英語沙龍十年合集珍藏版第三輯Old John And The Devil
Old John And The Devil
（An American Folktale）
This folktale1) comes from the South eastern United States. It takes place in the days before automobiles when everyone used horses. A blacksmith――a man who makes horseshoes and other items from metal――was at that time quite an important part of the community. Because every one needed horseshoes and pots and pans and metal tools and things like nails, which the blacksmith made, the black smith shop also became a community gathering place where neighbor met neighbor.
Once there was a blacksmith everyone called Old John. He was the only blacksmith for miles a round and since he did very good work, his shop was frequently crowded with neighbors and old friends and other shopkeepers from the village. Old John himself, however, was not a friendly person. In fact, he was considered a terrible grouch, a very mean-spirited and temperamental2) person. He was always complaining about people borrowing his tools, and sitting in his rocking chair to pass the time away in idle chatter, and tearing branches off his forsythia bush to use as whips for their horses. People generally tolerated Old John because they had to and because he was a good workman. Given that he was comparatively well off and an important member of the community, no one could understand why he was so mean.
One day when John was not very busy, a figure in a long, white robe appeared beside him as he clanged away making tools.
“Old John,” the figure said. “I have come to give you a chance to redeem yourself and save your soul. ”
Old John kept right on hammering. “You have, have you?” he said with a grin. “And who says I need redeeming3) anyway?”
“Everyone knows, ”the figure said, “you are a person of no generosity4) and a very mean spirit. ”
“Is that right？”Old John said, lifting his hammer in his visitor’s face and giving it a shake. “And just what it is you propose to do about it？”
“I am authorized, ”the figure said, “to grant you three wishes. ”
“Well, I am authorized, ”Old John said, “to tell you I don’ t believe a word of it, and if you don’t haul your behind out of here and quit bothering me with all this work to do, I’ll put you out myself. ”
“I insist I am quite serious about this, ”the figure said, “and furthermore you had best consider carefully what you wish for as your chances for going to heaven depend upon it. “
Old John just laughed. “Why I figure my chances of going to heaven are just as good as anybody’s, ”he said. “I don’ t do anything but work, eat and sleep. And kick the dogs when they get under my feet. And chase away these loafers5) that are always hanging around here. What’s wrong with that？”
The figure just shook its misty head. “What are your three wishes, Old John？I don’t have much time to spend with you. ”
Old John wiped his beard with the back of his hand. “OK, ”he said. “I’ll play along with you. My first wish is this. People are always coming in here borrowing my hammer, you know, to fix a cart wheel or something. Just when I need it, I can’t find it and have to go looking for it. Now what I wish is that anyone who tries to borrow my hammer will get stuck fast right to it and that hammer will pound them around until I say, ‘Hammer, let go.’That should stop people from borrowing my hammer all right. ”“
If that is what you wish for, that shall be granted, “the figure said, its voice sad.
“Second, ”Old John said. “I’m tired to death of people sitting in my rocking chair in the yard there. When I get tired and want to sit down with a pitcher of water, I’m always finding some lout with a pipe and his legs crossed rocking and chatting like he never did a lick of work in his life. Now I want that rocking chair to grab hold of people who sit in it and rock and spin them around and bounce them silly, until I say‘Rocking chair, stop.’And that will take care of that little problem.”
“You are wasting your chances for salvation6), Old John, ”the figure said, “but if that is what you wish, so be it. What is your last wish？You have one last chance to wish for something good. Please consider your answer. ”
“I don’t need to consider it half a second, ”Old John said. “I know exactly what I want. You see that forsythia7) bush beside the the door？Well, people are always tearing branches off that bush to use as whips for their horses. From now on when anyone tries to break a branch off that bush, I want that bush to grab them and haul them inside and whip them until they holler, and not let go or stop whipping until I say‘Bush, stop. ’”
The figure shook its head in despair. “Your wishes are granted. ”Then it disappeared.
In the days that followed, Old John had a merry time watching his customers and neighbors get pounded by the hammer, rocked and bounced by the rocking chair, and thrashed by the bush. He was delighted that his wishes had come true. He couldn’t conceal his merriment at the sight of some fellow staggering home with bumps all over his head, or another careening about with dizziness8), or someone else howling with dismay and agony as the bush ripped him up.
