安徒生童話12THE STORY OF A MOTHER母親的故事

<p>[00:33.09]THE STORY OF A MOTHER<br /> [00:36.10]<br /> [00:36.11]A mother sat there with her little child. She was so downcast, so afraid that<br /> [00:40.43]it should die! It was so pale, the small eyes had closed themselves, and it<br /> [00:45.70]drew its breath so softly, now and then, with a deep respiration, as if it<br /> [00:51.84]sighed; and the mother looked still more sorrowfully on the little creature.<br /> [00:58.24]<br /> [00:58.45]Then a knocking was heard at the door, and in came a poor old man wrapped up<br /> [01:04.08]as in a large horse-cloth, for it warms one, and he needed it, as it was the<br /> [01:10.21]cold winter season! Everything out-of-doors was covered with ice and snow, and<br /> [01:15.75]the wind blew so that it cut the face.<br /> [01:18.99]<br /> [01:19.23]As the old man trembled with cold, and the little child slept a moment, the<br /> [01:26.21]mother went and poured some ale into a pot and set it on the stove, that it<br /> [01:31.36]might be warm for him; the old man sat and rocked the cradle, and the mother<br /> [01:36.16]sat down on a chair close by him, and looked at her little sick child that<br /> [01:41.76]drew its breath so deep, and raised its little hand.<br /> [01:47.07]<br /> [01:47.25]"Do you not think that I shall save him?" said she. "Our Lord will not take<br /> [01:53.59]him from me!"<br /> [01:54.93]<br /> [01:55.15]And the old man--it was Death himself--he nodded so strangely, it could just<br /> [02:00.50]as well signify yes as no. And the mother looked down in her lap, and the<br /> [02:06.63]tears ran down over her cheeks; her head became so heavy--she had not closed<br /> [02:12.79]her eyes for three days and nights; and now she slept, but only for a minute,<br /> [02:19.04]when she started up and trembled with cold.<br /> [02:23.41]<br /> [02:23.65]"What is that?" said she, and looked on all sides; but the old man was gone,<br /> [02:30.64]and her little child was gone--he had taken it with him; and the old clock in<br /> [02:38.05]the corner burred, and burred, the great leaden weight ran down to the floor,<br /> [02:45.27]bump! and then the clock also stood still.<br /> [02:48.69]<br /> [02:48.96]But the poor mother ran out of the house and cried aloud for her child.<br /> [02:56.26]<br /> [02:56.50]Out there, in the midst of the snow, there sat a woman in long, black clothes;<br /> [03:01.97]and she said, "Death has been in thy chamber, and I saw him hasten away with<br /> [03:07.04]thy little child; he goes faster than the wind, and he never brings back what<br /> [03:13.84]he takes!"<br /> [03:15.27]<br /> [03:15.44]"Oh, only tell me which way he went!" said the mother. "Tell me the way, and I<br /> [03:21.14]shall find him!"<br /> [03:22.91]<br /> [03:23.14]"I know it!" said the woman in the black clothes. "But before I tell it, thou<br /> [03:28.80]must first sing for me all the songs thou hast sung for thy child! I am fond<br /> [03:34.29]of them. I have heard them before; I am Night; I saw thy tears whilst thou<br /> [03:40.54]sang'st them!"<br /> [03:42.17]<br /> [03:42.40]"I will sing them all, all!" said the mother. "But do not stop me now--I may<br /> [03:48.67]overtake him--I may find my child!"<br /> [03:51.73]<br /> [03:51.97]But Night stood still and mute. Then the mother wrung her hands, sang and<br /> [03:58.53]wept, and there were many songs, but yet many more tears; and then Night said,<br /> [04:04.51]"Go to the right, into the dark pine forest; thither I saw Death take his way<br /> [04:11.09]with thy little child!"<br /> [04:14.19]<br /> [04:14.45]The roads crossed each other in the depths of the forest, and she no longer<br /> [04:19.12]knew whither she should go! then there stood a thorn-bush; there was neither<br /> [04:25.46]leaf nor flower on it, it was also in the cold winter season, and ice-flakes<br /> [04:30.48]hung on the branches.<br /> [04:32.46]<br /> [04:32.75]"Hast thou not seen Death go past with my little child?" said the mother.<br /> [04:37.92]<br /> [04:38.16]"Yes," said the thorn-bush; "but I will not tell thee which way he took,<br /> [04:43.50]unless thou wilt first warm me up at thy heart. I am freezing to death; I<br /> [04:49.22]shall become a lump of ice!"