The Twelve Wild Ducks

Once on a time there was a Queen who was out driving, when there had been a new fall of snow in the winter; but when she had gone a little way, she began to bleed at the nose, and had to get out of her sledge. And so, as she stood there, leaning against the fence, and saw the red blood on the white snow, she fell a-thinking how she had twelve sons and no daughter, and she said to herself:

从前有一位王后，冬天下过一场新雪之后，她乘着雪橇出门。可才走了没多远，她忽然流起鼻血来，只得下了雪橇。她就那样站着，靠在篱笆上，望着白雪上的红血，心里想起自己有十二个儿子却没有一个女儿，便自言自语道：

“If I only had a daughter as white as snow and as red as blood, I shouldn’t care what became of all my sons.”

“若是我能有一个雪一般白、血一般红的女儿，那我这十二个儿子，随他们变成什么样，我都不在乎了。”

But the words were scarce out of her mouth before an old witch of the Trolls came up to her.

话音刚落，一个巨怪族的老女巫便走上前来。

“A daughter you shall have”, she said, “and she shall be as white as snow, and as red as blood; and your sons shall be mine, but you may keep them till the babe is christened.”

“女儿你会有的”，她说，“她会雪一般白，血一般红；不过你的儿子们要归我，只是在孩子受洗之前，你还可以留着他们。”

So when the time came the Queen had a daughter, and she was as white as snow, and as red as blood, just as the Troll had promised, and so they called her “Snow-white and Rosy-red.” Well, there was great joy at the King’s court, and the Queen was as glad as glad could be; but when what she had promised to the old witch came into her mind, she sent for a silversmith, and bade him make twelve silver spoons, one for each prince, and after that she bade him make one more, and that she gave to Snow-white and Rosy-red.

到了日子，王后果然生下一个女儿，正如巨怪所许诺的那样，雪一般白，血一般红，于是人们便叫她“雪白玫瑰红”。王宫上下一片欢腾，王后也高兴得无以复加；可她一想起自己对那老女巫许下的诺言，便叫来一个银匠，吩咐他打十二把银勺子，每个王子一把，之后又吩咐他多打一把，那一把她留给了“雪白玫瑰红”。

But as soon as ever the Princess was christened, the Princes were turned into twelve wild ducks, and flew away. They never saw them again—away they went, and away they stayed.

可小公主刚一受洗，十二位王子便都变成了十二只野鸭，飞走了。此后再也没人见过他们——他们飞走了，便再也没有回来。

So the Princess grew up, and she was both tall and fair, but she was often so strange and sorrowful, and no one could understand what it was that failed her. But one evening the Queen was also sorrowful, for she had many strange thoughts when she thought of her sons. She said to Snow-white and Rosy-red,

公主渐渐长大，出落得又高挑又美丽，可她常常显得那样古怪、那样忧郁，谁也不明白她究竟少了什么。有一天晚上，王后自己也忧伤起来，因为她一想起自己的儿子们，心里便涌起许多奇怪的念头。她对“雪白玫瑰红”说：

“Why are you so sorrowful, my daughter? Is there anything you want? if so, only say the word, and you shall have it.”

“我的女儿啊，你为什么这样忧伤？有什么想要的吗？若是有，只管说出来，我都给你。”

“Oh, it seems so dull and lonely here”, said Snow-white and Rosy-red; “every one else has brothers and sisters, but I am all alone; I have none; and that’s why I’m so sorrowful.”

“唉，这里显得又沉闷又孤单”，“雪白玫瑰红”说；“别人都有兄弟姐妹，唯独我孤零零一个人，一个也没有；这就是我忧伤的缘故。”

“But you had brothers, my daughter”, said the Queen; “I had twelve sons who were your brothers, but I gave them all away to get you”; and so she told her the whole story.

“可你是有兄弟的呀，我的女儿”，王后说；“我曾有十二个儿子，都是你的哥哥，可我把他们全都送走了，才换来了你”；于是她便把整件事的来龙去脉都告诉了她。

So when the Princess heard that, she had no rest; for, in spite of all the Queen could say or do, and all she wept and prayed, the lassie would set off to seek her brothers, for she thought it was all her fault; and at last she got leave to go away from the palace. On and on she walked into the wide world, so far, you would never have thought a young lady could have strength to walk so far.

