安徒生童话THE TOAD.docx

1、安徒生童话THE TOAD 1872 FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN THE TOAD by Hans Christian Andersen THE well was deep, and therefore the rope had to be a long one; itwas heavy work turning the handle when any one had to raise abucketful of water over the edge of the well. Though the water wasclear, the su

2、n never looked down far enough into the well to mirroritself in the waters; but as far as its beams could reach, greenthings grew forth between the stones in the sides of the well. Down below dwelt a family of the Toad race. They had, in fact,come head-over-heels down the well, in the person of the

3、oldMother-Toad, who was still alive. The green Frogs, who had beenestablished there a long time, and swam about in the water, calledthem well-guests. But the new-comers seemed determined to stay wherethey were, for they found it very agreeable living in a dry place,as they called the wet stones. The

4、 Mother-Frog had once been a traveller. She happened to be inthe water-bucket when it was drawn up, but the light became too strongfor her, and she got a pain in her eyes. Fortunately she scrambled outof the bucket; but she fell into the water with a terrible flop, andhad to lie sick for three days

5、with pains in her back. She certainlyhad not much to tell of the things up above, but she knew this, andall the Frogs knew it, that the well was not all the world. TheMother-Toad might have told this and that, if she had chosen, butshe never answered when they asked her anything, and so they leftoff

6、 asking. Shes thick, and fat and ugly, said the young green Frogs;and her children will be just as ugly as she is. That may be, retorted the mother-Toad, but one of them has ajewel in his head, or else I have the jewel. The young frogs listened and stared; and as these words did notplease them, they

7、 made grimaces and dived down under the water. Butthe little Toads kicked up their hind legs from mere pride, for eachof them thought that he must have the jewel; and then they sat andheld their heads quite still. But at length they asked what it wasthat made them so proud, and what kind of a thing

8、a jewel might be. Oh, it is such a splendid and precious thing, that I cannotdescribe it, said the Mother-Toad. Its something which onecarries about for ones own pleasure, and that makes other peopleangry. But dont ask me any questions, for I shant answer you. Well, I havent got the jewel, said the

9、smallest of the Toads;she was as ugly as a toad can be. Why should I have such a preciousthing? And if it makes others angry, it cant give me any pleasure.No, I only wish I could get to the edge of the well, and look out;it must be beautiful up there. Youd better stay where you are, said the old Mot

10、her-Toad,for you know everything here, and you can tell what you have. Takecare of the bucket, for it will crush you to death; and even if youget into it safely, you may fall out. And its not every one who fallsso cleverly as I did, and gets away with whole legs and whole bones. Quack! said the litt

11、le Toad; and thats just as if one of uswere to say, Aha! She had an immense desire to get to the edge of the well, and tolook over; she felt such a longing for the green, up there; and thenext morning, when it chanced that the bucket was being drawn up,filled with water, and stopped for a moment jus

12、t in front of the stoneon which the Toad sat, the little creatures heart moved within it,and our Toad jumped into the filled bucket, which presently wasdrawn to the top, and emptied out. Ugh, you beast! said the farm laborer who emptied the bucket,when he saw the toad. Youre the ugliest thing Ive se

13、en for onewhile. And he made a kick with his wooden shoe at the toad, whichjust escaped being crushed by managing to scramble into the nettleswhich grew high by the wells brink. Here she saw stem by stem, butshe looked up also; the sun shone through the leaves, which were quitetransparent; and she f

14、elt as a person would feel who steps suddenlyinto a great forest, where the sun looks in between the branches andleaves. Its much nicer here than down in the well! I should like to stayhere my whole life long! said the little Toad. So she lay there foran hour, yes, for two hours. I wonder what is to

15、 be found up here? AsI have come so far, I must try to go still farther. And so shecrawled on as fast as she could crawl, and got out upon the highway,where the sun shone upon her, and the dust powdered her all over asshe marched across the way. Ive got to a dry place. now, and no mistake, said the

16、Toad.Its almost too much of a good thing here; it tickles one so. She came to the ditch; and forget-me-nots were growing there,and meadow-sweet; and a very little way off was a hedge of whitethorn,and elder bushes grew there, too, and bindweed with white flowers. Gaycolors were to be seen here, and

