亚麻
这篇故事，最初收集在1849年哥本哈根出版的《祖国》一书中。“一个人在幸福的时候应该知道快乐！快乐！快乐！啊！”当亚麻被装到织布机上时，亚麻说了这样的话。亚麻也具有“阿Q精神”，当它成了烂布片，被剁细了，被水煮了，变成白纸，成为写了字的纸，排成书的纸，而又被最后烧掉时，它可能还觉得很快乐。
THE flax was in full bloom.It had pretty little blue flowers as delicate as the wings of a moth，or even more so.The sun shone，and the showers watered it.And this was just as good for the flax as it is for little children to be washed and then kissed by their mother.They look much prettier for it，and so did the flax.
一棵亚麻开满了花。它开满了非常美丽的蓝花，花朵精致得像飞蛾的翅膀，甚至比那还要柔软。太阳照在亚麻身上，雨雾润泽着它。这正好像孩子被洗了一番以后，又从妈妈那里得到了一个吻一样——使他们变得更可爱。亚麻也是这样。
“People say that I look exceedingly well，”said the flax，“and that I am so fine and long that I shall make a beautiful piece of linen.How fortunate I am.It makes me so happy，it is such a pleasant thing to know that something can be made of me.How the sunshine cheers me，and how sweet and refreshing is the rain.My happiness overpowers me，no one in the world can feel happier than I am.”
“人们说，我长得太好了，”亚麻说，“并且还说我又纤细又长，将来可以织成很好看的亚麻布。嗨，我是多么幸运啊！我将来一定是最幸运的人！太阳光多么使人快乐！雨的味道是多么好，多么使人感到新鲜！我是分外地开心；我是一切东西之中最开心的！”
“Ah，yes，no doubt，”said the fern，“but you do not know the world yet as well as I do，for my sticks are knotty.”and then it sung quite mournfully“Snip，snap，snurre，Basse lurre：
The song is ended.”
“对，对，不容置疑！”篱笆桩说。“但是，你不了解这个世界，而我们了解，因为我们身上长得有节！”于是它们就哀伤地发出吱吱咯咯的声音来：“吱——咯——嘘，拍——呼——吁，歌儿完了。”
“No，it is not ended，”said the flax.“Tomorrow the sun will shine，or the rain descend.I feel that I am growing.I feel that I am in full blossom.I am the happiest of all creatures.”
“没有，歌儿并没有完了呀！”亚麻说，“明天早晨太阳就会出来，雨就会降落。我能听见我在生长的声音，我能觉得我在绽放！我是万物中最快乐的！”
Well，one day some people came，who took hold of the flax，and pulled it up by the roots.This was painful.then it was laid in water as if they intended to drown it.And，after that，placed near a fire as if it were to be roastedroast v.烤，烘，烘烤，暴露于某种热力下以得温暖。All this was very shocking.
不过有一天，人们走过来握着亚麻的头，把它连根拔起。这是一件痛苦的事。它被放在水里，好像人们要把它淹死似的。然后它又被放在火上，好像人们要把它烤死似的。所有这些都让人震惊。
“We cannot expect to be happy always，”said the flax，“by experiencing evil as well as good，we become wise.”
“一个人不能永远期望过着幸福的时光！”亚麻说。“同时，一个人应该吃点苦，才能变得聪明，有智慧。”
And certainly there was plenty of evil in store for the flax.It was steeped，and roasted，and broken，and combed.Indeed，it scarcely knew what was done to it.At last it was put on the spinning wheelspinning wheel n.[纺］手纺车。“Whirr，whirr”went the wheel so quickly that the flax could not collect its thoughts.
当然，接踵而来的还有更多的灾难。亚麻被折断了，撕碎了，揉打了和梳理了一通。是的，它自己也不知道这是一套什么玩艺儿。它被装在一架手纺车上——吱咯！吱咯！吱咯——这把它弄得头昏脑胀，连思想都不可能了。
“Well，I have been very happy，”he thought in the midst of his pain，“and must be contented with the past.”and contented he remained till he was put on the loom，and became a beautiful piece of white linen.All the flax，even to the last stalk，was used in making this one piece.
