The Pea Blossom
一个豆荚里的五粒豆
There were once five peas in one shell. They were green, the shell was green, and so they believed that the whole world must be green.
从前,在一个豆荚里有五粒豌豆。这些豌豆是绿色的,豆荚也是绿色的,于是它们就认为整个世界都是绿色的。
Are we to sit here forever? asked one, "shall we not become hard by sitting so long? It seems to me there must be something outside, and I feel sure of it."
“我们要永远待在这儿吗?”一粒豌豆问道,“坐了这么久,难道我们不会变硬么?我觉得外面一定有什么东西,我敢肯定。”
And as weeks passed by, the peas became yellow, and the shell became yellow.
几个星期过去了,这些豌豆变黄了,豆荚也变黄了。
All the world is turning yellow, I suppose, said they all - and perhaps they were right.
“我觉得整个世界都在变成黄色的。”它们都说——或许它们是对的。
Suddenly they felt a pull at the shell; it was torn off, and held in human hands, then slipped into the pocket of a jacket in company with other full pods .
突然它们感到豆荚被拽了一下——豆荚被扯了下来。它落到一个人的手中,接着便和另外一些饱满的豆荚一起滑进了一件夹克衫的口袋里。
Now we shall soon be opened, said one - just what they all wanted.
“我们很快就要被打开了。”一粒豆子说——这正是它们都想要的。
I should like to know which of us will travel furthest, said the smallest of the five, "we shall soon see now."
“我倒想知道,我们之中谁会走得最远,”五粒豆子中最小的那粒说,“我们马上就知道啦。”
What is to happen will happen, said the largest pea.
“该发生的早晚会发生。”最大的那粒豆子说。
Crack went the shell as it burst, and the five peas rolled out into the bright sunshine. There they lay in a child's hand. A little boy was holding them tightly, and said they were fine peas for his pea-shooter. And immediately he put one in and shot it out.
“啪”的一声豆荚裂开了,那五粒豆子滚到了灿烂的阳光下。它们躺在一个小男孩的手中,他紧紧地握着它们,说拿它们当豆枪的子弹很合适。话音刚落,他就把一粒豆子塞进豆枪射了出去。
Now I am flying out into the wide world, said he, "catch me if you can," and he was gone in a moment.
“现在我要飞到广阔的世界里去啦,”那粒豆子说,“有本事就来追我吧。”说着它立刻就飞走了。
I, said the second, "intend to fly straight to the sun. That is a shell that lets itself be seen, and it will suit me exactly," and away he went.
“我,”第二粒说,“要直接飞向太阳。那是一个能让人们看到的‘豆荚’,将会非常适合我!”说着它就飞走了。
We will go to sleep wherever we find ourselves, said the two next, "we shall still be rolling onwards;" and they did certainly fall on the floor, and roll about before they got into the pea-shooter; but they were put in for all that . "We shall go farther than the others," said they.
“我们到了哪儿,就在哪儿睡觉,”后面的两粒豆子说,“我们还得向前滚。”它们的确在没被装进豆枪之前,就掉到地上滚了起来,但是即便如此,它们最终还是被塞进了豆枪。“我们会比其他豆子走得都远。”它们说。
What is to happen will happen, exclaimed the last, as he was shot out of the pea-shooter; and as he spoke he flew up against an old board under a garret -window, and fell into a little crevice , which was almost filled up with moss and soft earth. The moss closed itself round him, and there he lay,a captive indeed, but not unnoticed by God.
“该发生的早晚会发生。”最后那粒豆子在被从豆枪中射出来时喊道。就在它这么高喊时,它飞上天撞到了阁楼窗户下的一块旧板子上,掉进了一个满是苔藓和松软泥土的小裂缝中。苔藓把它裹了起来,它躺在那儿,实际上就是个俘虏。不过,上帝并没有遗忘它。
What is to happen will happen, said he to himself.
“该发生的早晚会发生。”它自言自语道。
Within the little garret lived a poor woman, who went out to clean stoves, chop wood into small pieces and perform such-like hard work, for she was strong and industrious . Yet she remained always poor, and at home in the garret lay her only daughter, not quite grown up, and very delicate and weak. For a whole year she had kept her bed, and it seemed as if she could neither live nor die.
在这个小小的阁楼里住着一个穷苦的女人。她很健壮,也很勤劳,她外出给人擦炉子、劈木柴,还做一些类似这样的粗活,但是她仍然很穷。而且,就在这阁楼上的家里,还躺着她唯一的女儿,尚未成年,身体还非常纤弱无力。她卧床不起已经有一整年了,看上去要死不活的。
Spring came, and one morning early the sun shone brightly through the little window, and threw its rays over the floor of the room. Just as the mother was going to her work, the sick girl fixed her gaze on the lowest pane of the window. "Mother," she exclaimed, "what can that little green thing be that peeps in at the window? It is moving in the wind."
春天来了。一天清晨,明媚的阳光透过那个小窗子,撒满了屋里的地板。就在母亲要外出干活的时候,这个生病的小女孩定定地望着最低的那格窗玻璃。“妈妈,”她大声喊道,“在窗户那儿探出头来的那个绿色的小东西是什么呢?它在风中摇摆着呢!”