17、a butterfly, too, was flitting by.The Toad thought it was a flower which had broken loose that itmight look about better in the world, which was quite a naturalthing to do. If one could only make such a journey as that! said the Toad.Croak! how capital that would be. Eight days and eight nights she

18、stayed by the well, andexperienced no want of provisions. On the ninth day she thought,Forward! onward! But what could she find more charming andbeautiful? Perhaps a little toad or a few green frogs. During the lastnight there had been a sound borne on the breeze, as if there werecousins in the neig

19、hborhood. Its a glorious thing to live! glorious to get out of the well,and to lie among the stinging-nettles, and to crawl along the dustyroad. But onward, onward! that we may find frogs or a little toad.We cant do without that; nature alone is not enough for one. Andso she went forward on her jour

20、ney. She came out into the open field, to a great pond, round aboutwhich grew reeds; and she walked into it. It will be too damp for you here, said the Frogs; but you arevery welcome! Are you a he or a she? But it doesnt matter; you areequally welcome. And she was invited to the concert in the eveni

21、ng- the familyconcert; great enthusiasm and thin voices; we know the sort ofthing. No refreshments were given, only there was plenty to drink, forthe whole pond was free. Now I shall resume my journey, said the little Toad; for shealways felt a longing for something better. She saw the stars shining

22、, so large and so bright, and she saw themoon gleaming; and then she saw the sun rise, and mount higher andhigher. Perhaps after all, I am still in a well, only in a larger well. Imust get higher yet; I feel a great restlessness and longing. Andwhen the moon became round and full, the poor creature

23、thought, Iwonder if that is the bucket which will be let down, and into whichI must step to get higher up? Or is the sun the great bucket? Howgreat it is! how bright it is! It can take up all. I must look out,that I may not miss the opportunity. Oh, how it seems to shine in myhead! I dont think the

24、jewel can shine brighter. But I havent thejewel; not that I cry about that- no, I must go higher up, intosplendor and joy! I feel so confident, and yet I am afraid. Its adifficult step to take, and yet it must be taken. Onward, therefore,straight onward! She took a few steps, such as a crawling anim

25、al may take, and soonfound herself on a road beside which people dwelt; but there wereflower gardens as well as kitchen gardens. And she sat down to rest bya kitchen garden. What a number of different creatures there are that I never knew!and how beautiful and great the world is! But one must look r

26、ound init, and not stay in one spot. And then she hopped into the kitchengarden. How green it is here! how beautiful it is here! I know that, said the Caterpillar, on the leaf, my leaf isthe largest here. It hides half the world from me, but I dont carefor the world. Cluck, cluck! And some fowls cam

27、e. They tripped about in thecabbage garden. The Fowl who marched at the head of them had a longsight, and she spied the Caterpillar on the green leaf, and peckedat it, so that the Caterpillar fell on the ground, where it twistedand writhed. The Fowl looked at it first with one eye and then with theo

28、ther, for she did not know what the end of this writhing would be. It doesnt do that with a good will, thought the Fowl, andlifted up her head to peck at the Caterpillar. The Toad was so horrified at this, that she came crawling straightup towards the Fowl. Aha, it has allies, quoth the Fowl. Just l

29、ook at the crawlingthing! And then the Fowl turned away. I dont care for the littlegreen morsel; it would only tickle my throat. The other fowls tookthe same view of it, and they all turned away together. I writhed myself free, said the Caterpillar. What a goodthing it is when one has presence of mi

30、nd! But the hardest thingremains to be done, and that is to get on my leaf again. Where is it? And the little Toad came up and expressed her sympathy. She wasglad that in her ugliness she had frightened the fowls. What do you mean by that? cried the Caterpillar. I wriggledmyself free from the Fowl.

31、You are very disagreeable to look at.Cannot I be left in peace on my own property? Now I smell cabbage; nowI am near my leaf. Nothing is so beautiful as property. But I mustgo higher up. Yes, higher up, said the little Toad; higher-up! She feels justas I do; but shes not in a good humor to-day. Thats because of thefright. We all want to go higher up. And she looked up as high asever she could. The stork sat in his nest on the roof of the farm-house. Heclapped with his beak, and the Mother-stork clapped with hers. How high up they live! thought