这样的童话很少见呀……我喜欢
THE WOOD MAIDEN
林中仙女
[165]
BETUSHKA was a little girl. Her mother was a poor widow with nothing but a tumble-down cottage and two little nanny-goats. But poor as they were Betushka was always cheerful. From spring till autumn she pastured the goats in the birch wood. Every morning when she left home her mother gave her a little basket with a slice of bread and a spindle.
贝托斯卡是个小女孩。她的母亲是个一无所有的穷寡妇。一幢摇摇欲坠的小屋和两头小小的母山羊，就是她们的全部家当。虽然家里穷，贝托斯卡还是很快乐。从春到秋，她都在白桦林里放牧山羊。每天早上她离家的时候，母亲会给她一个小篮子，里面装着一片面包和一个纱锭。
"See that you bring home a full spindle," her mother always said.
“等你带回满满一锭纱线哦。”母亲总是这样说。
Betushka had no distaff, so she wound the flax around her head. Then she took the little basket and went romping and singing behind the goats to the birch wood. When they got there she sat down under a tree and pulled the fibers of the flax from her head with her left hand, and with her right hand let down the spindle so that it went humming along the ground. All the while she sang until the woods echoed and the little goats nibbled away at the leaves and grass.
贝托斯卡没有纺纱用的卷线杆，所以她将亚麻绕在自己头上，拎起小篮子，又唱又跳地跟在山羊身后，向白桦林走去。到了目的地，她在一棵大树下坐下来，用左手将亚麻纤维从头上一点点拉下来，右手转动纱锭，使它在地上嗡嗡地旋转。手里忙活的同时，她一直唱着歌，直到森林发出阵阵回声，小山羊走开去，细细啃着树叶和绿草。
When the sun showed midday, she put the spindle [166] aside, called the goats and gave them a mouthful of bread so that they wouldn't stray, and ran off into the woods to hunt berries or any other wild fruit that was in season. Then when she had finished her bread and fruit, she jumped up, folded her arms, and danced and sang.
太阳当空，到中午了，她把纱锭放到一边，呼唤着小山羊，给它们一大口面包啃着，免得它们跑开去，然后跑到森林里采集些浆果，或者别的什么时令野果。等吃完面包和野果，她跳起来，弯起手臂，一边唱歌一边跳舞。
The sun smiled at her through the green of the trees and the little goats, resting on the grass, thought: "What a merry little shepherdess we have!"
阳光穿过绿叶的缝隙朝她微笑，小山羊们躺着草地上休息，心里想着：“我们的小牧羊女多快乐哪！”
After her dance she went back to her spinning and worked industriously. In the evening when she got home her mother never had to scold her because the spindle was empty.
跳完舞，她回来继续勤快地纺纱。晚上回家时，她的母亲从来不需要责备她，因为纱锭每次都是满的。
One day at noon just after she had eaten and, as usual, was going to dance, there suddenly stood before her a most beautiful maiden. She was dressed in white gauze that was fine as a spider's web. Long golden hair fell down to her waist and on her head she wore a wreath of woodland flowers.
一天中午，她刚吃完饭，正要像往常一样开始跳舞，突然发现眼前站着一位十分美丽的少女。少女穿着像蜘蛛网一样精致细腻的白纱，长长的金发垂到腰间，头上围着一个林中鲜花扎成的花环。
Betushka was speechless with surprise and alarm.
贝托斯卡惊讶得目瞪口呆。
The maiden smiled at her and said in a sweet voice:
少女向她微笑着，用甜美的嗓音说：
"Betushka, do you like to dance?"
“贝托斯卡，你喜欢跳舞吗？”
Her manner was so gracious that Betushka no longer felt afraid, and answered:
她的举止如此和蔼亲切，贝托斯卡不再害怕，于是她回答道：
[167] "Oh, I could dance all day long!"
“噢，我可以整天跳舞！”
"Come, then, let us dance together," said the maiden. "I'll teach you."
