True and Untrue

Once on a time there were two brothers; one was called True, and the other Untrue. True was always upright and good towards all, but Untrue was bad and full of lies, so that no one could believe what he said. Their mother was a widow, and hadn’t much to live on; so when her sons had grown up, she was forced to send them away, that they might earn their bread in the world. Each got a little scrip with some food in it, and then they went their way.

从前有兄弟两个，一个叫真诚，一个叫虚伪。真诚一向为人正直善良，待人和气；虚伪却生性恶劣，满口谎言，谁也不能相信他说的话。他们的母亲是个寡妇，家境并不宽裕，所以等两个儿子长大以后，她不得不打发他们出门，去世上自己谋生。兄弟俩各自带了一个装着些食物的小口袋，便各自上路了。

Now, when they had walked till evening, they sat down on a windfall in the wood, and took out their scraps, for they were hungry after walking the whole day, and thought a morsel of food would be sweet enough.

他们走到傍晚，在林子里一处被风刮倒的树干上坐下，拿出各自的干粮，因为走了一整天的路，肚子早就饿了，觉得随便一点吃食都会是美味。

“If you’re of my mind”, said Untrue, “I think we had better eat out of your scrip, so long as there is anything in it, and after that we can take to mine.”

“依我看，”虚伪说道，“我们不如先吃你袋子里的东西，吃到没了为止，然后再吃我的。”

Yes! True was well pleased with this, so they fell to eating, but Untrue got all the best bits, and stuffed himself with them, while True got only the burnt crusts and scraps.

好啊！真诚很乐意这么办，于是两人便吃了起来，可虚伪总是把最好的部分都抢去，大快朵颐，真诚却只分到些烧焦的面包皮和剩渣。

Next morning they broke their fast off True’s food, and they dined off it too, and then there was nothing left in his scrip. So when they had walked till late at night, and were ready to eat again, True wanted to eat out of his brother’s scrip, but Untrue said “No”, the food was his, and he had only enough for himself.

第二天早晨，他们又吃真诚的口粮当早饭，中午也吃他的，这一来他袋子里就一点都不剩了。等他们走到深夜，又饿了想吃东西的时候，真诚想吃点哥哥袋子里的食物，虚伪却说“不行”，说那食物是他自己的，仅够他一个人吃。

“Nay! but you know you ate out of my scrip so long as there was anything in it”, said True.

“哎！可你要知道，我袋子里有东西的时候，你可是一直在吃啊，”真诚说。

“All very fine, I daresay”, answered Untrue; “but if you are such a fool as to let others eat up your food before your face, you must make the best of it; for now all you have to do is to sit here and starve.”

“说得倒是好听，”虚伪答道，“可你要是傻到当着自己的面让别人把你的口粮吃光，那你就只能自认倒霉了；现在你唯一能做的，就是坐在这儿挨饿。”

“Very well!” said True, “you’re Untrue by name and untrue by nature; so you have been, and so you will be all your life long.”

“好吧！”真诚说，“你名叫虚伪，本性也虚伪；你一直是这样，往后一辈子也会是这样。”

Now when Untrue heard this, he flew into a rage, and rushed at his brother, and plucked out both his eyes. “Now, try if you can see whether folk are untrue or not, you blind buzzard!” and so saying, he ran away and left him.

虚伪听了这话，勃然大怒，扑向弟弟，把他的双眼都挖了出来。“现在，你倒是试试看，能不能看出别人是不是虚伪的，你这瞎眼的秃鹰！”说完，他撒腿跑了，把真诚一个人丢在那里。

Poor True! there he went walking along and feeling his way through the thick wood. Blind and alone, he scarce knew which way to turn, when all at once he caught hold of the trunk of a great bushy lime-tree, so he thought he would climb up into it, and sit there till the night was over for fear of the wild beasts.

可怜的真诚！他就这样深一脚浅一脚地摸索着，在浓密的林子里跌跌撞撞地走着。他又瞎又孤单，几乎不知该往哪个方向走，忽然间，他的手抓住了一棵枝繁叶茂的大椴树的树干，他心想不如爬上树去，坐在那里等到天亮，免得遭野兽的害。

“When the birds begin to sing”, he said to himself, “then I shall know it is day, and I can try to grope my way farther on.” So he climbed up into the lime-tree. After he had sat there a little time, he heard how some one came and began to make a stir and clatter under the tree, and soon after others came; and when they began to greet one another, he found out it was Bruin the bear, and Greylegs the wolf, and Slyboots the fox, and Longears the hare who had come to keep St. John’s eve under the tree.

