有人說，只有讀過《格林日童話》的童年才算是完整的。這本小書裡有王子和公主的夢幻愛情；有善良和邪惡的正面較量；有勇敢和智慧的人生啟迪……讓我們跟著快樂的咖妃貓一起在色彩斑斕、瑰麗奇幻的世界童話之園重溫我們的童年時代吧!
Cinderella
The wife of a rich man fell sick, and as she felt that her end was drawing near, she called her only daughter to her bedside and said,
“Dear child, be good, and then God will always protect you,
and I will look down on you from heaven(天堂) and be near you.”
Then she closed her eyes and died.
Every day the girl went out to her mother’s grave(墳墓), and wept(哭泣), and she did her best to be good.
When winter came the snow spread a white sheet(被子) over the mother’s grave, and when the spring sun had melted(使融化) it again, the man had taken another wife.
The woman had brought two daughters into the house with her, who were beautiful and fair(白皙的) of face, but evil(惡毒的) and black of heart.
Now began a bad time for the poor step-child.
“Is the stupid girl to sit in the living room with us?” said they.
“She who wants to eat bread must earn(賺取) it.
Let us get rid of(打發走) the servant in the kitchen, and have her do the work instead.”
They took her pretty clothes away from her, put old gray work clothes on her, and gave her wooden shoes.
“Just look at the proud princess(公主), how well dressed she is!” they cried, and laughed, and led her into the kitchen.
There she had to do hard work from morning till night, get up before sunrise(日出), carry water, light fires, cook and wash.
Besides(除...之外) this, the sisters did everything they could to hurt her—
they made fun of(嘲笑) her, and emptied her food into the ashes(灰燼), so that she was forced to sit and pick it out(挑揀) again, a little at a time.
In the evening when she had worked till she was exhausted(筋疲力盡的) she had no bed to go to, but had to sleep by the fire in the ashes.
And so she always looked dusty(佈滿灰塵的) and dirty, and they called her Cinderella.
One day the father was going to the fair(集市), and he asked his two step-daughters what he should bring back for them.
“Beautiful dresses,” said one.
“Pearls(珍珠) and jewels(寶石),” said the second.
“And you, Cinderella,” said he, “what will you have?”
“Father, break off(折斷) for me the first branch(樹枝) which knocks against your hat on your way home.”
So he bought beautiful dresses, pearls and jewels for his two step-daughters,
and on his way home, as he was riding between some trees, a small branch hit him and knocked off his hat.
Then he broke off the branch and took it with him.
When he reached home he gave his step-daughters the things which they had wished for, and to Cinderella he gave the branch from the tree.
Cinderella thanked him, went to her mother’s grave and planted the branch on it, and wept so much that the tears(眼淚) fell down on it and watered it.
And it grew and became a large and beautiful tree.
Three times a day Cinderella went and sat beneath(在...下方) it, and wept and prayed(祈禱).
Each time, a little white bird always came on the tree, and if Cinderella made a wish, the bird threw down to her what she had wished for.
One day, the King gave orders that there should be a festival lasting three days,
and to which all the beautiful young girls in the country were invited, in order that his son might choose himself a bride(新娘).
When the two step-sisters heard that they too were invited, they were delighted(高興的).
They called Cinderella and said, “Comb(梳) our hair, brush our shoes and help us put on our finest clothes, for we are going to the festival at the King’s palace.”
Cinderella obeyed(遵循), but wept, because she too would have liked to go with them to the dance, and begged(乞求) her step-mother to allow her to go.
“How could you go, Cinderella?” said she.
“You are so dusty and dirty, and still you want to go to the festival?
You have no clothes and shoes, and still you want to dance!”
As, however, Cinderella went on asking, the step-mother at last said, “I have emptied a dish of peas(豌豆) into the ashes for you.
If you have picked them out again in two hours, you shall go with us.”
Cinderella went through the back door into the garden, and called, “You tame(聽話的) pigeons(鴿子), you doves(鴿子), and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me!”
Then two white pigeons came in by the kitchen-window, and then the doves, and at last all the birds beneath the sky, came flying and crowding in(大批湧入), and landed in the ashes.
And the pigeons nodded with their heads and began pick, pick, pick, pick, and the rest began also pick, pick, pick, pick, and gathered(收集) all the good grains(顆粒) into the dish.
In less than an hour they had finished, and they all flew out again.
Then the girl took the dish to her step-mother, and was happy.
She believed that now she would be allowed to go with them to the festival.
- 今日短語 -
do one's best 盡某人最大的能力
make fun of sb. 取笑某人
break off 折斷
on one's way home 在某人回家的路上
fall down 落下來
put on 穿上
crowd in 湧進、擠進
allow to do sth. 允許做某事
- 熟詞生義 -
1. 「hard work」：這裡的hard work就是“辛苦的工作”。
原句：There she had to do hard work from morning till night…
這和work hard 是有不同的哦，因為hard work 中hard是“辛苦的”，而work hard卻是“辛苦地”，形容詞和副詞的差別大家可要注意了。
2.「empty」：這個詞是做動詞表示“把….倒空”，而不是我們常見的形容詞“空的”。
原句：...emptied her food into the ashes.
3. 「fair」: 在這裡是名詞形式，表示“集市”。而我們平時常見的是形容詞，表示“合理的、公平的”。
原句：One day the father was going to the fair…
4. 「grain」：在這裡是表示“顆粒”，不是平時的“穀物”。
原句：…gathered all the good grains into the dish.
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