英語童話故事及翻譯

童話與兒童的精神世界是非常契合的,我們應當為兒童多提供一些接觸童話的機會，下面這些是小編為大家推薦的幾篇英語童話故事及翻譯

英語童話故事及翻譯：THE FARM-YARD COCK AND THE WEATHER-COCK

THERE were two cocks- one on the dung-hill, the other on the roof. They were both arrogant,but which of the two rendered most service? Tell us your opinion- we'll keep to ours just thesame though.

The poultry yard was divided by some planks from another yard in which therewas a dung-hill, and on the dung-hill lay and grew a large cucumber which was conscious ofbeing a hot-bed plant. "One is born to that," said the cucumber to itself. "Not all can be borncucumbers; there must be other things, too. The hens, the ducks, and all the animals in thenext yard are creatures too. Now I have a great opinion of the yard cock on the plank; he iscertainly of much more importance than the weather-cock who is placed so high and can't evencreak, much less crow. The latter has neither hens nor chicks, and only thinks of himself andperspires verdigris. No, the yard cock is really a cock! His step is a dance! His crowing is music,and wherever he goes one knows what a trumpeter is like! If he would only come in here! Evenif he ate me up stump, stalk, and all, and I had to dissolve in his body, it would be a happydeath," said the cucumber

. In the night there was a terrible storm. The hens, chicks, and eventhe cock sought shelter; the wind tore down the planks between the two yards with a crash;the tiles came tumbling down, but the weather-cock sat firm. He did not even turn round, forhe could not; and yet he was young and freshly cast, but prudent and sedate. He had beenborn old, and did not at all resemble the birds flying in the air- the sparrows, and theswallows; no, he despised them, these mean little piping birds, these common whistlers. Headmitted that the pigeons, large and white and shining like mother-o'-pearl, looked like a kindof weather-cock; but they were fat and stupid, and all their thoughts and endeavours weredirected to filling themselves with food, and besides, they were tiresome things to conversewith. The birds of passage had also paid the weather-cock a visit and told him of foreigncountries, of airy caravans and robber stories that

made one's hair stand on end. All this wasnew and interesting; that is, for the first time, but afterwards, as the weather-cock found out,they repeated themselves and always told the same stories, and that's very tedious, and therewas no one with whom one could associate, for one and all were stale and small-minded. "Theworld is no good!" he said. "Everything in it is so stupid." The weather-cock was puffed up, andthat quality would have made him interesting in the eyes of the cucumber if it had known it,but it had eyes only for the yard cock, who was now in the yard with it.

The wind had blown theplanks, but the storm was over. "What do you think of that crowing?" said the yard cock to thehens and chickens. "It was a little rough- it wanted elegance." And the hens and chickenscame up on the dung-hill, and the cock strutted about like a lord. "Garden plant!" he said to thecucumber, and in that one word his deep learning showed itself, and it forgot that he waspecking at her and eating it up. "A happy death!" The hens and the chickens came, for whereone runs the others run too; they clucked, and chirped, and looked at the cock, and were proudthat he was of their kind. "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" he crowed, "the chickens will grow up intogreat hens at once, if I cry it out in the poultry-yard of the world!" And hens and chicks cluckedand chirped, and the cock announced a great piece of news. "

A cock can lay an egg! And doyou know what's in that egg? A basilisk. No one can stand the sight of such a thing; peopleknow that, and now you know it too- you know what is in me, and what a champion of all cocksI am!" With that the yard cock flapped his wings, made his comb swell up, and crowed again;and they all shuddered, the hens and the little chicks- but they were very proud that one oftheir number was such a champion of all cocks. They clucked and chirped till the weather-cockheard; he heard it; but he did not stir. "Everything is very stupid," the weather-cock said tohimself. "The yard cock lays no eggs, and I am too lazy to do so; if I liked, I could lay a wind-egg. But the world is not worth even a wind-egg. Everything is so stupid! I don't want to sithere any longer." With that the weather-cock broke off; but he did not kill the yard cock,although the hens said that had been his intention. And what is the moral? "Better to crowthan to be puffed up and break off!

家養公雞和風信公雞

有兩隻公雞，一隻在垃圾堆上，一隻在屋頂上，兩隻都很自高自大。可是誰更有能耐呢?請告訴我們你的意見……然而，我們保留着我們的意見。

雞場那邊有一道木柵欄，與另一個院子隔開。那個院子裏有一個垃圾堆，垃圾堆上長了一條很大的黃瓜。她自己很明白，她是發酵土裏長出來的東西。“這是生就的!”她內心這樣説着。“並不是甚麼東西都可以生成黃瓜的，世上也應該有別的有生命的物種!雞、鴨，還有鄰舍院子裏那一羣，也都是生靈。我這會兒看見木欄上有公雞，和高高在上連咯咯叫都不會更不用説喔喔啼的風信公雞比，他的確另有一番意義!那風信公雞既沒有母雞，也沒有小雞。他只想着自己，滿身銅綠!不行，家養的公雞，那才算得上是公雞!瞧他邁步的那個樣子，那是跳舞!聽他打鳴，那是音樂!他所到之處，人們就明白甚麼是小號手!若是他跑到這裏來，若是他把我連葉帶桿一起吃掉，若是我進了他的身子裏，那真是幸福的死!”黃瓜這麼説道。

夜裏天氣壞得可怕極了，母雞、小雞，連帶公雞都找不到躲避的地方。兩個院子中間的那道木欄被吹倒了，發出很大的聲音。屋頂上的瓦也落下來，但是風信公雞卻穩穩地站在那裏，連轉都不轉一下。他不中用，然而他年輕，是不久前才鑄出來的。而且頭腦清醒，遇事不慌。他天生老成，不像那些在天上飛來飛去的諸如麻雀、燕子之類的小鳥，他瞧不起他們。“唧唧喳喳的鳥兒，小不點兒，普普通通。”鴿子倒挺大，閃閃發光，很像珍珠母雞，看去也頗像某種風信公雞。但是他們太胖了，笨頭笨腦，一門心思只想着啄點東西進肚皮裏去，風信公雞這麼説道，交往之中他們還總是令人厭煩。秋去春來的候鳥來拜訪過，談到過異國他鄉，談起過天空中鳥兒成羣結隊地飛行，談起過猛禽攔路行兇的可怕故事。頭一回聽，這都很新鮮有趣。可是到後來，風信公雞明白了，他們老在重複，總是講同樣的事兒，很是令人煩心!他們一切都叫人煩心。沒有可交往的，誰都是死板板的，毫無趣味。“這世界真不行!”他説道，“甚麼都無聊透頂!”風信公雞像人們所説的那樣，對甚麼都膩味了。黃瓜要是知道的話，她一定會覺得很有趣。但是她的眼中只有那家養的公雞，現在他已經到了她的院子裏來了。

木欄被吹倒了，可是雷電已經平息。“你們覺得那一陣子喔喔啼如何?”家養公雞對雞婆和雞仔説道。“有點粗聲粗氣，一點兒不雅緻。”

雞婆帶着一羣雞仔闖到垃圾堆上，公雞像騎士一般邁着大步來了。“菜園子里長出來的!”他對黃瓜説。從這麼簡簡單單的一句話裏，她體察到了他的高度涵養，卻忘了他正在啄她，正在吃她。“幸福地死啊!”