公主听了这话，再也无法安宁；任凭王后怎样劝说、怎样阻拦，怎样哭泣、怎样恳求，这姑娘还是决意要去寻找她的哥哥们，因为她觉得这一切都是自己的过错；最后她终于获准离开了王宫。她走啊走，走进了广阔的天地，走得那么远，你简直想不到一个年轻姑娘竟有力气走这么远的路。

So, once, when she was walking through a great, great wood, one day she felt tired, and sat down on a mossy tuft and fell asleep. Then she dreamt that she went deeper and deeper into the wood, till she came to a little wooden hut, and there she found her brothers; just then she woke, and straight before her she saw a worn path in the green moss, and this path went deeper into the wood; so she followed it, and after a long time she came to just such a little wooden house as that she had seen in her dream.

有一次，她正走在一片辽阔无边的树林里，一天她累了，便坐在一丛青苔上睡着了。她梦见自己越走越深，深入林中，直到来到一间小小的木屋前，在那里找到了她的哥哥们；就在这时她醒了过来，只见眼前的青苔上有一条踩出来的小路，这条路一直通向林子深处；于是她便顺着这条路走去，走了很久很久，终于来到了一间和她梦中所见一模一样的小木屋前。

Now, when she went into the room there was no one at home, but there stood twelve beds, and twelve chairs, and twelve spoons—a dozen of everything, in short. So when she saw that she was so glad, she hadn’t been so glad for many a long year, for she could guess at once that her brothers lived here, and that they owned the beds, and chairs, and spoons.

她走进屋里时，家里没有一个人，可屋里摆着十二张床、十二把椅子、十二把勺子——总之，样样东西都是十二份。她看到这情景，心中大喜，多少年来都没有这样高兴过，因为她立刻猜到，她的哥哥们就住在这里，这些床、椅子、勺子都是他们的。

So she began to make up the fire, and sweep the room, and make the beds, and cook the dinner, and to make the house as tidy as she could; and when she had done all the cooking and work, she ate her own dinner, and crept under her youngest brother’s bed, and lay down there, but she forgot her spoon upon the table.

于是她动手生起炉火，打扫房间，铺好床铺，做起晚饭，把屋子收拾得尽量整洁；等她做完了饭、忙完了活，便吃了自己那一份晚饭，然后爬到她最小的哥哥床底下躺下，只是忘了把自己的勺子从桌上收起来。

So she had scarcely laid herself down before she heard something flapping and whirring in the air, and so all the twelve wild ducks came sweeping in; but as soon as ever they crossed the threshold they became Princes.

她刚躺下没多久，便听见空中传来一阵扑棱扑棱的声响，只见十二只野鸭一齐飞掠而入；可它们一跨过门槛，便都变成了王子。

“Oh, how nice and warm it is in here”, they said. “Heaven bless him who made up the fire, and cooked such a good dinner for us.”

“哦，这里真是又暖和又舒服”，他们说。“愿老天保佑那个生起炉火、给我们做了这么好一顿晚饭的人。”

And so each took up his silver spoon and was going to eat. But when each had taken his own, there was one still left lying on the table, and it was so like the rest that they couldn’t tell it from them.

于是他们各自拿起自己的银勺子，正要吃饭。可各人都取了自己的那一把之后，桌上还剩下一把，那把勺子和其余的一模一样，他们竟分辨不出来。

“This is our sister’s spoon”, they said; “and if her spoon be here, she can’t be very far off herself.”

“这是我们妹妹的勺子”，他们说；“她的勺子既然在这儿，那她本人想必也离得不远。”

“If this be our sister’s spoon, and she be here”, said the eldest, “she shall be killed, for she is to blame for all the ill we suffer.”

“若这真是我们妹妹的勺子，她又真的在这儿”，老大说，“那就该杀了她，因为我们所受的这一切苦，都是她的过错。”

And this she lay under the bed and listened to.

这话，她就趴在床底下听了个一清二楚。

“No”, said the youngest, “’twere a shame to kill her for that. She has nothing to do with our suffering ill; for if any one’s to blame, it’s our own mother.”

“不”，最小的那个说，“因为这个就杀她，太说不过去了。我们受的这些苦，跟她一点关系都没有；真要论起过错，那也是我们自己的母亲。”

So they set to work hunting for her both high and low, and at last they looked under all the beds, and so when they came to the youngest Prince’s bed, they found her, and dragged her out. Then the eldest Prince wished again to have her killed, but she begged and prayed so prettily for herself.

于是他们便动手四处搜寻，上上下下找了个遍，终于在最小那位王子的床底下找到了她，把她拖了出来。老大又想要杀她，可她苦苦哀求，说得那样动人。

“Oh! gracious goodness! don’t kill me, for I’ve gone about seeking you these three years, and if I could only set you free, I’d willingly lose my life.”

