第49章 養豬人 The Swineherd(第2/9 頁)

r caskets, and sent to her.

皇帝讓人把它們帶進一個大廳，公主正在那裡和宮廷裡的貴婦們玩 “串門” 的遊戲；當她看到裝著禮物的盒子時，高興得拍起手來。

the Emperor had them brought into a large hall, where the princess was playing at “Visiting,” with the ladies of the court; and when she saw the casters with the presents, she clapped her hands for joy.

“啊，要是隻是一隻小貓咪就好了！” 她說；但那棵帶著美麗玫瑰的玫瑰樹映入了眼簾。

“Ah, if it were but a little pussy-cat!” said she; but the rose tree, with its beautiful rose came to view.

“哦，做得多漂亮啊！” 所有的宮廷貴婦們都說。

“oh, how prettily it is made!” said all the court ladies.

“它可不只是漂亮，” 皇帝說，“它太迷人了！”

“It is more than pretty,” said the Emperor, “it is charming!”

但是公主摸了摸它，差點就哭出來了。

but the princess touched it, and was almost ready to cry.

“呸，爸爸！” 她說。

“Fie, papa!” said she.

“這根本不是人造的，它是天然的！”

“It is not made at all, it is natural!”

“在我們發脾氣之前，先看看另一個盒子裡裝的是什麼吧。” 皇帝說。

“Let us see what is in the other casket, before we get into a bad humor,” said the Emperor.

於是夜鶯飛了出來，唱得如此動聽，一開始沒人能說出任何難聽的話來。

So the nightingale came forth and sang so delightfully that at first no one could say anything ill-humored of her.

“太棒了！太迷人了！” 貴婦人們叫道；因為她們都習慣說法語，而且一個比一個說得差。

“Superbe! charmant!” exclaimed the ladies; for they all used to chatter French, each one worse than her neighbor.

“這隻鳥讓我想起了我們已故皇后的那臺八音盒。” 一位老騎士說。

“how much the bird reminds me of the musical box that belonged to our blessed Empress,” said an old knight.