來了一羣母雞，來了一羣小雞。只要有一隻跑動，另一隻便會跟着跑起來。他們咯咯地叫，他們唧唧地叫，他們瞅着公雞，為他感到驕傲，他是他們一族。“咯咯、勒咯!”他啼了起來，“我在世界的雞場裏這麼一叫，小雞馬上便長成了大母雞。”

雞婆和雞仔咯咯唧唧地跟着叫了起來。

公雞接着宣講了一個大大的新消息。“一隻公雞能生蛋!你們知道嗎，蛋裏是甚麼玩意兒?裏面是一隻爬蟲怪1!誰見了它都受不了!人類都知道這事，現在連你們都知道了。知道我身體裏懷着甚麼!知道了我是所有雞場裏一個甚麼樣的棒小夥子!”

接着家養公雞拍拍翅膀，挺起自己的冠子，又啼了起來。所有的雞婆，所有的雞仔都哆嗦了一下。但是，他們都為自己同類中有一個所有雞場中最棒的小夥子而驕傲。他們咯咯地叫着，他們唧唧地叫着，好讓風信公雞聽見。他聽到了，不過並沒有因此而動上一動。“一派胡言亂語!”風信公雞內心這樣説道。“家養的公雞從來也沒有下過蛋。我沒有那個興致，要是我願意的話，我滿可以生一個風蛋!可是這個世界不值得有甚麼風蛋!全是胡説八道!——現在我連這麼立着都不高興了。”

於是風信雞折了。不過他沒有把家養的公雞砸死。“當然他是這麼打算的!”母雞説道。這篇故事所含的教益又是怎麼説呢。“與其活得膩味折掉，倒還是啼啼叫叫的好。”

丹麥有這樣的迷信，説有個怪物，雞頭蛇身。它一眨眼便能嚇死人。

英語童話故事及翻譯：EVERYTHING IN THE RIGHT PLACE

IT is more than a hundred years ago! At the border of the wood, near a large lake, stood theold mansion: deep ditches surrounded it on every side, in which reeds and bulrushes e by the drawbridge, near the gate, there was an old willow tree, which bent over thereeds. From the narrow pass came the sound of bugles and the trampling of horses' feet;therefore a little girl who was watching the geese hastened to drive them away from the bridge,before the whole hunting party came galloping up; they came, however, so quickly, that thegirl, in order to avoid being run over, placed herself on one of the high corner-stones of thebridge. She was still half a child and very delicately built; she had bright blue eyes, and agentle, sweet expression. But such things the baron did not notice; while he was riding pastthe little goose-girl, he reversed his hunting crop, and in rough play gave her such a pushwith it that she fell backward into the ditch. "Everything in the right place!" he cried. "Into theditch with you."

Then he burst out laughing, for that he called fun; the others joined in- thewhole party shouted and cried, while the hounds barked. While the poor girl was falling shehappily caught one of the branches of the willow tree, by the help of which she held herself overthe water, and as soon as the baron with his company and the dogs had disappeared throughthe gate, the girl endeavoured to scramble up, but the branch broke off, and she would havefallen backward among the rushes, had not a strong hand from above seized her at thismoment. It was the hand of a pedlar; he had witnessed what had happened from a shortdistance, and now hastened to assist her. "

Everything in the right place," he said, imitating thenoble baron, and pulling the little maid up to the dry ground. He wished to put the branchback in the place it had been broken off, but it is not possible to put everything in the rightplace;" therefore he stuck the branch into the soft ground. "Grow and thrive if you can, andproduce a good flute for them yonder at the mansion," he said; it would have given himgreat pleasure to see the noble baron and his companions well thrashed. Then he entered thecastle- but not the banqueting hall; he was too humble for that. No; he went to the servants'hall.

The men-servants and maids looked over his stock of articles and bargained with him;loud crying and screaming were heard from the master's table above: they called it singing-indeed, they did their best. Laughter and the howls of dogs were heard through the openwindows: there they were feasting and revelling; wine and strong old ale were foaming in theglasses and jugs; the favourite dogs ate with their masters; now and then the squires kissedone of these animals, after having wiped its mouth first with the tablecloth. They ordered thepedlar to come up, but only to make fun of him. The wine had got into their heads, and reasonhad left them. They poured beer into a stocking that he could drink with them, but 's what they called fun, and it made them laugh. Then meadows, peasants, and farmyardswere staked on one card and lost. "Everything in the right place!" the pedlar said when he hadat last safely got out of Sodom and Gomorrah, as he called it. "The open high road is my rightplace; up there I did not feel at ease."

The little maid, who was still watching the geese, noddedkindly to him as he passed through the gate. Days and weeks passed, and it was seen that thebroken willow-branch which the peddlar had stuck

into the ground near the ditch remainedfresh and green- nay, it even put forth fresh twigs; the little goose-girl saw that the branchhad taken root, and was very pleased; the tree, so she said, was now her tree. While the treewas advancing, everything else at the castle was going backward, through feasting andgambling, for these are two rollers upon which nobody stands safely. Less than six yearsafterwards the baron passed out of his castle-gate a poor beggar, while the baronial seat hadbeen bought by a rich tradesman. He was the very pedlar they had made fun of and pouredbeer into a stocking for him to drink; but honesty and industry bring one forward, and now thepedlar was the possessor of the baronial estate. From that time forward no card-playing waspermitted there. "That's a bad pastime," he said; "when the devil saw the Bible for the firsttime he wanted to produce a caricature in opposition to it, and invented card-playing." Thenew proprietor of the estate took a wife, and whom did he take?-

The little goose-girl, who hadalways remained good and kind, and who looked as beautiful in her new clothes as if she hadbeen a lady of high birth. And how did all this come about? That would be too long a tale to tellin our busy time, but it really happened, and the most important events have yet to be told. Itwas pleasant and cheerful to live in the old place now: the mother superintended thehousehold, and the father looked after things out-of-doors, and they were indeed veryprosperous. Where honesty leads the way, prosperity is sure to follow. The old mansion wasrepaired and painted, the ditches were cleaned and fruit-trees planted; all was homely andpleasant, and the floors were as white and shining as a pasteboard.

In the long winter eveningsthe mistress and her maids sat at the spinning-wheel in the large hall; every Sunday thecounsellor- this title the pedlar had obtained, although only in his old days- read aloud aportion from the Bible. The children (for they had children) all received the best education, butthey were not all equally clever, as is the case in all families. In the meantime the willow treenear the drawbridge had grown up into a splendid tree, and stood there, free, and was neverclipped. "It is our genealogical tree," said the old people to their children, "and therefore it mustbe honoured." A hundred years had elapsed. It was in our own days; the lake had beentransformed into marsh land; the whole baronial seat had, as it were, disappeared. A pool ofwater near some ruined walls was the only remainder of the deep ditches; and here stood amagnificent old tree with overhanging branches- that was the genealogical tree. Here it stood,and showed how beautiful a willow can look if one does not interfere with it.

