第四个故事

fourth story

王子与公主

the prince and princess

格尔达不得不再次休息，就在她坐的地方对面，她看到一只大乌鸦跳着穿过雪地向她走来。

gerda was obliged to rest again, and just opposite the place where she sat, she saw a great crow e hopping across the snow toward her

他站着看了她一会儿，然后摇了摇头说：“呱，呱；

he stood looking at her for some time, and then he wagged his head and said, “caw, caw;

你好，你好。”

good - day, good - day”

他尽可能清楚地说出这些话，因为他想对小女孩表示友好；

he pronounced the words as plainly as he could, because he meant to be kind to the little girl;

然后他问她，在这广阔的世界里她独自一人要去哪里。

and then he asked her where she was going all alone in the wide world

格尔达非常理解 “独自一人” 这个词，也知道它包含的意义。

the word alone gerda understood very well, and knew how much it expressed

于是她把自己的生活和冒险经历的整个故事都告诉了乌鸦，还问他是否见过小凯。

so then she told the crow the whole story of her life and adventures, and asked him if he had seen little kay

乌鸦非常严肃地点了点头，说：“也许我见过 —— 可能吧。”

the crow nodded his head very gravely, and said, “perhaps i have — it may be”

“不！你真的这么认为吗？”

“no! do you think you have”

小格尔达叫道，她亲吻着乌鸦，高兴得几乎把他抱得喘不过气来。

cried little gerda, and she kissed the crow, and hugged him almost to death with joy

“轻点，轻点，” 乌鸦说。

“gently, gently,” said the crow

“我想我知道。

“i believe i know

我想可能是小凯；

i think it may be little kay;

但他现在肯定因为公主而把你忘了。”

but he has certainly forgotten you by this time for the princess”

“他和一位公主住在一起吗？”

“does he live with a princess”

格尔达问。

asked gerda

“是的，听着，” 乌鸦回答，“但说你们的语言太难了。

“yes, listen,” replied the crow, “but it is so difficult to speak your language

如果你懂乌鸦的语言，那我就能解释得更好了。

if you understand the crows’ language then i can explain it better

你懂吗？”

do you”

“不，我从没学过，” 格尔达说，“但我的祖母懂，她以前常跟我说。

“no, i have never learnt it,” said gerda, “but my grandmother understands it, and used to speak it to me

我真希望我学过。”

i wish i had learnt it”

“没关系，” 乌鸦回答；

“it does not matter,” answered the crow;

“我会尽我所能解释的，虽然解释得会很糟糕；”

“i will explain as well as i can, although it will be very badly done;”

然后他告诉了她自己所听到的事情。

and he told her what he had heard

“在我们现在所在的这个王国里，” 他说，“住着一位公主，她非常聪明，她读过世界上所有的报纸，而且也都忘了，尽管她很聪明。

“in this kingdom where we now are,” said he, “there lives a princess, who is so wonderfully clever that she has read all the newspapers in the world, and forgotten them too, although she is so clever

不久前，当她坐在她的宝座上时 —— 人们说那宝座不像通常想象的那么舒服 —— 她开始唱一首歌，这首歌的开头是这样的：