“That’ll teach you.”Old John told his victims as they ran off. “Maybe now I can get some work done around here.”
Of course it didn’t take people long to stop hanging around the blacksmith shop. They left Old John alone to do his work and barely even said“hello”if they had to have any dealings with him. Whenever possible, of course, people took their work to other blacksmiths, even if it meant the inconvenience of having to travel quite a long way to do so. In time, Old John just became meaner and surlier and he wasn’t even amused any more when some innocent new customer made the mistake of trying to borrow his hammer or sit in his rocking chair or break a branch from his forsythia bush.
When the time came for John to die, his soul, of course, was turned over to the Devil. And as soon as the Devil got the news, he popped over to John’s blacksmith shop. He appeared beside John just as the figure in white had done. John was, as usual, clanging away at his work.
“Your time’s up, ”the Devil said. “Let’s go. ”
“Go？”John said, astonished. “Go where？”
“Where do you think you’re going？”the Devil said. “You’re coming with me. ”
“If that’s how it must be, ”Old John said. “Just let me finish this last bit of work. Have a dipper of water ――you must be thirsty――and take a rest in my rocking chair and I’ll be right with you. ”
“I’ll give you about two minutes, ”the Devil said. He dipped some water from the bucket by the door and sat down in Old John’s rocking chair out in the sun. The rocking chair, of course, began to rock and spin and bounce and shake. It tumbled and rolled and flipped and flopped, trembled and shimmied and looped and careened. The Devil was certainly getting a wild ride. Old John had no intention of ever telling the rocking chair to stop, now that it had captured the Devil, and he cheered as the Devil got banged and bounced and tossed about. But the Devil is awfully strong, stronger than any old rocking chair, and pretty soon the rocking chair flew apart.
The Devil, staggering with dizziness, was mad as hornets. “You can’t get away with that.”he growled. “I’ll whip you all the way to Hell for such a trick.”Saying this, he grabbed the branches of Old John’s forsythia bush. The bush, of course, yanked the Devil inside and began to thrash him with all its branches. For amoment all you could see were the Devil’s feet kicking above the leaves and all you could hear was his roar of anger and dismay and pain. Old John cheered again as the bush flayed away at its captive and of course Old John had no intention of ever telling the bush to let go. But the Devil is stronger than any bush and after a time, he tumbled out onto the ground, groaning and slashed to ribbons, but angrier than ever. He was so angry his eyes flashed red and he chased Old John into the shop.
“That does it.”the Devil said. “For a trick like that I’m going to murder you on the spot and drag your soul to hell in a burlap sack.”Saying this, he grabbed Old John’s hammer.
Old John’s hammer, of course, did what it was supposed to do and began to pound the Devil all a bout his head and body. It pounded his hooves and his ears, his forehead and his nose；the hammer pounded the Devil on his horns and on his tail；it pounded his skull9) and hit him in the stomach. The hammer swung the devil around the shop and beat him everywhere, and beat him hard. But of course you can’t beat the Devil. The Devil threw himself in to the fire, which he is quite used to, being from Hell, and finally the handle of the hammer burned off and the Devil was free. He roared10) a roar of such anger that every wall in the village trembled and pots and pans fell off the shelves. People thought an earthquake had occurred.
Just then there was a swirl of white and Old John disappeared. To his astonishment, Old John found himself in heaven standing next to the figure who had given him the three wishes with which he might have saved his soul.
“But what am I doing here？”Old John asked. “I thought I was too mean to ever land in heaven.”