The trunk, it istrue, was cleft in the middle from the root to the crown; the storms had bent it a little, but itstill stood there, and out of every crevice and cleft, in which wind and weather had carriedmould, blades of grass and flowers sprang forth. Especially above, where the large boughsparted, there was quite a hanging garden, in which wild raspberries and hart's-tongue fernsthrove, and even a little mistletoe had taken root, and grew gracefully in the old willowbranches, which were reflected in the dark water beneath when the wind blew the chickweedinto the corner of the pool. A footpath which led across the fields passed close by the old up, on the woody hillside, stood the new mansion. It had a splendid view, and was largeand magnificent; its window panes were so clear that one might have thought there were nonethere at all. The large flight of steps which led to the entrance looked like a bower covered withroses and broad-leaved plants. The lawn was as green as if each blade of grass was cleanedseparately morning and evening. Inside, in the hall, valuable oil paintings were hanging on thewalls.

Here stood chairs and sofas covered with silk and velvet, which could be easily rolledabout on castors; there were tables with polished marble tops, and books bound in moroccowith gilt edges. Indeed, well-to-do and distinguished people lived here; it was the dwelling ofthe baron and his family. Each article was in keeping with its surroundings. "Everything in theright place" was the motto according to which they also acted here, and therefore all thepaintings which had once been the honour and glory of the old mansion were now hung up inthe passage which led to the servants' rooms. It was all old lumber, especially two portraits-one representing a man in a scarlet coat with a wig, and the other a lady with powdered andcurled hair holding a rose in her hand, each of them being surrounded by a large wreath ofwillow branches. Both portraits had many holes in them, because the baron's sons used the twoold people as targets for their crossbows. They represented the counsellor and his wife, fromwhom the whole family descended. "But they did not properly belong to our family," said one ofthe boys; "he was a pedlar and she kept the geese.

They were not like papa and mamma." Theportraits were old lumber, and "everything in its right place." That was why the great-grandparents had been hung up in the passage leading to the servants' rooms. The son of thevillage pastor was tutor at the mansion. One day he went for a walk across the fields with hisyoung pupils and their elder sister, who had lately been confirmed. They walked along theroad which passed by the old willow tree, and while they were on the road she picked a bunch offield-flowers. "Everything in the right place," and indeed the bunch looked very beautiful.

At thesame time she listened to all that was said, and she very much liked to hear the pastor's sonspeak about the elements and of the great men and women in history. She had a healthy mind,noble in thought and deed, and with a heart full of love for everything that God had stopped at the old willow tree, as the youngest of the baron's sons wished very much tohave a flute from it, such as had been cut for him from other willow trees; the pastor's sonbroke a branch off. "Oh, pray do not do it!" said the young lady; but it was already done. "Thatis our famous old tree. I love it very much. They often laugh at me at home about it, but thatdoes not matter. There is a story attached to this tree." And now she told him all that wealready know about the tree- the old mansion, the pedlar and the goose-girl who had metthere for the first time, and had become the ancestors of the noble family to which the younglady belonged. "They did not like to be knighted, the good old people," she said; "their mottowas 'everything in the right place,' and it would not be right, they thought, to purchase a titlefor money. My grandfather, the first baron, was their son. They say he was a very learned man,a great favourite with the princes and princesses, and was invited to all court festivities. Theothers at home love him best; but, I do not know why, there seemed to me to be somethingabout the old couple that attracts my heart! How homely, how patriarchal, it must have been inthe old mansion, where the mistress sat at the spinning-wheel with her maids, while herhusband read aloud out of the Bible!" "They must have been excellent, sensible people," saidthe pastor's son. And with this the conversation turned naturally to noblemen andcommoners; from the manner in which the tutor spoke about the significance of being noble,it seemed almost as if he did not belong to a commoner's family. "It is good fortune to be of afamily who have distinguished themselves, and to possess as it were a spur in oneself toadvance to all that is good.

It is a splendid thing to belong to a noble family, whose nameserves as a card of admission to the highest circles. Nobility is a distinction; it is a gold cointhat bears the stamp of its own value. It is the fallacy of the time, and many poets express it,to say that all that is noble is bad and stupid, and that, on the contrary, the lower one goesamong the poor, the more brilliant virtues one finds. I do not share this opinion, for it iswrong. In the upper classes one sees many touchingly beautiful traits; my own mother has toldme of such, and I could mention several. One day she was visiting a nobleman's house in town;my grandmother, I believe, had been the lady's nurse when she was a child. My mother and thenobleman were alone in the room, when he suddenly noticed an old woman on crutches comelimping into the courtyard; she came every Sunday to carry a gift away with her. "'There is thepoor old woman,' said the nobleman; 'it is so difficult for her to walk.' "My mother had hardlyunderstood what he said before he disappeared from the room, and went downstairs, in order tosave her the troublesome walk for the gift she came to fetch. Of course this is only a littleincident, but it has its good sound like the poor widow's two mites in the Bible, the soundwhich echoes in the depth of every human heart; and this is what the poet ought to show andpoint out- more especially in our own time he ought to sing of this; it does good, it mitigatesand reconciles! But when a man, simply because he is of noble birth and possesses agenealogy, stands on his hind legs and neighs in the street like an Arabian horse, and sayswhen a commoner has been in a room: 'Some people from the street have been here,' therenobility is decaying; it has become a mask of the kind that Thespis created, and it is amusingwhen such a person is exposed in satire." Such was the tutor's speech; it was a little long, butwhile he delivered it he had finished cutting the flute.

There was a large party at the mansion;many guests from the neighbourhood and from the capital had arrived. There were ladies withtasteful and with tasteless dresses; the big hall was quite crowded with people. The clergymenstood humbly together in a corner, and looked as if they were preparing for a funeral, but itwas a festival- only the amusement had not yet begun.

A great concert was to take place, andthat is why the baron's young son had brought his willow flute with him; but he could not makeit sound, nor could his father, and therefore the flute was good for nothing. There was musicand songs of the kind which delight most those that perform them; otherwise quitecharming! "Are you an artist?" said a cavalier, the son of his father; "you play on the flute, youhave made it yourself; it is genius that rules- the place of honour is due to you." "Certainly not!I only advance with the time, and that of course one can't help." "I hope you will delight us allwith the little instrument- will you not?" Thus saying he handed to the tutor the flute whichhad been cut from the willow tree by the pool;

and then announced in a loud voice that thetutor wished to perform a solo on the flute. They wished to tease him- that was evident, andtherefore the tutor declined to play, although he could do so very well. They urged andrequested him, however, so long, that at last he took up the flute and placed it to his lips. Thatwas a marvellous flute! Its sound was as thrilling as the whistle of a steam engine; in fact itwas much stronger, for it sounded and was heard in the yard, in the garden, in the wood, andmany miles round in the country; at the same time a storm rose and roared; "Everything in theright place."

And with this the baron, as if carried by the wind, flew out of the hall straight intothe shepherd's cottage, and the shepherd flew- not into the hall, thither he could not come- butinto the servants' hall, among the smart footmen who were striding about in silk stockings;these haughty menials looked horror-struck that such a person ventured to sit at table withthem. But in the hall the baron's daughter flew to the place of honour at the end of the table-she was worthy to sit there; the pastor's son had the seat next to her; the two sat there as ifthey were a bridal pair. An old Count, belonging to one of the oldest families of the country,remained untouched in his place of honour; the flute was just, and it is one's duty to be so. Thesharp-tongued cavalier who had caused the flute to be played, and who was the child of hisparents, flew headlong into the fowl-house, but not he alone. The flute was heard at thedistance of a mile, and strange events took place. A rich banker's family, who were driving in acoach and four, were blown out of it, and could not even find room behind it with theirfootmen.