<br /> [04:51.70]<br /> [04:51.92]And she pressed the thorn-bush to her breast, so firmly, that it might be<br /> [04:56.74]thoroughly warmed, and the thorns went right into her flesh, and her blood<br /> [05:01.25]flowed in large drops, but the thornbush shot forth fresh green leaves, and<br /> [05:06.86]there came flowers on it in the cold winter night, the heart of the afflicted<br /> [05:12.99]mother was so warm; and the thorn-bush told her the way she should go.<br /> [05:18.11]<br /> [05:18.35]She then came to a large lake, where there was neither ship nor boat. The lake<br /> [05:23.95]was not frozen sufficiently to bear her; neither was it open, nor low enough<br /> [05:29.15]that she could wade through it; and across it she must go if she would find<br /> [05:34.46]her child! Then she lay down to drink up the lake, and that was an<br /> [05:40.29]impossibility for a human being, but the afflicted mother thought that a<br /> [05:44.80]miracle might happen nevertheless.<br /> [05:46.86]<br /> [05:47.10]"Oh, what would I not give to come to my child!" said the weeping mother; and<br /> [05:52.79]she wept still more, and her eyes sunk down in the depths of the waters, and<br /> [05:57.13]became two precious pearls; but the water bore her up, as if she sat in a<br /> [06:02.06]swing, and she flew in the rocking waves to the shore on the opposite side,<br /> [06:06.78]where there stood a mile-broad, strange house, one knew not if it were a<br /> [06:12.68]mountain with forests and caverns, or if it were built up; but the poor mother<br /> [06:18.44]could not see it; she had wept her eyes out.<br /> [06:22.01]<br /> [06:22.23]"Where shall I find Death, who took away my little child?" said she.<br /> [06:27.02]<br /> [06:27.27]"He has not come here yet!" said the old grave woman, who was appointed to<br /> [06:32.47]look after Death's great greenhouse! "How have you been able to find the way<br /> [06:37.72]hither? And who has helped you?"<br /> [06:40.01]<br /> [06:40.25]"OUR LORD has helped me," said she. "He is merciful, and you will also be so!<br /> [06:45.58]Where shall I find my little child?"<br /> [06:48.60]<br /> [06:48.90]"Nay, I know not," said the woman, "and you cannot see! Many flowers and trees<br /> [06:55.83]have withered this night; Death will soon come and plant them over again!<br /> [06:59.26]You certainly know that every person has his or her life's tree or flower,<br /> [07:05.06]just as everyone happens to be settled; they look like other plants, but they<br /> [07:10.60]have pulsations of the heart. Children's hearts can also beat; go after yours,<br /> [07:15.43]perhaps you may know your child's; but what will you give me if I tell you<br /> [07:20.98]what you shall do more?"<br /> [07:23.80]<br /> [07:24.04]"I have nothing to give," said the afflicted mother, "but I will go to the<br /> [07:27.58]world's end for you!"<br /> [07:29.61]<br /> [07:29.85]"Nay, I have nothing to do there!" said the woman. "But you can give me your<br /> [07:34.23]long black hair; you know yourself that it is fine, and that I like! You shall<br /> [07:40.38]have my white hair instead, and that's always something!"<br /> [07:44.65]<br /> [07:44.89]"Do you demand nothing else?" said she. "That I will gladly give you!" And she<br /> [07:51.48]gave her her fine black hair, and got the old woman's snow-white hair instead.<br /> [07:57.46]<br /> [07:57.69]So they went into Death's great greenhouse, where flowers and trees grew<br /> [08:02.25]strangely into one another. There stood fine hyacinths under glass bells, and<br /> [08:07.75]there stood strong-stemmed peonies; there grew water plants, some so fresh,<br /> [08:13.17]others half sick, the water-snakes lay down on them, and black crabs pinched<br /> [08:19.14]their stalks. There stood beautiful palm-trees, oaks, and plantains; there<br /> [08:25.40]stood parsley and flowering thyme: every tree and every flower had its name;<br /> [08:31.03]each of them was a human life, the human frame still lived--one in China, and<br /> [08:36.57]another in Greenland--round about in the world. There were large trees in<br /> [08:42.33]small pots, so that they stood so stunted in growth, and ready to burst the<br /> [08:46.73]pots; in other places, there was a little dull flower in rich mould, with moss<br /> [08:52.46]round about it, and it was so petted and nursed. But the distressed mother<br /> [08:57.66]bent down over all the smallest plants, and heard within them how the human<br /> [09:03.50]heart beat; and amongst millions she knew her child's.<br /> [09:07.49]<br /> [09:07.70]"There it is!" cried she, and stretched her hands out over a little blue<br /> [09:12.58]crocus, that hung quite sickly on one side.