育兒雙語故事 海水咸的原因

　　A long time ago, far, far away, there lived two brothers. One of them was quite rich: the other was very poor. The rich brother lived on a little island; he was a seller of salt. He had sold salt for many years and had got a great deal of money. The other brother was so poor that he had not got enough food for his wife and children.

　　His wife said, "What will happen to us? Do you want me and the children to die? There is nothing to eat. Why don't you go and ask your brother for some money."

　　"My brother loves his money very much. I'm sure that he will not give me any. Perhaps he will want to give me a handful of salt. But I will go and see him."

　　He got into his boat and sailed across to the island where his brother lived.

　　He found his rich brother at home, counting his money.

　　"What is the matter? Why have you come here?"

　　"Please, brother, I have no food in my house. Please give me one of those gold pieces you are counting."

　　"No. These are mine. You are very lazy. Why do you not go and work?"

　　"I have tried to find some work, but I cannot. Now there is no bread in my house for my children."

　　"I will not give you any money, but I'll give you some bread. If I give you a loaf of bread, will you go away and not come back?"

　　"Yes. Please give me the bread."

　　The rich man threw a loaf of bread to him, and he went away.

　　While he was on his way to his house, he came to an old man sitting by the side of the road.

　　"What is that you are carrying?" said the old man. "Is it bread? I have not had any thing to eat for two days."

　　He cut a piece of the loaf and gave it to the old man, who thanked him and began to eat. When he had finished, the old man said, "Now I will do something for you. I will show you the home of the fairies who live underground. If you show them the bread, they will want to buy it from you. But do not let them give you any money. Ask them for the little mill that stands behind their door. Do as I say, and you will become rich. When you come back, I will show you how to use it."

　　The old man then led him into a wood. He pointed to a hole in the ground. It looked like the hole made by a big rabbit. Inside, the hole grew bigger and a little stone door could be seen.

　　"That is the fairies' home. Get in and open the door. I will wait until you come out," said the old man.

　　The poor man got into the hole, opened the door, and went in. It was dark inside the door: for some time he could see nothing. Then, when he could see more clearly, he saw many little fairies: they came and stood round him.

　　"What is that?" said one of them. "Is it white bread? Please give it to us, or sell it to us."

　　"We will give you gold and silver for it," said another.

　　"No," said the poor man. "I don't want gold or silver. Give me that old mill that stands behind the door, and I will give you the loaf of bread."

　　At first they did not want to give him the mill for the bread, so he turned away.

　　But some of the fairies began to cry, "Let him have the old mill. We never use it now. And only good people can make it work."

　　Then they gave him the mill. He put it under his arm and went out of fairy-land. He fount the old man waiting for him.

　　"That is it," the old man said. "This is how to use it. Only good people can use it. You must never let any other person use it."

　　It was quite late when the poor man reached home.

　　"Where have you been?" said his wife. "There is no fire and no food in the house. The children are cold and crying for food. What is that you are carrying. It looks like an old mill."

　　"It is a mill," he said. "Now watch. Say what you want, and you will have it."

　　He put the mill on the table and began to turn it. Out of the little mill came wood for the fire, oil for lighting and cooking, clothes, corn, and many other good things.

　　"It is a magic mill," said his wife. "Now we are rich."

　　"Yes, but no-one must know about it. We must hide it and use it only when no-one is watching."

　　The poor man soon became as rich as his brother. He did not keep all the good things for his own family. He gave many things to poor friends.

　　When his brother heard about this, he said to himself, "I do not know why my brother has become rich. I must find the reason for his riches."

　　For a long time he tried to find the reason, but he could not. But one day he gave a servant some money and ordered him to watch the house of his brother at night. That night, the servant looked through the window and saw the family standing round the mill, which was working. He went back and told what he had seen.

　　The next day the brother got in his boat and sailed across the water. He said to his brother, "I see that you are now quite rich, and I know the reason. You have a little magic mill. Sell it to me. How much money do you want for it?"

　　"I cannot sell it," said the poor man. "It must never leave my hands. The old man said, 'There will be great danger if you sell it or give it to any other person.' That is what he said."

　　Then the rich brother sailed away home. But later, one dark night, he came back, went very quietly into the house, and stole the mill. He quickly carried it to the sea, where his boat was waiting. Then he sailed away to his island.

　　But the bad brother wanted very much to make the mill work. He did not wait until he reached home. While he was sailing in the boat, he tried to make it work.

　　"Salt," he said. "Salt is what I sell, and salt is what I want." Then he began to turn the mill.

　　Then salt bean to come out of the mill. He laughed and began to sing. Masses of salt came out and began to fill the boat. The boat became low in the water. He tried to throw some of the salt into the sea. But more came in, masses of it. He stopped laughing and singing. Then he began to be afraid.

　　More salt came out of the mill, and soon the boat was full of it. Then water came in and filled the boat. The boat went down, down to the bottom of the sea, carrying with it the thief and the magic mill.

　　There, at the bottom of the sea, the mill is still turning, making more and more salt.

　　That is the reason (some people say) why the water of the sea is salty.

　　　　I. Translation for Reference(參考譯文)

　　很久以前，在很遠很遠的地方，住著兄弟倆。其中一個很富有，另一個卻很貧窮。富兄弟住在一個小島上，他是一個鹽商，他經(jīng)營鹽已有很多年，掙了很多錢。另一個兄弟窮得連他妻子和孩子都吃不飽。

　　他的妻子說：“我們該怎么辦呢?你想讓我和孩子們?nèi)ニ绬?沒有東西吃了。你為什么不去向你的兄弟要些錢?”

