Thumbling as Journeyman
大拇指儿漫游记
A certain tailor had a son， who happened to be small， and no bigger than a thumb(thumb n.拇指)， and on this account he was always called Thumbling. He had， however， some courage in him， and said to his father， “Father， I must and will go out into the world.” “That"s right， my son，” said the old man， and took a long darningneedle and made a knob(knob n.节， 瘤， 球块， 疙瘩) of sealingwax on it at the handle， “and there is a sword for you to take with you on the way.”
一个裁缝生了个儿子。这男孩长得小小的，跟正常人的大拇指差不多，所以也就名叫“大拇指儿”。他身体小，胆量却很大，对父亲说：“爸爸，我应该去，也必须去世界上闯一闯啦。”“说得对，我的儿子，”父亲回答，立刻拿来一根长长的缝衣针，点上一滴在灯上烤化了的火漆当护腕，“你上路时也有了一把宝剑。”
Then the little tailor wanted to have one more meal with them， and hopped into the kitchen to see what his mother had cooked for the last time. But it was already served， and the dish stood on the hearth. Then he said， “Mother， what is there to eat today.” “See for yourself.” said his mother. So Thumbling jumped on to the hearth， and peeped into the dish， but as he stretched his neck in too far the steam from the food caught hold of him， and carried him up the chimney. He rode about in the air on the steam for a while， until at length he sank down to the ground again. Now the little tailor was outside in the wide world， and he traveled about， and went to a master in his craft， but the food was not good enough for him. “Mistress， if you give us no better food，” said Thumbling， “I will go away， and early tomorrow morning I will write with chalk on the door of your house too many potatoes， too little meat. Farewell， Mr. Potatoking.” “What would you have forsooth(forsooth adv.确实， 的确， 真的)， grasshopper.” said the mistress， and grew angry， and seized a dishcloth(dishcloth n.抹布(尤指碗布))， and was just going to strike him， but my little tailor crept nimbly(nimbly adv.敏捷地， 机敏地) under a thimble， peeped out from beneath it， and put his tongue out at the mistress. She took up the thimble(thimble n.顶针， 心环， 嵌环， 套管， 支撑环)， and wanted to get hold of him， but little Thumbling hopped into the cloth， and while the mistress was opening it out and looking for him， he got into a crevice(crevice n.(墙壁， 岩石等的)裂缝) in the table. “Ho， ho， lady mistress.” cried he， and thrust(thrust vt.力推， 冲， 插入， 挤进， 刺， 戳， 强加， 延伸) his head out， and when she began to strike him he leapt down into the drawer. At last， however， she caught him and drove him out of the house.
那小裁缝呢，还想最后和爸爸妈妈一起吃一顿饭，就蹦蹦跳跳来到厨房里，看妈妈做的什么好东西。可是菜刚刚做好，碗摆在灶台上。小家伙于是问：“妈妈，妈妈，今儿个吃什么？”“你自己去看吧。”妈妈说。大拇指儿一跳跳到灶台上，鼓起眼睛朝碗里瞅。可他脖子伸得太长，便随着食物的蒸气飞了起来，又顺着烟囱飞了出去。他驾着蒸气在空中游游荡荡，最后终于落下地来，这样，小裁缝就来到广大的世界上，四处漫游。他曾在一位师傅的铺子里做过工，但是他不满意师傅家的伙食。“师娘，您要不给我吃好点儿，”大拇指儿说，“我就上别处去，并且明天一早用粉笔在您的门上写：马铃薯太多，肉太少，再见吧，马铃薯老板！”“你究竟想吃什么，你这只蝗虫？”老板娘勃然大怒，同时一把抓起块抹布，朝大拇指儿打去。大姆指却敏捷地钻到一枚顶针下边，还伸起脑袋来瞅，冲着老板娘吐舌头。她拿开顶针去抓他，小小的大拇指儿却跳进抹桌帕中；老板娘抖开抹布找他，他又藏进了桌子的一个裂缝里。“这儿啦，这儿啦，师娘。”他伸出脑袋来喊。老板娘刚要打去，他已跳进下边的抽屉。可是最后，她还是抓住了他，把他赶了出去。
The little tailor journeyed on and came to a great forest， and there he fell in with a band of robbers who had a design to steal the king"s treasure. When they saw the little tailor， they thought， “A little fellow like that can creep through a keyhole and serve as picklock(picklock n.撬锁工具， 撬锁者) to us.” “Hi， there，” cried one of them， “you giant Goliath(Goliath n.［圣经］被牧羊人大卫杀死的 Philistine 的巨人)， will you go to the treasurechamber with us. You can slip yourself in and throw out the money.” Thumbling reflected a while， and at length he said， “Yes， and went with them to the treasurechamber.” Then he looked at the doors above and below， to see if there was any crack in them. It was not long before he espied(espy v.看到) one which was broad enough to let him in. He was therefore about to get in at once， but one of the two sentrie(ssentry n.岗哨) who stood before the door， observed him， and said to the other，“What an ugly spider(spider n.蜘蛛， 设圈套者， 三脚架) is creeping there， I will kill it.”“Let the poor creature alone，” said the other， “it has done you no harm.”
小裁缝继续漫游，走进一片森林。在森林中他碰见一伙强盗，正合谋偷窃国王的财宝。他们看见小裁缝，心里嘀咕，这么个小不点儿锁孔定能钻过去，正好给咱们当万能钥匙。“喂，过来，你这个巨人，”一个强盗喊，“你愿意一起去金库吗？你可以不声不响钻进去，把钱扔出来。”大拇指儿考虑了一会儿，终于答应“好”，就和强盗们一同来到金库。他从上到下细看库门，想知道门上有无裂缝。不久，他发现了一道他能往里钻的宽口子。他想马上钻进去，可两个站在门外的卫兵中的一个发现了他，于是他对另一个说：“瞧，在那儿爬的蜘蛛多可恶呀！我真想踩死它。”“放那可怜虫走吧，”另一个说，“它又没碍着你。”