玩，从不给她什么家务活干。所以埃尔莎长大后，自然是什么活儿都不懂得做了。她不会做面包，不会打扫屋子，不会缝缝补补，她只会笑啊唱啊。可是她是那么地甜美和快乐，每个人都不由得喜欢上了她。不久以后，她嫁给了其中一个爱慕她的人，从此也有了一座要自己打理的房子。
Then, then, my dears, came hard times for Elsa! There were so many things to be done in the house, and she did not know how to do any of them! And because she had never worked at all it made her very tired even to try; she was tired before the morning was over, every day. The maid would come and say, ``How shall I do this?'' or ``How shall I do that?'' And Elsa would have to say, ``I don't know.'' Then the maid would pretend that she did not know, either; and when she saw her mistress sitting about doing nothing, she, too, sat about, idle.

然后，哎呀，埃尔莎的烦恼来了。房子里有太多事情要忙了，可是她对此是一窍不通！而且因为她压根儿没做过这些事，所以就算是试一下，她都会累得不行。早上还没过去，她就干得筋疲力尽了，天天如此。女仆过来问：“这个该怎么做？”“那个该怎么做？”可是埃尔莎只能回答，“我不知道。”于是女仆也装不懂，看到女主人呆坐着不做事，她也跟着闲坐偷懒。

Elsa's husband had a hard time of it; he did not have good things to eat, and they were not ready at the right time, and the house looked all in a clutter. It made him sad, and that made Elsa sad, for she wanted to do everything just right.

埃尔莎的丈夫的日子也不好过。他没有美味的东西吃，吃饭时间到了，饭菜还没准备好。屋子看起来也乱七八糟的。这叫他怎么高兴得起来呢？看着丈夫怏怏不乐的样子，埃尔莎的心情也糟透了，她多想把事情做得妥妥帖帖的啊。
At last, one day, Elsa's husband went away quite cross; he said to her, as he went out the door, ``It is no wonder that the house looks so, when you sit all day with your hands in your lap!''

终于有一天，埃尔莎的丈夫怒气冲冲地离开了家。走出家门时，他冲埃尔莎叫道：“你成天干坐着，舍不得把你的手从膝盖上挪开，房子当然是这般模样了！”

Little Elsa cried bitterly when he was gone, for she did not want to make her husband unhappy and cross, and she wanted the house to look nice. ``Oh, dear,'' she sobbed, ``I wish I could do things right! I wish I could work! I wish -- I wish I had ten good fairies to work for me! Then I could keep the house!''
他走后，可怜的埃尔莎痛哭起来。她不想惹丈夫生气，不开心，她想房子看起来井井有条的。“哎，”她呜咽着说，“我希望我能把事情做好！我希望我能干活！我希望——我希望我有十个小仙子帮我干活！这样我就能把这房子收拾得好好的了！”
As she said the words, a great gray man stood before her; he was wrapped in a strange gray cloak that covered him from head to foot; and he smiled at Elsa. ``What is the matter, dear?'' he said. ``Why do you cry?''
话音刚落，一个高大的身穿灰色衣服的男人出现在埃尔莎面前。他浑身都裹在一件奇怪的灰色斗篷里。他对埃尔莎笑了笑。“亲爱的，怎么了？”他问，“你为什么哭呀？”

``Oh, I am crying because I do not know how to keep the house,'' said Elsa. ``I cannot make bread, I cannot sweep, I cannot sew a seam; when I was a little girl I never learned to work, and now I cannot do anything right. I wish I had ten good fairies to help me!''

“哦，我哭是因为我不知道怎么收拾房子，”埃尔莎回答说，“我不会做面包，不会扫地，不会缝补。我从小就没干过活，现在我什么事都不会做。要是有十个好心的小仙子帮我忙就好了！”

``You shall have them, dear,'' said the gray man, and he shook his strange gray cloak. Pouf! Out hopped ten tiny fairies, no bigger than that!

“会有的，亲爱的。”男人说着抖了抖他那奇怪的灰色斗篷。噗伏，从斗篷里跳出十个小人儿来，好小！

``These shall be your servants, Elsa,'' said the gray man; ``they are faithful and clever, and they will do everything you want them to, just right. But the neighbors might stare and ask questions if they saw these little chaps running about your house, so I will hide them away for you. Give me your little useless hands.''

