Teddy fixed his eyes on the square and the fairy began to count.
"One--two--three--four," she counted; Teddy heard her voice, thin and
clear as the hissing of the logs on the hearth. "Don't look away from
the square," she cried. "Five--six--seven"--it seemed to Teddy that the
yellow silk square was turning to a mist before his eyes and wrapping
everything about him in a golden glow. "Thirteen--fourteen"--the fairy
counted on and on. "Forty-six--forty-seven--forty-eight--FORTY-NINE!"
泰迪目不转睛地盯着那个方块，仙女开始数起来：“一--二--三--四。”她的声音
细小但很清晰，很像壁炉里木头发出的嘶嘶声。泰迪在听着。她叫道：“看好那个方块，
五--六--七”--泰迪觉得眼前那个黄丝方块变成了一层薄雾，发出金光，把他周围的东西
通通包裹起来。“十三--十四”--仙女不停地数着。“四十六--四十七--四十八--四十九！”
At the words forty-nine, the Counterpane Fairy clapped her hands and
Teddy looked about him. He was no longer in a golden mist. He was
standing in a wonderful enchanted garden. The sky was like the golden
sky at sunset, and the grass was so thickly set with tiny yellow flowers
that it looked like a golden carpet. From this garden stretched a long
flight of glass steps. They reached up and up and up to a great golden
castle with shining domes and turrets.
数到四十九，床罩仙女拍拍手，泰迪看看左右。他已经不在那金色薄雾中，而到
了一个奇妙的魔法花园里。天空晚霞一般一片金黄色，草地上密布着小黄花，似乎
铺着金色的地毯。一段长长的玻璃台阶从花园里伸展出去。沿着台阶一直往上，
是一个宏伟的金色城堡。城堡的圆顶和塔楼闪闪发光。
"Listen!" said the Counterpane Fairy. "In that golden castle there lies
an enchanted princess. For more than a hundred years she has been lying
there waiting for the hero who is to come and rescue her, and you are
the hero who can do it if you will."
床罩仙女说：“听着，一个施了魔法的公主躺在这个城堡里。一百多年来一直躺着，
等英雄来救她。你要是愿意的话，你就是来救她的英雄。”
With that the fairy led him to a little pool close by, and bade him look
in the water. When Teddy looked, he saw himself standing there in the
golden garden, and he did not appear as he ever had before. He was tall
and strong and beautiful, like a hero.
仙女说着把泰迪带到不远的小池边，让他看着水里。泰迪一看，自己还是站在金色花园里，
但已经完全变了模样。现在的他高大，强壮，英俊，完全像一个英雄。
"Yes," said Teddy, "I will do it."
泰迪说：“好的，我去救公主。”
At these words, from the grass, the bushes, and the tress around,
suddenly started a flock of golden birds. They circled about him and
over him, clapping their wings and singing triumphantly. Their song
reminded Teddy of the blackbirds that sang on the lawn at home in the
early spring, when the daffodils were up. Then in a moment they were all
gone, and the garden was still again.
话音刚落，一群金色的小鸟突然从草地上、灌木丛中和树枝头飞起来。它们拍动着
翅膀，兴高采烈地唱着歌，围着泰迪飞来飞去，一会儿又在他头顶盘旋。听到小鸟的歌声，
泰迪想起了早春时节水仙花开放时，在他家草坪上唱歌的乌鸫。一眨眼，小鸟们
都飞走了，花园又安静下来。
Their song had filled his heart with a longing for great deeds, and,
without pausing longer, he ran to the glass steps and began to mount
them.
小鸟的歌声使泰迪心潮澎湃，决心要做一番大事。他毫不迟疑，大步跨上玻璃
台阶往上爬。
Up and up and up he went. Once he turned and waved his hand to the
Counterpane Fairy in the golden garden far below. She waved her hand in
answer, and he heard her voice faint and clear. "Good-bye! Good-bye! Be
brave and strong, and beware of that that is little and gray."
他越爬越高，爬的时候他转过一次身，向在下面金色花园里床罩仙女挥挥手。床罩仙女
已经离得很远的了。仙女声音虽然微弱，但泰迪能清晰地听到：“再见！再见！胆大点，
坚强点。小心灰色的小小的东西。”
Then Teddy turned his face toward the castle, and in a moment he was
standing before the great shining gates.
后来泰迪把脸转向城堡，一会儿就到了闪闪发光的巨大的城门口。
He raised his hand and struck bravely upon the door. There was no
answer. Again he struck upon it, and his blow rang through the hall
inside; then he opened the door and went in.