Two rich farmers who had in our days shot up higher than their own corn-fields, wereflung into the ditch; it was a dangerous flute. Fortunately it burst at the first sound, and thatwas a good thing, for then it was put back into its owner's pocket- "its right place." The nextday, nobody spoke a word about what had taken place; thus originated the phrase, "to pocketthe flute." Everything was again in its usual order, except that the two old pictures of thepeddlar and the goose-girl were hanging in the banqueting-hall. There they were on the wall asif blown up there; and as a real expert said that they were painted by a master's hand, theyremained there and were restored. "Everything in the right place," and to this it will nity is long, much longer indeed than this story.

各得其所

這是一百多年以前的事情!

在樹林後面的一個大湖旁邊，有一座古老的邸宅。它的周圍有一道很深的壕溝;裏面長着許多蘆葦和草。在通向入口的那座橋邊，長着一棵古老的柳樹;它的枝子垂向這些蘆葦。

從空巷裏傳來一陣號角聲和馬蹄聲;一個牧鵝姑娘趁着一羣獵人沒有奔馳過來以前，就趕快把她的一羣鵝從橋邊趕走。獵人飛快地跑近來了。她只好急忙爬到橋頭的一塊石頭上，免得被他們踩倒。她仍然是個孩子，身材很瘦削;但是她面上有一種和藹的表情和一雙明亮的眼睛。那位老爺沒有注意到這點。當他飛馳過去的時候，他把鞭子掉過來，惡作劇地用鞭子的把手朝這女孩子的胸脯一推，弄得她仰着滾下去了。

“各得其所!”他大聲説，“請你滾到泥巴里去吧!”

他鬨笑起來。因為他覺得這很好笑，所以和他一道的人也都笑起來。全體人馬都大肆叫嗥，連獵犬也咬起來。這真是所謂：“富鳥飛來聲音大!”

只有上帝知道，他現在還是不是富有。

這個可憐的牧鵝女在落下去的時候，伸手亂抓，結果抓住了柳樹的一根垂枝，這樣她就懸在泥沼上面。老爺和他的獵犬馬上就走進大門不見了。這時她就想法再爬上來，但是枝子忽然在頂上斷了;要不是上面有一隻強壯的手抓住了她，她就要落到蘆葦裏去了。這人是一個流浪的小販。他從不遠的地方看到了這件事情，所以他現在就急忙趕過來幫助她。

“各得其所!”他模擬那位老爺的口吻開玩笑地説。於是，他就把小姑娘拉到乾地上來。他倒很想把那根斷了的枝子接上，但是“各得其所”不是在任何場合下都可以做得到的!因此他就把這枝子插到柔軟的土裏。“假如你能夠的話，生長吧，一直長到你可以成為那個公館裏的人們的一管笛子!”

他倒希望這位老爺和他的一家人挨一次痛打呢。他走進這個公館裏去，但並不是走進客廳，因為他太微賤了!他走進僕人住的地方去。他們翻了翻他的貨品，爭論了一番價錢。但是從上房的酒席桌上，起來一陣喧噪和尖叫聲——這就是他們所謂的唱歌;比這更好的東西他們就不會了。笑聲和犬吠聲、大吃大喝聲，混做一團。普通酒和強烈的啤酒在酒罐和玻璃杯裏冒着泡，狗子跟主人坐在一起吃喝。有的狗子用耳朵把鼻子擦乾淨以後，還得到少爺們的親吻。

他們請這小販帶着他的貨品走上來，不過他們的目的是要開他的玩笑。酒已經入了他們的肚腸，理智已經飛走了。他們把啤酒倒進襪子裏，請這小販跟他們一起喝，但是必須喝得快!這辦法既巧妙，而又能逗人發笑。於是他們把牲口、農奴和農莊都拿出來作為賭注，有的贏，有的輸了。

“各得其所!”小販在走出了這個他所謂的“罪惡的淵藪”的時候説。“我的處‘所’是寬廣的大路，我在那家一點也不感到自在。”

牧鵝的小姑娘從田野的籬笆那兒對他點頭。

許多天過去了。許多星期過去了。小販插在壕溝旁邊的那根折斷了的楊柳枝，顯然還是新鮮和翠綠的;它甚至還冒出了嫩芽。牧鵝的小姑娘知道這根枝子現在生了根，所以她感到非常愉快，因為她覺得這棵樹是她的樹。

這棵樹在生長。但是公館裏的一切，在喝酒和賭博中很快地就搞光了——因為這兩件東西像輪子一樣，任何人在上面是站不穩的。

六個年頭還沒有過完，老爺拿着袋子和手杖，作為一個窮人走出了這個公館。公館被一個富有的小販買去了。他就是曾經在這兒被戲弄和譏笑過的那個人——那個得從襪子裏喝啤酒的人。但是誠實和勤儉帶來興盛;現在這個小販成為了公館的主人。不過從這時起，打紙牌的這種賭博就不許在這兒再玩了。

“這是很壞的消遣，”他説，“當魔鬼第一次看到《聖經》的時候，他就想放一本壞書來抵消它，於是他就發明了紙牌戲!”

這位新主人娶了一個太太。她不是別人，就是那個牧鵝的女郎。她一直是很忠誠、虔敬和善良的。她穿上新衣服非常漂亮，好像她天生就是一個貴婦人似的。事情怎麼會是這樣呢?是的，在我們這個忙碌的時代裏，這是一個很長的故事;不過事情是如此，而且最重要的一部分還在後面。

住在這座古老的邸宅裏是很幸福的。母親管家裏的事，父親管外面的事，幸福好像是從泉水裏湧出來的。凡是幸運的地方，就經常有幸運來臨。這座老房子被打掃和油漆得一新;壕溝也清除了，果木樹也種起來了。一切都顯得温暖而愉快;地板擦得很亮，像一個棋盤。在漫長的冬夜裏，女主人同她的女傭人坐在堂屋裏織羊毛或紡線。禮拜天的晚上，司法官——那個小販成了司法官，雖然他現在已經老了——就讀一段《聖經》。孩子們——因為他們生了孩子——都長大了，而且受到了很好的教育，雖然像在別的家庭裏一樣，他們的能力各有不同。

公館門外的那根柳樹枝。已經長成為一棵美麗的樹。它自由自在地立在那兒，還沒有被剪過枝。“這是我們的家族樹!”這對老夫婦説;這樹應該得到光榮和尊敬——他們這樣告訴他們的孩子，包括那些頭腦不太聰明的孩子。