“那么，来吧，让我们一起跳舞，”少女说，“我可以教你。”
With that she tucked up her skirt, put her arm about Betushka's waist, and they began to dance. At once such enchanting music sounded over their heads that Betushka's heart went one-two with the dancing. The musicians sat on the branches of the birch trees. They were clad in little frock coats, black and gray and many-colored. It was a carefully chosen orchestra that had gathered at the bidding of the beautiful maiden: larks, nightingales, finches, linnets, thrushes, blackbirds, and showy mocking-birds.
说完，她掖起裙摆，把胳膊放在贝托斯卡的腰后，她们开始跳舞了。迷人的音乐立刻从她们头顶传来，那么美妙，贝托斯卡的心都随着舞步的节奏跳动了。乐手们坐在白桦树枝上，穿着小小的制服，有黑色的，灰色的，还有彩色的。这是一支精心挑选的乐队，有云雀、夜莺、金翅雀、红雀、画眉、乌鸫，还有伶牙俐嘴的百舌鸟，它们都在美丽少女的召唤下聚集到一起了。
Betushka's cheeks burned, her eyes shone. She forgot her spinning, she forgot her goats. All she could do was gaze at her partner who was moving with such grace and lightness that the grass didn't seem to bend under her slender feet.
贝托斯卡的脸颊红扑扑的，眼里闪着光。她忘记了纺纱，也忘记了山羊，只是一个劲地注视着她的舞伴。少女的舞步那么优雅，那么轻快，纤纤细足下的小草似乎都没被压弯一下。
They danced from noon till sundown and yet Betushka wasn't the least bit tired. Then they stopped dancing, the music ceased, and the maiden disappeared as suddenly as she had come.
她们从中午一直跳到太阳下山，贝托斯卡仍没有感到一丝疲倦。她俩停下舞步，音乐声马上停止了，少女像突然出现时一样，突然消失了。
Betushka looked around. The sun was sinking behind the wood. She put her hands to the unspun flax on her head and remembered the spindle that was [168] lying unfilled on the grass. She took down the flax and laid it with the spindle in the little basket. Then she called the goats and started home.
贝托斯卡四处张望。太阳在森林后面慢慢西沉。她的手碰到头顶没纺过的亚麻，想起草地上那个还没绕满的纱锭。她从头上取下亚麻，将它跟纱锭一起放进篮子，唤过山羊回家。
She reproached herself bitterly that she had allowed the beautiful maiden to beguile her and she told herself that another time she would not listen to her. She was so quiet that the little goats, missing her merry song, looked around to see whether it was really their own little shepherdess who was following them. Her mother, too, wondered why she didn't sing and questioned her.
她深深责备自己不该被美丽的少女迷惑，告诉自己下次不要听她的。她一声不吭，那么安静，两头小山羊听不到她欢快的歌声，忍不住回过头来，想看看跟在后面的到底是不是它们的小牧羊女。母亲见她没有唱着歌回家，也很奇怪，就问她：
"Are you sick, Betushka?"
“你病了吗，贝托斯卡？”
"No, dear mother, I'm not sick, but I've been singing too much and my throat is dry."
“没有，亲爱的母亲，我没有病，只是歌唱得太多，嗓子都干了。”
She knew that her mother did not reel the yarn at once, so she hid the spindle and the unspun flax, hoping to make up tomorrow what she had not done today. She did not tell her mother one word about the beautiful maiden.
她知道母亲不会马上把纺好的纱线绕起来，所以把纱锭和没纺完的亚麻藏了起来，希望自己明天能把今天没完成的活儿补上。关于那位美丽的少女，她一个字也没跟母亲提起。
The next day she felt cheerful again and as she drove the goats to pasture she sang merrily. At the birch wood she sat down to her spinning, singing all the while, for with a song on the lips work falls from the hands more easily.
第二天，她又感到愉快了，赶着小羊去放牧的路上，再次唱起了欢快的歌。她在白桦林里坐下来纺纱唱歌，因为嘴里唱着歌，手里的活变得轻松多了。
Noonday came. Betushka gave a bit of bread to [169] each of the goats and ran off to the woods for her berries. Then she ate her luncheon.
中午到了，贝托斯卡给每头小羊一点面包，跑进森林采来浆果，吃了中饭。
"Ah, my little goats," she sighed, as she brushed up the crumbs for the birds, "I mustn't dance today."
