格林童話：老蘇丹(英)

　　Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

　　A farmer had a faithful dog named Sultan, who had grown old and lost all his teeth, and could no longer hold onto anything. One day the farmer was standing with his wife before the house door, and said, "Tomorrow I intend to shoot Old Sultan. He is no longer of any use."

　　His wife, who felt pity for the faithful animal, answered, "He has served us so long, and been so faithful, that we might well give him his keep."

　　"What?" said the man. "You are not very bright. He doesn't have a tooth left in his mouth, and no thief is afraid of him. He can go now. If he has served us, he has eaten well for it."

　　The poor dog, who was lying stretched out in the sun not far off, heard everything, and was sorry that tomorrow was to be his last day. He had a good friend, the wolf, and he crept out in the evening into the forest to him, and complained of the fate that awaited him.

　　"Listen, kinsman," said the wolf, "be of good cheer. I will help you out of your trouble. I have thought of something. Tomorrow, early in the morning, your master is going with his wife to make hay, and they will take their little child with them, for no one will be left behind in the house. While they are at work they lay the child behind the hedge in the shade. You lie down there too, just as if you wanted to guard it. Then I will come out of the woods, and carry off the child. You must run swiftly after me, as if you would take it away from me. I will let it fall, and you will take it back to its parents, who will think that you have rescued it, and will be far too grateful to do you any harm. On the contrary, you will be treated royally, and they will never let you want for anything again."

　　This idea pleased the dog, and it was carried out just as planned. The father screamed when he saw the wolf running across the field with his child, but when Old Sultan brought it back, he was full of joy, and stroked him and said, "Not a hair of yours shall be hurt. You shall eat free bread as long as you live."

　　And to his wife he said, "Go home at once and make Old Sultan some bread soup that he will not have to bite. And bring the pillow from my bed. I will give it to him to lie on. From then on Old Sultan was as well off as he could possibly wish.

　　Soon afterwards the wolf visited him, and was pleased that everything had succeeded so well. "But, kinsman," he said, "you will just close one eye if, when I have a chance, I carry off one of your master's fat sheep."

　　"Don't count on that," answered the dog. "I will remain true to my master. I cannot agree to that."

　　The wolf thought that this was not spoken in earnest, and he crept up in the night to take away the sheep. But the farmer, to whom the faithful Sultan had told the wolf's plan, was waiting for him and combed his hair cruelly with a flail. The wolf had to flee, but he cried out to the dog, "Just wait, you scoundrel. You'll regret this."

　　The next morning the wolf sent the boar to challenge the dog to come out into the forest and settle the affair. Old Sultan could find no one to be his second but a cat with only three legs, and as they went out together the poor cat limped along, stretching its tail upward with pain.

　　The wolf and his friend were already at the appointed place, but when they saw their enemy coming, they thought that he was bringing a saber with him, for they mistook the cat's outstretched tail for one. And when the poor animal hopped on three legs, they thought that each time it was picking up a stone to throw at them. Then they took fright. The wild boar crept into the underbrush and the wolf jumped up a tree.

　　As the dog and the cat approached, they wondered why no one was to be seen. The wild boar, however, had not been able to hide himself completely in the leaves. His ears were still sticking out. While the cat was looking cautiously about, the boar wiggled his ears, and the cat, who thought it was a mouse, jumped on it and bit down hard. The boar jumped up screaming loudly, "The guilty one is up in the tree."

　　The dog and cat looked up and saw the wolf, who was ashamed for having shown such fear, and who then made peace with the dog.

　　一個(gè)牧羊人有一條很忠誠(chéng)的狗，叫做蘇丹。蘇丹現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)老了，連牙齒也掉完了。有一天，牧羊人和他的妻子站在房屋前，牧羊人說(shuō)：「我準(zhǔn)備明天上午把老蘇丹殺掉，因?yàn)樗呀?jīng)沒(méi)有用了?！蛊拮訁s說(shuō)道：「請(qǐng)把這條可憐的狗留下吧，它為我們忠心耿耿地服務(wù)了許多年，我們應(yīng)該在它有生之年里繼續(xù)供養(yǎng)它?！鼓裂蛉朔瘩g她說(shuō)：「可我們留著它又能為我們做甚么事呢?它嘴里沒(méi)有一顆牙齒，小偷根本不會(huì)在乎他。你說(shuō)得不錯(cuò)，它的確為我們做過(guò)不少事，但那是它謀生的方式，我們也不曾虧待它呀!它現(xiàn)在這樣子，明天殺了它更好?！?/p>

