The wife of a rich man fell sick,and as she felt t hat her end was drawing near,she called her only d aughter to her bedside and said,“Dear child,be good and pious[1],and then the good God will always p rotect you,and I will look down on you from heaven and be near you.”Thereupon[2]she closed her eyes and departed.Every day the maiden[3]went out to he r mother's grave,and wept,and she remained pious a nd good.When winter came the snow spread a white s heet over the grave,and by the time the spring sun had drawn it off again,the man had taken another wife. The woman had brought with her into the house two daughters,who were beautiful and fair of face,but vile[4]and black of heart.Now began a bad time for the poor step-child.“Is the stupid goose to sit in the parlor[5]with us.”they said.“He who wants to eat bread must earn it.Out with the kitchen-wench .”They took her pretty clothes away from her,put an old grey bedgown[6]on her,and gave her wooden sh oes.“Just look at the proud princess,how decked ou t she is,”they cried,and laughed,“and led her into the kitchen.”There she had to do hard work from morning till night,get up before daybreak[7],carry water,light fires,cook and wash.Besides this,the sisters did her every imaginable[8]injury—they mocked her and emptied her peas[9]and lentils[10]into the ashes,so that she was forced to sit and pick t hem out again.In the evening when she had worked t ill she was weary she had no bed to go to,but had to sleep by the hearth in the cinders[11].And as o n that account she always looked dusty and dirty,they called her cinderella. It happened that the father was once going to the fair,and he asked his two step-daughters what he should bring back for them.“Beautiful dresses.”said one.“Pearls and jewels.”said the second.“And you,cinderella,”said he,“what will you have.”“Father break off for me the first branch which knocks against your hat on your way home.” So he bought beautiful dresses,pearls and jewels f or his two step-daughters,and on his way home,as he was riding through a green thicket,a hazel[12]twig[13]brushed against him and knocked off his hat. Then he broke off the branch and took it with him. When he reached home he gave his step-daughters th e things which they had wished for,and to cinderel la he gave the branch from the hazelbush.Cinderell a thanked him,went to her mother's grave and plant ed the branch on it,and wept so much that the tear s fell down on it and watered it.And it grew and b ecame a handsome tree.Thrice a day cinderella went and sat beneath it,and wept and prayed,and a litt le white bird always came on the tree,and if cinde rella expressed a wish,the bird threw down to her what she had wished for. It happened,however,that the king gave orders for a festival which was to last three days,and to whi ch all the beautiful young girls in the country we re invited,in order that his son might choose himself a bride[14].When the two step-sisters heard th at they too were to appear among the number,they w ere delighted,called cinderella and said,“Comb our hair for us,brush our shoes and fasten our buckles[15],for we are going to the wedding at the king' s palace.”Cinderella obeyed,but wept,because she t oo would have liked to go with them to the dance,a nd begged her step-mother to allow her to do so.“Y ou go,cinderella,”said she,“covered in dust and di rt as you are,and would go to the festival.You hav e no clothes and shoes,and yet would dance.”As,how ever,cinderella went on asking,the step-mother sai d at last,“I have emptied a dish of lentils into t he ashes for you,if you have picked them out again in two hours,you shall go with us.”The maiden wen t through the back-door into the garden,and called,“You tame[16]pigeons,you turtle-doves,and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to pick the good into the pot,the bad into the crop.” Then two white pigeons came in by the kitchen wind ow,and afterwards the turtle-doves,and at last all the birds beneath the sky,came whirring[17]and cr owding in,and alighted amongst the ashes.And the p igeons nodded with their heads and began pick,pick ,pick,pick,and the rest began also pick,pick,pick, pick,and gathered all the good grains into the dis h.Hardly had one hour passed before they had finis hed,and all flew out again.Then the girl took the dish to her step-mother,and was glad,and believed that now she would be allowed to go with them to t he festival.But the step-mother said,“No,cinderell a,you have no clothes and you can not dance.You wo uld only be laughed at.”And as cinderella wept at this,the step-mother said,“If you can pick two dis hes of lentils out of the ashes for me in one hour ,you shall go with us.”And she thought to herself, that she most certainly cannot do again.When the s tep-mother had emptied the two dishes of lentils a mongst the ashes,the maiden went through the back- door into the garden and cried,“You tame pigeons,y ou turtle-doves,and all you birds beneath the sky,come and help me to