Snow White and Rose Red

There was once a poor widow who lived in a lonely cottage. In front of the cottage was a garden wherein stood two rose-trees, one of which bore white and the other red roses. She had two children who were like the two rose-trees, and one was called Snow-white, and the other Rose-red. They were as good and happy, as busy and cheerful as ever two children in the world were, only Snow-white was more quiet and gentle than Rose-red. Rose-red liked better to run about in the meadows and fields seeking flowers and catching butterflies; but Snow-white sat at home with her mother, and helped her with her housework, or read to her when there was nothing to do.

从前有个穷寡妇，住在一间僻静的小屋里。屋前有一座花园，园中种着两株蔷薇树，一株开白花，一株开红花。她有两个女儿，就像这两株蔷薇树一样，一个叫白雪，另一个叫玫瑰红。她们和世上任何两个孩子一样善良快乐、勤快开朗，只不过白雪比玫瑰红更文静温柔一些。玫瑰红更喜欢在草地和田野间跑来跑去，采花捉蝶；白雪却喜欢待在家里陪着母亲，帮她做家务，没事的时候便念书给她听。

The two children were so fond of one another that they always held each other by the hand when they went out together, and when Snow-white said: ‘We will not leave each other,’ Rose-red answered: ‘Never so long as we live,’ and their mother would add: ‘What one has she must share with the other.’

这姐妹俩感情极好，一同出门时总是手牵着手，白雪说：“我们谁也不会离开谁，”玫瑰红便答道：“一辈子都不会，”母亲还会补上一句：“谁有的东西，都得分给对方一半。”

They often ran about the forest alone and gathered red berries, and no beasts did them any harm, but came close to them trustfully. The little hare would eat a cabbage-leaf out of their hands, the roe grazed by their side, the stag leapt merrily by them, and the birds sat still upon the boughs, and sang whatever they knew.

她们常常单独跑到林子里去采红色的浆果，林中的野兽从不伤害她们，反倒亲近地凑到她们跟前来。小野兔会从她们手里吃卷心菜叶子，狍子在她们身边吃草，雄鹿也欢快地在她们身旁跳跃而过，鸟儿则静静地栖在枝头，把会唱的曲子都唱给她们听。

No mishap overtook them; if they had stayed too late in the forest, and night came on, they laid themselves down near one another upon the moss, and slept until morning came, and their mother knew this and did not worry on their account.

她们从未遇上过什么灾祸；要是在林子里待得太晚，天黑了下来，她们便挨在一起躺在苔藓上，一觉睡到天亮，母亲知道这情形，也从不为她们担心。

Once when they had spent the night in the wood and the dawn had roused them, they saw a beautiful child in a shining white dress sitting near their bed. He got up and looked quite kindly at them, but said nothing and went into the forest. And when they looked round they found that they had been sleeping quite close to a precipice, and would certainly have fallen into it in the darkness if they had gone only a few paces further. And their mother told them that it must have been the angel who watches over good children.

有一回，她们在林子里过了一夜，天刚破晓把她们唤醒时，只见一个穿着闪亮白衣的美丽孩子正坐在她们床边。他站起身来，和蔼地看了她们一眼，却一言不发，便走进了树林。她们回头一看，才发觉自己竟睡在一处悬崖边上，要是黑暗中再往前走上几步，说不定就摔下去了。她们的母亲告诉她们，那一定是守护好孩子的天使。

Snow-white and Rose-red kept their mother’s little cottage so neat that it was a pleasure to look inside it. In the summer Rose-red took care of the house, and every morning laid a wreath of flowers by her mother’s bed before she awoke, in which was a rose from each tree. In the winter Snow-white lit the fire and hung the kettle on the hob. The kettle was of brass and shone like gold, so brightly was it polished.

白雪和玫瑰红把母亲的小屋收拾得整整齐齐，看着都叫人高兴。夏天里，玫瑰红操持家务，每天清晨都会在母亲醒来之前，把一个花环放在她床边，花环上各摘了一朵红蔷薇和一朵白蔷薇。冬天里，白雪便负责生火，把水壶挂在炉架上。那水壶是黄铜做的，擦得锃亮，闪着金光。

In the evening, when the snowflakes fell, the mother said: ‘Go, Snow-white, and bolt the door,’ and then they sat round the hearth, and the mother took her spectacles and read aloud out of a large book, and the two girls listened as they sat and spun. And close by them lay a lamb upon the floor, and behind them upon a perch sat a white dove with its head hidden beneath its wings.

