The Three Wishes

Once upon a time a poor man took his ax and went out into the forest to cut wood. He was a lazy fellow, so as soon as he was in the forest he began to look about to see which tree would be the easiest to cut down. At last he found one that was hollow inside, as he could tell by knocking upon it with his ax. “It ought not to take long to cut this down,” said he to himself. He raised his ax and struck the tree such a blow that the splinters flew.

Pada zaman dahulu kala seorang pria miskin mengambil kapaknya dan pergi ke hutan untuk menebang kayu. Ia orang yang pemalas, jadi begitu sampai di hutan ia mulai melihat-lihat pohon mana yang paling mudah untuk ditebang. Akhirnya ia menemukan sebatang pohon yang berongga di dalamnya, seperti yang bisa ia ketahui dengan mengetuknya memakai kapak. "Seharusnya tidak lama untuk menebang ini," katanya pada dirinya sendiri. Ia mengangkat kapaknya dan menghantam pohon itu dengan pukulan yang begitu keras hingga serpihan kayu berterbangan.

At once the bark opened and a little old fairy with a long beard came running out of the tree.

Seketika itu juga kulit kayu terbuka dan seorang peri tua kecil berjanggut panjang berlari keluar dari pohon itu.

“What do you mean by chopping into my house?” he cried; and his eyes shone like red hot sparks, he was so angry.

"Apa maksudmu menebang masuk ke rumahku?" serunya; dan matanya berkilat seperti bara panas, ia begitu marah.

“I did not know it was your house,” said the man.

"Aku tak tahu itu rumahmu," kata pria itu.

“Well, it is my house, and I’ll thank you to let it alone,” cried the fairy.

"Nah, ini rumahku, dan aku minta kau membiarkannya saja," seru peri itu.

“Very well,” said the man. “I’d just as lieve cut down some other tree. I’ll chop down the one over yonder.”

"Baiklah," kata pria itu. "Aku sama sukanya menebang pohon lain saja. Akan kutebang yang di sana itu."

“That is well,” said the fairy. “I see that you are an obliging fellow, after all. I have it in my mind to reward you for sparing my house, so the next three wishes you and your wife make shall come true, whatever they are; and that is your reward.”

"Baiklah itu," kata peri itu. "Kulihat kau memang orang yang berbudi baik, bagaimanapun juga. Aku berniat memberimu ganjaran karena telah menyelamatkan rumahku, jadi tiga permintaan berikutnya yang kau dan istrimu ucapkan akan menjadi kenyataan, apa pun itu; dan itulah ganjaranmu."

Then the fairy went back into the tree again and pulled the bark together behind him.

Lalu peri itu kembali masuk ke dalam pohon dan menutup kulit kayunya di belakangnya.

The man stood looking at the tree and scratching his head. “Now that is a curious thing,” said he. Then he sat down and began to wonder what he should wish for. He thought and he thought, but he could decide on nothing. “I’ll just go home and talk it over with my wife,” said he; so he shouldered his ax, and set off for home. As soon as he came in at the door he began to bawl for his wife, and she came in a hurry, for she did not know what had happened to him.

Pria itu berdiri memandangi pohon itu sambil menggaruk-garuk kepalanya. "Nah, ini hal yang aneh," katanya. Lalu ia duduk dan mulai berpikir apa yang harus ia inginkan. Ia berpikir dan berpikir, tetapi tak bisa memutuskan apa-apa. "Aku akan pulang saja dan membicarakannya dengan istriku," katanya; maka ia memanggul kapaknya, dan berangkat pulang. Begitu ia masuk pintu ia mulai berteriak memanggil istrinya, dan istrinya datang tergesa-gesa, sebab ia tak tahu apa yang telah terjadi padanya.

He told his story and his wife listened. “This is a fine thing to have happen to us,” said she. “Now we must be very careful what we wish for.”

Ia menceritakan kisahnya dan istrinya mendengarkan. "Ini hal yang bagus terjadi pada kita," katanya. "Sekarang kita harus sangat berhati-hati apa yang kita inginkan."

