“你把这张棕榈树叶带给公主吧!”南风说。“这张树叶是现在世界上仅有的那只凤凰带给我的。他用尖嘴在叶子上画出了他这100年的生活经历。现在她可以亲自读一读。我亲眼看见凤凰把自己的巢烧掉,他自己坐在里面,像一个印度的寡妇似的把自己烧死。干枝子烧得那么响!烟那么大!气味多么香!最后,一切都变成了火焰,老凤凰也化为灰烬。不过在火里他的蛋发出红光。它轰然一声爆裂开来,于是一只小小的凤凰就飞出来了。他现在是群鸟之王,也是世界上惟一的一只凤凰。他在我给你的这张棕榈叶上啄开了一个小洞:这敬礼就是他送给公主的!”
“Now let us have something to eat.”said the mother of the Winds.So they all sat down to feast on the roasted stag;and as the prince sat by the side of the East Wind,they soon became good friends.
“现在让我们来吃点东西吧!”风妈妈说。于是他们都坐下来吃那牡鹿。王子坐在东风旁边,他们马上就成了很要好的朋友。
“Pray tell me,”said the prince,“who is that princess of whom you have been talking!And where lies the garden of paradise?”
“请告诉我,”王子说,“你们刚才说的那位公主究竟怎样?天国花园在什么地方呢?”
“Ho!ho!”said the East Wind,“Would you like to go there?Well,you can fly off with me tomorrow;but I must tell you one thing—no human being has been there since the time of Adam and Eve.I suppose you have read of them in your Bible.”
东风说:“哈,哈,你想去那儿吗?嗯,那么你明天跟我一起飞去吧!不过,我得告诉你,自打亚当和夏娃以后,什么人也没有到那儿去过。你在《圣经》故事中已经看到吧?”
“Of course I have!”said the prince.
“当然读到过!”王子说。
“Well,”continued the East Wind,“when they were driven out of the garden of paradise,it sunk into the earth;but it retained its warm sunshine,its balmy (balmy adj.芳香的,温和的,止痛的,(空气)温和的)air,and all its splendor splendor n.光彩,壮观,杰出.The fairy queen lives there,in the island of happiness,where death never comes,and all is beautiful.I can manage to take you there tomorrow,if you will sit on my back.But now dont talk any more,for I want to go to sleep.”and then they all slept.
“当他们被赶出去以后,天国花园就坠到地里去了;不过它还留有温暖的阳光、温和的空气以及它一切的美景。群仙之后就住在里面,幸福之岛也在那儿——死神从来不到这岛上来,真是美极了!明天你可以坐在我的背上,我把你带过去:我想这办法很好。但是现在我们不要再闲聊吧,因为我想睡觉了。”于是大家都去睡觉了。
When the prince awoke in the early morning,he was not a little surprised at finding himself high up above the clouds.He was seated on the back of the East Wind,who held him faithfully;and they were so high in the air that woods and fields,rivers and lakes,as they lay beneath them,looked like a painted map.
一大清早,王子醒来时,他可是吃惊不小,他已经高高地在云块上飞行。他骑在东风的背上,而东风也老老实实地背着他:他们飞得特别高,下边的森林、田野、河流和湖泊简直像是映在一张大地图上的东西。
“Good morning.”said the East Wind.“You might have slept on a while;for there is very little to see in the flat country over which we are passing unless you like to count the churches;they look like spots of chalk on a green board.”The green board was the name he gave to the green fields and meadows.
东风说:“早上好!你还可以多睡一会儿,因为下面的平地上并没有什么东西好看。除非你愿意数数那些教堂!它们像在绿板上用粉笔画的小点点。”他说的板就是田野与草地。
“It was very rude of me not to say goodbye to your mother and your brothers.”said the prince.
“我没有跟你妈妈和你的弟兄告别,真是太没有礼貌了!”王子说。
“They will excuse you,as you were asleep.”said the East Wind;and then they flew on faster than ever.
“一个人在睡觉的时候,他是应该得到原谅的!”然后他们加快了飞行的速度。
The leaves and branches of the trees rustled as they passed.When they flew over seas and lakes,the waves rose higher,and the large ships dipped into the water like diving swans.As darkness came on,towards evening,the great towns looked charming;lights were sparkling,now seen now hidden,just as the sparks go out one after another on a piece of burnt paper.The prince clapped his hands with pleasure;but the East Wind advised him not to express his admiration in that manner,or he might fall down,and find himself hanging on a church steeple (steeple n.尖塔).The eagle in the dark forests flies swiftly;but faster than he flew the East Wind.The Cossack,on his small horse,rides lightly oer the plains;but lighter still passed the prince on the winds of the wind.
人们可以听到他们在树顶上飞行,因为当他们过的时候,叶子和柔枝都沙沙地响起来了。人们也能够在海上和湖上听到,因为他们飞过的时候,浪就高起来,很多大船也向水点着头,像游泳的天鹅。将近黄昏,天就暗下来了,许多大城市真是美丽极了。有许多灯在点着,一会儿这里一亮,一会儿那里一亮。这景象好像一个人在燃着一张纸,看到火星后就散开来,像小孩子放学。王子拍着双手,不过东风请他不要这样做,他最好坐得稳一点,不然就很容易掉下来,挂在教堂的尖顶上。黑森林里的苍鹰在轻快地飞翔着。但是东风飞得更加轻快。哥萨克人骑着小马在草原上敏捷地奔驰过去了,但王子更敏捷地在空中飞过去。
“There are the Himalayas,the highest mountains in Asia,”said the East Wind.“We shall soon reach the garden of paradise now.”
“你现在可以看到喜马拉雅山了!”东风说。“这是亚洲最高的山峰。过一会儿我们就要到达天国花园了!”
Then,they turned southward,and the air became fragrant with the perfume of spices and flowers.Here figs and pomegranates (pomegranate n.[植]石榴)grew wild,and the vines were covered with clusters of blue and purple grapes.Here they both descended to the earth,and stretched themselves on the soft grass,while the flowers bowed to the breath of the wind as if to welcome it.“Are we now in the garden of paradise?”asked the prince.
又向南飞,空中立刻有一阵花朵和香料的气味飘来。处处长着无花果和石榴,野葡萄藤结满了红葡萄和紫葡萄。他们两个人就在这儿落下来,在柔软的草地上伸开肢体。花朵向风儿点头,好像在欢迎他回来。“我们现在是在天国花园了吗?”王子问。
“No,indeed,”replied the East Wind;“but we shall be there very soon.Do you see that wall of rocks,and the cavern beneath it,over which the grape vines hang like a green curtain?Through that cavern we must pass.Wrap your cloak round you;for while the sun scorches you here,a few steps farther it will be icy cold.The bird flying past the entrance to the cavern feels as if one wing were in the region of summer,and the other in the depths of winter.”
“没有!”东风回答说。“不过我们很快就要到了。你看到那边石砌的墙吗?你看到那个大洞口吗?你看到那洞口上悬着的像绿帘子的葡萄藤吗?我们将要走进那洞口!请你紧紧地裹住你的大衣吧。在这儿太阳灼热地烤着,可是再往前一步,你就会感到冰冻一样的寒冷。飞过这洞子的雀子总有一个翅膀留在炎热的夏天里,另一个留在寒冷的冬天里!”