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LESSON 3
Mary Howitt was born in 1804, at Coleford, England. She wrote many charming stories for children in prose and verse, and also translated many from Swedish, Danish, and German authors. This story is arranged from one in a collection named “Peter Drake’s Dream, and Other Stories.” She died in 1888.
1. There were, in very ancient times, two brothers, one of whom was rich, and the other poor. Christmas was approaching, but the poor man had nothing in the house for a Christmas dinner; so he went to his brother andasked him for a triflin
gift.
2. The rich man was ill-natured, and when he heard his brother’s request he looked very surly. But as Christmas is a time when even the worst people give gifts, he took a fine ham down from the chimney, where it was
hanging to smoke, threw it at his brother, and bade him begone and never to let him see his face again.
3. The poor man thanked his brother for the ham, put it under his arm, and went his way. He had to pass through a great forest on his way home. When he had reached the thickest part of it, he saw an old man, with a long, white beard, hewing timber. “Good evening,” said he to him.
4. “Good evening,” returned the old man, raising himself up from his work, and looking at him. “That is a fine ham you are carrying.” On this, the poor man told him all about it.
5. “It is lucky for you,” said the old man, “that you have met with me. If you will take that ham into the land of the dwarfs, the entrance to which lies just under the roots of this tree, you can make a capital bargain with it; for the dwarfs are very fond of ham, and rarely get any. But mind what I say: you must not sell it for money, but demand for it the ‘old hand mill
which stands behind the door.’ When you come back, I’ll show you how to use it.”
6. The poor man thanked his new friend, who showed him the door under a stone below the roots of the tree, and by this door he entered into the land of the dwarfs. No sooner had he set his foot in it, than the dwarfs swarmed about him, attracted
by the smell of the ham. They offered him queer, old-fashioned money and gold and silver ore for it; but he refused all their tempting offers, and said that he would sell it only for the old hand mill behind the door.
7. At this, the dwarfs held up their little old hands, and looked quite perplexed
. “We can not make a bargain, it seems,” said the poor man, “so I’ll bid you all a good day.”
8. The fragrance
of the ham had by this time reached the remote parts of dwarf land. The dwarfs came flocking around in little troops, leaving their work of digging out precious ores, eager for the ham.
9. “Let him have the old mill,” said some of the newcomers; “it is quite out of order, and he don’t know how to use it. Let him have it, and we will have the ham.”
10. So the bargain was made. The poor man took the old hand mill, which was a little thing not half so large as the ham, and went back to the woods. Here the old man showed him how to use it. All this had taken up a great deal of time, and it was midnight before he reached home.
11. “Where in the world have you been?” said his wife. “Here I have been waiting and waiting, and we have no wood to make a fire, nor anything to put into the porridge pot for our Christmas supper.”
12. The house was dark and cold; but the poor man bade his wife wait and see what would happen. He placed the little hand mill on the table, and began to turn the crank. First, out there came some grand, lighted wax candles, and a fire on the hearth, and a porridge pot boiling over it, because in his mind he said they should come first. Then he ground out a tablecloth, and dishes, and spoons, and knives and forks.
13. He was himself astonished at his good luck, as you may believe; and his wife was almost beside herself with joy and astonishment. Well, they had a capital supper; and after it was eaten, they ground out of the mill every possible thing to make their house and themselves warm and comfortable. So they had a merry Christmas eve and morning.
【中文阅读】
玛丽·豪伊特，1804年生于英国科尔福德。她以诗歌和散文的形式为孩子们写下了许多动人的故事，同时还翻译了不少瑞典、丹麦和德国作家的作品。这则故事节选自《彼特·德雷克之梦和其他故事》系列丛书。她于1888年辞世。
1. 很久很久以前，有两个兄弟，其中一个很富有，另外一个很贫穷。圣诞节即将来临，穷人家里没有任何吃的可以做圣诞晚餐，于是他去找他的兄弟，希望能从他那里得到一点微不足道的小礼物。
2. 那个富人生性恶毒，当他听说了他兄弟的请求时，他看起来异常粗暴。但是由于在圣诞节时连最坏的人都要送出礼物，他便从烟囱里取下一块正在熏制的上好火腿，扔给了他的兄弟，并命令他赶快滚开，再也不要让他看见。
3. 穷人将火腿夹在胳膊下就上路了。回家路上需要穿过一大片森林，当他到达森林最深处时，看到了一位留着长长白胡须的老人正在伐木。“晚上好，”他对老人说。
4. 老人从劳作中直起腰，看着他回答道：“晚上好。” “你拿的这块火腿看起来很不错。”于是，穷人把有关火腿的事源源本本地告诉了老人。
5. 老人说：“遇到我是你运气好。如果你带着火腿去矮人国，你可以用这个跟他们大大地讨价还价一番，因为他们非常喜欢火腿，可是很难弄到。去那里的入口就在这棵树的树根下面。但是请记住我的话：你一定不能为了钱去卖火腿，而是要交换‘门后面那台老旧的手工磨粉机’。等你回来后，我会告诉你如何使用它。”
6. 老人指给他看树根下的大石头，石头下面就是通向矮人国的大门，穷人谢过了他的新朋友，顺着这个门走了进去。当他的双脚刚刚踏上矮人国的地盘，火腿的味道把矮人们全都吸引了过来，他们蜂拥而至，把他团团围住。他们想用很多奇异的古老钱币以及金银宝石来交换火腿，但他拒绝一切诱人的条件，说他只想用火腿换门后的那台老式手工磨粉机。
7. 矮人们看起来对他的这一举动感到非常困惑不解，纷纷举起他们饱经沧桑的小手。穷人说：“看来我们没法达成一致了，祝大家都有愉快的一天。”
8. 此时此刻，火腿的香气已经飘到了矮人国的深处，矮人们迫不及待地想得到火腿，全都丢下手里正在挖掘的珍贵宝石，成群结队向他簇拥过来。
9. 一些刚刚到达的矮人们说：“把那台老磨粉机给他吧，反正也不能用了，况且他也不知道怎么用。给他吧，这样火腿就归我们了。”
10. 交易就这么完成了。那台老旧的手工磨粉机非常小巧，还没有火腿的一半大。穷人拿着它回到了森林里，他的那位新朋友告诉了他如何操作。整个过程花费了很长时间，他回到家时已经是后半夜了。
11. “你到底上哪儿去了？”他妻子问道，“我在家里等啊等，既没有木头生火，也没有任何食物能下锅熬粥准备圣诞晚餐。”
12. 屋子里又黑又冷，但穷人让他妻子再等一会儿，看看会发生什么。他将那台小小的手工磨粉机放在桌上，开始转动手柄。首先出现的是一些华丽的燃烧着的蜡烛、壁炉里的火焰、一锅沸腾着要流出来的粥，因为在他脑海里，他觉得这些应该最先出现。随后他又不断地磨啊磨，出现了一块台布、一些碟子、勺子和刀叉。
13. 就像你想象的一样，连他自己都惊讶于他的好运气；他的妻子又高兴又吃惊，几乎不能自已。于是，他们享用了一顿丰盛的晚餐。用餐完毕，他们又磨出了能使他们的屋子和他们自己感到温暖舒适的各种物品。这样一来，他们度过了一个非常美妙的圣诞前夜和圣诞节清晨。