“唉，我的小山羊啊，”她一边把吃剩的面包屑扔给小鸟们，一边叹着气说，“今天我不该再跳舞了。”
"Why mustn't you dance today?" a sweet voice asked, and there stood the beautiful maiden as though she had fallen from the clouds.
“为什么今天你不该跳舞？”一个甜美的声音问道。美丽的少女站在那里，仿佛是从云朵里落下来的。
Betushka was worse frightened than before and she closed her eyes tight. When the maiden repeated her question, Betushka answered timidly:
贝托斯卡比前一天看到她时还要害怕，紧紧地闭上了眼睛。少女再次问她同样的问题，贝托斯卡胆怯地回答：
"Forgive me, beautiful lady, for not dancing with you. If I dance with you I cannot spin my stint and then my mother will scold me. Today before the sun sets I must make up for what I lost yesterday."
“美丽的小姐，请原谅，我不能跟你跳舞了。如果我再跟你一起跳舞，就不能纺完我的纱，我母亲会责怪我的。今天太阳下山以前，我必须把昨天没完成的活儿补上。”
"Come, child, and dance," the maiden said. "Before the sun sets we'll find some way of getting that spinning done!"
“来吧，孩子，来跳舞吧，”少女说，“太阳下山以前，我们会想办法把纱都纺完的。”
She tucked up her skirt, put her arm about Betushka, the musicians in the treetops struck up, and off they whirled. The maiden danced more beautifully than ever. Betushka couldn't take her eyes from her. She forgot her goats, she forgot her spinning. All she wanted to do was to dance on forever.
她掖起裙摆，用手扶着贝托斯卡的腰，树梢上的乐手们开始奏乐，她俩旋转起舞。少女的舞姿更加优美了，贝托斯卡的视线一刻都不能从她身上移开。她忘记了山羊，忘记了纺纱，只想就这样一直跳下去。
At sundown the maiden paused and the music stopped. Then Betushka, clasping her hands to her [170] head, where the unspun flax was twined, burst into tears. The beautiful maiden took the flax from her head, wound it round the stem of a slender birch, grasped the spindle, and began to spin. The spindle hummed along the ground and filled in no time. Before the sun sank behind the woods all the flax was spun, even that which was left over from the day before. The maiden handed Betushka the full spindle and said:
太阳西沉的时候，少女停下舞步，音乐也停了。贝托斯卡用手攥住自己缠着亚麻的脑袋，哭了起来。少女从她头上取下亚麻，将它绕在一根细细的白桦树枝上，抓起纱锭开始纺纱。纱锭在地上嗡嗡地旋转，很快就绕满了纱线。太阳在森林后面完全落下之前，所有的亚麻都纺完了，连前一天留下的也纺完了。少女把满满的纱锭交给贝托斯卡，说道：
"Remember my words:
Reel and grumble not!
Reel and grumble not!"
“记住我的话：
绕你的纱线，不要抱怨！
绕你的纱线，不要抱怨！“
When she said this, she vanished as if the earth had swallowed her.
说完，她消失了，仿佛一下子被大地吞掉了。
Betushka was very happy now and she thought to herself on her way home: "Since she is so good and kind, I'll dance with her again if she asks me. Oh, how I hope she does!"
贝托斯卡这下可高兴了，回家的路上一直想着：“既然她这么友好亲切，我还要跟她一起跳舞，只要她愿意。哦，我多么希望她还会邀请我！”
She sang her merry little song as usual and the goats trotted cheerfully along.
她像往常一样唱着欢乐的小曲儿，山羊欢快地小步跑着。
She found her mother vexed with her, for she had wanted to reel yesterday's yarn and had discovered that the spindle was not full.
她发现母亲在生气，因为母亲准备绕起昨天纺的纱线，发现纱锭没有纺满。
[171] "What were you doing yesterday," she scolded, "that you didn't spin your stint?"
“昨天你在干什么？”她责备道，“你没有纺剩下的纱呀？”
Betushka hung her head. "Forgive me, mother. I danced too long." Then she showed her mother today's spindle and said: "See, today I more than a made up for yesterday."