“哦！求求你们发发慈悲！别杀我，我为了寻找你们已经奔波了整整三年，若是能救你们脱离苦难，我情愿舍了自己的性命。”

“Well!” said they, “if you will set us free, you may keep your life; for you can if you choose.”

“好吧！”他们说，“若你能救我们脱离苦难，你便可以留住自己的性命；只要你愿意，这是能做到的。”

“Yes; only tell me”, said the Princess, “how it can be done, and I’ll do it, whatever it be.”

“好，只求你们告诉我”，公主说，“该怎么做，无论是什么，我都愿意去做。”

“You must pick thistle-down”, said the Princes, “and you must card it, and spin it, and weave it; and after you have done that, you must cut out and make twelve coats, and twelve shirts, and twelve neckerchiefs, one for each of us, and while you do that, you must neither talk, nor laugh, nor weep. If you can do that, we are free.”

“你得去采蓟绒”，王子们说，“把它梳理好，纺成线，织成布；等这些都做完了，你还得裁剪缝制十二件外衣、十二件衬衫、十二条围巾，每人一份；在做这些的整个过程中，你既不能说话，也不能笑，更不能哭。若是你能做到这些，我们便自由了。”

“But where shall I ever get thistle-down enough for so many neckerchiefs, and shirts, and coats?” asked Snow-white and Rosy-red.

“可我上哪儿去找那么多的蓟绒，才够做这么多围巾、衬衫和外衣呢？”“雪白玫瑰红”问道。

“We’ll soon show you”, said the Princes; and so they took her with them to a great wide moor, where there stood such a crop of thistles, all nodding and nodding in the breeze, and the down all floating and glistening like gossamers through the air in the sunbeams. The Princess had never seen such a quantity of thistledown in her life, and she began to pluck and gather it as fast and as well as she could; and when she got home at night she set to work carding and spinning yarn from the down.

“我们这就带你去看”，王子们说；于是他们带着她来到一片辽阔的荒原，那里长满了蓟草，在微风中不住地点头摇曳，蓟绒漫天飞舞，在阳光下闪着光，宛如蛛丝一般。公主这辈子从没见过这么多的蓟绒，便动手又快又仔细地采摘起来；等到晚上回到家，她又开始梳理纺线，把蓟绒纺成了纱。

So she went on a long long time, picking, and carding, and spinning, and all the while keeping the Princes’ house, cooking, and making their beds.

就这样，她日复一日地采摘、梳理、纺纱，同时还要操持王子们的家务，做饭，铺床。

At evening home they came, flapping and whirring like wild ducks, and all night they were Princes, but in the morning off they flew again, and were wild ducks the whole day.

到了傍晚，他们扑棱扑棱地飞回家，整夜都是王子，可到了早晨，他们又飞走了，整整一天都是野鸭。

But now it happened once, when she was out on the moor to pick thistle-down—and if I don’t mistake, it was the very last time she was to go thither—it happened that the young King who ruled that land was out hunting, and came riding across the moor, and saw her. So he stopped there and wondered who the lovely lady could be that walked along the moor picking thistle-down, and he asked her her name, and when he could get no answer, he was still more astonished; and at last he liked her so much, that nothing would do but he must take her home to his castle and marry her.

后来有一次，她又出门去荒原上采蓟绒——若我没记错的话，那是她最后一次去那儿了——恰巧统治那片土地的年轻国王正外出打猎，骑马经过那片荒原，看见了她。他停下脚步，心中纳闷，这位一边走在荒原上一边采蓟绒的美丽女子究竟是谁，便问她的名字，可她一句话也答不上来，他反倒更加惊讶了；到后来他实在太喜欢她了，非要把她带回自己的城堡娶她为妻不可。

So he ordered his servants to take her and put her up on his horse. Snow-white and Rosy-red, she wrung her hands, and made signs to them, and pointed to the bags in which her work was, and when the King saw she wished to have them with her, he told his men to take up the bags behind them. When they had done that the Princess came to herself, little by little, for the King was both a wise man and a handsome man too, and he was as soft and kind to her as a doctor.

于是他吩咐仆人把她扶上自己的马。“雪白玫瑰红”绞着双手，向他们打手势，指着装着她那些活计的口袋，国王见她想把这些东西一并带上，便吩咐手下把口袋也搬到马背后。这一切办妥之后，公主才渐渐回过神来，因为国王既是个聪明人，又生得一副好相貌，待她也温柔体贴，宛如一位医生。

But when they got home to the palace, and the old Queen, who was his stepmother, set eyes on Snow-white and Rosy-red, she got so cross and jealous of her because she was so lovely, that she said to the king:

可等他们回到王宫，国王的继母——那位老王后——一见到“雪白玫瑰红”，便因她生得如此美丽而又气又妒，对国王说道：

“Can’t you see now, that this thing whom you have picked up, and whom you are going to marry, is a witch. Why? she can’t either talk, or laugh, or weep!”