“我有个时候曾经是非常幸运的！”它在痛苦中作这样的回忆。“一个人在幸福的时候应该知道快乐！快乐！快乐！啊！”当它被装到织布机上去的时候，它仍然在说这样的话。于是它被织成了一大块美丽的白色亚麻布。所有的亚麻，每一根亚麻，都被织成了这块布。
“Well，this is quite wonderful.I could not have believed that I should be so favored by fortune.The fern was not wrong with its song of‘Snip，snap，snurre，Basse lurre.’
“然而，这真是奇妙！我以前决不会相信的！嗨！我是多么幸福啊！是的，篱笆桩这样唱是有道理的：‘吱——咯——嘘，拍——呼——吁！’
But the song is not ended yet，I am sure.It is only just beginning.How wonderful it is，that after all I have suffered，I am made something of at last.I am the luckiest person in the world—so strong and fine.And how white，and what a length！This is something different to being a mere plant and bearing flowers.Then I had no attention，nor any water unless it rained.Now，I am watched and taken care of.Every morning the maid turns me over，and I have a showerbath from the wateringpot every evening.Yes，and the clergymans(clergyman n.牧师，教士)wife noticed me，and said I was the best piece of linen in the whole parish.I cannot be happier than I am now.”
“歌儿一点也不能算是完了！它现在还不过是刚刚开始呢！这真是意想不到！如果说我吃了一点苦头，总算没有白吃。我是一切东西中最幸福的！我是多么结实、多么柔和、多么白、多么长啊！我原不过只是一棵植物——哪怕还开得有花；和从前比起来，我现在完全是两样！从前没有谁照料我，只有在天下雨的时候我才得到一点水。现在却有人来照料我了！女仆人每天早上把我翻一翻，每天晚上我在水盆里洗一个淋水浴。是的，牧师的太太甚至还作了一篇关于我的演讲，说我是整个教区里最好的一块布。我不能比这更幸福了！”
After some time，the linen was taken into the house，placed under the scissors，and cut and torn into pieces，and then pricked with needles.This certainly was not pleasant.But at last it was made into twelve garments of that kind which people do not like to name，and yet everybody should wear one.
现在这块布来到屋子里面，被一把剪刀裁剪着。人们是在怎样剪它，在怎样裁它，在怎样用针刺它啊！人们就是这样对付它，而这并不是太愉快的事情。它被裁成一件衣服的12个没有名字、但是缺一不可的部分——恰恰是一打！
“See，now then，”said the flax，“I have become something of importance.This was my destiny.It is quite a blessing.Now I shall be of some use in the world，as everyone ought to be.It is the only way to be happy.I am now divided into twelve pieces，and yet we are all one and the same in the whole dozen.It is most extraordinary good fortune.”
“嗨，现在我总算得到一点结果！这就是我的命运！是的，这才是真正的幸福呢！我现在算是对世界有点用处了，而这也是应该的——这才是得到快乐的唯一途径！我们变成了12件东西，但同时我们又是一个整体。我们是一打，这是稀有的幸运！”
Years passed away，and at last the linen was so worn it could scarcely hold together.“It must end very soon，”said the pieces to each other.“We would gladly have held together a little longer，but it is useless to expect impossibilities.”
许多年过去了。它们再无法守在一起了。“有一天总会完了，”每一个部分说，“我倒希望我们能在一起待得久一点，不过你不能指望不可能的事情呀！”
And at length they fell into rags and tatterstatter n.碎布，and thought it was all over with them，for they were torn to shreds，and steeped in water，and made into a pulp，and dried，and they knew not what besides，till all at once they found themselves beautiful white paper.
它们现在被撕成了烂布片。它们以为现在一切都完了，因为它们被剁细了，并且被水煮了化成纸浆，然后晒干，是的，它们自己也不知道它们是什么。直到最后它们变成了美丽的白纸。