　　“我的兄弟特別吝惜自己的錢，我想他肯定一分錢也不會給我的，也許他會給我一把鹽，但不管怎么說我還是要去見見他。”

　　他上了他的小船，朝他兄弟住的那個小島駛?cè)ァ?/p>

　　他發(fā)現(xiàn)他富兄弟正在家點錢。

　　“什么事呀?你怎么到這兒來了?”

　　“對不起，兄弟，我家里沒吃的了，請你從正在點的那些金幣中給我一枚吧!”

　　“不行，這些是我的，你太懶惰了，你為什么不去干活?”

　　“我已經(jīng)努力去找些活干了，但是我找不到，現(xiàn)在，我家里都沒有面包給孩子們吃了。”

　　“我不會給你錢的，但我給你一塊面包，如果我給你一塊面包，你就離開，不要回來好嗎?”

　　“好吧，給我面包吧。”

　　這位富人扔了一塊面包給他，他就走了。

　　在回家的路上，他碰見一位老人坐在路邊。

　　“你拿的是什么東西?”老人問，“是面包嗎?我已經(jīng)兩天沒有吃東西了。”

　　“這面包是給我自己的孩子們的，但我不愿看到別人沒有吃的。來，我給你切一片面包。”

　　他切下一片面包給了這位老人。老人向他道謝并吃起來。

　　吃完面包后，老人說：“現(xiàn)在我要為你做點事。我?guī)闳プ≡诘氐紫碌难募?。如果你給他們看到這塊面包，他們就會想從你手里買下。但是，你別讓他們給你錢，要他們門后立著的那個小磨。照我說的那樣去做，你就會變得富有，你回來以后，我會教你怎樣用那小磨。”

　　然后，那位老人就帶他到森林里，他指了指地上的一個洞，這個洞看上去像大兔子挖的，越往里面洞也越大，可以看到一扇小石門。

　　“那就是小妖精的家，進去把那門打開，我等著你出來。”老人說。

　　這個窮人進了洞，打開門進去了。門里邊很黑：好一會兒，他什么也看不見。當他能看清楚一些時，他見到很多小妖精，他們過來圍著他站著。

　　“那是什么?”其中有一個妖精問，“是白面包嗎?請把它給我們吧，或賣給我們。”

　　“我們要用金子，銀子買你的面包，”另一個說。

　　“不，”窮人說，“我不要金子或銀子。只要把門后立著的那個舊磨給我，我就給你們這塊面包。”

　　開始時，他們不愿用他們的磨換面包，于是，他轉(zhuǎn)身就走。

　　但是，有些妖精叫了起來：“給他那舊磨吧，我們現(xiàn)在根本用不著，只有好人才能使用它。”于是，他們把磨給了他，他把磨夾在腋下，走出了妖精的住所。他發(fā)現(xiàn)那位老人正等著他。

　　“就是它，”老人說，“這是使用它的辦法。只有好人才能用它，你千萬別讓其他人使用。”

　　這個窮人到家時天已很晚了。

　　“你到哪兒去了?”他的妻子說，“家里沒有火烤，沒有飯吃，孩子們冷，哭著要東西吃。你帶的那個東西是什么?看上去像一個舊磨。”

　　“就是一個舊磨，”他說，“現(xiàn)在來瞧瞧，你說要什么，他就有什么。”

　　他把磨放在桌子上，開始轉(zhuǎn)動。從小磨里出來了烤火用的柴禾，點燈和做飯菜用的油，還有衣服，糧食和其他很多東西。

　　“真是一個神磨，”他的妻子說，“現(xiàn)在我們富有了。”

　　“是的，不過，一定不能讓任何人知道它。我們必須把它藏起來，只有在沒人看見時才能拿出來用。”

　　這個窮人很快變得像他兄弟一樣富有。他不是把好東西都留在自己家。他把許多東西送給那些窮苦的朋友。

　　他的兄弟聽說了這些，心里想：“我不知道為什么我的兄弟變富了，我必須找到他富有的原因。”

　　好長時間，他試圖找出原因，可是他還是不知道。有一天，他給了一個傭人一些錢，讓他在晚上監(jiān)視他兄弟的家。那天晚上，這個傭人透過窗戶看到他們?nèi)胰藝フ局?，那個磨正在工作，他就回去把所看到的說了。

　　第二天，這位富兄弟上了船，開過岸來，他對他的兄弟說：“我發(fā)現(xiàn)你現(xiàn)在很富有，并且也知道為什么。你有一個小神磨，把它賣給我吧，你要賣多少錢?”

　　“我不能賣，”那個窮人說，“它絕不能離開我的手。老人說過：'如果你賣掉它或把它給了其他人，必將招來大禍。'他就這么說的。”

　　于是，富兄弟把船開回家了。但是，在一個漆黑的夜晚，他又回來了，他悄悄地見了屋，偷走了神磨。帶著它飛快地跑到了海邊。他的小船正等在那里，然后，他駛向他的小島。

　　這個壞兄弟很想讓磨轉(zhuǎn)起來。他等不及回到家，還在船里的時候，就迫不及待地要用。

　　“鹽，”他說道，“我是賣鹽的，鹽就是我所想要的。”說著他開始轉(zhuǎn)動磨盤，鹽開始從磨里出來了，他高興得大笑起來，唱起歌來。一堆一堆的鹽出來了，船開始往下沉，他拼命把一些鹽扔進海里，但是更多的鹽從磨里出來了，一堆堆的。他不笑了，也不再唱了，接著，他開始害怕起來。

　　越來越多的鹽從神磨里出來了，很快填滿了整只船。這時，水進來了，淹沒了船，船下沉了，連同這個賊和神磨一起，沉到了海底。

　　在海底，神磨仍然轉(zhuǎn)動著，磨出越來越多的鹽。

　　有些人說這就是為什么海水是咸的原因。