The Little Peasant 小农夫(3)
文章来源:未知 文章作者:enread 发布时间:2011-06-22 01:52 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)

There was a village where all the peasants were rich except for just one poor one, whom they called the little peasant. He did not own a single cow, and had even less money to buy one with, but he and his wife would have liked to have one ever so much.

One day he said to her, "Listen, I have a good idea. Our kinsman1(男性亲戚) the cabinetmaker(家具木匠) should make us a calf2 out of wood and paint it brown so that it looks like any other calf, and with time it is sure to grow big and be a cow."

His wife liked this idea, and their kinsman the cabinetmaker skillfully put together the calf and planed it, then painted it just right. He made it with its head hanging down as if it were grazing.

When the cows were being driven out the next morning the little peasant called to the herder and said, "Look, I have a little calf here, but it is still small and has to be carried."

The herder said, "All right," and taking it in his arms he carried it to the pasture where he set it in the grass.

The little calf stood there like one that was grazing, and the herder said, "It will soon be walking by itself. Just look how it is already grazing."

That evening when he was about to drive the herd3 home again, he said to the calf, "If you can stand there and eat your fill, you can also walk on your four legs. I don´t want to carry you home again in my arms."

When the herder(牧人) drove the cows through the village the little peasant was standing4 outside his door waiting for his little calf. It was missing, and he asked where it was.

The herder answered, "It is still standing out there grazing. It would not stop and come with us."

The little peasant said, "Oh, I must have my animal back again."

Then together they went back to the pasture, but someone had stolen the calf, and it was gone.

The herder said, "It must have run away."

The little peasant said, "Don't tell me that," and he took the herder before the mayor, who condemned5 him for his carelessness, and required him to give the little peasant a cow for the lost calf.

The little peasant and his wife now had the cow that they had long wanted. They were very glad, but they had no feed for it, and could give it nothing to eat, so it soon had to be slaughtered6.

They salted the meat, and the little peasant went to town to sell the hide, hoping to buy a new calf with the proceeds.

On the way he came to a mill, and there sat a raven7 with broken wings. Out of pity he picked it up and wrapped it in the hide.

But then the weather turned very bad with a wind and rain storm. Unable to continue on his way, he returned to the mill and asked for shelter.

The miller8's wife was alone in the house, and she said to the little peasant, "You can sleep in the straw there," and she gave him a piece of bread and cheese.

The little peasant ate and then lay down with his hide at his side. The woman thought, "He is tired and has fallen asleep."

In the meantime the priest arrived. The miller's wife received him well, and said, "My husband is out, so we can have a feast."

The little peasant listened, and when he heard them talking about feasting he was angry that he had had to make do with a piece of bread and cheese. Then the woman served up four different things: a roast, salad, cake, and wine. They were just about to sit down and eat when someone knocked on the outside door.

The woman said, "Oh, God, it's my husband." She quickly hid the roast inside the tile stove, the wine under the pillow, the salad on top of the bed, the cake under the bed, and the priest in the hallway chest.

Then opening the door for her husband, she said, "Thank heaven, you are back again. That is such a storm, as if the world were coming to an end."

The miller saw the little peasant lying in the straw and asked, "What is that fellow doing there?"

"Oh," said his wife, "The poor rascal9 came in the storm and rain and asked for shelter, so I gave him a piece of bread and cheese, and let him lie in the straw."

The man said, "I have nothing against that, but hurry and get me something to eat."

His wife said, " I have nothing but bread and cheese."

"I´ll be satisfied with anything," answered her husband. "Bread and cheese will be good enough for me." Then he looked at the little peasant and said, "Come and eat some more with me."

The little peasant did not have to be asked twice, but got up and ate.

Afterward10 the miller saw the hide with the raven in it lying on the ground, and asked, "What do you have there?"

The little peasant answered, "I have a fortune-teller inside it."

"Can he predict anything for me?" said the miller.#p#分页标题#e#

"Why not?" answered the little peasant. "But he only says four things, and the fifth he keeps to himself."

The miller was curious and said, "Let him predict something."

Then the little peasant pressed against the raven´s head, so that he cawed and said, "krr, krr."

The miller said, "What did he say?"

The little peasant answered, "First of all, he says that there is some wine under the pillow."

"That would be something!" cried the miller, and went there and found the wine. "Say some more," he said.

The little peasant made the raven caw again, then said, "Secondly11, he says that there is a roast in the tile stove(火炉) ."

"That would be something!" cried the miller, and went there and found the roast.

The little peasant made the raven prophesy12 still more, and said, "Thirdly, he says that there is some salad on top of the bed."

"That would be something!" cried the miller, and went there and found the salad.

At last the little peasant pressed against the raven once more until he cawed, and said, "Fourthly, he says that there is a cake under the bed."

"That would be something!" cried the miller, and looked there and found the cake. Then the two of them sat down at the table together. But the miller's wife was frightened to death and went to bed, taking all the keys with her.

The miller would have liked very much to know the fifth thing, but the little peasant said, "First, let us eat the four things in peace, for the fifth thing is something bad."

So they ate, after which they bargained as to how much the miller would pay for the fifth prophesy, finally agreeing on three hundred talers. Then the little peasant once more pressed against the raven(乌鸦) 's head until he cawed loudly.

The miller asked, "What did he say?"

The little peasant answered, "He says that the devil is hiding out there in the hallway chest."

The miller said, "The devil must leave," and opened the outside door.

