癞蛤蟆
这篇故事首先发表在《新的童话和故事集》第二卷第四部。故事中有许多动物出场——它们都是为生存而生存，安于现状，不时吹吹牛；但真正的主人公是那只最丑的小癞蛤蟆。它不像别的丑蛤蟆那样，一生下来头上就有颗“宝石”，但是它心里有颗宝石，“永恒的渴望和希求；向上——不断地向上。这颗宝石在它的身体里发出光来——发出快乐和渴望的光。”小癞蛤蟆倒是最后达到了“向上”的愿望：鹳鸟啄住了它，嘴衔得很紧，向埃及飞去。但它还是不免被掐死，可是“她眼睛在发着光”，“太阳光把它吸收去了。”她的灵魂不灭。
关于这篇故事的起因，安徒生在他的手记中写道：“这是我1866年夏天在葡萄牙塞杜巴尔旅行时写的。那里有一口深井，人们用悬在轱辘上的一个瓦罐把水汲上来，然后倒进水槽里流到菜地上浇地。有一天我看见一只非常丑的癞蛤蟆向我爬来。我仔细地观察了它一下，发现它的眼睛非常聪明。很快一个童话的情节就浮现在我的脑中了。后来我在丹麦重写了这个故事，加进了一些丹麦大自然和环境的气氛。”事实上安徒生是于1866年6月26日在葡萄牙开始动笔，于1866年10月23日在丹麦霍尔斯坦堡城堡完成它的。
THE well was deep，and therefore the rope had to be a long one，it was heavy work turning the handle when any one had to raise a bucketful(bucketful n.满桶，一桶之量)of water over the edge of the well.Though the water was clear，the sun never looked down far enough into the well to mirror itself in the waters，but as far as its beams could reach，green things grew forth between the stones in the sides of the well.
水井很深，因此绳子必须很长。当人们要把装满了水的汲水桶拉到井边上的时候，转动滑轮那非常困难。不论井水是多么清澈，太阳总是照不进去。不过凡是太阳光可以射到的地方，就有绿色的植物从石缝之间生长出来。
Down below dwelt a family of the Toad race.They had，in fact，come headoverheels down the well，in the person of the old MotherToad，who was still alive.The green Frogs，who had been established there a long time，and swam about in the water，called them“wellguests”.But the newcomers seemed determined to stay where they were，for they found it very agreeable living“in a dry place”，as they called the wet stones.
这下面居住着一个癞蛤蟆的家族。他们是外来的移民。事实上他们是跟老癞蛤蟆妈妈倒栽葱跳进来的。她现在还活着。那些在这儿住了一段时间，现在正在水里游着的青蛙，都承认与他们有亲族关系，还把他们称为“井客”。这些客人愿意在这儿住下来。他们把潮湿的石块叫作干地，并且就在这上面舒服地生活下去。
The MotherFrog had once been a traveller.She happened to be in the waterbucket when it was drawn up，but the light became too strong for her，and she got a pain in her eyes.Fortunately she scrambled out of the bucket，but she fell into the water with a terrible flop，and had to lie sick for three days with pains in her back.She certainly had not much to tell of the things up above，but she knew this，and all the Frogs knew it，that the well was not all the world.The MotherToad might have told this and that，if she had chosen，but she never answered when they asked her anything，and so they left off asking.
青蛙妈妈曾经旅行过一次。当汲水桶被拉上来的时候，她正巧就在里面。不过对她来说阳光太厉害，刺痛了她的眼睛。正巧幸运的是，她马上就跳出了水桶，噗通一声就跳进井水里去了。她背痛了整整三天，躺着不能动弹。关于上面的世界，她自然没有多少意见可以发表，不过她知道，所有别的青蛙也全知道——水井并不就是整个世界。如果愿意癞蛤蟆妈妈大概可以谈出一点道理来。不过当别人问起她的时候，她从来不回答，因此别人也就不再问了。
“Shes thick，and fat and ugly，”said the young green Frogs，“and her children will be just as ugly as she is.”
“她是又笨又丑，又胖又讨厌！”小青蛙们齐声说，“她的一些孩子们也同样丑。”
“That may be，”retortedretort v.反驳，反击，回报n.曲颈瓶，蒸器the motherToad，“but one of them has a jewel in his head，or else I have the jewel.”
