[翻译大赛NO.3] The Three Feathers / 三片羽毛

The Three Feathers
                                                                 三片羽毛 
                                                  Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
                                                                格林兄弟著

Once upon a time there was a king who had three sons, two of whom were clever and intelligent, but the third one did not talk very much, was simple minded, and the only name they gave him was the Simpleton.
从前有个国王，他有三个儿子，老大和老二聪明伶俐，老三却头脑简单，不爱说话，两个哥哥叫他“缺心眼”。

When the king became old and weak, and thought that he was nearing his end, he did not know which of his sons should inherit the kingdom after him, so he said to them, "Go forth, and the one of you who brings me the finest carpet, he shall be king after my death."
国王一天天老起来，身体越来越差了，他觉得自己活不了多久了，不知道死后应该让哪个儿子来继承王位。于是有一天他对王子们说：“出发吧，你们谁能把世上最美丽的地毯带给我，谁就在我死后做国王。”

So there would be no dispute among them, he led them to the front of his castle, blew three feathers into the air, and said, "As they fly, so shall you go."
三个王子都不反对，于是国王领着他们来到城堡前，他把三片羽毛吹向空中，说：“羽毛飞向哪里，你们就去哪里。”

The one feather flew to the east, the other to the west, and the third feather flew straight ahead, falling quickly to the ground after going only a short distance. The one brother went to the right, the other to the left, and they laughed at the Simpleton who had to stand there where the third feather had fallen.
第一片羽毛向东飞去，第二片羽毛向西飞去，第三片羽毛向着正前方飞去，但飞了没多远就落到地上了。大王子向东去了，二王子向西去了，在他们的嘲笑声中，三王子“缺心眼”只能呆在羽毛落下的地方。

The Simpleton sat down and was sad. Then he suddenly noticed that there was a trapdoor next to his feather. He lifted it up, found a stairway, and climbed down inside. He came to another door and knocked on it, upon which he heard someone calling out from within:
“缺心眼”沮丧地坐下来。突然，他发现羽毛旁边的地上有一个活动门。他掀开活动门，看见一道楼梯通向地下。他顺着楼梯爬下去，来到另一扇门前。他敲敲门，里面传来一阵叫声：

Maiden green and small,
Hopping toad,
Hopping toad's puppy,
Hop to and fro,
Quickly see who is outside.
青青女娃，
蹦蹦蛤蟆，
乖乖狗崽，
跳去跳来，
快快去看，
谁在外面。

The door opened, and he saw a big, fat toad sitting there, surrounded by a large number of little toads. The fat toad asked what he wanted.
门开了，他看见一只又大又肥的蛤蟆坐在那里，旁边还围了一群小蛤蟆。肥蛤蟆问他想要什么。

The Simpleton answered, "I would like the most beautiful and finest carpet."
“缺心眼”说：“我想要世上最美丽的地毯。”

Then the fat toad called to a young toad, saying:
肥蛤蟆对一只小蛤蟆喊道：

Maiden green and small,
Hopping toad,
Hopping toad's puppy,
Hop to and fro,
Bring me the large box.
青青女娃，
蹦蹦蛤蟆，
乖乖狗崽，
跳去跳来，
快快去拿，
大盒过来。

The young toad brought the box, and the fat toad opened it, then gave the Simpleton a carpet from it. It was so beautiful and so fine, the like of which could never have been woven in the world above. He thanked the toad and climbed back out.
小蛤蟆拿来一个盒子，肥蛤蟆打开它，从里面取出一张地毯交给“缺心眼”。太美了，太精致了，这么漂亮的地毯真是人间少有。他向蛤蟆道声谢，就爬出来了。

Now the other two thought that their brother was so stupid that he would not find anything to bring home.
此时他的两个哥哥却在想，老三那么蠢，肯定什么也找不回来。

"Why should we spend a lot of effort looking for a carpet?" they said, so they took some pieces of course cloth from the first shepherd's wife they came to, and took these back home to the king.
“我们为啥要费劲去找一张毯子呢？” 他们说着，就向自己遇到的第一个牧羊妇要了几块粗呢布，带回宫里给国王了。

At the same time they returned home, the Simpleton arrived, bringing his beautiful carpet. When the king saw it, he was astounded, and said, "It is only right that the kingdom should go to my youngest son."
当他们回到宫里时，缺心眼也带着他的美丽地毯回来了。国王一见那张地毯就惊呆了，说：“应该让小儿子来继承王位啊。”

However, the two other sons gave their father no peace, saying that it would be impossible for the Simpleton to become king, because he lacked understanding in all things. They asked him to declare another contest.
可是，另外两个儿子一直纠缠不清，不给国王片刻安宁，他们说“缺心眼”不能做国王，因为他什么也不懂。他们央求国王再安排一次比试。

Then the father said, "He who brings me the most beautiful ring shall inherit the kingdom." Leading the three brothers outside, he blew the three feathers into the air that they were to follow.
于是国王说：“谁能把世上最美丽的戒指带给我，谁就继承王位。”他领着三个儿子出了王宫，又把三片羽毛吹向空中，让他们跟着羽毛而去。

