Fairy Ointment

Dame Goody was a nurse that looked after sick people, and minded babies. One night she was woke up at midnight, and when she went downstairs, she saw a strange squinny-eyed, little ugly old fellow, who asked her to come to his wife who was too ill to mind her baby.

古迪大娘是一位专门照料病人、看护婴儿的护理婆。一天 夜里，她半夜被人叫醒，等她下楼一看，只见一个 斜眼的、模样丑陋的小老头站在门口，请她 去照看他那位病得没法照看孩子的妻子。

Dame Goody didn't like the look of the old fellow, but business is business; so she popped on her things, and went down to him. And when she got down to him, he whisked her up on to a large coal-black horse with fiery eyes, that stood at the door; and soon they were going at a rare pace, Dame Goody holding on to the old fellow like grim death.

古迪大娘 不喜欢这老头的模样，可生意归生意；于是她 匆匆穿好衣服，跟他下楼去了。等她到了楼下，他 一把将她抱上了一匹站在门口的、双眼冒火的煤黑色 大马；不一会儿，他们就飞快地赶起路来，古迪大娘 死死地抱住那老头，像是抓着救命稻草一般。

They rode, and they rode, till at last they stopped before a cottage door. So they got down and went in and found the good woman abed with the children playing about; and the babe, a fine bouncing boy, beside her.

他们骑啊骑，骑了很久，终于在一间小屋的门前 停了下来。他们下了马，走进屋去，只见一位妇人躺在 床上，孩子们在一旁玩耍；床边还躺着一个 胖乎乎、健健康康的男婴。

Dame Goody took the babe, which was as fine a baby boy as you'd wish to see. The mother, when she handed the baby to Dame Goody to mind, gave her a box of ointment, and told her to stroke the baby's eyes with it as soon as it opened them. After a while it began to open its eyes.

古迪大娘抱起那婴儿，那是个再漂亮不过的 男婴了。那母亲把孩子交给古迪大娘照看时，递给 她一盒药膏，叮嘱她等婴儿一睁眼，就用药膏 涂抹他的眼睛。过了一会儿，婴儿开始睁开眼来。

Dame Goody saw that it had squinny eyes just like its father. So she took the box of ointment and stroked its two eyelids with it. But she couldn't help wondering what it was for, as she had never seen such a thing done before. So she looked to see if the others were looking, and, when they were not noticing she stroked her own right eyelid with the ointment.

古迪 大娘看见，这孩子的眼睛竟和他父亲一样是斜的。于是她 拿起那盒药膏，涂在了婴儿的两片眼皮上。可她忍不住 纳闷，这药膏究竟是做什么用的，因为她从没见过 这样的做法。于是她瞧了瞧别人是不是在看她，趁着 没人留意，她也往自己的右眼皮上抹了一点药膏。

No sooner had she done so, than everything seemed changed about her. The cottage became elegantly furnished. The mother in the bed was a beautiful lady, dressed up in white silk. The little baby was still more beautiful than before, and its clothes were made of a sort of silvery gauze. Its little brothers and sisters around the bed were flat-nosed imps with pointed ears, who made faces at one another, and scratched their polls. Sometimes they would pull the sick lady's ears with their long and hairy paws. In fact, they were up to all kinds of mischief; and Dame Goody knew that she had got into a house of pixies.

她刚一这么做，周围的一切似乎都变了样。这间 小屋变成了布置得极其精美的房子。床上的那位母亲 变成了一位穿着白绸衣裳的美丽夫人。那小婴儿比先前 更加漂亮了，身上的衣裳是用一种银光闪闪的薄纱做的。 床边那些原本是孩子的兄弟姐妹，如今却成了塌鼻子、 尖耳朵的小精怪，他们互相做着鬼脸，挠着自己的 脑袋。有时候，他们还会伸出那毛茸茸的长爪子，去拽 那位生病夫人的耳朵。总之，他们各种恶作剧无所不为； 古迪大娘这才明白，自己闯进了一户精怪人家。

But she said nothing to nobody, and as soon as the lady was well enough to mind the baby, she asked the old fellow to take her back home. So he came round to the door with the coal-black horse with eyes of fire, and off they went as fast as before, or perhaps a little faster, till they came to Dame Goody's cottage, where the squinny-eyed old fellow lifted her down and left her, thanking her civilly enough, and paying her more than she had ever been paid before for such service.

可她 谁也没告诉，一直等到那位夫人身体恢复得能照看 婴儿了，她才请那老头送她回家。于是他牵来了那匹 双眼冒火的煤黑色大马，来到门口，他们又像来时一样 飞快地赶起路来，或许还更快了些，一直到了古迪大娘的 小屋，那斜眼的老头把她扶下马来，客客气气地 道了谢，付给她的报酬也比她以往做这类活计 拿到的都要多。

Now next day happened to be market-day, and as Dame Goody had been away from home, she wanted many things in the house, and trudged off to get them at the market. As she was buying the things she wanted, who should she see but the squinny-eyed old fellow who had taken her on the coal-black horse. And what do you think he was doing? Why he went about from stall to stall taking up things from each, here some fruit, and there some eggs, and so on; and no one seemed to take any notice.

第二天正好是集市日，古迪大娘因为出门了一趟， 家里缺了不少东西，便赶去集市上采买。她正挑选 要买的东西时，忽然瞧见了谁——正是那个把她带上 煤黑色大马的斜眼老头。你猜他在做什么？只见他从这个 摊位逛到那个摊位，随手拿走各家的东西，这儿拿点 水果，那儿拿点鸡蛋，诸如此类；可竟然没有一个人 注意到他。

Now Dame Goody did not think it her business to interfere, but she thought she ought not to let so good a customer pass without speaking. So she ups to him and bobs a curtsey and said: “Gooden, sir, I hopes as how your good lady and the little one are as well as——”

古迪大娘本不认为这是自己该管的事，可她 又觉得，遇上这么好的一位主顾，总不能不打招呼就走过去。 于是她走上前去，屈膝行了个礼，说道：“早安，先生，我 希望您家夫人和小宝宝都还好——”

But she couldn't finish what she was a-saying, for the funny old fellow started back in surprise, and he says to her, says he: “What! do you see me today?”

可她这话还没说完，那滑稽的老头就吃惊地 往后一缩，对她说道：“什么！你今天还能看见我？”

“See you,” says she, “why, of course I do, as plain as the sun in the skies, and what's more,” says she, “I see you are busy too, into the bargain.”

“看见你，”她说，“那当然啦，清清楚楚，就跟天上的 太阳一样明白，而且，”她说，“我还看见你正忙着呢， 顺带手拿点东西。”

“Ah, you see too much,” said he; “now, pray, with which eye do you see all this?”

“啊，你看得太多了，”他说；“那么，请问，你是用 哪只眼睛看见这一切的？”

“With the right eye to be sure,” said she, as proud as can be to find him out.

“当然是用右眼看见的，”她说，得意扬扬，觉得自己 可把他给识破了。

“The ointment! The ointment!” cried the old pixy thief. “Take that for meddling with what don't concern you: you shall see me no more.” And with that he struck her on her right eye, and she couldn't see him any more; and, what was worse, she was blind on the right side from that hour till the day of her death.

“那药膏！那药膏！”那精怪小偷喊道。“这就是你多管闲事的 下场：你再也看不见我了。”说着，他朝她的右眼 就是一下，从此她再也看不见他了；更糟糕的是， 从那时起直到她去世那天，她的右眼都是瞎的。