“等鸟儿开始歌唱的时候，”他自言自语道，“我就知道天亮了，那时我就可以摸索着再往前走。”于是他便爬上了那棵椴树。他在树上坐了一会儿之后，听见有什么东西来到树下，弄出一阵响动和喧闹，接着又有别的东西也来了；等它们开始互相打招呼时，他才听出，那是熊大王布鲁因、灰腿狼、狡猾的狐狸，还有长耳兔，它们都是来这棵树下过圣约翰节前夜的。

So they began to eat and drink, and be merry; and when they had done eating, they fell to gossipping together. At last the Fox said:

于是它们便吃吃喝喝，尽情欢闹起来；等吃完之后，便凑在一起闲聊起来。最后，狐狸说道：

“Shan’t we, each of us, tell a little story while we sit here?” Well! the others had nothing against that. It would be good fun, they said, and the Bear began; for you may fancy he was king of the company.

“我们坐在这儿，何不各自讲一个小故事呢？”好啊！其余几个都没有异议。它们都说这样一定很有趣，于是熊便先开了口；你可以想见，它在这一群里俨然是个国王。

“The king of England”, said Bruin, “has such bad eyesight, he can scarce see a yard before him; but if he only came to this lime-tree in the morning, while the dew is still on the leaves, and took and rubbed his eyes with the dew, he would get back his sight as good as ever.”

“英格兰国王，”布鲁因说，“眼神差得很，前面一码远的东西都几乎看不清；可他要是能在清晨、露水还挂在叶子上的时候，来这棵椴树下，用露水擦擦眼睛，他的视力就能恢复得跟从前一样好。”

“Very true!” said Greylegs. “The king of England has a deaf and dumb daughter too; but if he only knew what I know, he would soon cure her. Last year she went to the communion. She let a crumb of the bread fall out of her mouth, and a great toad came and swallowed it down; but if they only dug up the chancel floor, they would find the toad sitting right under the altar rails, with the bread still sticking in his throat. If they were to cut the toad open and take and give the bread to the princess, she would be like other folk again as to her speech and hearing.”

“确实如此！”灰腿说道。“英格兰国王还有个又聋又哑的女儿呢；可他要是知道我所知道的事，很快就能把她治好。去年她去领圣餐，一小片面包渣从她嘴里掉了出来，一只大蟾蜍跑过来把它吞了下去；可只要他们挖开圣坛的地板，就会发现那蟾蜍正蹲在祭坛栏杆下面，那面包还卡在它喉咙里呢。要是把那蟾蜍剖开，把面包取出来给公主吃了，她的言语和听力就会跟别人一样好了。”

“That’s all very well”, said the Fox; “but if the king of England knew what I know, he would not be so badly off for water in his palace; for under the great stone, in his palace-yard, is a spring of the clearest water one could wish for, if he only knew to dig for it there.”

“这话说得倒是不错，”狐狸说，“可英格兰国王要是知道我所知道的事，他的宫里也就不会那样缺水了；因为在他宫院里那块大石头底下，藏着一泓最清澈不过的泉水，只要他知道往那儿挖就是了。”

“Ah!” said the Hare in a small voice; “the king of England has the finest orchard in the whole land, but it does not bear so much as a crab, for there lies a heavy gold chain in three turns round the orchard. If he got that dug up, there would not be a garden like it for bearing in all his kingdom.”

“啊！”兔子细声细气地说，“英格兰国王有全国最好的一座果园，可它却连一颗野苹果都结不出，因为果园周围盘着一条沉甸甸的金链子，绕了三圈。他要是把那链子挖出来，那全国就再也找不到比这更能结果的果园了。”

“Very true, I dare say”, said the Fox; “but now it’s getting very late, and we may as well go home.”

“我看确实如此，”狐狸说，“不过现在天已经很晚了，我们还是各自回家去吧。”

So they all went away together.

于是它们便一同离去了。

After they were gone, True fell asleep as he sat up in the tree; but when the birds began to sing at dawn, he woke up, and took the dew from the leaves, and rubbed his eyes with it, and so got his sight back as good as it was before Untrue plucked his eyes out.

它们走了以后，真诚就在树上坐着睡着了；可等到黎明鸟儿开始歌唱时，他醒了过来，取来叶子上的露水，擦了擦自己的眼睛，视力便恢复得跟虚伪挖掉他双眼之前一样好了。

Then he went straight to the king of England’s palace, and begged for work, and got it on the spot. So one day the king came out into the palace-yard, and when he had walked about a bit, he wanted to drink out of his pump; for you must know the day was hot, and the king very thirsty; but when they poured him out a glass, it was so muddy, and nasty, and foul, that the king got quite vexed.