一百年過去了。

這就是我們的時代。湖已經變成了一塊沼地。那座老邸宅也不見了，現在只剩下一個長方形的水潭，兩邊立着一些斷垣殘壁。這就是那條壕溝的遺址。這兒還立着一株壯麗的老垂柳。它就是那株老家族樹。這似乎是説明，一棵樹如果你不去管它，它會變得多麼美麗。當然，它的主幹從根到頂都裂開了;風暴也把它打得略為彎了一點。雖然如此，它仍然立得很堅定，而且在每一個裂口裏——風和雨送了些泥土進去——還長出了草和花;尤其是在頂上大枝丫分杈的地方，許多覆盆子和繁縷形成一個懸空的花園。這兒甚至還長出了幾棵山梨樹;它們苗條地立在這株老柳樹的身上。當風兒把青浮草吹到水潭的一個角落裏去了的時候，老柳樹的影子就在蔭深的水上出現。一條小徑從這樹的近旁一直伸到田野。在樹林附近的一個風景優美的小山上，有一座新房子，既寬大，又華麗;窗玻璃是那麼透明，人們可能以為它完全沒有鑲玻璃。大門前面的寬大台階很像玫瑰花和寬葉植物所形成的一個花亭。草坪是那麼碧綠，好像每一起葉子早晚都被沖洗過了一番似的。廳堂裏懸着華貴的繪畫。套着錦緞和天鵝絨的椅子和沙發，簡直像自己能夠走動似的。此外還有光亮的大理石桌子，燙金的皮裝的書籍。是的，這兒住着的是富有的人;這兒住着的是貴族——男爵。

這兒一切東西都配得很調和。這兒的格言是：“各得其所!”因此從前在那座老房子裏光榮地、排場地掛着的一些繪畫，現在統統都在通到僕人住處的走廊上掛着。它們現在成了廢物——特別是那兩幅老畫像：一幅是一位穿粉紅上衣和戴着撲了粉的假髮的紳士，另一幅是一位太太——她的向上梳的頭髮也撲了粉，她的手裏拿着一朵紅玫瑰花。他們兩人四周圍着一圈柳樹枝所編成的花環。這兩張畫上佈滿了圓洞，因為小男爵們常常把這兩位老人當做他們射箭的靶子。這兩位老人就是司法官和他的夫人——這個家族的始祖。

“但是他們並不真正屬於這個家族!”一位小男爵説。“他是一個小販，而她是一個牧鵝的丫頭。他們一點也不像爸爸和媽媽。”

這兩張畫成為沒有價值的廢物。因此，正如人們所説的，它們“各得其所”!曾祖父和曾祖母就來到通向僕人宿舍的走廊裏了。

牧師的兒子是這個公館裏的家庭教師。有一天他和小男爵們以及他們受了堅信禮不久的姐姐到外面去散步。他們在小徑上向那棵老柳樹後面走來;當他們正在走的時候，這位小姐就用田裏的小花紮了一個花束。"各得其所"，所以這些花兒也形成了一個美麗的整體。在這同時，她傾聽着大家的高談闊論。她喜歡聽牧師的兒子談起大自然的威力，談起歷史上偉大的男子和女人。她有健康愉快的個性，高尚的思想和靈魂，還有一顆喜愛上帝所創造一切事物的心。

他們在老柳樹旁邊停下來。最小的那位男爵很希望有一管笛子，因為他從前也有過一管用柳樹枝雕的笛子。牧師的兒子便折下一根枝子。

“啊，請不要這樣做吧!”那位年輕的女男爵説。然而這已經做了。“這是我們的一棵有名的老樹，我非常心疼它!他們在家裏常常因此笑我，但是我不管!這棵樹有一個來歷!”

於是她就把她所知道的關於這樹的事情全講出來：關於那個老邸宅的事情，以及那個小販和那個牧鵝姑娘怎樣在這地方第一次遇見、後來他們又怎樣成為這個有名的家族和這個女男爵的始祖的事情。

“這兩個善良的老人，他們不願意成為貴族!”她説，“他們遵守着‘各得其所’的格言;因此他們就覺得，假如他們用錢買來一個爵位，那就與他們的地位不相稱了。只有他們的兒子——我們的祖父——才正式成為一位男爵。據説他是一位非常有學問的人，他常常跟王子和公主們來往，還常常參加他們的宴會。家裏所有的人都非常喜歡他。但是，我不知道為什麼，最初的那對老人對我的心有某種吸引力。那個老房子裏的生活一定是這樣地安靜和莊嚴：主婦和女撲們一起坐着紡紗，老主人高聲朗誦着《聖經》。”

“他們是一對可愛的通情理的人!”牧師的兒子説。

到這兒，他們的談話就自然接觸到貴族和市民了。牧師的兒子幾乎不太像市民階層的人，因為當他談起關於貴族的事情時，他是那麼內行。他説：“一個人作為一個有名望的家庭的一員是一樁幸運!同樣，一個人血統裏有一種鼓舞他向上的動力，也是一樁幸運。一個人有一個族名作為走進上流社會的橋樑，是一樁美事。貴族是高貴的意思。它是一塊金幣，上面刻着它的價值。我們這個時代的調子——許多詩人也自然隨聲附和——是：一切高貴的東西總是愚蠢和沒有價值的;至於窮人，他們越不行，他們就越聰明。不過這不是我的見解，因為我認為這種看法完全是錯誤的，虛偽的。在上流階級裏面，人們可以發現許多美麗和感動人的特點。我的母親告訴過我一個例子，而且我還可以舉出許多別的來。她到城裏去拜訪一個貴族家庭。我想，我的祖母曾經當過那家主婦的乳母。我的母親有一天跟那位高貴的老爺坐在一個房間裏。他看見一個老太婆拄着枴杖蹣跚地走進屋子裏來。她是每個禮拜天都來的，而且一來就帶走幾個銀毫。‘這是一個可憐的老太婆，’老爺説：‘她走路真不容易!’在我的母親還沒有懂得他的意思以前，他就走出了房門，跑下樓梯，親自走到那個窮苦的老太婆身邊去，免得她為了取幾個銀毫而要走艱難的路。這不過是一件小小的事情;但是，像《聖經》上所寫的寡婦的一文錢②一樣，它在人心的深處，在人類的天性中引起一個迴音。詩人就應該把這類事情指出來，歌頌它，特別是在我們這個時代，因為這會發生好的作用，會説服人心。不過有的人，因為有高貴的血統，同時出身於望族，常常像阿拉伯的馬一樣，喜歡翹起前腿在大街上嘶鳴。只要有一個普通人來過，他就在房間裏説‘平民曾經到過此地!’這説明貴族在腐化，變成了一個貴族的假面具，一個德斯比斯③所創造的那種面具。人們譏笑這種人，把他當成諷刺的對象。”

這就是牧師的兒子的一番議論。它的確未免太長了一點，但在這期間，那管笛子卻雕成了。

公館裏有一大批客人。他們都是從附近地區和京城裏來的。有些女士們穿得很入時，有的不入時。大客廳裏擠滿了人。附近地區的一些牧師都是恭而敬之擠在一個角落裏——這使人覺得好像要舉行一個葬禮似的。但是這卻是一個歡樂的場合，只不過歡樂還沒有開始罷了。

這兒應該有一個盛大的音樂會才好。因此一位少男爵就把他的柳樹笛子取出來，不過他吹不出聲音來，他的爸爸也吹不出，所以它成了一個廢物。

這兒現在有了音樂，也有了歌唱，它們都使演唱者本人感到最愉快，當然這也不壞!

“您也是一個音樂家嗎?”一位漂亮紳士——他只不過是他父母的兒子——説。“你吹奏這管笛子，而且你還親手把它雕出來。這簡直是天才，而天才坐在光榮的席位上，統治着一切。啊，天啦!我是在跟着時代走——每個人非這樣不可。啊，請你用這小小的樂起來迷住我們一下吧，好不好?”