“这些就是你的仆人了，埃尔莎，”男人说，“她们非常忠实机灵，你让她们做什么，她们都会干得很漂亮。可是如果邻居们看到这些小家伙在你的房子里跑来跑去的，他们会目瞪口呆的，紧跟着就会问这问那，所以我要帮你把她们藏起来。来，把你那帮不上忙的小手给我。”

Wondering, Elsa stretched out her pretty, little, white hands.

埃尔莎很疑惑，但还是伸出了她漂亮的，白皙的小手。

``Now stretch out your little useless fingers, dear!''

“现在把你那派不上用场的手指都张开，亲爱的！”

Elsa stretched out her pretty pink fingers.
埃尔莎顺从地张开她漂亮的粉嫩的手指。

The gray man touched each one of the ten little fingers, and as he touched them he said their names: ``Little Thumb; Fore-finger; Thimble-finger; Ring-finger; Little Finger; Little Thumb; Forefinger; Thimble-finger; Ring-finger; Little Finger!'' And as he named the fingers, one after another, the tiny fairies bowed their tiny heads; there was a fairy for every name.

男人把十个小手指逐一点了点，一边还念叨着它们的名字，“大拇指，食指，中指，无名指，小拇指，大拇指，食指，中指，无名指，小拇指！”当他念着这些手指的名字时，小仙子们一个接一个地低下了她们的小脑袋，每个名字都对应了一个小仙子。

``Hop! hide yourselves away!'' said the gray man.

“呼噗！藏起来吧！”男人命令道。

Hop, hop! The fairies sprang to Elsa's knee, then to the palms of her hands, and then-whisk! they were all hidden away in her little pink fingers, a fairy in every finger! And the gray man was gone.

呼噗，呼噗！小仙子们跳上埃尔莎的膝盖，又蹦到她的掌心，然后敏捷地一跃！一个个都躲进了埃尔莎粉嫩的手指里。每个手指里都住着一个小仙子！跟着穿灰色衣服的男人就不见了。

Elsa sat and looked with wonder at her little white hands and the ten useless fingers. But suddenly the little fingers began to stir. The tiny fairies who were hidden away there were 't used to staying still, and they were getting restless. They stirred so that Elsa jumped up and ran to the cooking table, and took hold of the bread board. No sooner had she touched the bread board than the little fairies began to work: they measured the flour, mixed the bread, kneaded the loaves, and set them to rise, quicker than you could wink; and when the bread was done, it was the nicest you could wish. Then the little fairy-fingers seized the broom, and in a twinkling they were making the house clean. And so it went, all day. Elsa flew about from one thing to another, and the ten fairies did it all, just right.

埃尔莎坐着，惊讶地看了看自己白皙的小手和十个笨拙的手指。突然小手指们自己动起来了。原来是藏在里面的小仙子们不习惯静止不动，开始不安分了。它们鼓动着埃尔莎，埃尔莎突然就站了起来，奔向烹饪台，抓住面包板。她一碰到面包板，小仙子们就开始忙活了：她们称好面粉，搅拌均匀，揉成团，让它们发酵，这过程比你眨眼还快呢。做好的面包，那味道，你想有多好吃就有多好吃。接着小仙子手指又抓住了扫帚，瞬间就把房子打扫得干干净净的。这一整天，小仙子手指就这样忙个不停。埃尔莎从这里飞到那里，十个小仙子把事情全都做得妥妥帖帖的。

When the maid saw her mistress working, she began to work, too; and when she saw how beautifully everything was done, she was ashamed to do anything badly herself. In a little while the housework was going smoothly, and Elsa could laugh and sing again.

女仆看到女主人干活，也开始忙碌起来。她看到女主人把所有活都干得那么漂亮，自己却做得那么糟糕，感到非常羞愧。一会儿工夫，家务顺利完成了，埃尔莎又能欢声歌唱了。

There was no more crossness in that house. Elsa's husband grew so proud of her that he went about saying to everybody, ``My grandmother was a fine housekeeper, and my mother was a fine housekeeper, but neither of them could hold a candle to my wife. She has only one maid, but, to see the work done, you would think she had as many servants as she has fingers on her hands!''

那个房子再不会有人生气或不高兴了。埃尔莎的丈夫很为她骄傲。他逢人便说：“我的祖母是个能干的主妇，我的母亲也是个能干的主妇，可是她们两个都远远不及我的妻子能干。她只有一个女仆，可是，看看她干的活吧，你会以为她有像她的手指那么多的仆人呢！”

When Elsa heard that, she used to laugh, but she never, never told.

埃尔莎听后，总是一笑而过，而她永远永远都不会说出那个秘密。