到了晚上，雪花飘落的时候，母亲便说：“去吧，白雪，把门闩上，”接着她们便围坐在炉边，母亲戴上眼镜，大声朗读一本厚厚的书，两个女孩一边纺线，一边坐着听。她们身旁的地板上卧着一只小羊，身后的栖木上则蹲着一只白鸽，把头埋在翅膀底下。

One evening, as they were thus sitting comfortably together, someone knocked at the door as if he wished to be let in. The mother said: ‘Quick, Rose-red, open the door, it must be a traveller who is seeking shelter.’ Rose-red went and pushed back the bolt, thinking that it was a poor man, but it was not; it was a bear that stretched his broad, black head within the door.

一天晚上，她们正这样舒舒服服地围坐着，忽然有人敲门，仿佛想要进屋来。母亲说道：“快，玫瑰红，去开门，一定是个赶路的人来找地方避避。”玫瑰红过去拔开门闩，还以为来的是个可怜的穷人，可来的却不是；那是一头熊，把它那宽大的黑脑袋伸进了门里。

Rose-red screamed and sprang back, the lamb bleated, the dove fluttered, and Snow-white hid herself behind her mother’s bed. But the bear began to speak and said: ‘Do not be afraid, I will do you no harm! I am half-frozen, and only want to warm myself a little beside you.’

玫瑰红尖叫一声，往后一跳，小羊咩咩直叫，白鸽扑扇着翅膀，白雪则躲到了母亲的床后面。可那熊却开口说道：“别害怕，我不会伤害你们的！我快冻僵了，只想在你们这儿暖和暖和身子。”

‘Poor bear,’ said the mother, ‘lie down by the fire, only take care that you do not burn your coat.’ Then she cried: ‘Snow-white, Rose-red, come out, the bear will do you no harm, he means well.’ So they both came out, and by-and-by the lamb and dove came nearer, and were not afraid of him. The bear said: ‘Here, children, knock the snow out of my coat a little’; so they brought the broom and swept the bear’s hide clean; and he stretched himself by the fire and growled contentedly and comfortably.

“可怜的熊啊，”母亲说道，“到炉火边躺下吧，只是当心别把你的皮毛烧着了。”接着她又喊道：“白雪，玫瑰红，出来吧，这熊不会伤害你们的，它没有恶意。”于是姐妹俩都走了出来，渐渐地，连小羊和白鸽也靠近了它，不再害怕。那熊说道：“来吧，孩子们，替我把皮毛上的雪拍打拍打”；于是她们拿来扫帚，把熊的皮毛扫得干干净净，它便在炉火边舒展开身子，满足又惬意地咕哝着。

It was not long before they grew quite at home, and played tricks with their clumsy guest. They tugged his hair with their hands, put their feet upon his back and rolled him about, or they took a hazel-switch and beat him, and when he growled they laughed. But the bear took it all in good part, only when they were too rough he called out: ‘Leave me alive, children,

没多久她们便和这位笨拙的客人熟络起来，还跟它开起了玩笑。她们用手扯它的毛，把脚踩在它背上打滚，或者拿一根榛树枝抽打它，它一咆哮她们就笑。可那熊全都不计较，只有在她们太过分的时候，它才会喊道：“饶了我吧，孩子们，

Snow-white, Rose-red, Will you beat your wooer dead?’

白雪呀，玫瑰红， 难道要把追求者打死才罢休？”

When it was bed-time, and the others went to bed, the mother said to the bear: ‘You can lie there by the hearth, and then you will be safe from the cold and the bad weather.’ As soon as day dawned the two children let him out, and he trotted across the snow into the forest.

到了睡觉的时候，姐妹俩都上床去了，母亲便对熊说：“你就睡在炉边那儿吧，这样就不怕寒冷和坏天气了。”天一亮，姐妹俩便放它出去，它便一路小跑着穿过积雪，回到了林子里。

Henceforth the bear came every evening at the same time, laid himself down by the hearth, and let the children amuse themselves with him as much as they liked; and they got so used to him that the doors were never fastened until their black friend had arrived.

从此以后，那熊每天晚上都在同一时间到来，躺在炉边，任凭孩子们随意和它嬉闹；她们也渐渐习惯了它，甚至门都不再上闩，直等这位黑毛朋友到来才关。

When spring had come and all outside was green, the bear said one morning to Snow-white: ‘Now I must go away, and cannot come back for the whole summer.’ ‘Where are you going, then, dear bear?’ asked Snow-white. ‘I must go into the forest and guard my treasures from the wicked dwarfs. In the winter, when the earth is frozen hard, they are obliged to stay below and cannot work their way through; but now, when the sun has thawed and warmed the earth, they break through it, and come out to pry and steal; and what once gets into their hands, and in their caves, does not easily see daylight again.’