“你难道看不出来吗，你捡回来、还打算娶的这个东西，根本是个女巫。为什么？因为她既不能说话，又不能笑，也不能哭！”

But the King didn’t care a pin for what she said, but held on with the wedding, and married Snow-white and Rosy-red and they lived in great joy and glory; but she didn’t forget to go on sewing at her shirts.

可国王一点也不把她的话放在心上，仍旧按原计划举行了婚礼，娶了“雪白玫瑰红”为妻，两人过得快乐美满、荣华富贵；她也没忘记继续缝制她那些衬衫。

So when the year was almost out, Snow-white and Rosy-red brought a Prince into the world; and then the old Queen was more spiteful and jealous than ever, and at dead of night, she stole in to Snow-white and Rosy-red, while she slept, and took away her babe, and threw it into a pitful of snakes. After that she cut Snow-white and Rosy-red in her finger, and smeared the blood over her mouth, and went straight to the King.

将近一年后，“雪白玫瑰红”为国王生下了一位王子；老王后这下更加嫉妒、更加恶毒了，趁着深夜，她溜进“雪白玫瑰红”睡着的房间，抱走了她的婴儿，把他扔进了一个满是毒蛇的坑里。之后她又割破“雪白玫瑰红”的手指，把血抹在她的嘴边，径直去见国王。

“Now come and see”, she said, “what sort of a thing you have taken for your Queen; here she has eaten up her own babe.”

“来看看吧”，她说，“你娶来当王后的这个东西是什么样的人；瞧，她把自己的亲生骨肉都吃掉了。”

Then the King was so downcast, he almost burst into tears, and said:

国王听了，心情沮丧到了极点，几乎要落下泪来，说道：

“Yes, it must be true, since I see it with my own eyes; but she’ll not do it again, I’m sure, and so this time I’ll spare her life.”

“既然我亲眼所见，这想必是真的了；可我相信她不会再犯了，所以这一次，我便饶她一命。”

So before the next year was out she had another son, and the same thing happened. The King’s stepmother got more and more jealous and spiteful. She stole into the young Queen at night while she slept, took away the babe, and threw it into a pit full of snakes, cut the young Queen’s finger, and smeared the blood over her mouth, and then went and told the King she had eaten up her own child. Then the King was so sorrowful, you can’t think how sorry he was, and he said:

不到一年，她又生了一个儿子，同样的事情又发生了一遍。国王的继母越来越嫉妒、越来越恶毒。她趁年轻的王后睡着时溜了进去，抱走婴儿，扔进了那满是毒蛇的坑里，又割破年轻王后的手指，把血抹在她嘴边，然后跑去告诉国王，说她把自己的亲生孩子给吃了。国王听了，伤心得难以言表，说道：

“Yes, it must be true, since I see it with my own eyes; but she’ll not do it again, I’m sure, and so this time too I’ll spare her life.”

“既然我亲眼所见，这想必是真的了；可我相信她不会再犯了，所以这一次，我依然饶她一命。”

Well, before the next year was out, Snow-white and Rosy-red brought a daughter into the world, and her, too, the old Queen took and threw into the pit full of snakes, while the young Queen slept. Then she cut her finger, smeared the blood over her mouth, and went again to the King and said,

好，不到一年，“雪白玫瑰红”又生下一个女儿，老王后趁年轻王后熟睡之时，把这孩子也一样抱走，扔进了那满是毒蛇的坑里。然后她又割破自己继子妻子的手指，把血抹在她嘴边，再一次去见国王，说：

“Now you may come and see if it isn’t as I say; she’s a wicked, wicked witch, for here she has gone and eaten up her third babe, too.”

“这下你可以来看看，是不是像我说的那样；她是个恶毒恶毒的女巫，瞧，她这回把自己第三个孩子也给吃了。”

Then the King was so sad, there was no end to it, for now he couldn’t spare her any longer, but had to order her to be burnt alive on a pile of wood. But just when the pile was all a-blaze, and they were going to put her on it, she made signs to them to take twelve boards and lay them round the pile, and on these she laid the neckerchiefs, and the shirts, and the coats for her brothers, but the youngest brother’s shirt wanted its left arm, for she hadn’t had time to finish it.