于是他径直去了英格兰国王的宫殿，请求做工，当场就被留下了。有一天，国王来到宫院里，走了一会儿之后，想到水泵那儿喝口水；须知那天天气炎热，国王也十分口渴；可等他们给他倒了一杯水，那水浑浊肮脏，令人作呕，国王十分恼怒。

“I don’t think there’s ever a man in my whole kingdom who has such bad water in his yard as I, and yet I bring it in pipes from far, over hill and dale”, cried out the king. “Like enough, your Majesty”, said True; “but if you would let me have some men to help me to dig up this great stone which lies here in the middle of your yard, you would soon see good water, and plenty of it.”

“我看我全国上下，恐怕没有谁家院里的水像我这样糟糕，可我这水却是从远处，翻山越岭用管子引来的，”国王大声嚷道。“陛下说得很是，”真诚说，“不过，您要是能派几个人帮我把院子中间这块大石头挖出来，您很快就能看到清水涌出，而且取之不尽。”

Well! the king was willing enough; and they had scarcely got the stone well out, and dug under it a while, before a jet of water sprang out high up into the air, as clear and full as if it came out of a conduit, and clearer water was not to be found in all England.

好啊！国王十分乐意；他们才刚把石头挖出来，往下又挖了一会儿，一股水柱便高高地喷向空中，清澈而充沛，仿佛是从水管里喷出来的一般，全英格兰再也找不到比这更清的水了。

A little while after the king was out in his palace-yard again, and there came a great hawk flying after his chicken, and all the king’s men began to clap their hands and bawl out, “There he flies!” “There he flies!” The king caught up his gun and tried to shoot the hawk, but he couldn’t see so far, so he fell into great grief.

过了不久，国王又来到宫院里，忽然有一只大鹰飞来追逐他的鸡群，国王的侍从们纷纷拍手大喊：“它飞过去了！”“它飞过去了！”国王抓起枪来想射那只鹰，却因为看不清那么远而没打中，因此十分懊恼。

“Would to Heaven”, he said, “there was any one who could tell me a cure for my eyes; for I think I shall soon go quite blind!”

“但愿上天，”他说，“能有谁告诉我一个治眼睛的法子；我看我很快就要完全瞎了！”

“I can tell you one soon enough”, said True; and then he told the king what he had done to cure his own eyes, and the king set off that very afternoon to the lime-tree, as you may fancy, and his eyes were quite cured as soon as he rubbed them with the dew which was on the leaves in the morning. From that time forth there was no one whom the king held so dear as True, and he had to be with him wherever he went, both at home and abroad.

“我倒能马上告诉您一个办法，”真诚说；于是他便把自己是怎样治好眼睛的经过讲给国王听，国王当天下午就动身去了那棵椴树，你可以想见，第二天早晨他用叶子上的露水一擦眼睛，眼睛便完全好了。从那时起，国王再没有谁比真诚更看重的了，无论国王走到哪里，在家还是出门在外，都要真诚陪着他。

So one day, as they were walking together in the orchard, the king said, “I can’t tell how it is that I can’t! there isn’t a man in England who spends so much on his orchard as I, and yet I can’t get one of the trees to bear so much as a crab.”

于是有一天，两人一起在果园里散步，国王说：“我实在弄不明白怎么会这样！全英格兰没有谁在果园上花的钱比我多，可我却连一棵树都没法让它结出一颗野苹果来。”

“Well! well!” said True; “if I may have what lies three times twisted round your orchard, and men to dig it up, your orchard will bear well enough.”

“好吧！好吧！”真诚说，“要是能把绕着您果园缠了三圈的那件东西给我，再派几个人帮我挖出来，您的果园自然就能结得好好的了。”

Yes! the king was quite willing, so True got men and began to dig, and at last he dug up the whole gold chain. Now True was a rich man; far richer indeed than the king himself, but still the king was well pleased, for his orchard bore so that the boughs of the trees hung down to the ground, and such sweet apples and pears nobody had ever tasted.

好啊！国王十分乐意，于是真诚找来几个人开始挖掘，最后把整条金链子都挖了出来。这下真诚成了个富人，其实比国王本人还要富有，可国王仍然十分高兴，因为他的果园结实累累，树枝都垂到了地上，那些又甜又美的苹果和梨子，谁都从未尝过那样的滋味。

Another day too the king and True were walking about, and talking together, when the princess passed them, and the king was quite downcast when he saw her.

