The Master and His Pupil

There was once a very learned man in the north-country who knew all the languages under the sun, and who was acquainted with all the mysteries of creation. He had one big book bound in black calf and clasped with iron, and with iron corners, and chained to a table which was made fast to the floor; and when he read out of this book, he unlocked it with an iron key, and none but he read from it, for it contained all the secrets of the spiritual world.

从前，在北方乡下住着一位极有学问的人，他通晓 天下所有的语言，也熟知创世的一切奥秘。他有一本 用黑色小牛皮装订的大书，书上扣着铁扣，包着铁角， 还用铁链锁在一张钉死在地板上的桌子上；每当他要 翻阅这本书时，都要用一把铁钥匙把它打开，除他之外， 没有人能读这本书，因为书里记载着灵界的一切秘密。

It told how many angels there were in heaven, and how they marched in their ranks, and sang in their quires, and what were their several functions, and what was the name of each great angel of might. And it told of the demons, how many of them there were, and what were their several powers, and their labours, and their names, and how they might be summoned, and how tasks might be imposed on them, and how they might be chained to be as slaves to man.

书里写明了天上共有多少位天使，他们如何列队 行进，如何在唱诗班里歌唱，各自担负什么职责，每一位 大能天使又叫什么名字。书里也写明了恶魔的事情， 一共有多少个恶魔，各自有什么样的能力，从事什么样的 差事，叫什么名字，该如何召唤他们，如何差遣他们 去做事，又该如何用锁链把他们锁住，让他们像奴隶一样 为人所用。

Now the master had a pupil who was but a foolish lad, and he acted as servant to the great master, but never was he suffered to look into the black book, hardly to enter the private room.

如今这位师傅收了一个徒弟，是个愚钝的少年， 在师傅身边当仆役，可师傅从来不许他去看那本黑色的书， 甚至几乎不准他踏进那间密室。

One day the master was out, and then the lad, as curious as could be, hurried to the chamber where his master kept his wondrous apparatus for changing copper into gold, and lead into silver, and where was his mirror in which he could see all that was passing in the world, and where was the shell which when held to the ear whispered all the words that were being spoken by anyone the master desired to know about.

一天，师傅出门去了，那少年好奇心大起，便急忙 跑到师傅存放那些神奇器械的房间里，那些器械能把 铜变成金，把铅变成银；房间里还有一面镜子，透过它 能看见世间正在发生的一切事情；此外还有一只贝壳， 只要贴在耳边，就能听见师傅想要打探的任何人 所说的每一句话。

The lad tried in vain with the crucibles to turn copper and lead into gold and silver—he looked long and vainly into the mirror; smoke and clouds passed over it, but he saw nothing plain, and the shell to his ear produced only indistinct murmurings, like the breaking of distant seas on an unknown shore. “I can do nothing,” he said; “as I don't know the right words to utter, and they are locked up in yon book.”

少年用坩埚试了又试，想把铜和铅变成金子和 银子，却总是徒劳无功——他久久地盯着镜子看，也是白费工夫； 只见烟雾云气在镜面上飘过，什么也看不真切，那贝壳 贴在耳边，也只传来些含糊不清的低语，就像远海的 波涛拍打在陌生的海岸上一样。“我什么也做不成，”他说道， “因为我不知道该念什么咒语，而那些咒语都锁在那本书里。”

He looked round, and, see! the book was unfastened; the master had forgotten to lock it before he went out. The boy rushed to it, and unclosed the volume. It was written with red and black ink, and much of it he could not understand; but he put his finger on a line and spelled it through.

他四下张望，忽然一看，那本书竟然没有锁上；师傅出门时 忘了把它锁好。少年冲上前去，打开了那本书。书中 用红墨水和黑墨水写着字，其中大半他都看不明白；可他 把手指按在一行字上，一字一句地念了出来。

At once the room was darkened, and the house trembled; a clap of thunder rolled through the passage and the old room, and there stood before him a horrible, horrible form, breathing fire, and with eyes like burning lamps. It was the demon Beelzebub, whom he had called up to serve him.

顷刻间，屋子暗了下来，整座房子都震颤起来；一声 炸雷滚过走廊和那间旧屋，眼前竟站出一个骇人至极的 形体，口中喷着火焰，双眼犹如两盏燃烧的灯。那正是 恶魔别西卜，被他召唤出来听命于他。

“Set me a task!” said he, with a voice like the roaring of an iron furnace.

“给我派个差事！”那恶魔说道，声音就像铁炉里的 轰鸣一般。

The boy only trembled, and his hair stood up.

少年只是浑身发抖，头发都竖了起来。

“Set me a task, or I shall strangle thee!”

“给我派个差事，不然我就掐死你！”

But the lad could not speak. Then the evil spirit stepped towards him, and putting forth his hands touched his throat. The fingers burned his flesh. “Set me a task!”

可少年一句话也说不出来。那恶灵便朝他走近一步， 伸出手来，摸向他的喉咙。那手指一碰，便烫得他皮肉 生疼。“给我派个差事！”

“Water yon flower,” cried the boy in despair, pointing to a geranium which stood in a pot on the floor. Instantly the spirit left the room, but in another instant he returned with a barrel on his back, and poured its contents over the flower; and again and again he went and came, and poured more and more water, till the floor of the room was ankle-deep.

“去浇那边的花！”少年在绝望之中喊道，指着地板上 一盆天竺葵。那恶灵瞬间离开了房间，可片刻之后 又背着一只大桶回来了，把桶里的水统统浇在了那盆花上； 如此这般，他一趟一趟地来回，浇的水越来越多， 直到房间的地面积水已经没过了脚踝。

“Enough, enough!” gasped the lad; but the demon heeded him not; the lad didn't know the words by which to send him away, and still he fetched water.

“够了，够了！”少年喘着气喊道；可那恶魔根本不理会他； 少年不知道该念什么咒语才能把他打发走，于是他仍旧 不停地取水来浇。

It rose to the boy's knees and still more water was poured. It mounted to his waist, and Beelzebub still kept on bringing barrels full. It rose to his armpits, and he scrambled to the table-top. And now the water in the room stood up to the window and washed against the glass, and swirled around his feet on the table. It still rose; it reached his breast.

水位一直涨到少年的膝盖，可他仍在不断地灌水。 水涨到了他的腰间，别西卜依然一桶接一桶地搬水来浇。 水涨到了他的腋下，他只好爬上了桌子。这时，房间里的 水已经涨到了窗户那么高，拍打着玻璃，在桌上他的 脚边打着旋儿。水还在继续上涨；已经淹到了他的 胸口。

In vain he cried; the evil spirit would not be dismissed, and to this day he would have been pouring water, and would have drowned all Yorkshire. But the master remembered on his journey that he had not locked his book, and therefore returned, and at the moment when the water was bubbling about the pupil's chin, rushed into the room and spoke the words which cast Beelzebub back into his fiery home.

他徒劳地喊叫；那恶灵怎么也不肯被打发走， 若不是那位师傅在路上忽然想起自己没有把书锁好， 因而折了回来，只怕直到今日，恶魔还会不停地灌水， 把整个约克郡都淹没了。可就在水已经涌到徒弟下巴 边缘的那一刻，师傅冲进了房间，念出咒语，把 别西卜重新打回了他那炽热的老巢。