格林童話：霍勒大媽(中)

　　Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

　　A widow had two daughters, the one was beautiful and industrious, the other ugly and lazy. She greatly favored the ugly, lazy girl, because she was her own daughter. And the other one had to do all the work, and be the Cinderella of the house.

　　Every day the poor girl had to sit by a well, next to the highway, and spin so much that her fingers bled. Now it happened that one day the reel was completely bloody, so she dipped it in the well, to wash it off, but it dropped out of her hand and fell in. She cried, ran to her stepmother, and told her of the mishap. She scolded her so sharply, and was so merciless that she said, "Since you have let the reel fall in, you must fetch it out again."

　　Then the girl went back to the well, and did not know what to do. Terrified, she jumped into the well to get the reel. She lost her senses. And when she awoke and came to herself again, she was in a beautiful meadow where the sun was shining, and there were many thousands of flowers. She walked across this meadow and came to an oven full of bread. The bread called out, "Oh, take me out. Take me out, or I'll burn. I've been thoroughly baked for a long time." So she stepped up to it, and with a baker's peel took everything out, one loaf after the other.

　　After that she walked further and came to a tree laden with apples. "Shake me. Shake me. We apples are all ripe." cried the tree. So she shook the tree until the apples fell as though it were raining apples. When none were left in the tree, she gathered them into a pile, and then continued on her way.

　　Finally she came to a small house. An old woman was peering out from inside. She had very large teeth, which frightened the girl, and she wanted to run away. But the old woman called out to her, "Don't be afraid, dear child. Stay here with me, and if you do my housework in an orderly fashion, it will go well with you. Only you must take care to make my bed well and shake it diligently until the feathers fly, then it will snow in the world.* I am Frau Holle."

　　Because the old woman spoke so kindly to her, the girl took heart, agreed, and started in her service. The girl took care of everything to Frau Holle's satisfaction and always shook her featherbed vigorously until the feathers flew about like snowflakes. Therefore she had a good life with her: no angry words, and boiled or roast meat every day.

　　Now after she had been with Frau Holle for a time, she became sad. At first she did not know what was the matter with her, but at last she determined that it was homesickness. Even though she was many thousands of times better off here than at home, still she had a yearning to return. Finally she said to the old woman, "I have such a longing for home, and even though I am very well off here, I cannot stay longer. I must go up again to my own people."

　　Frau Holle said, "I am pleased that you long for your home again, and because you have served me so faithfully, I will take you back myself." With that she took her by the hand and led her to a large gate.

　　The gate was opened, and while the girl was standing under it, an immense rain of gold fell, and all the gold stuck to her, so that she was completely covered with it. "This is yours because you have been so industrious," said Frau Holle, and at the same time she gave her back the reel which had fallen into the well.

　　With that the gate was closed and the girl found herself above on earth, not far from her mother's house. And as she entered the yard the rooster, sitting on the well, cried: Cock-a-doodle-doo, Our golden girl is here anew.

　　Then she went inside to her mother, and as she arrived all covered with gold, she was well received, both by her mother and her sister. The girl told all that had happened to her, and when the mother heard how she had come to the great wealth, she wanted to achieve the same fortune for the other, the ugly and lazy daughter. She made her go and sit by the well and spin. And to make her reel bloody, the lazy girl pricked her fingers and shoved her hand into a thorn bush. Then she threw the reel into the well, and jumped in herself.

　　Like the other girl, she too came to the beautiful meadow and walked along the same path. When she came to the oven, the bread cried again, "Oh, take me out. Take me out, or else I'll burn. I've been thoroughly baked for a long time."

　　But the lazy girl answered, "As if I would want to get all dirty," and walked away.

　　Soon she came to the apple tree. It cried out, "Oh, shake me. Shake me. We apples are all ripe."

　　But she answered, "Oh yes, one could fall on my head," and with that she walked on.

