这样,大家就让他一个人继续向前走。他向前走着,高大的灌木丛让他萧然起敬。不过他仍然听见大家所欣赏的那阵小小的钟声。有时风把那个糕饼店里的声音吹拂而来,于是他就听到大家在一面吃茶,一面唱歌。但是洪亮的钟声比这些声音还要大,仿佛有风琴在伴奏似的。这声音是从左边来的——从心所在的那一边来的。有一个沙沙的响声从一个灌木丛中飘出来。一个可爱的男孩出现在了王子面前子。这孩子穿着一双木鞋和一件很短的上衣——短得连他的手肘也盖不住。他们彼此都认识,因为这个孩子也是在这天参加过坚信礼的。因为他得回去把衣服和靴子还给老板的少爷。他没有能和大家一起来,他办完了这件事之后,就穿着木鞋和寒碜的上衣独自一人走来,因为钟声是那么洪亮和那么深沉,他非来不可。
“We might go together.”said the kings son.But the poor boy with the wooden shoes was quite ashamed,he pulled at the short sleeves of his jacket,and said that he was afraid he could not walk so fast,besides,he was of opinion that the bell ought to be sought at the right,for there was all that was grand and magnificent.
“我们一起走吧!”王子温和地说。这个穿着木鞋的孩子感到很尴尬。他把上衣的短袖子拉了一下,说恐怕他不能像王子那样走得快。此外,他认为钟声肯定是从右边来的,因为右边的景象很庄严和美丽。
“Then we shall not meet.”said the kings son,nodding to the poor boy,who went into the deepest part of the wood,where the thorns tore his shabby(shabby adj.破旧的,褴褛的,低劣的,卑鄙的,不公平的)clothes and scratched his hands,face,and feet until they bled.The kings son also received several good scratches,but the sun was shining on his way,and it is he whom we will now follow,for he was a quick fellow.“I will and must find the bell,”he said,“if I have to go to the end of the world.”
“这样一来,我们就碰不到一起了!”王子说,对这穷苦的孩子点了点头。孩子往这树林最深最密的地方走去。荆棘把他破烂的衣服挂破了,把他的脸、手和脚划得淌出血来。王子身上也有好几处伤痕,但是他所走的路却充满了太阳光。我们现在就要注意他的路线,由于他是一个聪明的孩子。“即使我走到世界的尽头,”他说道,“我也要找到这口钟!”
Ugly monkeys sat high in the branches and clenched(clench v.紧握,(拳头)牢牢地抓住,确定vi.握紧,钉牢n.牢牢抓住,钉紧)their teeth.“Shall we beat him?”they said.“Shall we thrash him?He is a kings son!”
难看的猿猴高高地坐在树上做鬼脸,龇牙咧嘴。“我们能向他身上扔些东西吗?”它们说,“我们能打他吗?因为他是国王的儿子!”
But he walked on undaunted,deeper and deeper into the wood,where the most wonderful flowers were growing,there were standing white star lilies with bloodred stamens,skyblue tulips shining when the wind moved them,appletrees covered with apples like large glittering soap bubbles,only think how resplendent these trees were in the sunshine!All around were beautiful green meadows,where hart and hind played in the grass.There grew magnificent oaks and beechtrees,and if the bark was split of any of them,long blades of grass grew out of the clefts,there were also large smooth lakes in the wood,on which the swans were swimming about and flapping their wings.