春天来临，外面万物一片翠绿，一天早晨，熊对白雪说道：“如今我得走了，整个夏天都不能回来了。”“那你要去哪儿呢，亲爱的熊？”白雪问道。“我得进林子里去，看守我的财宝，防着那些邪恶的小矮人。冬天大地冻得坚硬时，他们只能待在地底下，钻不出来；可如今太阳把大地晒化晒暖了，他们便能钻出地面，四处窥探、偷窃；凡是落到他们手里、被带进他们洞穴的东西，可就很难再见天日了。”

Snow-white was quite sorry at his departure, and as she unbolted the door for him, and the bear was hurrying out, he caught against the bolt and a piece of his hairy coat was torn off, and it seemed to Snow-white as if she had seen gold shining through it, but she was not sure about it. The bear ran away quickly, and was soon out of sight behind the trees.

白雪对它的离去十分不舍，她替它拔开门闩时，熊正急着往外冲，一下被门闩钩住，扯掉了一小片毛皮，白雪隐约觉得那毛皮下面似乎闪着金光，可她也说不准。那熊很快就跑远了，转眼便消失在树林后面，不见了踪影。

A short time afterwards the mother sent her children into the forest to get firewood. There they found a big tree which lay felled on the ground, and close by the trunk something was jumping backwards and forwards in the grass, but they could not make out what it was. When they came nearer they saw a dwarf with an old withered face and a snow-white beard a yard long. The end of the beard was caught in a crevice of the tree, and the little fellow was jumping about like a dog tied to a rope, and did not know what to do.

过了没多久，母亲便打发两个女儿到林子里去捡柴火。她们发现一棵大树倒在地上，紧挨着树干，草丛里有什么东西正跳来跳去，却看不清是什么。等她们走近了，才看清是个小矮人，脸又老又干瘪，留着一尺来长的雪白胡子。那胡子的末端卡在树干的裂缝里，这小家伙就像一只拴在绳子上的狗似的跳来跳去，不知如何是好。

He glared at the girls with his fiery red eyes and cried: ‘Why do you stand there? Can you not come here and help me?’ ‘What are you up to, little man?’ asked Rose-red. ‘You stupid, prying goose!’ answered the dwarf: ‘I was going to split the tree to get a little wood for cooking.

他用那双火红的眼睛狠狠瞪着两个姑娘，喊道：“你们干嘛站在那儿？还不快过来帮帮我？”“你在这儿干什么呢，小矮人？”玫瑰红问道。“你这个又蠢又爱多管闲事的傻鹅！”小矮人答道：“我本想把这棵树劈开，好弄点柴火做饭。

‘The little bit of food that we people get is immediately burnt up with heavy logs; we do not swallow so much as you coarse, greedy folk. I had just driven the wedge safely in, and everything was going as I wished; but the cursed wedge was too smooth and suddenly sprang out, and the tree closed so quickly that I could not pull out my beautiful white beard; so now it is tight and I cannot get away, and the silly, sleek, milk-faced things laugh! Ugh! how odious you are!’

“我们这些人吃的那点点东西，用你们那种大木头一烧就没了；我们可不像你们这些粗鲁贪吃的家伙那样能吃。我刚把楔子稳稳地打进去，一切都照我的心意进行着；可这该死的楔子太光滑了，忽然弹了出来，那树缝一下子合拢得太快，我竟没法把我这漂亮的白胡子抽出来；如今它卡得死死的，我走不了，那些傻乎乎、油光水滑、奶油脸的东西还笑话我呢！呸！你们真讨厌！”

The children tried very hard, but they could not pull the beard out, it was caught too fast. ‘I will run and fetch someone,’ said Rose-red. ‘You senseless goose!’ snarled the dwarf; ‘why should you fetch someone? You are already two too many for me; can you not think of something better?’ ‘Don’t be impatient,’ said Snow-white, ‘I will help you,’ and she pulled her scissors out of her pocket, and cut off the end of the beard.

姑娘们使出浑身力气，却怎么也拔不出那胡子，卡得太紧了。“我去叫人来，”玫瑰红说道。“你这没头脑的傻鹅！”小矮人咆哮道；“干嘛还要去叫人？你们两个已经够多余的了；就不能想个更好的法子吗？”“别急，”白雪说道，“我来帮你，”说着她从口袋里掏出剪刀，剪断了胡子的末端。

As soon as the dwarf felt himself free he laid hold of a bag which lay amongst the roots of the tree, and which was full of gold, and lifted it up, grumbling to himself: ‘Uncouth people, to cut off a piece of my fine beard. Bad luck to you!’ and then he swung the bag upon his back, and went off without even once looking at the children.