　　When she came to Frau Holle's house, she was not afraid, because she had already heard about her large teeth, and she immediately began to work for her. On the first day she forced herself, was industrious, and obeyed Frau Holle, when she said something to her, because she was thinking about all the gold that she would give her. But on the second day she already began to be lazy, on the third day even more so, and then she didn't even want to get up in the morning. She did not make the bed for Frau Holle, the way she was supposed to, and she did not shake it until the feathers flew. Frau Holle soon became tired of this and dismissed her of her duties. This was just what the lazy girl wanted, for she thought that she would now get the rain of gold.

　　Frau Holle led her too to the gate. She stood beneath it, but instead of gold, a large kettle full of pitch spilled over her. "That is the reward for your services," said Frau Holle, and closed the gate.

　　Then the lazy girl went home, entirely covered with pitch. As soon as the rooster on the well saw her, he cried out: Cock-a-doodle-doo, Our dirty girl is here anew.

　　And the pitch stuck fast to her, and did not come off as long as she lived.

　　*Therefore in Hessen whenever it snows they say that Frau Holle is making her bed.

　　從前，有一個寡婦，膝下有兩個女兒，一個既漂亮又勤勞，而另一個則又丑又懶。寡婦卻格外疼愛又丑又懶的那一個，因為是她的親生女兒;另一個呢，不得不甚么活兒都干，成了家里名副其實的灰姑娘?？蓱z的姑娘每天必須坐到大路旁的水井邊紡線，不停地紡啊紡，一直紡到手指磨破了血。

　　有一天，紡錘全讓血給染紅了，姑娘打算用井水把它洗乾凈，不料紡錘脫了手，掉進井里。姑娘一路哭著跑到繼母跟前，對她說了這件不幸的事。繼母聽了，把姑娘臭罵了一頓，還威逼她說，除非她把紡錘從井里撈出來，不然就饒不了她。姑娘回到井邊，不知如何是好。后來，她害怕再遭繼母的斥罵，就跳進了井里。在井里，她失去了知覺，等蘇醒過來時，發(fā)現(xiàn)自己躺在一片美麗的草地上，草地沐浴著燦爛的陽光，四周環(huán)繞著萬紫千紅的花朵，各自爭妍斗艷。她站起身來，向草地的前方走去，在一座烤爐旁停下了腳步，發(fā)現(xiàn)烤爐里裝滿了麵包。

　　麵包對她說：「快把我取出來，快把我取出來，不然，我就要被烤焦啦。我在里面已經(jīng)被烤了很久很久啦?！?/p>

　　姑娘走上前去，拿起麵包鏟，把麵包一個接一個地全取了出來。隨后，她繼續(xù)往前走，來到一棵果實纍纍的蘋果樹下，果樹沖她大喊大叫：「搖一搖我啊，搖一搖我啊，滿樹的蘋果全都熟透啦?！?/p>

　　於是，姑娘用力搖動果樹，蘋果雨點般紛紛落下，直到樹上一個也不剩了，她才停下來;接著她又把蘋果一個個撿起來堆放在一起，然后又繼續(xù)往前走。

　　最后，姑娘來到一幢小房子前，只見一個老太太在窗前望著她。老太太青面獠牙，姑娘一見心驚膽戰(zhàn)，打算趕快逃走。誰知老太太大聲嚷嚷起來：「親愛的，你干嘛害怕呢?就留在我這兒吧!要是你愿意在這兒好好干家務活兒，我保你過得舒舒服服的。你千萬要當心，一定要整理好我的床鋪，使勁兒抖我的床墊，要抖得羽絨四處飄飛，這樣世界上就下雪了。我是霍勒大媽?！?/p>

　　老太太說這番話時，和顏悅色，姑娘於是鼓起勇氣，答應留下來替她做家務事。她盡力做好每件事情，使老太太心滿意足。抖床墊時，她使出全身力氣，抖得羽絨像雪花兒似的四處飄飛。因此，老太太對她也很好，使她生活得挺舒適，每天盤中有肉，要么是燉的，要么是燒的。

