小爱达的花
这篇作品是安徒生从事童话创作后写的第三篇故事。最初他所写的两篇童话《大克劳斯和小克劳斯》及《打火匣》，都受到民间故事《一千零一夜》的影响。但从这篇童话开始，他就从现实生活中汲取素材，独立创作。也是从这篇童话开始，童话作为一种文学形式成为独立的创作。安徒生在他的笔记上说，他是在他的诗人朋友蒂勒家酝酿写这篇故事的：“那时我对他的小女儿爱达讲了一些关于植物园里的花儿的故事。后来我写这篇童话的时候，引用了许多她的话。”现实生活中的爱达成了这篇童话中的主人公。还有现实生活中的许多人物，也在这篇童话中出现，只不过是以植物和玩具的形式露面罢了，如：“黄水仙花懒洋洋地躺在沙发上，她满以为自己是一位宫廷的贵妇人呢！”，“骑在桦木条上的那个蜡人……跟那位戴宽帽子的枢密顾问官一模一样，而且他的那副面孔也是跟顾问官一样发黄和生气。那些纸花在他的瘦腿上打了一下，于是他缩做一团，又变成了一个渺小的蜡人。”“玩偶苏菲亚”在抽屉上坐下来。她以为一定会有一朵花儿来请她跳舞的，可是什么花儿也没有来。因此她就故意咳嗽了几声：‘咳！咳！咳！’然而还是没有花儿来请她。”黄水仙花、黄蜡人、枢密顾问官、苏菲亚，都是活灵活现的人物典型，而且只用寥寥几笔就把他们虚荣、装腔作势和顽固的情态勾勒了出来。这实际上也是对我们现实生活中某些人的缺点的讽刺和批评。结尾“葬花”的情节，使这个故事具有诗意，极为感人。
“My poor flowers are quite dead，”said little Ida，“they were so pretty yesterday evening，and now all the leaves are hanging down quite withered.What do they do that for？”she asked，of the student who sat on the sofa.She liked him very much，he could tell the most amusing stories，and cut out the prettiest pictures——hearts，and ladies dancing，castles with doors that opened，as well as flowers，he was a delightful student.
“我的可怜的花儿都悄悄地死了！”小爱达说。“昨天晚上他们还是那么美丽，现在他们的叶子都垂下来了，枯萎了。他们为什么要这样呢？”她问一个坐在沙发上的学生。她很喜欢这个学生，他会讲许多非常美丽的故事，会剪很有趣的图案——心形图案，少妇翩翩起舞的形象、花朵的图案，还有敞着的城堡的图案。他是一个快乐的学生。
“Why do the flowers look so faded（faded adj.已褪色的，已凋谢的）today？”she asked again，and pointed to her nosegay，which was quite withered.
“为什么花儿今天显得这样没有精神呢？”她又问，同时把一束已经枯萎了的花指给他看。
“Dont you know what is the matter with them？”said the student.“The flowers were at a ball last night，and therefore，it is no wonder they hang their heads.”
“你可知道他们做了什么事情吗？”学生问，“这些花儿昨夜去参加了一个跳舞会，因此他们今天把头垂下来了。”
“But flowers cannot dance？”cried little Ida.
“可是花儿不会跳舞的呀，”小爱达说。
“Yes indeed，they can.”replied the student.“When it grows dark，and everybody is asleep，they jump about quite merrily.They have a ball almost every night.”
“不！他们可会跳呢，”学生回答说，“天一黑，我们去睡了以后，他们就兴高采烈地围着跳起来。差不多每天晚上都有一个舞会。”
“Can children go to these balls？”
“小孩子可不可以去参加这个舞会呢？”
“Yes，”said the student，“little daisies and lilies of the valley.”
“当然可以，”学生说，“连山谷里的小雏菊和铃兰花都可以。”
“Where do the beautiful flowers dance？”asked little Ida.
“这些美丽的花儿在什么地方跳舞呢？”小爱达问。
“Have you not often seen the large castle outside the gates of the town？where the king lives in summer，and where the beautiful garden is full of flowers，And have you not fed the swans with bread when they swam towards you？Well，the flowers have capital balls there，believe me.”