於是他就把用水池旁的那株柳樹枝雕成的笛子交給牧師的兒子。他同時大聲説，這位家庭教師將要用這樂器對大家作一個獨奏。

現在他們要開他的玩笑，這是很清楚的了。因此這位家庭教師就不吹了，雖然他可以吹得很好。但是他們卻堅持要他吹，弄得他最後只好拿起笛子，湊到嘴上。

這真是一管奇妙的笛子!它發出一個怪聲音，比蒸汽機所發出的汽笛聲還要粗。它在院子上空，在花園和森林裏盤旋，遠遠地飄到田野上去。跟這音調同時，吹來了一陣呼嘯的狂風，它呼嘯着説：“各得其所!”於是爸爸就好像被風在吹動似地，飛出了大廳，落在牧人的房間裏去了;而牧人也飛起來，但是卻沒有飛進那個大廳裏去，因為他不能去——嗨，他卻飛到僕人的宿舍裏去，飛到那些穿着絲襪子、大搖大擺地走着路的、漂亮的侍從中間去。這些驕傲的僕人們被弄得目瞪口呆，想道：這麼一個下賤的人物居然敢跟他們一道坐上桌子。

但是在大廳裏，年輕的女男爵飛到了桌子的首席上去。她是有資格坐在這兒的。牧師的兒子坐在她的旁邊。他們兩人這樣坐着，好像他們是一對新婚夫婦似的。只有一位老伯爵——他屬於這國家的一個最老的家族——仍然坐在他尊貴的位子上沒有動;因為這管笛子是很公正的，人也應該是這樣。那位幽默的漂亮紳士——他只不過是他父親的兒子——這次吹笛的煽動人，倒栽葱地飛進一個雞屋裏去了，但他並不是孤獨地一個人在那兒。

在附近一帶十多裏地以內，大家都聽到了笛聲和這些奇怪的事情。一個富有商人的全家，坐在一輛四騎馬拉的車子裏，被吹出了車廂，連在車後都找不到一塊地方站着。兩個有錢的農夫，他們在我們這個時代長得比他們田裏的麥子還高，卻被吹到泥巴溝裏去了。這是一管危險的笛子!很幸運的是，它在發出第一個調子後就裂開了。這是一件好事，因為這樣它就又被放進衣袋裏去了：“各得其所!”

隨後的一天，誰也不提起這件事情，因此我們就有了“笛子入袋”這個成語。每件東西都回到它原來的位子上。只有那個小販和牧鵝女的畫像掛到大客廳裏來了。它們是被吹到那兒的牆上去的。正如一位真正的鑑賞家説過的一樣，它們是由一位名家畫出來的;所以它們現在掛在它們應該掛的地方。人們從前不知道它們有什麼價值，而人們又怎麼會知道呢?現在它們懸在光榮的位置上：“各得其所!”事情就是這樣!永恆的真理是很長的——比這個故事要長得多。

英語童話故事及翻譯：THE ELF OF THE ROSE

IN the midst of a garden grew a rose-tree,in full blossom, and in the prettiest of all the roseslived an elf. He wassuch a little wee thing, that no human eye could see him. Behind each leafofthe rose he had a sleeping chamber. He was as well formed and as beautiful as alittle childcould be, and had wings that reached from his shoulders to hisfeet.

Oh, what sweet fragrancethere was in his chambers! and how clean andbeautiful were the walls! for they were theblushing leaves of the rose. Duringthe whole day he enjoyed himself in the warm sunshine, flewfrom flower toflower, and danced on the wings of the flying butterflies. Then he took it intohishead to measure how many steps he would have to go through the roads andcross-roads thatare on the leaf of a linden-tree. What we call the veins on aleaf, he took for roads; ay, and verylong roads they were for him; for beforehe had half finished his task, the sun went down: hehad commenced his work toolate. It became very cold, the dew fell, and the wind blew; so hethought thebest thing he could do would be to return home. He hurried himself as much ashecould; but he found the roses all closed up, and he could not get in; not asingle rose stoodopen. The poor little elf was very much frightened.

He hadnever before been out at night, buthad always slumbered secretly behind thewarm rose-leaves. Oh, this would certainly be hisdeath. At the other end ofthe garden, he knew there was an arbor, overgrown with blossoms looked like large painted horns; and he thought to himself,hewould go and sleep in one of these till the morning. He flew thither; but"hush!" two peoplewere in the arbor,- a handsome young man and a beautifullady. They sat side by side, andwished that they might never be obliged to loved each other much more than thebest child can love its father andmother. "But we must part," said the young man; "yourbrotherdoes not like our engagement, and therefore he sends me so far away onbusiness, overmountains and seas. Farewell, my sweet bride; for so you are tome." And then they kissed eachother, and the girl wept, and gave him arose; but before she did so, she pressed a kiss upon itso fervently that theflower opened. Then the little elf flew in, and leaned his head onthedelicate, fragrant walls. Here he could plainly hear them say, "Farewell, farewell;"and hefelt that the rose had been placed on the young man's breast.

Oh, howhis heart did beat! Thelittle elf could not go to sleep, it thumped so young man took it out as he walkedthrough the dark wood alone, and kissedthe flower so often and so violently, that the little elfwas almost could feel through the leaf how hot the lips of the young man were, andtherose had opened, as if from the heat of the noonday sun. There came anotherman, wholooked gloomy and wicked. He was the wicked brother of the beautifulmaiden. He drew out asharp knife, and while the other was kissing the rose,the wicked man stabbed him to death;then he cut off his head, and buried itwith the body in the soft earth under the linden-tree. "Now he is gone,and will soon be forgotten," thought the wicked brother; "he willnever comeback again. He was going on a long journey over mountains and seas;it is easy for a man to losehis life in such a journey. My sister will supposehe is dead; for he cannot come back, and shewill not dare to question me abouthim." Then he scattered the dry leaves over the light earthwith his foot,and went ho

me through the darkness; but he went not alone, as he thought,-thelittle elf accompanied him. He sat in a dry rolled-up linden-leaf, which hadfallen from thetree on to the wicked man's head, as he was digging the hat was on the head now,which made it very dark, and the little elfshuddered with fright and indignation at the wickeddeed. It was the dawn ofmorning before the wicked man reached home; he took off his hat,and went intohis sister's room. There lay the beautiful, blooming girl, dreaming of himwhomshe loved so, and who was now, she supposed, travelling far away over mountainand wicked brother stopped over her, and laughed hideously, as fiendsonly can laugh. The dryleaf fell out of his hair upon the counterpane; but hedid not notice it, and went to get a littlesleep during the early morninghours. But the elf slipped out of the withered leaf, placed himselfby the earof the sleeping girl, and told her, as in a dream, of the horrid murder;described theplace where her brother had slain her lover, and buried his body;and told her of the linden-tree,in full blossom, that stood close by. "Thatyou may not think this is only a dream that I havetold you," he said,"you will find on your bed a withered leaf." Then she awoke, andfound itthere. Oh, what bitter tears she shed! and she could not open herheart to any one for window stood open the whole day, and thelittle elf could easily have reached the roses, orany of the flowers; but hecould not find it in his heart to leave one so afflicted. In the windowstood abush bearing monthly roses. He seated himself in one of the flowers, and gazedon thepoor girl. Her brother often came into the room, and would be quite cheerful,in spite of hisbase conduct; so she dare not say a word to him of her heart'sgrief. As soon as night came on,she slipped out of the house, and went intothe wood,

to the spot where the linden-tree stood;and after removing theleaves from the earth, she turned it up, and there found him who hadbeenmurdered. Oh, how she wept and prayed that she also might die! Gladly would shehavetaken the body home with her; but that was impossible; so she took up thepoor head with theclosed eyes, kissed the cold lips, and shook the mould outof the beautiful hair. "I will keep this,"said she; and as soon asshe had covered the body again with the earth and leaves, she took thehead anda little sprig of jasmine that bloomed in the wood, near the spot where he wasburied,and carried them home with her. As soon as she was in her room, shetook the largest flower-potshe could find, and in this she placed the head of thedead man, covered it up with earth, andplanted the twig of jasmine in it.