　　就這樣過了一段時間之后，姑娘漸漸變得憂心忡忡起來，一開始她自己也不明白是怎么回事，后來終於明白了，原來是想家啦。在霍勒大媽家里的生活比起在繼母家里的生活，真是一個天上，一個地下，可盡管這樣，她依然歸心似箭。最后，她對霍勒大媽吐露了自己的心事：「我現(xiàn)在很想家。在這下面，我事事稱心如意，可我再也呆不下去了，我得回到上面的親人身邊。」

　　霍勒大媽聽后回答說：「你想回到家人身邊，我聽了很高興。你在我這兒做事盡心盡力，我很滿意，那么我就親自送你上去吧。」

　　說罷，霍勒大媽牽著姑娘的手，領(lǐng)著她來到一扇大門前。大門洞開，姑娘剛剛站到門下，一粒粒的金子就像雨點般落在她身上，而且都牢牢地粘附在她衣服上，結(jié)果她渾身上下全是金子。

　　「你一直很勤勞，這是你應得的回報。」霍勒大媽對她說，說著又把她掉進井里的紡錘還給了她。

　　忽然，大門砰的一聲就關(guān)上了，姑娘又回到了上面的世界，她就站在她繼母家的附近。她走進院子的時候，蹲在轆轤上的大公雞咯咯地叫了起來：

　　「咯……咯……咯……咯……，咱們的金姑娘回來啰!」

　　她走進繼母的房間，因為渾身上下粘滿了金子，繼母和妹妹親熱地接待了她。

　　姑娘跟他們講述了自己驚心動魄的經(jīng)歷。繼母聽完了她獲得這么多金子的過程，就打算讓她那個又丑又懶的女兒也享有這么多的金子，於是她把這個女兒打發(fā)到井邊去紡線。為了使紡錘染上血污，這個姑娘就把手伸進刺籬笆里，將自己的手指扎破。然后，她把紡錘投入井里，自己也隨即跳了進去。

　　在井里，她像姐姐一樣，先是來到一片美麗的草地，然后順著同一條小路往前走去。她走到烤爐前時，麵包沖著她大聲叫喊：「快把我取出來，快把我取出來，不然我就要被烤焦啦?！箍蛇@個懶惰的姑娘聽了卻回答說：「謝謝，我才不想弄髒我的手?！拐f完繼續(xù)往前趕路。

　　不大一會兒，她便來到蘋果樹下，果樹跟上次一樣喊叫著：「搖一搖我啊，搖一搖我啊，滿樹的蘋果全都熟透啦?！?/p>

　　她回答道：「當然可以呀，可蘋果落下來會砸著我的腦袋?！拐f完繼續(xù)趕路。

　　來到霍勒大媽的小房子前時，因為她聽姐姐說過老太太青面獠牙，所以見了面一點兒也不感到害怕。第一天，丑姑娘心里始終惦記著作為獎賞的金子，所以強打起精神，裝成很勤快的樣子，而且事事都照著老太太的意愿來做?？傻搅说诙欤蛻衅饋砹?第三天呢，她懶得更加不像話，早上甚至賴在床上不想起來，連整理好霍勒大媽的床鋪這件事也給忘記了，更不用說抖床墊，抖得羽絨四處飄飛了。幾天下來，老太太已經(jīng)受夠了，就預先告訴她，她被解雇了。懶姑娘一聽，滿心歡喜，心里想道：「該下金雨啦!」

　　霍勒大媽領(lǐng)著她來到那扇大門前，可當她站到門下時，非但沒有金子落下來，劈頭蓋臉地潑了她一身的卻是一大鍋瀝青?！高@就是你應得的回報?！够衾沾髬寣λf，說完便關(guān)上了大門。

　　懶姑娘就這樣回到了家里，渾身上下糊滿了瀝青。蹲在轆轤上的大公雞看見了她就咯咯地叫了起來：

　　「咯……咯……咯……咯……，咱們的髒姑娘回來啰!」

　　懶姑娘身上的瀝青粘得很牢，無論怎樣沖洗也無濟於事，她只好就這樣一輩子啦。