安徒生童話07THE LEAP-FROG跳高者

<p>[00:33.17]THE LEAP-FROG<br /> [00:34.88]<br /> [00:35.11]A Flea, a Grasshopper, and a Leap-frog once wanted to see which could jump<br /> [00:41.57]highest; and they invited the whole world, and everybody else besides who<br /> [00:46.20]chose to come to see the festival. Three famous jumpers were they, as<br /> [00:50.92]everyone would say, when they all met together in the room.<br /> [00:55.30]<br /> [00:55.50]"I will give my daughter to him who jumps highest," exclaimed the King; "for<br /> [01:00.69]it is not so amusing where there is no prize to jump for."<br /> [01:04.88]<br /> [01:05.12]The Flea was the first to step forward. He had exquisite manners, and bowed to<br /> [01:11.47]the company on all sides; for he had noble blood, and was, moreover,<br /> [01:16.85]accustomed to the society of man alone; and that makes a great difference.<br /> [01:22.93]<br /> [01:23.12]Then came the Grasshopper. He was considerably heavier, but he was<br /> [01:29.06]well-mannered, and wore a green uniform, which he had by right of birth; he<br /> [01:33.01]said, moreover, that he belonged to a very ancient Egyptian family, and that<br /> [01:38.06]in the house where he then was, he was thought much of. The fact was, he had<br /> [01:44.77]been just brought out of the fields, and put in a pasteboard house, three<br /> [01:49.58]stories high, all made of court-cards, with the colored side inwards; and<br /> [01:55.62]doors and windows cut out of the body of the Queen of Hearts. "I sing so<br /> [01:59.78]well," said he, "that sixteen native grasshoppers who have chirped from<br /> [02:06.22]infancy, and yet got no house built of cards to live in, grew thinner than<br /> [02:11.31]they were before for sheer vexation when they heard me."<br /> [02:15.22]<br /> [02:15.43]It was thus that the Flea and the Grasshopper gave an account of themselves,<br /> [02:20.45]and thought they were quite good enough to marry a Princess.<br /> [02:23.98]<br /> [02:24.21]The Leap-frog said nothing; but people gave it as their opinion, that he<br /> [02:29.87]therefore thought the more; and when the housedog snuffed at him with his<br /> [02:33.89]nose, he confessed the Leap-frog was of good family. The old councillor, who<br /> [02:40.45]had had three orders given him to make him hold his tongue, asserted that the<br /> [02:45.68]Leap-frog was a prophet; for that one could see on his back, if there would be<br /> [02:49.70]a severe or mild winter, and that was what one could not see even on the back<br /> [02:54.42]of the man who writes the almanac.<br /> [02:56.78]<br /> [02:56.99]"I say nothing, it is true," exclaimed the King; "but I have my own opinion,<br /> [03:03.08]notwithstanding."<br /> [03:04.52]<br /> [03:04.72]Now the trial was to take place. The Flea jumped so high that nobody could see<br /> [03:11.67]where he went to; so they all asserted he had not jumped at all; and that was<br /> [03:15.89]dishonorable.<br /> [03:17.92]<br /> [03:18.13]The Grasshopper jumped only half as high; but he leaped into the King's face,<br /> [03:23.60]who said that was ill-mannered.<br /> [03:25.71]<br /> [03:25.95]The Leap-frog stood still for a long time lost in thought; it was believed at<br /> [03:31.41]last he would not jump at all.<br /> [03:33.25]<br /> [03:33.46]"I only hope he is not unwell," said the house-dog; when, pop! he made a jump<br /> [03:40.51]all on one side into the lap of the Princess, who was sitting on a little<br /> [03:44.45]golden stool close by.<br /> [03:45.97]<br /> [03:46.22]Hereupon the King said, "There is nothing above my daughter; therefore to<br /> [03:52.51]bound up to her is the highest jump that can be made; but for this, one must<br /> [03:57.90]possess understanding, and the Leap-frog has shown that he has understanding.<br /> [04:02.98]He is brave and intellectual."<br /> [04:05.58]<br /> [04:05.81]And so he won the Princess.<br /> [04:08.76]<br /> [04:08.98]"It's all the same to me," said the Flea. "She may have the old Leap-frog, for<br /> [04:15.06]all I care. I jumped the highest; but in this world merit seldom meets its<br /> [04:19.65]reward. A fine exterior is what people look at now-a-days."<br /> [04:24.21]<br /> [04:24.45]The Flea then went into foreign service, where, it is said, he was killed.<br /> [04:30.67]<br /> [04:30.88]The Grasshopper sat without on a green bank, and reflected on worldly things;<br /> [04:37.07]and he said too, "Yes, a fine exterior is everything--a fine exterior is what<br /> [04:44.59]people care about." And then he began chirping his peculiar melancholy song,<br /> [04:50.24]from which we have taken this history; and which may, very possibly, be all<br /> [04:55.33]untrue, although it does stand here printed in black and white.<br /> [05:00.58]</p>

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