贝托斯卡垂下头。“原谅我，母亲。我跳舞跳得太久了。”她把今天的纱锭给母亲看，说道:“看，今天纺得很多，补上昨天的还有多余呢。”
Her mother said no more but went to milk the goats and Betushka put away the spindle. She wanted to tell her mother her adventure, but she thought to herself: "No, I'll wait. If the beautiful lady comes again, I'll ask her who she is and then I'll tell mother." So she said nothing.
母亲不再说什么，走开去给山羊挤奶。贝托斯卡放下纱锭。她想把自己的奇遇告诉母亲，但是又想：“不行，再等等。如果那位美丽的小姐还会再来，我要问问她是谁，然后再告诉母亲。”所以她什么也没说。
On the third morning she drove the goats as usual to the birch wood. The goats went to pasture and Betushka, sitting down under a tree, began to spin and sing. When the sun pointed to noon, she laid her spindle on the grass, gave the goats a mouthful of bread, gathered some strawberries, ate her luncheon, and then, giving the crumbs to the birds, she said cheerily:
第三天早上，她像往常一样赶着山羊去白桦林。山羊吃草去了，贝托斯卡在树下坐下来纺纱唱歌。当太阳的位置指向中午，她把纱锭放在草地上，给山羊喂上面包，采来一些草莓，吃完饭，把剩下的面包屑扔给鸟儿们，快乐地说：
"Today, my little goats, I will dance for you!"
“今天，我要跟你们跳舞，我的小山羊们！”
She jumped up, folded her arms, and was about to see whether she could move as gracefully as the beautiful maiden, when the maiden herself stood before her.
她跳起来，手臂交叠，正想看看自己能不能像那位美丽少女一样优雅地移动，那少女就已经站在她面前了。
[172] "Let us dance together," she said. She smiled at Betushka, put her arm about her, and as the music above their heads began to play, they whirled round and round with flying feet. Again Betushka forgot the spindle and the goats. Again she saw nothing but the beautiful maiden whose body was lithe as a willow shoot. Again she heard nothing but the enchanting music to which her feet danced of themselves.
“让我们一起跳舞吧。”她说着，面带微笑，用手臂扶住贝托斯卡的腰。音乐又在头顶上响起，她们舞步飞扬，一圈圈地旋转着。贝托斯卡再次忘记了纺纱和山羊。
They danced from noon till sundown. Then the maiden paused and the music ceased. Betushka looked around. The sun was already set behind the woods. She clasped her hands to her head and looking down at the unfilled spindle she burst into tears.
她们从中午一直跳到太阳下山。少女停下舞步，音乐停了。贝托斯卡四处看去，太阳已经落到森林后面去了。她攥住脑袋，看着地上没纺满的纱锭，又哭了起来。
"Oh, what will my mother say?" she cried.
“唉，我的母亲会怎么说我呀？”她哭着说。
"Give me your little basket," the maiden said, "and I will put something in it that will more than make up for today's stint."
“把你的小篮子给我，”少女说，“我会在里面放一样东西，比今天没纺完的纱值钱得多。”
Betushka handed her the basket and the maiden took it and vanished. In a moment she was back.
贝托斯卡将篮子递给她，少女拿过篮子消失了。过了一会儿她又回来了。
She returned the basket and said:
"Look not inside until you're home!
Look not inside until you're home!"
她把篮子还给贝托斯卡，说：
“到家前，别往里看！
到家前，别往里看！”
As she said these words she was gone as if a wind had blown her away.
说完，她就不见了，好像被一阵风吹走了似的。
[173] Betushka wanted awfully to peep inside but she was afraid to. The basket was so light that she wondered whether there was anything at all in it. Was the lovely lady only fooling her? Halfway home she peeped in to see.
贝托斯卡真想往篮子里偷偷看一眼啊，可是她不敢。篮子那么轻，她怀疑里面根本就没什么东西。可爱的小姐在戏弄她吗？走到半路，她还是忍不住看了。
Imagine her feelings when she found the basket was full of birch leaves! Then indeed did Betushka burst into tears and reproach herself for being so simple. In her vexation she threw out a handful of leaves and was going to empty the basket when she thought to herself:
想像一下，当她看到篮子里全是白桦树叶时，心里是怎样的感觉啊！她一下子大哭起来，责备自己不该这么容易受骗。她很生气地扔掉了满满一把树叶，正想把篮子里剩下的叶子都倒掉，突然又想：
"No, I'll keep what's left as litter for the goats."
