格林童話：三片羽毛(英)

　　Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

　　Once upon a time there was a king who had three sons, two of whom were clever and intelligent, but the third one did not talk very much, was simple minded, and the only name they gave him was the Simpleton.

　　When the king became old and weak, and thought that he was nearing his end, he did not know which of his sons should inherit the kingdom after him, so he said to them, "Go forth, and the one of you who brings me the finest carpet, he shall be king after my death."

　　So there would be no dispute among them, he led them to the front of his castle, blew three feathers into the air, and said, "As they fly, so shall you go."

　　The one feather flew to the east, the other to the west, and the third feather flew straight ahead, falling quickly to the ground after going only a short distance. The one brother went to the right, the other to the left, and they laughed at the Simpleton who had to stand there where the third feather had fallen.

　　The Simpleton sat down and was sad. Then he suddenly noticed that there was a trapdoor next to his feather. He lifted it up, found a stairway, and climbed down inside. He came to another door and knocked on it, upon which he heard someone calling out from within:

　　Maiden green and small, Hopping toad, Hopping toad's puppy, Hop to and fro, Quickly see who is outside.

　　The door opened, and he saw a big, fat toad sitting there, surrounded by a large number of little toads. The fat toad asked what he wanted.

　　The Simpleton answered, "I would like the most beautiful and finest carpet."

　　Then the fat toad called to a young toad, saying:

　　Maiden green and small, Hopping toad, Hopping toad's puppy, Hop to and fro, Bring me the large box.

　　The young toad brought the box, and the fat toad opened it, then gave the Simpleton a carpet from it. It was so beautiful and so fine, the like of which could never have been woven in the world above. He thanked the toad and climbed back out.

　　Now the other two thought that their brother was so stupid that he would not find anything to bring home.

　　"Why should we spend a lot of effort looking for a carpet?" they said, so they took some pieces of course cloth from the first shepherd's wife they came to, and took these back home to the king.

　　At the same time they returned home, the Simpleton arrived, bringing his beautiful carpet. When the king saw it, he was astounded, and said, "It is only right that the kingdom should go to my youngest son."

　　However, the two other sons gave their father no peace, saying that it would be impossible for the Simpleton to become king, because he lacked understanding in all things. They asked him to declare another contest.

　　Then the father said, "He who brings me the most beautiful ring shall inherit the kingdom." Leading the three brothers outside, he blew the three feathers into the air that they were to follow.

　　The two oldest brothers again went to the east and to the west, and the Simpleton's feather again flew straight ahead, falling down next to the door in the ground. Once again he climbed down to the fat toad and told it that he needed the most beautiful ring. The toad had the box brought out again and gave him from it a ring that glistened with precious stones and was so beautiful that no goldsmith on earth could have made it.

　　The two oldest brothers laughed at the Simpleton, who was going to look for a golden ring, and they took no effort at all. Instead, they drove the nails out of an old wagon ring and brought it to the king. However, when the Simpleton presented his ring, the king said once again, "The kingdom belongs to him."

　　The two oldest sons tormented the king endlessly, until finally he declared a third contest, saying that he who would bring home the most beautiful woman should have the kingdom.

　　Once again he blew the three feathers into the air and they flew in the same directions as before.

　　Without hesitating, the Simpleton went back to the fat toad and said, "I am supposed to take home the most beautiful woman."

　　"Oh!" answered the toad. "The most beautiful woman! She is not here at the moment, but you shall have her nonetheless."

　　The fat toad gave him a hollowed out yellow turnip, to which were harnessed six little mice.

　　The Simpleton said sadly, "What am I to do with this?"

　　The toad answered, "Just put one of my little toads inside it."

　　The he grabbed one of them from the group and set it inside the yellow coach. The little toad was scarcely inside when it turned into a beautiful young lady, the turnip into a coach, and the six mice into horses. He kissed her, raced away with the horses, and brought her to the king.

　　His brothers came along afterward. They had given no effort to find a beautiful woman, but simply brought along the first peasant women they had come upon.

　　After looking at them, the king said, "After my death the kingdom belongs to my youngest son."

　　However, the two oldest sons again deafened the king's ears with the cry, "We cannot allow the Simpleton to become king," and they demanded that the preference should go to the brother whose woman could jump through a hoop that was hanging in the middle of the hall.

　　They thought, "The peasant women will be able to do that very well. They are very strong, but the dainty lady will jump herself to death."

　　The old king gave in to this as well. The two peasant women did indeed jump through the hoop, but they were so plump that each one fell, breaking her thick arms and legs. Then the beautiful lady, that the Simpleton had brought home, jumped, and she jumped through the hoop as lightly as a deer.

　　After this all the protests had to stop. Thus the Simpleton received the crown, and he ruled wisely for a long time.