Then the woman had to give up the keys, and the little peasant unlocked the chest. The priest ran out as fast as he could, and the miller said, " I saw the black fellow with my own eyes. It was true."

The next morning at dawn the little peasant quickly made off the with the three hundred talers.

At home the little peasant gradually began to prosper13. He built a nice house, and the peasants said, "The little peasant has certainly been to the place where golden snow falls and people carry money home by the bushel(蒲式耳) ."

Then the little peasant was summoned before the mayor and ordered to tell where his wealth came from.

He answered, "I sold my cow´s hide in the town for three hundred talers."

When the peasants heard this, they too wanted to benefit from this favorable exchange. They ran home, slaughtered all their cows, and stripped off their hides in order to sell them in the town at this great profit.

The mayor, however, said, "But my maid must go first."

When she came to the buyer in the town, he did not give her more than three talers for one hide, and when the others came, he did not give them even that much, saying, "What am I to do with all these hides?"

Then the peasants were angry that the little peasant had deceived them. Wanting to take revenge against him, they accused him of fraud before the mayor. The innocent little peasant was unanimously sentenced to death, and he was to be rolled into the water in a barrel pierced with holes. He was led out, and a priest was brought who was to say a mass for his soul. The others had to step back, and when the little peasant looked at the priest he recognized the man who had been with the miller's wife.

He said to him, "I freed you from the chest. Free me from the barrel."

Just then a shepherd came by with a flock of sheep. It was the very shepherd who, as the little peasant knew, had long wanted to be mayor. Then the little peasant cried out with all his might, "No, I will not do it! Even if the whole world insists on it, I will not do it!"

Hearing this, the shepherd came up to him, and asked, "What are you up to? What is it that you will not do?"

The little peasant said, "They want to make me mayor, if I will get into the barrel, but I will not do it."

The shepherd said, "If that is all that is needed to be mayor, I would get into the barrel at once."

The little peasant said, "If you will get in, then you will be mayor."

The shepherd agreed and got in, and the little peasant nailed the top down. Then he took the shepherd's flock for himself, and drove it away. The priest went to the people and told them that the mass had been read. Then they came and rolled the barrel towards the water. As the barrel began to roll, the shepherd cried out, "I will gladly be mayor."#p#分页标题#e#

They believed that it was the little peasant who was saying this and answered, "That is what we intend, but first take a look around down there," and they rolled the barrel into the water.

After that the peasants went home, and as they were entering the village, the little peasant approached them, happily driving a flock of sheep. The astonished peasants said, "Little peasant, where are you coming from? Did you come out of the water?"

"Yes indeed," answered the little peasant. "I sank deep, deep down, until at last I reached the bottom. I pushed the bottom out of the barrel, and crawled out. There were beautiful meadows there, where many lambs were grazing. I brought this flock with me from there."

The peasants said, "Are there more there?"

"Oh, yes," he said. "More than you could use."

Then the peasants decided14 that they too would get some sheep for themselves, a flock for each one of them, but the mayor said, "I come first."

So they went to the water together, and just then in the blue sky there were some of the small fleecy clouds that are called little lambs. They were reflected in the water, and the peasants cried out, "We can already see the sheep down there on the bottom."

The mayor pushed his way to the front, saying, "I will go down first, and take a look around. If everything is all right, I shall call you." Then he jumped in.

"Plop(扑通声) ," went the water. They thought that he was calling them to come, and the whole lot of them hastily plunged15 in after him.

Then the entire village was dead, and the little peasant, as the only heir, became a rich man.



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 kinsman t2Xxq     
n.男亲属
参考例句:
  • Tracing back our genealogies,I found he was a kinsman of mine.转弯抹角算起来他算是我的一个亲戚。
  • A near friend is better than a far dwelling kinsman.近友胜过远亲。
2 calf ecLye     
n.小牛,犊,幼仔,小牛皮
参考例句:
  • The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
  • The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。
3 herd Pd8zb     
n.兽群,牧群;vt.使集中,把…赶在一起
参考例句:
  • She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
  • He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见,只是人云亦云。
4 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
5 condemned condemned     
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
  • The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。
6 slaughtered 59ed88f0d23c16f58790fb11c4a5055d     
v.屠杀,杀戮,屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 raven jAUz8     
n.渡鸟,乌鸦;adj.乌亮的
参考例句:
  • We know the raven will never leave the man's room.我们知道了乌鸦再也不会离开那个男人的房间。
  • Her charming face was framed with raven hair.她迷人的脸上垂落着乌亮的黑发。
8 miller ZD6xf     
n.磨坊主
参考例句:
  • Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
  • The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。
9 rascal mAIzd     
n.流氓;不诚实的人
参考例句:
  • If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做,我就认为他是个恶棍。
  • The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。
10 afterward fK6y3     
adv.后来;以后
参考例句:
  • Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏,然后吃饭。
  • Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来,这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。
11 secondly cjazXx     
adv.第二,其次
参考例句:
  • Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二,动脑筋提出自己的见解。
  • Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次,需要确定所作用的载荷。
12 prophesy 00Czr     
v.预言;预示
参考例句:
  • He dares to prophesy what will happen in the future.他敢预言未来将发生什么事。
  • I prophesy that he'll be back in the old job.我预言他将重操旧业。
13 prosper iRrxC     
v.成功,兴隆,昌盛;使成功,使昌隆,繁荣
参考例句:
  • With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管,公司开始兴旺起来。
  • It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。
14 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
15 plunged 06a599a54b33c9d941718dccc7739582     
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降
参考例句:
  • The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
  • She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳,从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。
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