"Farewell,farewell," whispered the little elf. He could not anylonger endure towitness all this agony of grief, he therefore flew away to his own rose inthegarden. But the rose was faded; only a few dry leaves still clung to the green hedgebehindit. "Alas! how soon all that is good and beautiful passes away,"sighed the elf. After a while hefound another rose, which became his home, foramong its delicate fragrant leaves he coulddwell in safety. Every morning heflew to the window of the poor girl, and always found herweeping by the flowerpot. The bitter tears fell upon the jasmine twig, and each day, as shebecame palerand paler, the sprig appeared to grow greener and fresher. One shoot afteranothersprouted forth, and little white buds blossomed, which the poor girlfondly kissed. But herwicked brother scolded her, and asked her if she wasgoing mad. He could not imagine why shewas weeping over that flower-pot, andit annoyed him. He did not know whose closed eyes werethere, nor what red lipswere fading beneath the earth. And one day she sat and leaned herhead againstthe flower-pot, and the little elf of the rose found her asleep. Then heseatedhimself by her ear, talked to her of that evening in the arbor, of the sweetperfume of therose, and the loves of the elves. Sweetly she dreamed, and whileshe dreamt, her life passedaway calmly and gently, and her spirit was with himwhom she loved, in heaven. And thejasmine opened its large white bells, andspread forth its sweet fragrance; it had no other wayof showing its grief forthe dead. But the wicked brother considered the beautiful bloomingplant as hisown property, left to him by his sister, and he placed it in his sleeping room,closeby his bed, for it was very lovely in appearance, and the fragrance sweetand delightful. Thelittle elf of the rose followed it, and flew from flower toflower, telling each little spirit that dweltin them the story of the murderedyoung man, whose head now formed part of the earthbeneath them, and of thewicked brother and the poor sister. "We know it," said each littlespiritin the flowers, "

we know it, for have we not sprung from the eyesand lips of the murdered know it, we know it," and the flowersnodded with their heads in a peculiar manner. The elfof the rose could notunderstand how they could rest so quietly in the matter, so he flew tothebees, who were gathering honey, and told them of the wicked brother. And thebees told itto their queen, who commanded that the next morning they should goand kill the during the night, the first after the sister'sdeath, while the brother was sleeping in his bed,close to where he had placedthe fragrant jasmine, every flower cup opened, and invisibly thelittle spiritsstole out, armed with poisonous spears. They placed themselves by the ear ofthesleeper, told him dreadful dreams and then flew across his lips, andpricked his tongue with theirpoisoned spears. "Now have we revenged thedead," said they, and flew back into the white bellsof the jasmineflowers. When the morning came, and as soon as the window was opened, theroseelf, with the queen bee, and the whole swarm of bees, rushed in to kill him. Buthe wasalready dead.

People were standing round the bed, and saying that thescent of the jasmine hadkilled him. Then the elf of the rose understood therevenge of the flowers, and explained it tothe queen bee, and she, with thewhole swarm, buzzed about the flower-pot. The bees could notbe driven a man took it up to remove it, and one of the bees stung him in thehand,so that he let the flower-pot fall, and it was broken to pieces. Then every onesaw thewhitened skull, and they knew the dead man in the bed was a murderer. Andthe queen beehummed in the air, and sang of the revenge of the flowers, and ofthe elf of the rose and saidthat behind the smallest leaf dwells One, who candiscover evil deeds, and punish them also.

玫瑰花精

花園中央有一個玫瑰花叢，開滿了玫瑰花。這些花中有一朵最美麗，它裏面住着一個花精。他的身體非常細小，人類的眼睛簡直沒有辦法看得見他。每一片玫瑰花瓣的後面都有一個他的睡牀。像任何最漂亮的孩子一樣，他的樣子好看，而且可愛。他肩上長着一雙翅膀，一直伸到腳底。他的房間才香哩!那些牆壁是多麼透明和光亮啊!它們就是粉紅的、細嫩的玫瑰花瓣。

他整天在温暖的太陽光中嬉戲。他一忽飛向這朵花，一忽又飛向那朵花;他在飛翔着的蝴蝶翅膀上跳舞;他計算一共要走多少步子，才能跑完一片菩提葉上的那些大路和小徑——我們所謂的葉脈，在他看起來就是大路和小徑。

天氣變得非常冷，露水在下降，風兒在吹，這時最好的是回到家裏去，他儘快趕路，但玫瑰花已經閉上了，他沒有辦法進去——連一朵開着的玫瑰花也沒有了。可憐的小花精因此就非常害怕起來。他過去從來沒有在外面宿過夜，他總是很甜蜜地睡在温暖的玫瑰花瓣後面。啊，這簡直是要他的命啊!

他知道，在花園的另一端有一個花亭，上面長滿了美麗的金銀花。那些花很像畫出來的獸角。他真想鑽進一個角里去，一直睡到天明。

於是他就飛進去了。別作聲!花亭裏還有兩個人呢——一個漂亮的年輕人和一個美麗的少女。他們緊挨在一起坐着;他們希望永遠不要分開。他們彼此相愛，比最好的孩子愛自己的爸爸和媽媽還要強烈得多。

“但是我們不得不分開!”那個年輕人説，“你的哥哥不喜歡我們倆，所以他要我翻山過海，到一個遙遠的地方去辦一件差事。再會吧，我親愛的新嫁娘——因為你不久就是我的新嫁娘了!”

他們互相接吻。這位年輕的姑娘哭了起來，同時送給他一朵玫瑰。但她在把這朵花交給他以前，先在上面吻了一下。她吻得那麼誠懇、那麼熱烈，花兒就自動地張開了。那個小花精趕快飛進去，把他的頭靠着那些柔嫩的、芬芳的牆壁。但他很清楚地聽到他們説：“再會吧!再會吧!”他感覺到這朵花被貼到年輕人的心上——這顆心跳動得多麼厲害啊!小小的花精怎樣也睡不着，因為顆心跳得太厲害了。

但是這朵花沒有在他的心上貼得太久，那個年輕人就把它取出來了。他一邊走過陰暗的森林，一邊吻着這朵玫瑰花。啊，他吻得那麼勤，那麼熱烈，小小的花精在裏面幾乎要被擠死了。他隔着花瓣可以感覺到年輕人的嘴脣是多麼灼熱，這朵花開得多麼大——好像是在中午最熱的太陽光下一樣。

這時來了另外一個人，一個陰險和毒辣的人。這人就是那個美麗姑娘的壞哥哥。他抽出一把又快又粗的刀子。當那個年輕人正在吻着玫瑰花的時候，他一刀把他刺死了;接着他把他的頭砍下來，連他的身體一起埋在菩提樹底下的柔軟的土裏。