不过他不惧困窘,他一步一步地走向树林的深处。那儿长着许多奇异的花:含有红蕊的、如星星一样的百合花,在微风中射出光彩的、天蓝色的郁金香,结着像大肥皂泡一样发亮的果实的苹果树。你想想看,这些树在太阳光里该是多么艳丽夺目啊。周围是一片非常美丽的绿草原。草上有公鹿和母鹿在嬉戏,而且还有茂盛的栎树和山毛榉。从树缝里长出草和藤本植物来。这一大片林木中有悄悄的湖,湖里还有游泳着的白天鹅,它们在拍着翅膀。
The kings son often stood still and listened,sometimes he thought that the sound of the bell rose up to him out of one of these deep lakes,but soon he found that this was a mistake,and that the bell was ringing still farther in the wood.Then the sun set,the clouds were as red as fire,it became quiet in the wood,He sank down on his knees,sang an evening hymn(hymn n.赞美诗,圣歌v.唱赞美歌)and said,“I shall never find what I am looking for!Now the sun is setting,and the night,the dark night,is approaching.Yet I may perhaps see the round sun once more before he disappears beneath the horizon.I will climb up these rocks,they are as high as the highest trees!”
王子常常站着静静地听,有时他觉得钟声是从深沉的湖里飘扬来的;不过他立刻就注意到,钟声并不是从湖里来的,而是从森林的深处来的。太阳现在下沉了,天空如火一样地发红,森林里是一片静寂。这时他就跪下来,唱了黄昏的赞美歌,接着他说:“我将永远看不到我所追寻的东西!现在太阳已坠下去了,夜——漆黑的夜——已经到来了。或许在圆圆的红太阳没有消逝以前,我还能够看到它一眼吧。我要爬到崖石上去,由于它比最高的树还要高!”
And then,taking hold of the creepers and roots,he climbed up on the wet stones,where watersnakes were wriggling and the toads,as it were,barked at him.He reached the top before the sun,seen from such a height,had quite set.
他抓着树根和藤蔓在潮湿的石壁上攀爬。壁上盘着水蛇,有些癞蛤蟆也好像在对他狂叫。不过,在太阳没有落下去以前,他已经爬上去了。从这块高处他仍旧可以看见红彤彤的夕阳。
“Oh,what a splendour!”The sea,the great majestic sea,which was rolling its long waves against the shore,stretched out before him,and the sun was standing like a large bright altar and there where sea and heaven met—all melted together in the most glowing colours,the wood was singing,and his heart too.The whole of nature was one large holy(holy adj.神圣的,圣洁的n.神圣的东西)church,in which the trees and hovering clouds formed the pillars,the flowers and grass the woven velvet carpet,and heaven itself was the great cupola,up there the flame colour vanished as soon as the sun disappeared,but millions of stars were lighted,diamond lamps were shining,and the kings son stretched his arms out towards heaven,towards the sea,and towards the wood.
“啊,这是多么美丽的景象啊!”海,他的眼前展开一片美丽的无边无际的大海,汹涌的海浪往岸上袭来。太阳悬在海天相连的那条线上,像一座发光的大祭坛。所有融化成为一片鲜红的色彩。树林在唱着歌,大海在唱着歌,他的心也和它们一起在唱着歌。整个大自然成了一个伟大的、圣洁的教堂:树木和浮云就是它的圆柱,花朵和绿叶就是它的柔软的地毯,天空就是它的广阔的圆顶。太阳落山了,灿烂的色彩也马上消失了,但是无数的星星闪亮了,钻石般的灯亮起来了,王子向着天空、向着大海、向着树林伸开了他的臂膀。
Then suddenly the poor boy with the shortsleeved jacket and the wooden shoes appeared,he had arrived just as quickly on the road he had chosen.And they ran towards each other and took one anothers hand,in the great cathedral of nature and poesy,and above them sounded the invisible holy bell,happy spirits surrounded them,singing hallelujahs(hallelujah n.(赞美上帝用语)哈利路亚)and rejoicing.
就在这时候,那个穿着短袖上衣和木鞋的穷苦孩子从右边疲劳地走了过来。他是顺着他自己的道路,在同一个时间到来的。他们急忙走到一起,在这大自然和诗的教堂中紧紧地握着双手。那口无形的、神圣的钟在他们的上空发出声音。幸福的精灵在教堂的四周跳舞,唱着欢乐的颂歌!