小矮人一觉得自己自由了，便立刻抓起树根间一个装满金子的口袋，提了起来，自顾自嘟囔道：“真是些没教养的家伙，竟剪掉了我这么漂亮的一截胡子。你们不得好报！”说完便把口袋甩上肩膀，头也不回地走了，连看都没看那两个孩子一眼。

Some time afterwards Snow-white and Rose-red went to catch a dish of fish. As they came near the brook they saw something like a large grasshopper jumping towards the water, as if it were going to leap in. They ran to it and found it was the dwarf. ‘Where are you going?’ said Rose-red; ‘you surely don’t want to go into the water?’ ‘I am not such a fool!’ cried the dwarf; ‘don’t you see that the accursed fish wants to pull me in?’

又过了些日子，白雪和玫瑰红去捉鱼，想弄一盘鱼来吃。她们走近小溪时，看见有个东西像只大蚱蜢似的正朝水边跳去，仿佛要跳进水里。她们跑过去一看，原来是那小矮人。“你要去哪儿？”玫瑰红问道；“你该不是想跳进水里去吧？”“我才没那么傻呢！”小矮人喊道；“你们没看见那条该死的鱼正想把我拖下水吗？”

The little man had been sitting there fishing, and unluckily the wind had tangled up his beard with the fishing-line; a moment later a big fish made a bite and the feeble creature had not strength to pull it out; the fish kept the upper hand and pulled the dwarf towards him. He held on to all the reeds and rushes, but it was of little good, for he was forced to follow the movements of the fish, and was in urgent danger of being dragged into the water.

原来这小家伙一直坐在那儿钓鱼，倒霉的是，风把他的胡子和钓鱼线缠到了一起；片刻之后，一条大鱼咬了钩，这可怜的小东西却没有力气把它拉上来；那鱼占了上风，反倒把小矮人往水里拽去。他死死抓住芦苇和灯芯草，却也无济于事，因为他被迫跟着鱼的动作走，眼看就要被拖进水里，情势十分危急。

The girls came just in time; they held him fast and tried to free his beard from the line, but all in vain, beard and line were entangled fast together. There was nothing to do but to bring out the scissors and cut the beard, whereby a small part of it was lost.

姑娘们来得正是时候；她们死死抓住他，想把他的胡子从钓鱼线上解开，却怎么也不成，胡子和鱼线缠得死死的。没有别的办法，只好又拿出剪刀，剪断了胡子，因此又损失了一小截。

When the dwarf saw that he screamed out: ‘Is that civil, you toadstool, to disfigure a man’s face? Was it not enough to clip off the end of my beard? Now you have cut off the best part of it. I cannot let myself be seen by my people. I wish you had been made to run the soles off your shoes!’ Then he took out a sack of pearls which lay in the rushes, and without another word he dragged it away and disappeared behind a stone.

小矮人一见此情此景，便尖叫道：“这算是有礼貌吗，你们这些讨厌的东西，把人的脸都给毁了？光是剪掉我胡子的末端还不够吗？如今你们又把最好的一段给剪掉了。我这下没法在同族面前露面了。真希望你们走路都走得脚底磨穿才好！”说着他从灯芯草丛中取出一袋珍珠，一句话也没多说，拖着口袋就走了，转眼消失在一块石头后面。

It happened that soon afterwards the mother sent the two children to the town to buy needles and thread, and laces and ribbons. The road led them across a heath upon which huge pieces of rock lay strewn about. There they noticed a large bird hovering in the air, flying slowly round and round above them; it sank lower and lower, and at last settled near a rock not far away. Immediately they heard a loud, piteous cry. They ran up and saw with horror that the eagle had seized their old acquaintance the dwarf, and was going to carry him off.

没过多久，母亲又打发两个女儿进城去买针线、花边和丝带。这条路要穿过一片荒原，那儿到处散落着巨大的石块。她们注意到有只大鸟正在空中盘旋，缓缓地绕着圈子飞，越飞越低，最后落在不远处的一块岩石旁。她们立刻听见一声凄厉的尖叫。她们跑上前去，惊恐地看见，那只老鹰竟抓住了她们的老相识——那个小矮人，正要把他叼走。

The children, full of pity, at once took tight hold of the little man, and pulled against the eagle so long that at last he let his booty go. As soon as the dwarf had recovered from his first fright he cried with his shrill voice: ‘Could you not have done it more carefully! You dragged at my brown coat so that it is all torn and full of holes, you clumsy creatures!’ Then he took up a sack full of precious stones, and slipped away again under the rock into his hole. The girls, who by this time were used to his ingratitude, went on their way and did their business in town.