The mother stepped to the window and half opened it. "Oh!" she said,"there is actually a little pea which has taken root and is putting out its green leaves. How could it have got into this crack? Well now, here is a little garden for you to amuse yourself with." So the bed of the sick girl was drawn nearer to the window that she might see the budding plant; and the mother went out to her work.
母亲走到窗旁,把窗子打开一半。“哦!”她说,“原来是粒小豌豆,已经生下了根,正长出绿色的叶子来呢。它怎么会钻进这个缝隙里来呢?这下好了,你现在有一个小花园可以欣赏了!”于是母亲把生病的女儿的床往窗户那边挪近了一些,好让她看到这棵正在发芽的植物,然后便出去干活儿了。
Mother, I believe I shall get well,said the sick child in the evening, "the sun has shone in here so brightly and warmly today, and the little pea is thriving so well: I shall get on better, too, and go out into the warm sunshine again."
那天晚上,这个生病的孩子说:“妈妈,我相信我会好起来的!太阳今天照在这儿,又亮堂又暖和,还有这粒豆子长得真是好极了,我也会越来越好的,我要重新走到温暖的阳光下去。”
God grant it! said the mother, but she did not believe it would be so.But she propped up with the little stick the green plant, which had given her child such pleasant hopes of life, so that it might not be broken by the winds; she tied the piece of string to the window-sill and to the upper part of the frame, so that the pea-tendrils might twine round it when it shot up. And it did shoot up; indeed it might almost be seen to grow from day to day.
“愿主保佑!”母亲嘴上这么说,心里却不相信真会这样。不过她还是用一根小棍儿把这绿色的秧苗支起来,好让它不被风吹折——正是这棵秧苗,唤起了她的孩子对生命如此愉悦的希望。她在窗台上系了一根细绳,然后牵到窗框的上端去,这样豌豆秧的卷须就可以缠绕着这根细绳向上长。那棵豌豆秧的确向上长了;事实上,几乎是眼瞅着它一天天在长大。
Now really here is a flower coming, said the old woman one morning, and now at last she began to encourage the hope that her sick daughter might really recover. She remembered that for some time the child had spoken more cheerfully, and during the last few days had raised herself in bed in the morning to look with sparkling eyes at her little garden which contained only a single pea-plant.
“现在这儿真的要开出一朵花来了!”这个老妇人有天早晨说道。她现在终于开始鼓起勇气,希望她生病的女儿真的能康复。她想起这段时间以来,这孩子说话要比以前欢快,而且最近几天早上,她还能自己从床上抬起身来,睁着一双亮晶晶的眼睛,注视着她这个只有一棵豌豆秧的小花园。
A week after, the invalid sat up for the first time a whole hour, feeling quite happy by the open window in the warm sunshine, while outside grew the little plant, and on it a pink pea blossom in full bloom. The little maiden bent down and gently kissed the delicate leaves. This day was to her like a festival.
一星期以后,这个孩子第一次能坐上一整个钟头。她非常快乐地坐在敞开的窗子旁,沐浴着温暖的阳光,窗外则长着这棵小小的豌豆秧,上面盛开着一朵粉红色的豌豆花。小姑娘弯下腰,轻轻地亲吻那纤柔的叶子。对她来说,这一天简直就像在过节。
But what became of the other peas? The one who flew out into the wide world, and said, "Catch me if you can," fell into a gutter on the roof of a house, and ended his travels in the crop of a pigeon. The two lazy ones were carried quite as far, for they also were eaten by pigeons, so they were at least of some use; but the fourth, who wanted to reach the sun, fell into a sink and lay there in the dirty water for days and weeks, till he had swelled to a great size.
但是其余那几粒豌豆怎么样了呢?那粒飞向广阔世界并且还说“有本事就来追我吧”的豌豆落到了屋顶的檐槽里,最后在一只鸽子的嗉囊里结束了它的旅行。那两粒懒惰的豆子的旅程也一样短,因为它们也被鸽子吃掉了,这么看来,它们至少还算有些用处。可是那第四粒,它本来想飞到太阳那儿去,结果却掉进了阴沟,在脏水里躺了好几个星期,已经泡涨得非常大。
I am getting beautifully fat, said the pea. "I expect I shall burst at last; no pea could do more than that, I think; I am the most remarkable of all the five which were in the shell." And the sink confirmed the opinion.
“我变胖了,多美啊!”这粒豌豆说,“我猜到最后我会胀裂的; 我觉得没有哪粒豆子能胜过我了;我是豆荚里的五粒豆子中最棒 的。”而阴沟也赞同它这个观点。
But the young maiden stood at the open garret window, with sparkling eyes and the rosy hue of health on her cheeks, she folded her thin hands over the pea blossom, and thanked God for what He had done.
但是那个小女孩站在顶楼开着的窗子旁,眼睛亮晶晶的,脸颊健康红润。她将纤瘦的双手交叉着放在豌豆花上方,感谢上帝所做的一切。
I, said the sink, "shall stand up for my pea."
“我嘛,”阴沟说,“还是支持我的那粒豆子。”