The Horned Women

A rich woman sat up late one night carding and preparing wool, while all the family and servants were asleep. Suddenly a knock was given at the door, and a voice called, "Open! open!"

一天深夜，一位富家妇人坐在那里梳理、整备羊毛，家里其他人和仆人们都早已睡下了。忽然门上传来一阵敲门声，一个声音喊道：“开门！开门！”

"Who is there?" said the woman of the house.

“是谁呀？”这家的女主人问道。

"I am the Witch of one Horn," was answered.

“我是独角女巫，”对方答道。

The mistress, supposing that one of her neighbours had called and required assistance, opened the door, and a woman entered, having in her hand a pair of wool-carders, and bearing a horn on her forehead, as if growing there. She sat down by the fire in silence, and began to card the wool with violent haste. Suddenly she paused, and said aloud: "Where are the women? they delay too long."

女主人以为是哪位邻居来敲门求助，便打开了门，只见进来一个女人，手里拿着一副梳理羊毛的工具，额头上还长着一只角，仿佛是天生长出来的一般。她一言不发地坐到火炉边，急匆匆地梳理起羊毛来。忽然她停下手来，高声说道：“那些女人都到哪儿去了？她们怎么这么慢。”

Then a second knock came to the door, and a voice called as before, "Open! open!"

这时门上又传来第二次敲门声，还是那个声音喊道：“开门！开门！”

The mistress felt herself obliged to rise and open to the call, and immediately a second witch entered, having two horns on her forehead, and in her hand a wheel for spinning wool.

女主人只觉得自己身不由己，非得起身去开门不可，于是又进来一个女巫，额头上长着两只角，手里还拿着一台纺羊毛用的纺车。

"Give me place," she said; "I am the Witch of the two Horns," and she began to spin as quick as lightning.

“让个位置给我，”她说道，“我是双角女巫，”说完便飞快地纺起线来，快得如同闪电一般。

And so the knocks went on, and the call was heard, and the witches entered, until at last twelve women sat round the fire—the first with one horn, the last with twelve horns.

就这样，敲门声一次接着一次，那声音一遍遍地喊着，女巫们一个接一个地走进屋来，直到最后，十二个女人都围坐在火炉旁——第一个只长了一只角，最后一个竟长了十二只角。

And they carded the thread, and turned their spinning-wheels, and wound and wove, all singing together an ancient rhyme, but no word did they speak to the mistress of the house. Strange to hear, and frightful to look upon, were these twelve women, with their horns and their wheels; and the mistress felt near to death, and she tried to rise that she might call for help, but she could not move, nor could she utter a word or a cry, for the spell of the witches was upon her.

她们一边梳理着羊毛线，一边转动着纺车，纺纱、织布，一齐唱着一首古老的歌谣，却始终没有一句话跟这家的女主人说。这十二个女人，头上长着角，手里摆弄着纺车，听着奇异，看着更是骇人；女主人只觉得自己命悬一线，想要起身呼救，却发觉自己动弹不得，也发不出一句话、一声呼喊，因为女巫们的咒语已经笼罩住了她。

Then one of them called to her in Irish, and said, "Rise, woman, and make us a cake."

这时其中一个女巫用爱尔兰语朝她喊道：“起来，女人，给我们做个饼吧。”

Then the mistress searched for a vessel to bring water from the well that she might mix the meal and make the cake, but she could find none.

于是女主人便去找一个能从井里打水的器皿，好和面做饼，可是她却怎么也找不到。

And they said to her, "Take a sieve and bring water in it."

她们便对她说：“拿个筛子去打水来。”

And she took the sieve and went to the well; but the water poured from it, and she could fetch none for the cake, and she sat down by the well and wept.

于是她拿起筛子去了井边；可是水从筛子里流了出来，她怎么也打不到能用来做饼的水，只好坐在井边哭了起来。

Then a voice came by her and said, "Take yellow clay and moss, and bind them together, and plaster the sieve so that it will hold."