　　可憐的蘇丹就躺在他們身旁不遠(yuǎn)處，它把牧羊人和他妻子的這番對(duì)話都聽(tīng)了去，想到明天就是它的末日，它非常害怕。傍晚，它去了住在森林里的好朋友狼那兒，把自己的事都告訴了它，說(shuō)他的主人準(zhǔn)備明天要將它殺死。狼聽(tīng)了說(shuō)道：「你先別慌，我給你出一個(gè)好主意。你的主人每天清晨都會(huì)帶著他們的小孩去地里干活，這你是知道的。他們干活時(shí)，就會(huì)把小孩放在籬笆下的陰涼處。明天清晨你蹲在小孩附近，做出照看小孩的樣子，我從森林里跑出來(lái)把小孩叼走，你必須裝做拚命追趕我的樣子，我也裝做驚慌的樣子扔下小孩逃走。然后你就可以把小孩帶回去了。經(jīng)過(guò)這一鬧，你的主人一定會(huì)很感激你救回了他們的孩子，他們就會(huì)留下你，繼續(xù)供養(yǎng)你了?！构贩浅Ｗ撡p這個(gè)辦法。

　　第二天清晨，它們按計(jì)劃進(jìn)行，狼剛把小孩叼走跑不多遠(yuǎn)，牧羊人和他妻子就驚慌地叫喊起來(lái)。這時(shí)候，老蘇丹跳起來(lái)奮力向狼追去，很快就追上了狼，并幫它的男主人和女主人救回了那可憐的小傢伙。看見(jiàn)小孩安然無(wú)恙，牧羊人拍了拍蘇丹的頭，說(shuō)道：「老蘇丹，你從狼口里救回了我們的孩子，我不會(huì)再殺你了，還要好好地養(yǎng)活你，給你好多吃的東西?！拐f(shuō)完又轉(zhuǎn)頭對(duì)妻子說(shuō)：「走!回家去吧，給老蘇丹做一頓好吃的，把我的舊靠墊做窩給它睡，讓它過(guò)得好一點(diǎn)?！箯倪@以后，蘇丹終於如愿以?xún)敚^(guò)上了倍受主人家青睞的生活。

　　不久，狼來(lái)向蘇丹祝賀，同時(shí)對(duì)它說(shuō)：「我的好朋友，現(xiàn)在你也該幫我個(gè)忙了，我很久沒(méi)吃過(guò)一頓飽餐了，就請(qǐng)你在我抓吃你主人的肥羊時(shí)，把頭調(diào)過(guò)去，只當(dāng)沒(méi)看見(jiàn)。」蘇丹說(shuō)：「那不行，我得忠於我的主人?！估锹?tīng)了之后，以為它不過(guò)是說(shuō)說(shuō)笑話，不會(huì)認(rèn)真對(duì)待此事的。晚上，它跑來(lái)準(zhǔn)備抓只羊美餐一頓，但蘇丹把狼的企圖告訴了主人。主人躲在羊圈的門(mén)后面，等候著狼的到來(lái)。狼來(lái)了以后，主人等它正忙著物色肥羊時(shí)，一記悶棍狠狠地打在了它的背上，連背上的毛都掉下了好大一撮，狼倉(cāng)皇逃走了。

　　挨了這一棍，狼非常氣憤，它叫蘇丹是「一個(gè)老雜種」，發(fā)誓要對(duì)它進(jìn)行報(bào)復(fù)。第二天早晨，狼派野豬來(lái)挑戰(zhàn)，要蘇丹到森林里去，以決斗的方式來(lái)解決它們之間的事。此刻，蘇丹除了主人家的一只三條腿的瘸腳貓外，再也找不到第二個(gè)幫手，它只好叫上這只貓和它一道前往。這可憐的貓跛著腿走起路來(lái)極不方便，所以就把尾巴舉起來(lái)平衡身子。

　　狼和野豬先在路上等著蘇丹，當(dāng)它們發(fā)現(xiàn)對(duì)方時(shí)，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)看見(jiàn)貓豎在空中那長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的尾巴，以為那是貓為幫助蘇丹決斗而帶來(lái)的一把刀。貓走起來(lái)一跛一跛的，它們以為貓每跛一次，就拾起了一塊石頭，是準(zhǔn)備用來(lái)向它們投擲的?？吹竭@情況，它們倆心里害怕起來(lái)，打起了退堂鼓，說(shuō)最好取消決斗為好。說(shuō)完，野豬急急忙忙地藏進(jìn)了灌木叢里，狼跳到一棵大樹(shù)上。蘇丹和貓不久就走了過(guò)來(lái)，四下一瞧，很奇怪它們?cè)趺催€沒(méi)來(lái)。然而，野豬這時(shí)還沒(méi)有把自己完全藏好，它的耳朵還露在灌木叢外面，就在它的耳朵輕輕晃動(dòng)之際，那只貓覺(jué)察到有東西在灌木叢中晃動(dòng)，以為是一只老鼠，跳起來(lái)?yè)淞松先?，又是撕咬又是抓撓。野豬受不了了，它又是跳又是叫，一邊逃跑，一邊大聲叫道：「快看樹(shù)上，那上面坐的才是你們要找的對(duì)頭?！固K丹和貓一齊向樹(shù)上望去，后見(jiàn)狼正坐在樹(shù)枝上，它們叫它是一個(gè)膽小鬼，不準(zhǔn)它下來(lái)。狼十分羞愧，就答應(yīng)和蘇凡講和，這樣它和老蘇丹又成了好朋友。