幸运的套鞋 The Goloshes of Fortune
A Beginning开端
In a house in CopenhagenCopenhagen n.哥本哈根， not far from the kings new market， a very large party had assembled， the host and his family expecting， no doubt， to receive invitations in return. One half of the company were already seated at the cardtables， the other half seemed to be waiting the result of their hostesss question， “Well， how shall we amuse ourselves？”
在哥本哈根东街离皇家新市场不远的一幢房子里，有人开了一个盛大的晚会，因为如果一个人想被回请的话，他自己也得偶尔请请客才成呀。有一半的客人已经坐在桌子旁玩扑克牌，另一半的客人们却在等待女主人布置下一步的消遣：“唔，我们现在想点什么来玩玩吧！”
Conversationconversation n.会话， 交谈 followed， which， after a while， began to prove very entertaining. Among other subjects， it turned upon the events of the middle ages， which some persons maintained were more full of interest than our own times. Counsellor Knapp defended this opinion so warmly that the lady of the house immediately went over to his side， and both exclaimed against Oersteds Essays on Ancient and Modern Times， in which the preference is given to our own. The counsellor considered the times of the Danish king， Hans， as the noblest and happiest.
他们的晚会只发展到这个地步，他们尽可能地聊天。在许多话题中间，他们忽然谈到“中世纪”这个题目上来。有人认为那个时代比我们这个时代要好得多。是的，司法官克那卜热烈地赞成这个意见，女主人也马上随声附和。他们两人竭力地反对奥尔斯德特在《年鉴》上发表的一篇论古代和近代的文章。 这篇文章基本上称赞现代。但司法官却认为汉斯王朝是一个最高贵、最幸福的时代。
The conversation on this topic was only interrupted for a moment by the arrival of a newspaper， which did not， however， contain much worth reading， and while it is still going on we will pay a visit to the anteroom， in which cloaks， sticks， and goloshesgolosh n.橡胶套鞋 were carefully placed. Here sat two maidens， one young， and the other old， as if they had come and were waiting to accompany their mistresses home， but on looking at them more closely， it could easily be seen that they were no common servants. Their shapes were too graceful， their complexions too delicate， and the cut of their dresses much too elegant. They were two fairies. The younger was not Fortune herself， but the chambermaidchambermaid n.(寝室的)女仆， (旅馆清理卧室的)女服务员 of one of Fortunes attendants， who carries about her more triflingtrifling adj.不重要的 gifts. The elder one， who was named Care， looked rather gloomy， she always goes about to perform her own business in person， for then she knows it is properly done. They were telling each other where they had been during the day. The messenger of Fortune had only transactedtransact v.办理， 交易， 谈判， 处理 a few unimportant matters， for instance， she had preserved a new bonnet from a shower of rain， and obtained for an honest man a bow from a titled nobody， and so on. But she had something extraordinary to relate， after all.
谈话既然走向两个极端，除了有人送来一份内容不值一读的报纸以外，没有什么东西打断它——我们暂且到放外套、手杖、雨伞和套鞋的前房去看一下吧。这儿坐着两个女仆人——一个年轻，一个年老。你很可能以为她们是来接她们的女主人——一位老小姐或一位寡妇——回家的。不过，假如你仔细看一下的话，你马上会发现她们并不是普通的佣人，她们的手很娇嫩，行动举止很大方。她们的确是这样；她们的衣服的式样也很特别。她们原来是两个仙女。年轻的这个并不是幸运女神本人，而是替女神传送幸运小礼物的一个女仆。年长的那个的外表非常庄严——她是忧虑女神。无论做什么事情，她总是亲自出马，因为只有这样她才放心。 她们谈着她们这天到一些什么地方去过。幸运女神的女仆只做了几件不太重要的事情，例如：她从一阵骤雨中救出了一顶崭新的女帽，使一个老实人从一个地位很高的糊涂蛋那里得到一声问候，以及其他类似的事情。不过她马上就要做的一件事情却很不平常。
“I must tell you，” said she， “that today is my birthday， and in honor of it I have been intrustedintrust vt.信托， 交托， 信赖 with a pair of goloshes， to introduce amongst mankind. These goloshes have the property of making every one who puts them on imagine himself in any place he wishes， or that he exists at any period. Every wish is fulfilledfulfil vt.实践， 履行， 实行， 结束， 满足， 完成， 达到 at the moment it is expressed， so that for once mankind have the chance of being happy.”
“我还得告诉你，”她说，“今天是我的生日。为了庆祝这个日子，我奉命把一双幸运的套鞋送到人间去。这双套鞋有一种特性：凡是穿着它的人马上就可以到他最喜欢的地方和时代里去，他对于时间或地方所做的一切希望，都能得到满足。因此凡人也可以得到一次幸福！”
“No，” replied Care， “you may depend upon it that whoever puts on those goloshes will be very unhappy， and bless the moment in which he can get rid of them.”
“请相信我，”忧虑女神说，“他一定会感到苦恼。当他一脱下这双套鞋时，他一定会说谢天谢地！”
“What are you thinking of？” replied the other. “Now see， I will place them by the door， some one will take them instead of his own， and he will be the happy man.”
“你这是说的什么话？”对方说。“我现在要把这双套鞋放在门口。谁要是错穿了它，就会变得幸福！”
This was the end of their conversation.
这就是她们的对话。
What Happened to the Counsellor
司法官的遭遇
It was late when Counsellor Knapp， lost in thought about the times of King Hans， desired to return home， and fate so ordered it that he put on the goloshes of Fortune instead of his own， and walked out into the East Street. Through the magic power of the goloshes， he was at once carried back three hundred years， to the times of King Hans， for which he had been longing when he put them on. Therefore he immediately set his foot into the mud and mire of the street， which in those days possessed no pavement.
时间已经不早了。醉心于汉斯的朝代的司法官克那卜想要回家去。事情凑巧得很：他没有穿上自己的套鞋，而穿上了幸运的套鞋。他向东街走去。不过，这双套鞋的魔力使他回到300年前国王汉斯的朝代里去了，因此他的脚就踩着了街上的泥泞和水坑，因为在那个时代里，街道是没有铺石的。
“Why， this is horrible， how dreadfully dirty it is！” said the counsellor， “and the whole pavementpavement n.人行道， 公路 has vanished， and the lamps are all out.”
“这真是可怕——脏极了！”司法官说。“所有的铺道全不见了，路灯也没有了！”
The moon had not yet risen high enough to penetrate the thick foggy air， and all the objects around him were confused together in the darkness. At the nearest corner， a lamp hung before a picture of the Madonna， but the light it gave was almost useless， for he only perceivedperceive vt.察觉v.感知， 感到， 认识到 it when he came quite close and his eyes fell on the painted figures of the Mother and Child.
月亮出来还没有多久，空气也相当沉闷，因此周围的一切东西都变成漆黑一团。在最近的一个街角里，有一盏灯在圣母像面前照着，不过灯光可以说是有名无实：他只有走到灯下面去才能注意到它，才能看见抱着孩子的圣母画像。
“That is most likely a museum of art，” thought he， “and they have forgotten to take down the sign.”
“这可能是一个美术馆，”他想，“而人们却忘记把它的招牌拿进去。”
Two men， in the dress of olden times， passed by him.
有一两个人穿着那个时代的服装在他身边走过去了。
“What odd figures！” thought he， “they must be returning from some masquerademasquerade n.化装舞会v.化装.”
“他们的样子真有些古怪，”他想，“他们一定是刚刚参加过一个化装舞会。”