姐妹俩满怀怜悯，立刻紧紧抓住那小矮人，和老鹰较劲了好一阵子，老鹰终于放开了它的猎物。小矮人从最初的惊吓中缓过神来，便尖声喊道：“你们就不能小心一点吗？把我的棕色外套扯得到处都是破洞，你们这两个笨手笨脚的东西！”接着他提起一袋装满宝石的口袋，又溜回了岩石下面他的洞穴里。姐妹俩这时早已习惯了他这般忘恩负义，便径自进城，办完了自己的事。

As they crossed the heath again on their way home they surprised the dwarf, who had emptied out his bag of precious stones in a clean spot, and had not thought that anyone would come there so late. The evening sun shone upon the brilliant stones; they glittered and sparkled with all colours so beautifully that the children stood still and stared at them.

她们办完事回家，再次穿过那片荒原时，正巧撞见那小矮人，他正把宝石口袋倒空在一处干净的地方，压根没料到这么晚了还会有人经过。夕阳照在那些璀璨的宝石上，它们五光十色地闪烁着，美得让两个孩子都停下脚步，呆呆地望着。

‘Why do you stand gaping there?’ cried the dwarf, and his ashen-grey face became copper-red with rage. He was still cursing when a loud growling was heard, and a black bear came trotting towards them out of the forest. The dwarf sprang up in a fright, but he could not reach his cave, for the bear was already close.

“你们站在那儿呆望什么呢？”小矮人喊道，他那灰白的脸也因愤怒而涨成了铜红色。他还在骂骂咧咧的时候，忽然听见一阵响亮的咆哮声，一只黑熊从林子里小跑着朝他们走来。小矮人吓得跳了起来，可他已经来不及跑回自己的洞穴了，因为那熊已经近在眼前。

Then in the dread of his heart he cried: ‘Dear Mr Bear, spare me, I will give you all my treasures; look, the beautiful jewels lying there! Grant me my life; what do you want with such a slender little fellow as I? you would not feel me between your teeth. Come, take these two wicked girls, they are tender morsels for you, fat as young quails; for mercy’s sake eat them!’ The bear took no heed of his words, but gave the wicked creature a single blow with his paw, and he did not move again.

于是他心里满是恐惧，喊道：“亲爱的熊先生，饶了我吧，我把我所有的财宝都给你！瞧，那儿摆着的漂亮宝石！饶我一命吧；像我这样瘦小的家伙，你要来做什么？我这点肉塞在你牙缝里都不够。来，抓住这两个坏姑娘吧，她们才是你的美味佳肴呢，肥嫩得跟小鹌鹑似的；行行好，把她们吃了吧！”那熊却对他的话置之不理，只是抬起熊掌，朝这恶毒的家伙猛地一击，他便再也不动弹了。

The girls had run away, but the bear called to them: ‘Snow-white and Rose-red, do not be afraid; wait, I will come with you.’ Then they recognized his voice and waited, and when he came up to them suddenly his bearskin fell off, and he stood there a handsome man, clothed all in gold. ‘I am a king’s son,’ he said, ‘and I was bewitched by that wicked dwarf, who had stolen my treasures; I have had to run about the forest as a savage bear until I was freed by his death. Now he has got his well-deserved punishment.’

姑娘们已经跑开了，可那熊却唤住她们：“白雪，玫瑰红，别害怕；等等我，我这就跟你们一块儿走。”她们这才认出了它的声音，便停下脚步等着，等它走近时，忽然它的熊皮脱落了下来，站在她们面前的，竟是一位英俊的男子，浑身穿金戴银。“我是一位王子，”他说道，“我被那个邪恶的小矮人施了魔法，他偷走了我的财宝；我不得不化作一头野熊，在林子里四处游荡，直到他一死，我才得以解脱。如今他总算得到了应有的惩罚。”

Snow-white was married to him, and Rose-red to his brother, and they divided between them the great treasure which the dwarf had gathered together in his cave. The old mother lived peacefully and happily with her children for many years. She took the two rose-trees with her, and they stood before her window, and every year bore the most beautiful roses, white and red.

白雪嫁给了他，玫瑰红嫁给了他的兄弟，两人把那小矮人在洞穴中聚敛的巨额财宝平分了。老母亲从此和两个女儿平静幸福地生活了许多年。她把那两株蔷薇树也一并带了去，种在她窗前，每年都开出最美丽的花朵，一株白色，一株红色。