<br /> [09:16.53]<br /> [09:16.79]"Don't touch the flower!" said the old woman. "But place yourself here, and<br /> [09:22.26]when Death comes--I expect him every moment--do not let him pluck the flower<br /> [09:27.08]up, but threaten him that you will do the same with the others. Then he will<br /> [09:31.67]be afraid! He is responsible for them to OUR LORD, and no one dares to pluck<br /> [09:37.67]them up before HE gives leave."<br /> [09:40.47]<br /> [09:40.71]All at once an icy cold rushed through the great hall, and the blind mother<br /> [09:45.25]could feel that it was Death that came.<br /> [09:48.36]<br /> [09:48.57]"How hast thou been able to find thy way hither?" he asked. "How couldst thou<br /> [09:53.40]come quicker than I?"<br /> [09:55.43]<br /> [09:55.65]"I am a mother," said she.<br /> [09:57.91]<br /> [09:58.15]And Death stretched out his long hand towards the fine little flower, but she<br /> [10:03.78]held her hands fast around his, so tight, and yet afraid that she should touch<br /> [10:10.06]one of the leaves. Then Death blew on her hands, and she felt that it was<br /> [10:15.14]colder than the cold wind, and her hands fell down powerless.<br /> [10:19.88]<br /> [10:20.14]"Thou canst not do anything against me!" said Death.<br /> [10:24.81]<br /> [10:25.03]"But OUR LORD can!" said she.<br /> [10:27.57]<br /> [10:27.81]"I only do His bidding!" said Death. "I am His gardener, I take all His<br /> [10:33.37]flowers and trees, and plant them out in the great garden of Paradise, in the<br /> [10:37.83]unknown land; but how they grow there, and how it is there I dare not tell<br /> [10:43.17]thee."<br /> [10:44.23]<br /> [10:44.47]"Give me back my child!" said the mother, and she wept and prayed. At once she<br /> [10:50.05]seized hold of two beautiful flowers close by, with each hand, and cried out<br /> [10:57.05]to Death, "I will tear all thy flowers off, for I am in despair."<br /> [11:02.42]<br /> [11:02.66]"Touch them not!" said Death. "Thou say'st that thou art so unhappy, and now<br /> [11:09.96]thou wilt make another mother equally unhappy."<br /> [11:13.43]<br /> [11:13.65]"Another mother!" said the poor woman, and directly let go her hold of both<br /> [11:19.40]the flowers.<br /> [11:20.82]<br /> [11:21.03]"There, thou hast thine eyes," said Death; "I fished them up from the lake,<br /> [11:26.74]they shone so bright; I knew not they were thine. Take them again, they are<br /> [11:32.25]now brighter than before; now look down into the deep well close by; I shall<br /> [11:37.18]tell thee the names of the two flowers thou wouldst have torn up, and thou<br /> [11:42.10]wilt see their whole future life--their whole human existence: and see what<br /> [11:48.49]thou wast about to disturb and destroy."<br /> [11:51.82]<br /> [11:52.04]And she looked down into the well; and it was a happiness to see how the one<br /> [11:56.95]became a blessing to the world, to see how much happiness and joy were felt<br /> [12:01.13]everywhere. And she saw the other's life, and it was sorrow and distress,<br /> [12:06.82]horror, and wretchedness.<br /> [12:09.48]<br /> [12:09.72]"Both of them are God's will!" said Death.<br /> [12:13.78]<br /> [12:14.04]"Which of them is Misfortune's flower and which is that of Happiness?" asked<br /> [12:18.73]she.<br /> [12:20.12]<br /> [12:20.31]"That I will not tell thee," said Death; "but this thou shalt know from me,<br /> [12:25.32]that the one flower was thy own child! it was thy child's fate thou<br /> [12:30.60]saw'st--thy own child's future life!"<br /> [12:34.01]<br /> [12:34.25]Then the mother screamed with terror, "Which of them was my child? Tell it me!<br /> [12:39.99]Save the innocent! Save my child from all that misery! Rather take it away!<br /> [12:45.53]Take it into God's kingdom! Forget my tears, forget my prayers, and all that I<br /> [12:51.62]have done!"<br /> [12:53.21]<br /> [12:53.45]"I do not understand thee!" said Death. "Wilt thou have thy child again, or<br /> [12:59.83]shall I go with it there, where thou dost not know!"<br /> [13:04.20]<br /> [13:04.45]Then the mother wrung her hands, fell on her knees, and prayed to our Lord:<br /> [13:10.29]"Oh, hear me not when I pray against Thy will, which is the best! hear me not!<br /> [13:16.01]hear me not!"<br /> [13:18.05]<br /> [13:18.31]And she bowed her head down in her lap, and Death took her child and went with<br /> [13:23.65]it into the unknown land.<br /> [13:26.41]</p>

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