又有一天，国王和真诚一同散步闲谈，公主从他们身边走过，国王见了她，神色顿时黯然。

“Isn’t it a pity, now, that so lovely a princess as mine should want speech and hearing”, he said to True.

“我这样一位可爱的公主，却不能说话也听不见，这难道不可惜吗，”他对真诚说道。

“Ay, but there is a cure for that”, said True.

“是啊，不过这是有法子治的，”真诚说。

When the king heard that, he was so glad that he promised him the princess to wife, and half his kingdom into the bargain, if he could get her right again. So True took a few men, and went into the church, and dug up the toad which sat under the altar-rails. Then he cut open the toad, and took out the bread and gave it to the king’s daughter; and from that hour she got back her speech, and could talk like other people.

国王听了这话，喜出望外，当即许诺，若真诚能把公主治好，便将公主许配给他为妻，还外加半个王国。于是真诚带了几个人，走进教堂，把蹲在祭坛栏杆下的那只蟾蜍挖了出来。接着他剖开蟾蜍，取出面包，给国王的女儿吃了；从那时起，她便恢复了言语，能像常人一样说话了。

Now True was to have the princess, and they got ready for the bridal feast, and such a feast had never been seen before; it was the talk of the whole land. Just as they were in the midst of dancing the bridal-dance in came a beggar lad, and begged for a morsel of food, and he was so ragged and wretched that every one crossed themselves when they looked at him; but True knew him at once, and saw that it was Untrue, his brother.

如今真诚就要娶公主为妻了，他们开始筹备婚宴，那场婚宴盛况空前，是全国上下人人议论的话题。正当众人跳着婚礼舞跳得热闹之时，进来一个讨饭的少年，讨要一点吃食，他衣衫褴褛，模样凄惨，众人一见他都不由自主地画起十字来；可真诚一眼便认出了他，看出这正是自己的哥哥虚伪。

“Do you know me again?” said True.

“你还认得我吗？”真诚问道。

“Oh! where should such a one as I ever have seen so great a lord”, said Untrue.

“哦！像我这样的人哪里能见过这么大的老爷呢，”虚伪说。

“Still you have seen me before”, said True. “It was I whose eyes you plucked out a year ago this very day. Untrue by name, and untrue by nature; so I said before, and so I say now; but you are still my brother, and so you shall have some food. After that, you may go to the lime-tree where I sat last year; if you hear anything that can do you good, you will be lucky.”

“可你以前确实见过我，”真诚说道。“就是我，一年前的今天，你挖掉了我的双眼。名叫虚伪，本性也虚伪；我以前这么说过，现在还是这么说；不过你终究还是我的哥哥，所以你还是可以得到一些吃食的。吃完以后，你可以去我去年坐过的那棵椴树那儿，要是你能听到什么对你有益的话，那你就走运了。”

So Untrue did not wait to be told twice. “If True has got so much good by sitting in the lime-tree, that in one year he has come to be king over half England, what good may not I get”, he thought. So he set off and climbed up into the lime-tree. He had not sat there long, before all the beasts came as before, and ate and drank, and kept St. John’s eve under the tree.

虚伪一听，用不着人说第二遍。“真诚不过是在椴树上坐了一坐，就得了这么大的好处，一年之内竟当上了半个英格兰的国王，那我又能得到什么好处呢？”他心里想道。于是他便动身，爬上了那棵椴树。他没坐多久，那些野兽便像去年一样都来了，在树下吃吃喝喝，庆祝圣约翰节前夜。

When they had left off eating, the Fox wished that they should begin to tell stories, and Untrue got ready to listen with all his might, till his ears were almost fit to fall off. But Bruin the bear was surly, and growled and said:

它们吃完之后，狐狸提议大家开始讲故事，虚伪也竖起耳朵，全神贯注地听着，几乎连耳朵都要竖掉了。可熊大王布鲁因却板着脸，咆哮着说道：

“Some one has been chattering about what we said last year, and so now we will hold our tongues about what we know”; and with that the beasts bade one another “Good-night”, and parted, and Untrue was just as wise as he was before, and the reason was, that his name was Untrue, and his nature untrue too.

“有人把我们去年说的话到处张扬出去了，所以现在，我们知道的事，还是闭口不谈的好”；说罢，那些野兽便互相道了声“晚安”，各自散去，虚伪还是跟先前一样，什么好处也没捞着，原因就在于，他的名字叫虚伪，他的本性也一样虚伪。