“Yes, but you’ve also proved mean enough to humiliate the Devil, ”the figure said. “We guess that’s worth something after all, since we’ve been trying for ages without much success. Besides, ”he said, handing John a hammer, “we need a good blacksmith up here. ”
□by Robert Abel
老 約 翰 與 魔 鬼
（一則美國民間故事）
這個故事起源于美國東南部。故事發(fā)生在汽車時代之前, 那時人們用馬做交通工具。鐵匠, 也就是制作馬蹄鐵和其他金屬用品的人, 那個時候在當(dāng)?shù)厥窍喈?dāng)重要的人物。因為人人都需要馬蹄鐵、炊事用具、金屬工具、以及釘子之類的東西, 而這些都得由鐵匠來做；鐵匠的鋪子也就成了街坊鄰里聚集會面的地方。
從前, 有一個鐵匠, 人們管他叫“老約翰”。方圓幾英里之內(nèi), 就他一個鐵匠, 又因為他活兒做得好, 他的鋪子里常常聚集著鄰居、老朋友和村里其他店鋪的老板。老約翰本人卻不是一個友善的人。事實上, 他是個有名的脾氣壞、心胸狹窄、喜怒無常的人。他總是抱怨人們借走他的工具, 坐在他的搖椅里聊大天兒混時間, 還從他的連翹樹叢里折樹枝做馬鞭。大家一般也都忍了, 不忍也不行, 因為他的手藝好；可沒有人能理解, 像他這樣一個比較富裕又是社區(qū)舉足輕重的人物, 怎么會如此小氣。
這一天, 老約翰不太忙。當(dāng)他正“叮當(dāng)叮當(dāng)”地打制工具時, 一個身著白色長袍的身影出現(xiàn)在他眼前。
“老約翰, ”人影說, “我來這兒是要給你一個機會讓你贖罪來解救你的靈魂。”
老約翰只管繼續(xù)敲敲打打地干活兒。“是嗎？”他咧嘴一樂, “誰說我需要贖罪？”
“人人都知道, ”影子說, “你這個人毫無慷慨之心, 而且心胸狹窄。”
“真的？”老約翰說著舉起錘子在來人面前揮了揮, “那你認(rèn)為該怎么辦呢？”
“我被授權(quán)給予你三個愿望, ”影子說道。
“好吧, 我也被授權(quán)告訴你你說什么我都不信, ”老約翰回敬道, “如果你不馬上給我滾開, 再打擾我干活, 我就要親手把你扔出去。”]
“我必須告訴你我并非戲言, ”影子說, “你最好認(rèn)真考慮一下你的愿望都是什么, 因為你進(jìn)入天堂的機緣將取決于此。”
老約翰大笑道：“嘿, 我倒是覺得我進(jìn)天堂的機緣和大家一樣好, 我只是干活兒、吃飯、睡覺, 踢開那些絆腳的狗, 趕走那些來閑逛的二流子。這有什么錯？”
影子搖了搖模糊不清的頭, 說道：“你的三個愿望是什么, 老約翰？我沒有時間跟你耗了。”
老約翰用手背抹了一下胡子, 說：“好吧, 我就陪你玩玩吧。我的第一個愿望是這樣的。你知道, 總是有人來借我的錘子修理大車輪子什么的。每當(dāng)我要用的時候, 錘子就不見了, 我還得去找它?，F(xiàn)在我希望, 凡想借我錘子的人都會粘在錘子上, 錘子會把他們打得團團轉(zhuǎn), 直到我說：‘錘子, 放開吧。’這該能使他們不再來借我的錘子了。”
“如果這是你的愿望, 那你將得到滿足。”影子說道, 話音里帶著憂傷。
“第二, ”第約翰說, “人們老是要坐我院子里的搖椅, 我都煩死了。我累了想坐下來喝罐水吧, 看到有那么幾個鄉(xiāng)巴佬叨著煙斗, 翹著二郎腿, 像個天生的懶蟲那樣, 沒完沒了地聊大天。現(xiàn)在我要搖椅抓住坐在里面的人, 使勁搖, 使勁轉(zhuǎn), 使勁顛, 把他們弄得暈頭轉(zhuǎn)向, 直到我說：‘搖椅, 停下吧。’這該解決這個小問題了。“
“你這是在浪費你獲救的機會, 老約翰, ”影子說, “但是如果這是你的愿望, 也只有如此了。你的最后一個愿望是什么？你還有最后一個機會可以要求一樣好東西, 請你考慮好再回答。”
“根本用不著考慮。”老約翰說, “我要什么我自己很清楚。你看見門邊的連翹樹叢了嗎？總是有人從那樹叢里折樹枝做馬鞭。從現(xiàn)在起, 誰要想折樹枝, 我要那樹叢纏住他們, 拖進(jìn)樹叢, 鞭打他們, 打得他們嗷嗷地叫, 一直不松開也不停鞭,