　　從前有個國王，他有三個兒子。老大和老二聰明伶俐，小兒子卻頭腦簡單，不愛說話，人們管他叫「缺心眼」。國王年紀大了，身體虛弱，想到身后之事，覺得難以確定究竟由哪個兒子來繼承王位。他把三個兒子找來對他們說：「你們誰帶回來的地毯最漂亮，誰就能繼承王位?！顾J為這樣他們就沒甚么可爭辯的了。他將兒子們領到外面，對著三片羽毛吹了一口氣，說：「你們分頭跟著羽毛所指的方向去找吧。」三片羽毛一片朝東，一片朝西，第三片直著朝上飛了一陣就落在地上了。兩個哥哥對「缺心眼」弟弟嘲笑了一番，因為他只能留在本地，然后他們一東一西去尋找最美麗的地毯去了。小王子十分難過地坐到地上，猛然發(fā)現(xiàn)羽毛邊有扇地板門。他掀開蓋板，看到有幾級樓梯，就沿著梯級往下走。不久又是一道門，他伸手敲了敲，聽到有人在里面說：

　　「青青侍女跛著腳，跛腳小狗到處跳，瞧瞧有誰會來到?！?/p>

　　門開處，只見一只巨大的蟾蜍蹲在那兒，四周擠滿了小蟾蜍。它問小王子要甚么，小王子說：「我想要世界上最漂亮、質(zhì)地最好的地毯。」大蟾蜍召來一個小蟾蜍對它說：

　　「青青侍女跛著腳，跛腳小狗到處跳，搬來大箱子瞧一瞧?！?/p>

　　小蟾蜍於是搬來一口大箱子，大蟾蜍打開蓋，從里面拿出一塊地毯給「缺心眼」。那地毯質(zhì)地優(yōu)良，圖案和色彩也十分漂亮，世界上簡直沒誰能織得出。小王子謝過大蟾蜍之后，帶上地毯出來了。再說兩個哥哥認為弟弟傻，相信他找不到甚么好地毯，也就不想費周折用心找了。他們都是從最先遇到的牧羊人的妻子那里買了些織得很粗糙的羊毛手帕帶了回來。這時，「缺心眼」也回來了，他將那塊美麗無比的地毯交給了父親，國王一看驚訝地說：「公正地說，王位該歸小王子?！?/p>

　　可是另外兩兄弟吵吵嚷嚷說不能讓「缺心眼」當國王，因為他干甚么都考慮不周全。他們吵得國王不得安寧，非要再比試比試不可。國王於是說：「誰帶給我的戒指最漂亮，誰就繼承王位?！拐f著又將三個兒子帶到外面，朝空氣中吹了三片羽毛，讓他們跟著羽毛所指的方向去尋找。大王子和二王子又是一東一西，而「缺心眼」的羽毛又是朝上升起之后落到原地。哥哥們譏笑他，說他找不到金戒指，自己卻取出舊的金戒指拿到金店去重新打制。小王子像上次一樣爬了下去，向大蟾蜍要世界上最漂亮的戒指。大蟾蜍吩咐搬來大箱子，從里面取出一個閃閃發(fā)光的寶石戒指，其工藝之精湛，是地上任何工匠都做不出來的。當小王子將金戒指拿給國王時，做父親的又說：「王位屬於小王子?！箍蓛蓚€哥哥仍不甘心，他們不斷給父親施加壓力，非讓他答應再比試一次。還說看誰帶回家的姑娘最漂亮誰就繼位。國王還是朝天上吹了三片羽毛，它們所指的方向和以前一樣。

　　「缺心眼」立刻下去找大蟾蜍，說：「我要把世界上最美麗的姑娘帶回家!」「哦?最漂亮的姑娘!」大蟾蜍說，「她這會兒不在家。不過你還是可以帶她回家的?！拐f著就將一個套著六只小老鼠的空心蘿蔔交給他?！溉毙难邸剐⊥踝訜o可奈何地說：「我拿這些有甚么用呢?」大蟾蜍說：「抓只小蟾蜍放進去就行了?！顾S手抓了一只放了進去，那小蟾蜍還沒坐下，就立刻變成了一位美麗端莊的姑娘，蘿蔔變成了真正的馬車，六只小老鼠變成了六匹駿馬?！溉毙难邸刮橇宋枪媚铮⒖腾s著馬車回來見父親。他的兩個哥哥隨后也回來了，他們不愿意多費力氣尋找美麗的姑娘，而是把最先遇到的農(nóng)家姑娘帶了回來。國王一看就說：「我死后王位由小王子繼承?！箖蓚€哥哥又吵又鬧，說：「我們不同意'缺心眼'當國王!」直吵得國王耳朵都要聾了。他們要求在大廳中央掛一個圓圈，誰的妻子能跳著鉆過去，誰就能繼承王位。他們暗想：「農(nóng)家姑娘結實強壯，跳過那圈子不會有問題，而那漂亮姑娘準會摔死?！箛鯖]法，只好同意了。首先是兩個村姑跳，她們跳過去了，但是笨拙得摔折了粗手大腳;輪到小王子的美貌姑娘，只見她輕輕一躍就過去了，輕盈得像只小鹿。這一下誰都無話可說了。小王子繼承了王位，成了一位英明的國王。