这时有个声音在她身旁响起，说道：“拿些黄泥和苔藓来，把它们和在一起，糊在筛子上，这样它就能盛住水了。”

This she did, and the sieve held the water for the cake; and the voice said again:

她照着做了，筛子果然能盛住做饼用的水了；那声音又说道：

"Return, and when thou comest to the north angle of the house, cry aloud three times and say, 'The mountain of the Fenian women and the sky over it is all on fire.'"

“回去吧，等你走到房子北面的角落时，大声喊三遍，说，‘芬尼亚女人的山，还有山上的天空，都在燃烧。’”

And she did so.

于是她便照做了。

When the witches inside heard the call, a great and terrible cry broke from their lips, and they rushed forth with wild lamentations and shrieks, and fled away to Slievenamon, where was their chief abode. But the Spirit of the Well bade the mistress of the house to enter and prepare her home against the enchantments of the witches if they returned again.

屋里的女巫们一听见这喊声，顿时口中发出一阵可怕而凄厉的哭喊，纷纷夺门而出，一路悲号尖叫，逃往她们的主要巢穴斯利文纳蒙山。而井中之灵这时嘱咐女主人赶紧进屋，趁女巫们尚未归来，做好准备，破除她们的邪法。

And first, to break their spells, she sprinkled the water in which she had washed her child's feet, the feet-water, outside the door on the threshold; secondly, she took the cake which in her absence the witches had made of meal mixed with the blood drawn from the sleeping family, and she broke the cake in bits, and placed a bit in the mouth of each sleeper, and they were restored.

首先，为了破除她们的咒语，她把给孩子洗过脚的水，也就是洗脚水，洒在门槛外面；其次，她拿起女巫们趁她不在时用面粉和着熟睡家人的血做成的那个饼，把饼掰成一小块一小块的，分别放进每个熟睡之人的嘴里，他们便都恢复了原样。

And she took the cloth they had woven, and placed it half in and half out of the chest with the padlock; and lastly, she secured the door with a great crossbeam fastened in the jambs, so that the witches could not enter, and having done these things she waited.

接着她拿起女巫们织好的那块布，把它一半塞进那口带锁的箱子里，一半留在外面；最后，她用一根粗大的横梁把门牢牢地顶住，卡在门框里，好让女巫们无法进来，做完这一切之后，她便静静地等着。

Not long were the witches in coming back, and they raged and called for vengeance.

没过多久，女巫们便回来了，她们又是咆哮又是叫嚷，扬言要报复。

"Open! open!" they screamed; "open, feet-water!"

“开门！开门！”她们尖声喊道，“开门吧，洗脚水！”

"I cannot," said the feet-water; "I am scattered on the ground, and my path is down to the Lough."

“我开不了，”洗脚水答道，“我已经洒在地上，早顺着道流到湖里去了。”

"Open, open, wood and trees and beam!" they cried to the door.

“开门，开门，木头、树枝，还有横梁！”她们朝着门喊道。

"I cannot," said the door, "for the beam is fixed in the jambs and I have no power to move."

“我开不了，”门答道，“因为横梁牢牢地卡在门框里，我根本没力气挪动。”

"Open, open, cake that we have made and mingled with blood!" they cried again.

“开门，开门，我们和着血做的饼！”她们又喊道。

"I cannot," said the cake, "for I am broken and bruised, and my blood is on the lips of the sleeping children."

“我开不了，”饼答道，“因为我早已被掰碎、捣烂了，我的血如今就沾在熟睡孩子们的嘴唇上。”

Then the witches rushed through the air with great cries, and fled back to Slievenamon, uttering strange curses on the Spirit of the Well, who had wished their ruin; but the woman and the house were left in peace, and a mantle dropped by one of the witches in her flight was kept hung up by the mistress in memory of that night; and this mantle was kept by the same family from generation to generation for five hundred years after.

于是女巫们呼啸着腾空而起，一路凄厉地叫嚷，逃回了斯利文纳蒙山，一边逃一边对井中之灵发出种种奇怪的诅咒，因为正是它盼着她们毁灭；然而这位妇人和她的家从此得以安宁无事，其中一个女巫在逃跑时掉落的一件斗篷，被女主人挂了起来，作为那一夜的纪念；这件斗篷此后由同一个家族世代相传，一直保存了五百年之久。