pick the good into the pot,the bad into the crop.” Then two white pigeons came in by the kitchen-wind ow,and afterwards the turtle-doves,and at length a ll the birds beneath the sky,came whirring and cro wding in,and alighted amongst the ashes.And the do ves nodded with their heads and began pick,pick,pi ck,pick,and the others began also pick,pick,pick,p ick,and gathered all the good seeds into the dishe s,and before half an hour was over they had alread y finished,and all flew out again.Then the maiden was delighted,and believed that she might now go w ith them to the wedding.But the step-mother said,“ All this will not help.You cannot go with us,for y ou have no clothes and can not dance.We should be ashamed of[18]you.”On this she turned her back on cinderella,and hurried away with her two proud daughters. As no one was now at home,cinderella went to her mother's grave beneath the hazel-tree,and cried—“Shiver[19]and quiver[20],little tree,silver and gold throw down over me.” Then the bird threw a gold and silver dress down to her,and slippers[21]embroidered[22]with silk and silver.She put on the dress with all speed,and we nt to the wedding.Her step-sisters and the step-mo ther however did not know her,and thought she must be a foreign princess,for she looked so beautiful in the golden dress.They never once thought of ci nderella,and believed that she was sitting at home in the dirt,picking lentils out of the ashes.The prince approached[23]her,took her by the hand and danced with her.He would dance with no other maide n,and never let loose of her hand,and if any one e lse came to invite her,he said,“This is my partner.” She danced till it was evening,and then she wanted to go home.But the king's son said,“I will go wit h you and bear you company.”For he wished to see t o whom the beautiful maiden belonged.She escaped f rom him,however,and sprang into the pigeon-house.T he king's son waited until her father came,and the n he told him that the unknown maiden had leapt in to the pigeon-house.The old man thought,“Can it be cinderella.”And they had to bring him an axe[24]and a pickaxe[25]that he might hew the pigeon-house to pieces,but no one was inside it.And when they got home cinderella lay in her dirty clothes among the ashes,and a dim[26]little oil-lamp was burnin g on the mantle-piece,for cinderella had jumped qu ickly down from the back of the pigeon-house and h ad run to the little hazel-tree,and there she had taken off her beautiful clothes and laid them on t he grave,and the bird had taken them away again,an d then she had seated herself in the kitchen amongst the ashes in her grey gown. Next day when the festival began afresh,and her parents and the step-sisters had gone once more,cinderella went to the hazel-tree and said—“Shiver and quiver,my little tree,silver and gold throw down over me.” Then the bird threw down a much more beautiful dress than on the preceding[27]day.And when cinderell a appeared at the wedding in this dress,every one was astonished[28]at her beauty.The king's son had waited until she came,and instantly[29]took her b y the hand and danced with no one but her.When oth ers came and invited her,he said,“This is my partn er.”When evening came she wished to leave,and the king's son followed her and wanted to see into whi ch house she went.But she sprang away from him,and into the garden behind the house.There in stood a beautiful tall tree on which hung the most magnificent pears.She clambered[30]so nimbly[31]between the branches like a squirrel[32]that the king's so n did not know where she was gone.He waited until her father came,and said to him,“The unknown maide n has escaped from me,and I believe she has climbe d up the pear-tree.”The father thought,“Can it be cinderella.”And had an axe brought and cut the tre e down,but no one was on it.And when they got into the kitchen,cinderella lay there among the ashes, as usual,for she had jumped down on the other side of the tree,had taken the beautiful dress to the bird on the little hazel-tree,and put on her grey gown. On the third day,when the parents and sisters had gone away,cinderella went once more to her mother's grave and said to the little tree—“Shiver and quiver,my little tree,silver and gold throw down over me.” And now the bird threw down to her a dress which was more splendid and magnificent[33]than any she had yet had,and the slippers were golden.And when she went to the festival in the dress,no one knew how to speak for astonishment.The king's son danced with her only,and if any one invited her to dance,he said,“This is my partner.” When evening came,cinderella wished to leave,and the king's son was anxious[34]to go with her,but sh e escaped from him so quickly that he could not fo llow her.The king's son,however,had employed a ruse[35],and had caused the whole staircase[36]to be smeared[37]with pitch[38],and there,when she ran d own,had the maiden's left slipper remained stuck.T he king's son picked it up,and it was small and