“現在他完蛋了，被人忘掉了，”這個惡毒的哥哥想。“他再也回不來了，他的任務是翻過海，作一次長途的旅行。這很容易使他喪失生命，而他現在也就真的喪命了。他再也回不來了，我的妹妹是不敢向我問他的消息的。”

他用腳踢了些幹葉子到新挖的土上去，然後就在黑夜中回到家裏來。但是與他的想象相反，他並不是一個人獨自回來的，那個小小的花精在跟着他，他坐在一片捲起的幹菩提樹葉裏。當壞人正在挖墓的時候，這片葉子恰巧落到了他的頭髮上，現在他戴上了帽子，帽子裏非常黑暗。花精害怕得發抖，同時對這種醜惡的行為卻又感到很生氣。

壞人在天亮的時候回到家裏來了。他取下帽子，徑直走到他妹妹的房間裏去。這位像盛開的花朵一般美麗的姑娘正在睡覺，正在夢着她心愛的人兒——她還以為他在翻山走過樹林呢。惡毒的哥哥彎下腰來看着她，發出一個醜惡的、只有惡魔才能發出的笑聲。這時他頭上那片乾枯的葉子落到被單上去了，但是他卻沒有注意到。他走了出來，打算在清晨睡一小覺。

但花精卻從乾枯的葉子上溜出來，走到正在熟睡的姑娘的耳朵裏去。像在夢中一樣，他把這個可怕的謀殺事件告訴了她，並把她哥哥刺死他和埋葬他的地方也講了出來。他還把墳旁那棵開花的菩提樹也講給她聽。他説：“千萬不要以為我對你講的話只是一個夢，你可以在你的牀上找到一片幹葉子作證。”

她找到了這片葉子，她醒了。

唉，她流了多少痛苦的眼淚啊!沒有一個人可以傾聽她的悲愁。窗子整天是開着的。小小的花精可以很容易地飛出去，飛到玫瑰花和一切別的花兒中去;但是他不忍心離開這個痛苦的姑娘。窗子上放着一盆月季花，他就坐在上面的一朵花上，經常望着這個可憐的姑娘。她的哥哥到她房間裏來過好幾次。他非常高興，同時又很惡毒;她心裏的痛苦，一個字也不敢告訴他。

黑夜一到，她就偷偷地離開屋子，走到樹林中去。她走到菩提樹所在的地方，掃掉地上的葉子，把土挖開。她立刻就看到被人謀害了的他。啊，她哭得多麼傷心啊!她祈求上帝，希望自己也很快地死去。

她很想把屍體搬回家，但是她不敢這樣做，她把那個眼睛閉着的、灰白的頭顱拿起來，在他冰冷的嘴上親了一下，然後把他美麗的頭髮上的土抖掉。“我要把它保存起來!”她説。當她用土和葉子把死屍埋好後，就把這顆頭帶回家來。在樹林中埋葬着他的地方有一棵盛開的素馨花;她摘下一根枝子，帶回家裏來。

她一回到自己的房裏，就去找來一個最大的花盆。她把死者的頭顱放在裏面，蓋上土，然後栽上這根素馨花的枝子。

“再會吧!再會吧!”小小的花精低聲説。這種悲哀他再也看不下去了;因此就飛進花園，飛到他自己的玫瑰花那兒去。但是玫瑰花兒已經凋謝了，只剩下幾片枯萎的葉子，還在那綠色的枝子上垂着。

“哎，美好的東西消逝得多麼快啊!”花精歎了一口氣。

他終於找到了另一朵玫瑰，這成了他的家。在它柔嫩芬芳的花瓣後面，他可以休息和居住下去。

每天早晨，他向可憐的姑娘的窗子飛去。她老是站在花盆前面，流着眼淚。她的痛苦的淚珠滴到素馨花的花枝上。她一天比一天憔悴，但是這枝子卻長得越來越綠，越來越新鮮;它冒出許許多多嫩芽，放出白色的小小花苞。她吻着它們。她惡毒的哥哥罵她，問她是不是發了瘋。他看不慣這樣子，也不懂她為什麼老是對着花盆流眼淚。

他當然不知道這裏面有一對什麼樣的眼睛閉了，有一雙什麼樣的紅脣化作了泥土。她對着花盆垂下頭。小小的玫瑰花精發現她就是這樣睡去了，因此他就飛進她的耳朵，告訴她那天晚上在花亭裏的情景、玫瑰花的香氣和花精們的愛情。她做了一個非常甜蜜的夢，而她的生命也就在夢裏消逝了。她死得非常安靜，她到天上去了，跟她心愛的人在一起。

素馨花現在開出了大朵的白花，發出非常甜蜜的香氣;它們現在只有用那種方式來哀哭死者了。

不過那個惡毒的哥哥把這棵盛開的美麗的花看了一眼，認為這是他的繼承物，所以就把它拿走，放在他的卧室裏，緊靠着牀邊，因為這花看起來實在叫人愉快，它的香氣既甜蜜又清新。那個小小的花精也一塊兒跟着進去了。他從這朵花飛到那朵花，因為每朵花裏都住着一個靈魂。他將那個被謀害的年輕人——他的頭顱已經變成了泥土下面的泥土——的事情講了出來，把那個哥哥和那個可憐的妹妹的事情也講了出來。

“這件事我們都知道!”花朵裏的每一個靈魂説。“我們都知道!難道我們不是從這被害者的眼睛和嘴脣上生出來的麼?我們都知道!我們都知道!”

於是他們用一種奇異的方式點着頭。

玫瑰花精不懂，他們怎麼能夠這樣毫不在乎。於是他飛向那些正在採蜜的蜜蜂，把那個惡毒的哥哥的事情告訴給他們。蜜蜂們把這事情轉告給他們的皇后。於是她就下令，叫他們第二天早晨把那個謀殺犯刺死。

可是在第一天晚上——就是他妹妹死去的頭一個晚上，當哥哥正睡在那盆芬芳的素馨花旁的牀上的時候，每朵花忽然都開了。花的靈魂帶着毒劍，從花裏走出來——誰也看不見他們。他們先鑽進他的耳朵，告訴他許多惡夢;然後飛到他的嘴脣上，用他們的毒劍刺着他的舌頭。

“我們現在算是為死者報仇了!”他們説，接着就飛回到素馨花的白色花朵上去。

當睡房的窗子早晨打開來的時候，玫瑰花精和蜂后帶着一大羣蜜蜂飛進來，想要刺死他。

但是他已經死了。許多人站在牀的周圍;大家都説：“素馨花的香氣把他醉死了!”

這時玫瑰花精才知道花兒報了仇，他把這件事告訴給蜂后，她帶着整羣的蜜蜂在花盆的周圍嗡嗡地叫。它們怎麼也驅不散。於是有一個人把這花盆搬走，這時有一隻蜂兒就把他的手刺了一下，弄得花盆落到地上，跌成碎片。

大家看到了一個白色的頭顱;於是他們都知道，躺在牀上的死者就是一個殺人犯。

蜂后在空中嗡嗡地吟唱，她唱着花兒的復仇和玫瑰花精的復仇，同時説道，在最細嫩的花瓣後面住着一個人——一個能揭發罪惡和懲罰罪惡的人。