“不，剩下的我可以留着喂山羊。”
She was almost afraid to go home. She was so quiet that again the little goats wondered what ailed their shepherdess.
她简直不敢回家了，一路走得那么安静，两头小山羊又感到奇怪了，什么事让它们的小牧羊女这么苦恼呢？
Her mother was waiting for her in great excitement.
母亲心情激动地等着她回来。
"For heaven's sake, Betushka, what kind of spool did you bring home yesterday?"
“我的天啊，贝托斯卡，昨天你带回来的是什么线呀？”
"Why?" Betushka faltered.
“怎么了？”贝托斯卡颤着嗓子问。
"When you went away this morning I started to reel that yarn. I reeled and reeled and the spool remained full. One skein, two skeins, three skeins, and still the spool was full. 'What evil spirit has spun that?' I cried out impatiently, and instantly the yarn [174] disappeared from the spindle as if blown away. Tell me, what does it mean?"
“今天早上你走了以后，我开始绕那锭纱线。我绕啊绕啊，但是纱锭一直是满满的。一团，两团，三团，纱锭还是满的。‘什么坏精灵纺的纱呀？’我不耐烦的叫起来，马上，纱锭上的线不见了，好像被风吹走了似的。跟我说，这是怎么回事？”
So Betushka confessed and told her mother all she knew about the beautiful maiden.
于是，贝托斯卡把她所知道的关于那位美丽少女的所有事情告诉了母亲。
"Oh," cried her mother in amazement, "that was a wood maiden! At noon and midnight the wood maidens dance. It is well you are not a little boy or she might have danced you to death! But they are often kind to little girls and sometimes make them rich presents. Why didn't you tell me? If I hadn't grumbled, I could have had yarn enough to fill the house!"
“哦！”母亲惊奇地叫起来，“那是位林中仙女！她们在中午和午夜跳舞。幸亏你不是个小男孩，不然她会一直跳到你累死！但她们对小女孩一般很友好，有时候会送贵重的礼物。为什么你不早点告诉我呢？要是我没有抱怨，我就有足够的纱线堆满这间屋子了！”
Betushka thought of the little basket and wondered if there might be something under the leaves. She took out the spindle and unspun flax and looked in once more.
贝托斯卡惊讶地想起她的小篮子，那些叶子下面会不会也有什么礼物呢？她拿出纱锭和没纺完的亚麻，再一次往里看去。
"Mother!" she cried. "Come here and see!"
“母亲！”她叫道，“快来看！”
Her mother looked and clapped her hands. The birch leaves were all turned to gold!
她的母亲看到了，禁不住拍起手来。那些白桦树叶都变成了金子！
Betushka reproached herself bitterly: "She told me not to look inside until I got home, but I didn't obey."
贝托斯卡心痛地责备自己：“她叫我到家前别往里看，可是我没听她的。”
"It's lucky you didn't empty the whole basket," her mother said.
“还好你没把篮子全倒空，”母亲说。
The next morning she herself went to look for the [175] handful of leaves that Betushka had thrown away. She found them still lying in the road but they were only birch leaves.
第二天早上，母亲亲自去寻找贝托斯卡扔掉的那把叶子。她看到它们还躺在路上，不过，它们仍然只是一些白桦树叶。
But the riches which Betushka brought home were enough. Her mother bought a farm with fields and cattle. Betushka had pretty clothes and no longer had to pasture goats.
不过，贝托斯卡带回家的财富已经够多了。她的母亲买了个农场，里面有田地，有牲口。贝托斯卡穿上了漂亮的新衣服，再也不用放牧山羊了。
But no matter what she did, no matter how cheerful and happy she was, still nothing ever again gave her quite so much pleasure as the dance with the wood maiden. She often went to the birch wood in the hope of seeing the maiden again. But she never did.
但是不管她做什么事，不管她过得有多开心愉快，什么都比不上她跟林中仙女跳舞所带来的快乐。她经常来到白桦林里，希望能再见到那位仙女。但她再也没见到过。