他举起手，勇敢地敲着门。没有回应。他又敲了一下，只有他的敲门声在里面大厅
回荡着。他把门打开，走了进去。
The hall was five-sided, and all of pure gold, as clear and shining as
glass. Upon three sides of it were three arched doors; one was of
emerald, one was of ruby, and one was of diamond; they were arched, and
tall, and wide,--fit for a hero to go through. The question was,
behind which one lay the enchanted princess.
大厅有五面，都是纯金制成，像玻璃一样清澈闪亮。其中三面装有拱形门，第一扇
是翡翠门，另外一扇是红宝石门，第三扇是钻石门。三扇门都呈拱形，很高，也很宽
--英雄就应该进这样的门。只是施了魔法的公主躺在哪扇门后面呢？
While Teddy stood there looking at them and wondering, he heard a little
thin voice, that seemed to be singing to itself, and this is what it
sang:
泰迪站在那里一边看着这些门，一边在想着。这时他听见一个细小的声音，
好像在自娱自乐唱着歌。是这样唱的：
"In and out and out and in,
Quick as a flash I weave and spin.
Some may mistake and some forget,
But I'll have my spider-web finished yet."
“进进出出，匆匆忙忙，
快如闪电，编丝织网。
不怕出错，不怕遗漏，
织好蛛网，一丝不苟。”
When Teddy heard the song, he knew that someone must be awake in the
enchanted castle, so he began looking about him.
听到歌声，泰迪知道在施了魔法的城堡里有一个醒着的人。他朝四周看看。
On the fourth side of the wall there hung a curtain of silvery-gray
spider-web, and the voice seemed to come from it. The hero went toward
it, but he saw nothing, for the spider that was spinning it moved so
fast that no eyes could follow it. Presently it paused up in the
left-hand corner of the web, and then Teddy saw it. It looked very
little to have spun all that curtain of silvery web.
第四面墙上悬挂着一张银灰色的蛛网，声音好像就是从那里发出的。英雄走到
蛛网跟前，但什么也没看见。织网的蜘蛛动得太快了，眼睛根本跟不上。一会儿
后，它停在蛛网的左边角落上，泰迪这才看见它。这么小的东西，竟然织出了
这么大一张银色的网。
As Teddy stood looking at it, it began to sing again:
泰迪站着那里正看着，蜘蛛又唱了起来：
"Here in my shining web I sit,
To look about and rest a bit.
I rest myself a bit and then,
Quick as a flash, I begin again."
“蛛网闪闪，端坐中央
四周瞧瞧，真是舒畅。
稍事休息，重整旗鼓，
闪电一般，继续工作。”
"Mistress Spinner! Mistress Spinner!" cried Teddy. "Can you tell me
where to find the enchanted princess who lies asleep waiting for me to
come and rescue her?"
“织娘！织娘！”泰迪大声叫道。“有一个沉睡的施了魔法的公主，正等着我来救
她。你能告诉我哪儿能找到她吗？”
The spider sat quite still for a while, and then it said in a voice as
thin as a hair: "You must go through the emerald door; you must go
through the emerald door. What so fit as the emerald door for the hero
who would do great deeds?"
蜘蛛静静地坐着，过了一会儿才用细如发丝的声音说：“你得穿过那扇翡翠门，你得
穿过那扇翡翠门。要干大事的英雄当然得穿过翡翠门，还有比这更合适的门吗？”
Teddy did not so much as stay to thank the little gray spinner, he was
in such a hurry to find the princess, but turning he sprang to the
emerald door, flung it open, and stepped outside.
泰迪急着要去寻找公主，片刻也不耽搁，竟没有谢谢这个灰色的小小的织娘。他
转过身来，跳到翡翠门前，猛地推开门，跨了出去。
He found himself standing on the glass steps, and as his foot touched
the topmost one the whole flight closed up like an umbrella, and in a
moment Teddy was sliding down the smooth glass pane, faster and faster
and faster until he could hardly catch his breath.
他发现自己站在玻璃台阶上，脚刚一碰到最高一级，整个台阶就像一把伞一样收
了起来。转眼间，泰迪从光滑的玻璃面上往下滑，越滑越快，越滑越快，他几乎
喘不过气来。
The next thing he knew he was standing in the golden garden, and there
was the Counterpane Fairy beside him looking at him sadly. "You should
have known better than to try the emerald door," she said; "and now
shall we break the story?"
接下来他知道的就是，他站在了金色花园里，床罩仙女在一旁沮丧地看着他。她说：“你
怎么不动动脑筋，选了翡翠门呢？故事要不要就此打住？”
"Oh, no, no!" cried Teddy, and he was still the hero. "Let me try once
more, for it may be I can yet save the princess."
“噢，不要，不要！”泰迪叫道，他还是一个英雄。“让我再试一次吧，也许我最后
能把公主救出来。”