渔夫和金鱼
The Fisherman and the Goldfish
从前有个老头儿和他的老太婆, 住在蔚蓝色的大海边, 他们住在一所破旧的泥舍里。
Once upon a time, there was an old man and his old wife, living in their shabby mud hut by the sky-blue sea.
有一次他向大海撒下网, 前两次都一无所得。他第三次撒下网, 这次网到了一条鱼, 这不是平常的鱼 ----- 是一条金鱼。
Once, he threw his net into the sea. He didn't get anything for the first two times. However, on the third time, he got a fish. It was not an ordinary fish. It was a goldfish.
金鱼苦苦地哀求: “老爹爹, 放了我吧, 我给你贵重的报酬, 为了赎回我的身体, 你要什么都可以。” 老头儿听完, 立刻把她放会大海。
The goldfish repeatedly implored: “Old father, please let me go. I will give you a valuable reward to redeem my body. You can ask for anything you like.” Hearing this, the old man immediately let the goldfish go back into the sea.
老头儿回到家, 向老太婆讲起这件怪事。老太婆指着老头儿就骂: “你这个蠢货, 你这个傻瓜! 你那怕向她要个木盆也好。”
Upon returning home, the old man told his wife about his strange experience. Pointing to the old man, the old woman cursed him: “You blockhead, idiot! You could have asked her for a wooden basin at least.”
于是老头儿走向蔚蓝的大海, 为老太婆向金鱼提出了要求。金鱼回答说: “别难受, 去吧, 你们马上就会有个新木盆。”
Then, the old man went to the sky-blue sea and raised his wife's demand to the goldfish. The goldfish replied: “Don't feel bad. Go back, you will have a new wooden basin soon.”
老太婆果然有了一个新木盆。她见到老头儿回来, 骂得更厉害: “滚回去, 蠢货, 回到金鱼那儿去, 向她行礼, 找她要一座木房子。”
As it turned out, the old woman really did get a new basin. But seeing the old man coming back, she cursed him again: “Get on back there, you blockhead; back to the goldfish, give her a salute and ask her for a wooden house.”
于是, 他又走向蔚蓝的大海, (蔚蓝的大海骚动起来) 呼唤出小金鱼, 再次向她提出要求。金鱼回答说: “别难受, 去吧, 你们准会有座木房子。”
Again, the old man went to the sky-blue sea, (the sky-blue sea started to toss and turn) calling for the small goldfish and raised to her the demand. The goldfish replied: “Don't feel bad, go back, you will surely get a wooden house.”
他向家里走去, 原来的泥舍不见了, 在他面前的是一座有敞亮房间的木房子。老太婆坐在窗下破口大骂, 让他告诉金鱼: “我要作个世袭的贵妇!”
Walking toward his home, the old man found his mud hut gone and what appeared in front of him was a spacious and bright wooden house. The old woman, sitting under the window, hurled abuse at him, asking him to tell the goldfish: “I want to be independently wealthy [literally: a hereditary rich woman]!”
老头儿走向大海, (蔚蓝的大海翻动起来) 向金鱼苦苦哀求, 金鱼说: “别难受, 去吧, 上帝保佑你!”
The old man walked to the sea, (the sky-blue sea started turning over) repeatedly imploring to the goldfish. The goldfish replied: “Don't feel bad, go back. May God bless you!”
老头儿回到老太婆那儿, 他看到, 老太婆珠光宝气, 站在台阶上, 对勤劳的奴仆又揪又打。
When the old man returned to the old woman, he saw her standing on the steps with sparkling and luxurious jewelries all over. She was pulling and beating her hard-working servants.
老头儿对她说: “这回总该满足了吧?” 老太婆对他大声叱喝, 派他到马棚去干活。过了两星期, 老太婆又要做 “自由自在的女皇” 了。
The old man said to her: “You are satisfied this time, aren't you?” The old woman shouted at him and sent him to work in the stable. After two weeks, the old woman wanted to be “a free and unrestrained queen.”
老头儿走向大海, (蔚蓝的大海变得阴暗起来) 无可奈何地向金鱼提出老太婆的要求。金鱼回答说: “别难受, 去吧, 上帝保佑你, 老太婆会变成女皇!”
The old man went to the sea, (the sky-blue sea now turned dark) having no other alternatives, he raised the old woman's demand to the goldfish. The goldfish replied: “Don't feel bad, go back. May God bless you. The old woman will become a queen!”
老太婆真的当上了女皇。老头儿跪在地下, 说道: “您好, 威严的女皇! 这回您的心总该满足了吧?”
The old woman really did turn into a queen. The old man knelt and said: “Your Majesty, you must be satisfied this time?”
老太婆瞧也不瞧他, 吩咐侍从把他赶开。到了门口, 卫兵又赶过来, 差点儿用利斧把他砍死。
The old woman took no notice at him at all and ordered her attendants to get him away. When he got to the gate, the guards caught up with him and nearly killed him with their sharp axes.
从此, 老太婆的野心更大了, 她要老头儿去对金鱼说: “我要做海上女霸王, 叫金鱼来侍候我, 听我使唤。”
From then on, the old woman became more and more ambitious. She asked the old man to tell the goldfish that “I want to be the ruler of the sea and have the goldfish serve me and obey my orders.”
老头儿走向大海, 海上掀起了黑色的大浪, 激怒的波涛翻腾起来, 在奔腾, 在喧嚷。金鱼一句话也没说, 就游进了深深的大海。
The old man came to the sea and found the sea surging with great black waves, furious billows seething, galloping and clamoring. The goldfish swam off into the deep, deep sea without saying a word.
老头儿只得回去见老太婆 ----- 看到在他面前的仍然是那所小泥舍。他的老太婆坐在门槛上, 摆在她前面的, 还是那个破木盆。
The old man could only go back to see the old woman ----- finding the old little mud hut just as it was before. The old woman was sitting at the threshhold, with the shabby wooden basin in front of her.
(Translation into English by Lu Jin and Tom Bishop)
-------- 选至小学课本形象化教育资料
«语文»第八册
语文出版社, 北京, 1984
