Hans Christian Andersen's Own Fairy Tale (I)

Hans Christian Andersen's Own Fairy Tale (I)

Donald and Louise Peattie 1Once upon a time there was a poor boy who lived in Denmark.His father, a shoemaker, had died, and his mother had married again.

again.

很久很久以前，在丹麦住着一个穷孩子，他父亲是个鞋匠。父亲去世后，母亲就改嫁了。2One day the boy went to ask a favor of the Prince of Denmark.When the Prince asked him what he wanted, the boy said, “I want to write plays in poetry and to act at the Royal Theater.” The Prince looked at the boy, at his big hands and feet, at his big nose and large serious eyes, and gave a sensible answer. “It is one thing to act in plays, another to write them. I tell you this for your own good; learn a useful trade like shoemaking.”

一天，这个男孩请求丹麦王子帮帮他。丹麦王子问他想要什么，男孩说：“我想写诗体剧本并且在皇家剧院上演。”王子看看他，看看他的大手大脚和大鼻子，还有孩子认真严肃的眼睛，给了他一个明智的回答：“演戏是一回事，写剧本又是另一回事。为了你

好，我告诉你，去学一门有用的手艺，比如做鞋。”

3So the boy, who was not sensible at all, went home. There he took what little money he had, said good-bye to his mother and his stepfather and started out to seek his fortune. He was sure that some day the name Hans Christian Andersen would be known all over Denmark.

然后，这个毫不明智的孩子回到了家，从家里拿了点儿钱，告别了母亲和继父，出去闯世界了。他相信将来有一天，他的名字安徒生会闻名丹麦的。

4To believe such a story one would have to believe in fairy tales! Hans Christian knew many such tales. He had heard some of them from his father, who had worked hard at his trade, but liked to read better than to make shoes. In the evenings, he had read aloud fromThe Arabian Nights. His wife understood very little of the book, but the boy, pretending to sleep, understood every word.

安徒生的故事像童话里的故事一样不现实。汉斯知道很多童话故事。他从父亲那里听说过一些故事。父亲做鞋非常辛苦，不过他更喜欢读书。晚上，他总是大声朗读《一千零一夜》，他的妻子几乎听不懂，而假装睡觉的汉斯却一字不落。

5By day, Hans Christian went to a house where old women worked as weavers. There he listened to the tales that the women told as they worked at their weaving. In those days, there were almost as many tales in Denmark as there were people to tell them.

白天，汉斯常去一间编织作坊，有一些老太太在那儿织布，听她们边织边讲故事，那时，丹麦的童话多得就像讲故事的丹麦人一样。

6Among the tales told in the town of Odense, where Andersen was born in 1805, was one about a fairy who brought death to those who danced with her. To this tale, Hans Christian later added a story from his own life.

安徒生1805年生于奥得斯镇。那儿流传的故事中，有一个关于小精灵把死亡带给与她跳舞的人的故事，汉斯后来把自己生活中的一段经历加进了这个故事。

7Once, when his father was still alive, a young lady ordered a pair of red shoes. When she refused to pay for them, unhappiness filled the poor shoemaker's house. From that small tragedy and the story of the dancing fairy, the shoemaker's son years later wrote the story that millions of people now know as The Red Shoes. The genius of Andersen is that he put so much of everyday life into the wonder of his fairy tales.

他父亲在世时，一位年轻女士订购了一双红鞋，当她拒付鞋钱时，可怜的鞋匠一家笼罩在不幸之中。多年以后，这个鞋匠的儿子把那个小悲剧和跳舞的小精灵写成了一个众人皆知的故