dainty[39],and all golden.Next morning,he went with it to the father,and said to him,“No one shall be my wife but she whose foot this golden slipper fit s.”Then were the two sisters glad,for they had pre tty feet.The eldest went with the shoe into her ro om and wanted to try it on,and her mother stood by.But she could not get her big toe[40]into it,and the shoe was too small for her.Then her mother gav e her a knife and said,“Cut the toe off,when you a re queen you will have no more need to go on foot. ”The maiden cut the toe off,forced the foot into the shoe,swallowed[41]the pain,and went out to the king's son.Then he took her on his his horse as hi s bride and rode away with her.They were obliged,h owever,to pass the grave,and there,on the hazel-tree,sat the two pigeons and cried—“Turn and peep[42],turn and peep,there's blood within the shoe,the shoe it is too small for her,the true bride waits for you.” Then he looked at her foot and saw how the blood was trickling[43]from it.He turned his horse round and took the false bride home again,and said,“She was not the true one,and that the other sister was to put the shoe on.”Then this one went into her chamber[44]and got her toes safely into the shoe,bu t her heel was too large.So her mother gave her a knife and said,“Cut a bit off your heel,when you are queen you will have no more need to go on foot. ”The maiden cut a bit off her heel,forced her foot into the shoe,swallowed the pain,and went out to the king's son.He took her on his horse as his bri de,and rode away with her,but when they passed by the hazeltree,the two pigeons sat on it and cried— “Turn and peep,turn and peep,there's blood within the shoe,the shoe it is too small for her,the true bride waits for you.” He looked down at her foot and saw how the blood w as running out of her shoe,and how it had stained her white stocking quite red.Then he turned his ho rse and took the false bride home again.“This also is not the right one.”said he,“Have you no other daughter?”“No,”said the man,“there is still a little stunted[45]kitchenwench which my late wife left behind her,but she cannot possibly be the bride.” The king's son said he was to send her up to him,b ut the mother answered,“Oh,no,she is much too dirt y,she cannot show herself.”But he absolutely insis ted on it,and cinderella had to be called.She firs t washed her hands and face clean,and then went an d bowed down before the king's son,who gave her the golden shoe.Then she seated herself on a stool[46],drew her foot out of the heavy wooden shoe,and put it into the slipper,which fitted like a glove. And when she rose up and the king's son looked at her face he recognized the beautiful maiden who ha d danced with him and cried,that is the true bride .The step-mother and the two sisters were horrified[47]and became pale with rage,he,however,took cin derella on his horse and rode away with her.As the y passed by the hazel-tree,the two white doves cri ed—“Turn and peep,turn and peep,no blood is in the shoe,the shoe is not too small for her,the true bride rides with you.” And when they had cried that,the two came flying down and placed themselves on cinderella's shoulders[48],one on the right,the other on the left,and remained sitting there. When the wedding with the king's son was to be cel ebrated,the two false sisters came and wanted to g et into favor with cinderella and share her good fortune.When the betrothed[49]couple went to church ,the elder was at the right side and the younger at the left,and the pigeons pecked[50]out one eye f rom each of them.Afterwards as they came back the elder was at the left,and the younger at the right ,and then the pigeons pecked out the other eye from each.And thus,for their wickedness[51]and falsehood[52],they were punished with blindness[53]all their days. 【注释】 [1]pious adj.虔诚的,尽责的 [2]thereupon adv.于是,因此 [3]maiden adj.未婚的,纯洁的,处女的,无经验的 [4]vile可憎的,坏透的 [5]parlor n.客厅 [6]bedgown n.睡衣 [7]daybreak n.黎明,拂晓 [8]imaginable adj.可想像的,可能的 [9]pea n.豌豆 [10]lentil n.[植]小扁豆 [11]cinder n.煤渣,灰烬 [12]hazel adj.榛树的,淡褐色的 [13]twig n.嫩枝,小枝 [14]bride n.新娘 [15]buckle n.带扣 [16]tame adj.(指动物)驯服的、柔顺的 [17]whirry vi.匆忙,快速行进 [18]ashamed of耻于…… [19]shiver v.颤抖 [20]quiver vi.颤抖,振动 [21]slipper n.拖鞋 [22]embroider vt.镶边,装饰 [23]approach vt.接近,动手处理 [24]axe n.斧 [25]pickaxe n.砍刀 [26]dim adj.暗淡的,无光泽的 [27]preceding adj.在先的;在前的 [28]astonish vt.使惊讶 [29]instantly adv.立即地,即刻地 [30]clamber vi.爬上,攀登 [31]nimbly adv.敏捷地,机敏地 [32]squirrel n.松鼠 [33]magnificent adj.华丽的,高尚的,宏伟的 [34]anxious adj.担忧的,渴望的 [35]ruse n.诡计 [36]staircase n.楼梯 [37]smear v.涂上,涂污 [38]pitch n.沥青 [39]dainty adj.精致的 [40]toe n.趾,脚趾 [41]swallow vt.咽,淹没,吞没,取消,忍受,轻信,压制,耗尽 [42]peep vi.窥视,偷看 [43]trickle n.滴,淌;细流;流出液体 [44]chamber n.室,房间,议院,会所,(枪)膛 [45]stunted adj.矮小的 [46]stool n.凳子 [47]horrified adj.惊悸的,带有恐怖感的,惊骇的 [48]shoulder n.肩,肩部 [49]betrothed adj.订婚了的 [50]peck vi.啄,吹毛求疵,啄食,扔石头 [51]wickedness n.邪恶,不道德 [52]falsehood n.谬误,不真实,谎言,虚假 [53]blindness n.失明,文盲,愚昧,轻举妄动,盲目性 |
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