国王听了，伤心得没有尽头，因为这一次他再也没法饶她了，只得下令把她活活烧死在柴堆上。可就在柴堆已经烧得熊熊燃起、正要把她推上去的时候，她做手势示意，要人拿十二块木板铺在柴堆四周，她把那些为哥哥们缝制的围巾、衬衫、外衣都摆在了木板上，只是最小那位哥哥的衬衫还缺了左边的袖子，因为她还没来得及做完。

And as soon as ever she had done that, they heard such a flapping and whirring in the air, and down came twelve wild ducks flying over the forest, and each of them snapped up his clothes in his bill and flew off with them.

她刚一做完这些，众人便听见空中传来一阵猛烈的扑棱声，十二只野鸭飞过树林俯冲而下，每一只都用嘴衔起自己的那份衣裳，衔着飞走了。

“See now!” said the old Queen to the King, “wasn’t I right when I told you she was a witch, but make haste and burn her before the pile burns low.”

“瞧瞧吧！”老王后对国王说，“我说她是个女巫，我说得没错吧，快些，趁柴堆还没烧尽，赶紧把她烧了。”

“Oh!” said the King, “we’ve wood enough and to spare, and so I’ll wait a bit, for I have a mind to see what the end of all this will be.”

“哦！”国王说，“我们的柴多的是，用不完，我倒要再等一等，我倒想看看这件事究竟会有什么结局。”

As he spoke, up came the twelve princes riding along, as handsome well-grown lads as you’d wish to see; but the youngest prince had a wild duck’s wing instead of his left arm.

他话音刚落，十二位王子便骑马赶到，一个个长得英俊挺拔、身姿健美，可最小的那位王子，左臂却是一只野鸭的翅膀。

“What’s all this about?” asked the Princes.

“这到底是怎么回事？”王子们问道。

“My Queen is to be burnt,” said the King, “because she’s a witch, and because she has eaten up her own babes.”

“我的王后就要被烧死了”，国王说，“因为她是个女巫，还把自己的亲生孩子都吃了。”

“She hasn’t eaten them at all”, said the Princes. “Speak now, sister; you have set us free and saved us, now save yourself.”

“她根本没吃过他们”，王子们说。“妹妹，你说吧；你已经救了我们、给了我们自由，如今该救救你自己了。”

Then Snow-white and Rosy-red spoke, and told the whole story; how every time she was brought to bed, the old Queen, the King’s stepmother, had stolen into her at night, had taken her babes away, and cut her little finger, and smeared the blood over her mouth; and then the Princes took the King, and shewed him the snake-pit where three babes lay playing with adders and toads, and lovelier children you never saw.

于是“雪白玫瑰红”开口说话，把整件事的来龙去脉都讲了出来：每一次她生产之后，国王的继母——那位老王后——都会趁夜溜进来，抱走她的婴儿，割破她的小指，把血抹在她嘴边；接着王子们便带着国王，去看那个毒蛇坑，只见三个孩子正在坑里和游蛇、蟾蜍玩耍，个个都生得那样可爱，你从未见过比这更漂亮的孩子。

So the King had them taken out at once, and went to his stepmother, and asked her what punishment she thought that woman deserved who could find it in her heart to betray a guiltless Queen and three such blessed little babes.

国王当即命人把孩子们抱了出来，然后走到继母跟前，问她说，一个人若是狠心到能出卖一位清白无辜的王后，还有三个这样蒙福的小婴儿，这样的人应当受什么样的惩罚。

“She deserves to be fast bound between twelve unbroken steeds, so that each may take his share of her”, said the old Queen.

“该把她牢牢绑在十二匹未经驯服的烈马之间，让每匹马都分她一份”，老王后说。

“You have spoken your own doom”, said the King, “and you shall suffer it at once.”

“你已经给自己判了刑”，国王说，“你现在就要受这惩罚。”

So the wicked old Queen was fast bound between twelve unbroken steeds, and each got his share of her. But the King took Snow-white and Rosy-red, and their three children, and the twelve Princes; and so they all went home to their father and mother, and told all that had befallen them, and there was joy and gladness over the whole kingdom, because the Princess was saved and set free, and because she had set free her twelve brothers.

于是那恶毒的老王后便被牢牢绑在十二匹未经驯服的烈马之间，每匹马都分得了她的一份。国王则带上“雪白玫瑰红”和他们的三个孩子，还有十二位王子，一同回到了她父母的王宫，把发生的一切都告诉了他们，举国上下一片欢欣喜悦，因为公主得救了、重获了自由，也因为她救出了她的十二位哥哥。