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LESSON 4
1. When the people went by the house to church, the next day, they could hardly believe their eyes. There was glass in the windows instead of a wooden shutter, and the poor man and his wife, dressed in nice new clothes, were seen devoutly
kneeling in the church.
2. “There is something very strange in all this,” said everyone. “Something very strange indeed,” said the rich man, when three days afterwards he received an invitation from his once poor brother to a grand feast. And what a feast it was! The table was covered with a cloth as white as snow, and the dishes were all of silver or gold. The rich man could not, in his great house, and with all his wealth, set out such a table.
3. “Where did you get all these things?” exclaimed he. His brother told him all about the bargain he had made with the dwarfs, and putting the mill on the table, ground out boots and shoes, coats and cloaks, stockings, gowns, and blankets, and bade his wife give them to the poor people that had gathered about the house to get a sight of the grand feast the poor brother had made for the rich one.
4. The rich man was very envious of his brother’s good fortune, and wanted to borrow the mill, intending—for he was not an honest man—never to return it again. His brother would not lend it, for the old man with the white beard had told him never to sell or lend it to anyone.
5. Some years went on, and, at last, the possessor of the mill built himself agrand castle on a rock by the sea, facing the west. Its windows, reflectin
the golden sunset, could be seen far out from the shore. It became a noted landmark
for sailors. Strangers from foreign parts often came to see this castle and the wonderful mill of which the most extraordinary
tales were told.
6. At length, a great foreign merchant came, and when he had seen the mill, inquired whether it would grind salt. Being told that it would, he wanted to buy it; for he traded in salt, and thought that if he owned it he could supply all his customers without taking long and dangerous voyages.
7. The man would not sell it, of course. He was so rich now that he did not want to use it for himself; but every Christmas he ground out food and clothes and coal for the poor, and nice presents for the little children. So he rejected all the offers of the rich merchant. The merchant, however, determined to have it; he bribed one of the man’s servants to let him go into the castle at night, and he stole the mill and sailed away with it in triumph.
8. He had scarcely got out to sea, before he determined to set the mill to work. “Now, mill, grind salt,” said he; “grind salt with all your might!—salt, salt, and nothing but salt!” The mill began to grind and the sailors to fill the sacks; but these were soon full, and in spite of all that could be done, it began to fill the ship
9. The dishonest merchant was now very much frightened. What was to be done? The mill would not stop grinding; and at last the ship was overloaded, and down it went, making a great whirlpool
where it sank. The ship soon went to pieces; but the mill stands on the bottom of the sea, and keeps grinding out “salt, salt, nothing but salt!” That is the reason, say the peasants
of Denmark and Norway, why the sea is salt.
EXERCISES.—How did the poor man find the way to the land of the dwarfs? Do you think the old man wouldhave told him if the poor man had not been so polite? How did the poor man treat his rich brother in return for his unkindness? How was the greed of the dishonest merchant punished? What is meant by “strangers from foreign parts”? Where are Denmark and Norway?
【中文阅读】
1. 第二天，当人们去教堂路过他家时，他们简直不敢相信自己的眼睛。他家窗户上不再是木头窗板，而是装上了玻璃。人们看到那个穷人和他妻子穿着 体面的新衣服跪在教堂祈祷。
2. 每个人都说：“这其中肯定发生了非常奇怪的事。”“的确有奇怪的事发生，”有钱人说道。之后第三天，他接到了那位曾经一贫如洗的兄弟发来的请柬，邀请他去享用一顿盛宴。那是怎样的一个盛宴啊！餐桌上铺着雪白雪白的桌布，餐具不是金的就是银的。即便是在有钱人的大房子里，倾其所有，也准备不出这样一张餐桌。
3. “你是从哪里弄到这些东西的？”他大叫道。他兄弟源源本本地告诉了他和矮人们做的交易的事，并把磨粉机放在桌子上转，转出了靴子和鞋子，衣服和披风，还有长袜、女士长袍和毯子。穷人让妻子把这些东西分给那些围观的穷人们，他们聚集在房子周围，想来看看穷兄弟为有钱人准备的大餐。
4. 有钱人非常嫉妒他兄弟的好运气，想要借走磨粉机——由于他是一个不讲诚信的人，他根本没打算归还。他的兄弟没有答应，因为白胡子老者曾经告诫他不要把磨粉机借给或卖给任何人。
5. 许多年过去了，磨粉机的拥有者终于为他自己建造了一座很大的城堡。它坐落在紧临海边的岩石上，朝向西方。每当夕阳西下的时候，窗户上便会反射上金色的余晖，从距离海边很远的地方就能看到，这也就成了水手们眼中的显著标志物。通常有很多外乡的陌生人慕名而来，就是想看看这座城堡以及这台出现在最不同寻常的传说故事中的磨粉机。
6. 终于有一天，一位外国富商来到这里。当他看到磨粉机时，询问它是否能够用来出盐。得到肯定答复后，他想要买下它。因为他从事的是盐业贸易，想着如果拥有了这台机器，他不用冒着危险远渡涉水就能为顾客供应食盐了。
7. 磨粉机的所有者当然不会卖掉它。他现在家境富裕，根本不想为了自己的利益去使用它了，而是在每年圣诞节时用它为穷人们磨出衣服和煤火，为小孩子们磨出漂亮的礼物。因此，他拒绝了富商的一切出价。但富商一心想得到磨粉机，于是他贿赂了富人身边的一名侍从，在夜间放他进入了城堡。他真的偷到了磨粉机，带着胜利的喜悦乘船离去。
8. 他坐的船刚到海上，他就打算开始让磨粉机工作了。“磨粉机，现在出盐，”他说，“开足马力出盐喽！——盐、盐、除了盐还是盐！”磨粉机开始不停地出盐，水手们则把盐都装进了麻袋；这些袋子不一会儿就全装满了，尽管所有能做的都做了，但盐还是把整艘船全装满了。
9. 这个不诚实的富商现在开始感觉非常害怕了。还能做些什么呢？磨粉机不停地出盐，最后船变得极度超重，整个翻了过去，船沉没时掀起了巨大的旋涡。不一会儿，船身四分五裂，但磨粉机留在了深深的海底，还在不停地出着盐。“盐、盐、除了盐还是盐”，丹麦和挪威的农民常说，海水为什么是咸的，这就是原因所在。