“你到城门外的那座大宫殿里去过吗？国王在夏天就搬到那儿去住，那儿有最美丽的花园，里面有各种各色的花。你看到过那些天鹅吗？你抛给他们面包屑，他们就向你游来。美丽的舞会就是在那儿举行的，你相信我的话吧！”
“I was in the garden out there yesterday with my mother，”said Ida，“but all the leaves were off the trees，and there was not a single flower left.Where are they？I used to see so many in the summer.”
“我昨天和我妈妈到那个花园里去过，”小爱达说，“可是那儿树上的叶子全都落光了，而且一朵花儿都没有！我在夏天看到过的那么多的花儿，他们到什么地方去了呀？”
“They are in the castle.”replied the student.“You must know that as soon as the king and all the court are gone into the town，the flowers run out of the garden into the castle，and you should see how merry they are.The two most beautiful roses seat themselves on the thronethrone n.王座，君主，and are called the king and queen，then all the red cockscombs（cockscomb n.鸡冠，鸡冠花，鸡冠帽）range themselves on each side，and bow，these are the lordsinwaiting.After that the pretty flowers come in，and there is a grand ball.The blue violets represent little naval cadets，and dance with hyacinths and crocuses which they call young ladies.The tulips and tigerlilies are the old ladies who sit and watch the dancing，so that everything may be conducted with order and propriety（propriety n.适当）.”
“他们都搬进宫里去了呀！”学生说，“你要知道，等到国王和他的臣仆们迁到城里去了以后，这些花儿就马上从花园跑进宫里去，在那儿欢乐地玩起来。你真该看看他们的那高兴劲儿。那两朵美丽的玫瑰花坐上王位，做起花王和花后来。所有的红鸡冠花排在两边站着，弯着腰行礼，他们就是花王的侍从。各种好看的花儿都来了，于是一个盛大的舞会就开始了。蓝色的紫罗兰就是小小的海军学生，他们把风信子和番红花称为小姐，跟她们一起跳舞。郁金香和高大的卷丹花是老太太。她们在一旁监督，要舞会开得好，要大家守规矩。”
“But，”said little Ida，“is there no one there to hurt the flowers for dancing in the kings castle？”
“不过，”小爱达问，“这些花儿在国王的宫里跳舞，难道没有人去干涉他们吗？”
“No one knows anything about it.”said the student.“The old steward of the castle，who has to watch there at night，sometimes comes in，but he carries a great bunch of keys，and as soon as the flowers hear the keys rattle，they run and hide themselves behind the long curtains，and stand quite still，just peeping their heads out.Then the old steward says，‘I smell flowers here’，but he cannot see them.”
“没有谁真正知道这件事情，”学生说，“有时管理宫殿的那个老头儿夜间到那里去，因为他在那里守夜，总带着一大把钥匙，花儿们一听到钥匙响，马上就静下来，躲到那些长窗帘后面去，只是把头偷偷地伸出来看。然后那位老管理人说，‘我闻到这儿有点花香’，但是他却看不见什么。”
“Oh how capital！”said little Ida，clapping her hands.“Should I be able to see these flowers？”
“这真是滑稽得很！”小爱达说，拍着双手。“不过我可不可以去瞧瞧这些花儿呢？”
“Yes，”said the student，“mind you think of it the next time you go out，no doubt you will see them，if you peep through the window.I did so today，and I saw a long yellow lily lying stretched out on the sofa.She was a court lady.”
“可以的，”学生说，“你再去的时候，只需记住偷偷地朝窗子里看一眼，就可以瞧见他们。今天我就是这样做的，有一朵长长的黄水仙懒洋洋地躺在沙发上，她满以为自己是一位宫廷的贵妇人呢！”
“Can the flowers from the Botanical Gardens go to these balls？”asked Ida.“It is such a distance！”
“植物园的花儿也可以到那儿去吗？他们能走那么远的路吗？”