The two oldest brothers again went to the east and to the west, and the Simpleton's feather again flew straight ahead, falling down next to the door in the ground. Once again he climbed down to the fat toad and told it that he needed the most beautiful ring. The toad had the box brought out again and gave him from it a ring that glistened with precious stones and was so beautiful that no goldsmith on earth could have made it.
大王子和二王子还是分别向东、向西去了，“缺心眼”的羽毛先向正前方飘去，然后又落到了活动门旁边的地上。“缺心眼”又爬下去，来到肥蛤蟆那里，告诉它自己需要一个最美丽的戒指。肥蛤蟆又拿出那个盒子，从里面取出一个闪闪发光的宝石戒指，它是如此美丽，世上最好的金匠也做不出来。

The two oldest brothers laughed at the Simpleton, who was going to look for a golden ring, and they took no effort at all. Instead, they drove the nails out of an old wagon ring and brought it to the king. However, when the Simpleton presented his ring, the king said once again, "The kingdom belongs to him."
看到“缺心眼”去找金戒指了，两个哥哥一个劲地嘲笑他，他们自己却一点也不努力。他们找来一个旧的马车轮箍，拔去上面的钉子，然后把这个轮箍交给国王。当“缺心眼”拿出他的戒指时，国王又说：“王国归他了。”

The two oldest sons tormented the king endlessly, until finally he declared a third contest, saying that he who would bring home the most beautiful woman should have the kingdom.
老大和老二还是不停地烦扰国王，最后国王只好同意安排第三次比试，他说谁能把最美丽的姑娘带回来，谁就做国王。

Once again he blew the three feathers into the air and they flew in the same directions as before.
他又把三片羽毛吹向空中，它们飘飞的方向仍然和前两次一样。

Without hesitating, the Simpleton went back to the fat toad and said, "I am supposed to take home the most beautiful woman."
“缺心眼”毫不犹豫地又来到肥蛤蟆那里，说：“我要把最美丽的姑娘带回家。”

"Oh!" answered the toad. "The most beautiful woman! She is not here at the moment, but you shall have her nonetheless."
“哦！”肥蛤蟆回答。“最美丽的姑娘！现在还没有，但你会有的。”

The fat toad gave him a hollowed out yellow turnip, to which were harnessed six little mice.
肥蛤蟆交给他一个空心的萝卜，上面套着六只小老鼠。

The Simpleton said sadly, "What am I to do with this?"
“缺心眼”难过地说：“我要它做什么呀？”

The toad answered, "Just put one of my little toads inside it."
肥蛤蟆说：“放个小蛤蟆进去就行了。”

Then he grabbed one of them from the group and set it inside the yellow coach. The little toad was scarcely inside when it turned into a beautiful young lady, the turnip into a coach, and the six mice into horses. He kissed her, raced away with the horses, and brought her to the king.
他从一群小蛤蟆里随手抓了一个，放进萝卜里。小蛤蟆一进去就变成了一个美丽的姑娘，萝卜变成了一辆马车，六只小老鼠变成了六匹骏马。他吻了吻姑娘，然后驾着马车、带着姑娘去见国王了。

His brothers came along afterward. They had given no effort to find a beautiful woman, but simply brought along the first peasant women they had come upon.
他的两个哥哥后来也出发了。他们没有好好去找美丽的姑娘，而是把自己遇见的第一个村姑带回来了。

After looking at them, the king said, "After my death the kingdom belongs to my youngest son."
看了几位姑娘，国王说：“在我死后，小儿子来做国王。”

However, the two oldest sons again deafened the king's ears with the cry, "We cannot allow the Simpleton to become king," and they demanded that the preference should go to the brother whose woman could jump through a hoop that was hanging in the middle of the hall.
但是，两个大儿子还是吵个不停，国王的耳朵都要被吵聋了。“我们决不让‘缺心眼’做国王！” 他们要国王答应，谁的女人能跳过大殿中央悬挂着的圆环，就让谁做国王。

They thought, "The peasant women will be able to do that very well. They are very strong, but the dainty lady will jump herself to death."
他们心想：“健壮的村姑肯定没问题，一定能跳过去。娇滴滴的美女一跳就没命了。”

The old king gave in to this as well. The two peasant women did indeed jump through the hoop, but they were so plump that each one fell, breaking her thick arms and legs. Then the beautiful lady, that the Simpleton had brought home, jumped, and she jumped through the hoop as lightly as a deer.
老国王又一次让步了。两个村姑真的跳过圆环了，但她们肥胖的身躯却重重地摔在了地上，跌断了胳膊和腿儿。现在轮到“缺心眼”带回来的美女跳了，只见她轻轻一跃，象小鹿一般轻盈地跳过了圆环。

After this all the protests had to stop. Thus the Simpleton received the crown, and he ruled wisely for a long time.
至此，所有的争吵都停止了。“缺心眼”得到了王冠，成了一位英明的国王。