They sat down one on each side of the fire to talk it over. They thought of ever so many things they would like to have—a bag of gold, and a coach and four, and a fine house to live in, and fine clothes to wear, but nothing seemed just the right thing to choose.

Mereka duduk masing-masing di satu sisi perapian untuk membicarakannya. Mereka memikirkan begitu banyak hal yang ingin mereka miliki—sekantong emas, sebuah kereta dengan empat kuda, sebuah rumah bagus untuk ditinggali, dan pakaian bagus untuk dikenakan, tetapi tak satu pun tampak seperti pilihan yang tepat.

They talked so long that they grew hungry. “Well, here we sit,” said the man, “and not a thing cooked for dinner. I wish we had one of those fine black puddings you used to make.”

Mereka membicarakannya begitu lama sampai mereka menjadi lapar. "Nah, di sinilah kita duduk," kata pria itu, "dan tak ada apa pun yang dimasak untuk makan malam. Aku ingin kita punya salah satu puding hitam enak yang dulu biasa kau buat."

No sooner had he spoken than there was a great thumping and bumping in the chimney and a great black pudding fell down on the hearth before him.

Baru saja ia mengucapkannya, terdengar suara berdebum keras di cerobong asap dan sebuah puding hitam besar jatuh ke perapian di hadapannya.

“What is this?” cried the man staring.

"Apa ini?" seru pria itu terbelalak.

“Oh, you oaf! you stupid!” shrieked his wife. “It’s the pudding you wished for. There’s one of our wishes wasted. I wish the pudding were stuck on the end of your nose! It would serve you right!”

"Oh, dasar bodoh! dasar tolol!" jerit istrinya. "Itu puding yang kau inginkan. Satu permintaan kita sudah terbuang sia-sia. Kuharap puding itu menempel di ujung hidungmu! Itu pantas untukmu!"

The moment she said this the pudding flew up and stuck to the man’s nose, and there it was and he couldn’t get it off; the man pulled and tugged, and his wife pulled and tugged, but it was all of no use.

Begitu ia mengucapkan itu, puding itu terbang dan menempel di hidung pria itu, dan di situlah puding itu tetap berada dan ia tak bisa melepaskannya; pria itu menarik dan menjambak, dan istrinya menarik dan menjambak, tetapi semuanya sia-sia.

“Well, there’s no help for it,” said the husband; “we’ll have to wish it off again.”

"Nah, tak ada jalan lain," kata sang suami; "kita harus mengharapkannya lepas lagi."

His wife begun to cry and bawl. “No, no,” she cried. “We only have one wish left, and we can’t waste it that way. Let’s wish ourselves the richest people in the world.”

Istrinya mulai menangis dan meraung-raung. "Jangan, jangan," serunya. "Kita hanya punya satu permintaan tersisa, dan kita tak boleh menyia-nyiakannya begitu saja. Ayo kita minta menjadi orang paling kaya di dunia."

But to this the man would not agree. He wanted the pudding off his nose whatever it cost. So at last the wife was obliged to let him have his own way. “I wish the pudding was off my nose again,” said the man, and that was the third of their wishes. So all the good they had of the fairy’s gift was a black pudding for dinner; but then it was the best black pudding they had ever eaten. “And after all,” said the man, “there’s nothing much better in the world to wish for than a full stomach.”

Tetapi pria itu tak mau menyetujuinya. Ia ingin puding itu lepas dari hidungnya berapa pun harganya. Maka akhirnya istrinya terpaksa membiarkannya melakukan keinginannya sendiri. "Aku ingin puding ini lepas dari hidungku lagi," kata pria itu, dan itulah permintaan ketiga mereka. Jadi seluruh kebaikan yang mereka dapatkan dari hadiah peri itu hanyalah sepotong puding hitam untuk makan malam; tetapi itu adalah puding hitam paling enak yang pernah mereka makan. "Dan bagaimanapun juga," kata pria itu, "tak ada yang jauh lebih baik di dunia ini untuk diinginkan selain perut yang kenyang."