“也许是这样，”癞蛤蟆妈妈说，“不过在他们之中有一个头上镶着一颗宝石——如果不是镶在我的头上的话！”
The young frogs listened and stared，and as these words did not please them，they made grimaces(grimace n.面部的歪扭，痛苦的表情，鬼脸vi.扮鬼脸)and dived down under the water.But the little Toads kicked up their hind legs from mere pride，for each of them thought that he must have the jewel，and then they sat and held their heads quite still.But at length they asked what it was that made them so proud，and what kind of a thing a jewel might be.
青蛙们都听到了这句话，把眼睛睁得斗大。这话让他们不快活，因此他们对她做了一个鬼脸，跳到井底去。不过那些小癞蛤蟆们特别伸伸后腿，表示骄傲。他们都以为自己有那颗宝石，因此把头昂着，动也不敢动一下。不过后来大家问他们究竟是什么让他们感到骄傲，宝石究竟是一种什么东西。
“Oh，it is such a splendid and precious thing，that I cannot describe it.”said the MotherToad.“Its something which one carries about for ones own pleasure，and that makes other people angry.But dont ask me any questions，for I shant answer you.”
“是一种漂亮和昂贵的东西，”癞蛤蟆妈妈说，“我简直无法形容！那是一种给你带来愉快、而使别人非常嫉妒的东西。但是请你们不要问吧，我是不会回答的。”
“Well，I havent got the jewel.”said the smallest of the Toads，she was as ugly as a toad can be.“Why should I have such a precious thing？And if it makes others angry，it cant give me any pleasure.No，I only wish I could get to the edge of the well，and look out，it must be beautiful up there.”
“是的，我不会有这颗宝石，”最小的那个癞蛤蟆说。她是一个丑得不能再丑的小蛤蟆。“我为什么要有这样了不起的东西呢？如果它让别人烦恼，那么也不会让我感到愉快的！不，我只希望将来有机会跑到井边上去看看外面的世界。那一定是非常好玩的！”
“Youd better stay where you are，”said the old MotherToad，“for you know everything here，and you can tell what you have.Take care of the bucket，for it will crush you to death，and even if you get into it safely，you may fall out.And its not every one who falls so cleverly as I did，and gets away with whole legs and whole bones.
“你最好待在原来的地方！”老癞蛤蟆说，“这是你根生土长的地方，你熟悉这儿的一切。当心那个汲水桶，它可能把你压碎。即使你安全地跑进里面去，你也可能掉出来的。我跌过一跤，连四肢和肚子里的卵都没有受到损伤，但不是每个癞蛤蟆都能像我这样幸运呀。”
“Quack！”said the little Toad，and thats just as if one of us were to say，“Aha！”
“呱！”小癞蛤蟆说。这就跟我们人类说一声“哎呀”差不多。
She had an immense desire to get to the edge of the well，and to look over，she felt such a longing for the green，up there，and the next morning，when it chanced that the bucket was being drawn up，filled with water，and stopped for a moment just in front of the stone on which the Toad sat，the little creatures heart moved within it，and our Toad jumped into the filled bucket(bucket n.桶，一桶的量)，which presently was drawn to the top，and emptied out.
她强烈地希望到井边去看看，她渴望瞧瞧上面的绿东西。第二天早晨，当盛满了水的汲水桶正在被拉上来，在小癞蛤蟆坐着的石头旁偶尔停一下的时候，这个小家伙就心动了，他抖了一下，跳到这个满满的桶里，一直沉到水底。水被拉上来了，他也被倒出来了。
“Ugh，you beast！”said the farm laborer(laborer n.劳动者（尤指体力劳动者），壮工)who emptied the bucket，when he saw the toad.“Youre the ugliest thing Ive seen for one while.”And he made a kick with his wooden shoe at the toad，which just escaped being crushed by managing to scramble into the nettles which grew high by the wells brink.Here she saw stem by stem，but she looked up also，the sun shone through the leaves，which were quite transparent，and she felt as a person would feel who steps suddenly into a great forest，where the sun looks in between the branches and leaves.