聪明的老奶奶

Origin: Northern India

Arony 译

聪明的老奶奶

The Clever Old Woman

Origin: Northern India

Arony 译

Once upon a time there lived an old woman in a kingdom ruled by a beautiful queen. She had four sons but they used to fght a lot and their wives were also unkind to each other. They all lived in the same house but as they argued so much, everyone had separate kitchens. The old woman was very sad, as she wished that they would be able to live as one big happy family, helping each other. She threatened to throw them out of the house if they could not learn to live as a united family, and in order to save money she told her sons and their wives that they would only be able to use one kitchen. She hoped that this would mean that the wives would learn to live in harmony with each other. The sons were also fed up with the situation and agreed to their mother’s command.

从前，在一个由美丽的女王统治的国家里，住着一位老奶奶。她有四个儿子，但他们常常打架，他们的妻子也不能和睦相处。他们都住在同一所房子里，但由于经常争吵，他们的厨房是分开的。这位老奶奶很伤心，因为她希望他们可以像一个快乐的大家庭那样一起生活，相互扶持。她于是威胁称如果他们不学会和睦相处，就把他们都赶出去，她还对儿子和媳妇们说，为了省钱，他们只能共用一个厨房。她希望这样可以让媳妇们学会和谐相处。儿子们也厌烦了这种状况，因此都同意了母亲的要求。

As the old woman was very poor, the sons all gave their daily earnings to their mother. One day the youngest son went to find work in the city, but had no luck. He saw a dead snake when returning home that evening and sadly he picked it up in order to take something back to his mother. When the old woman asked for his earnings, he told her that he had been unable to fnd work that day and passed the dead snake to her. She1)consoled him and asked him to try again the next day. But knowing that the snake would not make a good meal for them all, she threw the dead snake onto the roof of her mud house.

老奶奶很穷，所以儿子们都把每天挣到的钱给她。一天，小儿子去城里找工作，但运气不好，没找到。他在回家的路上看到一条死蛇，他伤心地捡了起来，好歹拿点东西回去给母亲。老奶奶问他要当天收入时，他说还没找到工作并把死蛇给了母亲。她安慰他并让他明天再试试。她知道用这条蛇做菜不够一家人吃，于是把它扔到自己那土房的屋顶上。

On that same day, the queen of the kingdom went to a beautiful pond to take a bath. She removed her expensive diamond necklace and left it near the bank in the care of her maids. Suddenly, an eagle appeared overhead. The eagle was attracted to the bright shining necklace and2)swooping down, she clasped it in her claws and flew away. The maids screamed but to no avail. The queen was so upset that she made an announcement that whoever could find the lost necklace would be granted a grand prize.

就在那天，女王去了一个美丽的池塘洗澡。她把贵重的钻石项链放在岸边，让侍女们照看。突然，一只鹰出现在上空，被闪亮的项链吸引了，它飞扑下来用爪子紧紧抓住项链，然后飞走了。侍女们高声尖叫，但也无补于事。女王很伤心，她下令找到丢失项链的人将重重有赏。

After fying for a while, the eagle saw the dead snake on the old woman’s roof. Realising that the snake could be eaten while the necklace could not, she left the necklace there and took away the dead snake.

那只鹰飞了一会儿后，看到了老奶奶房顶上的死蛇。想到蛇可以吃，而项链不能吃，它就把项链放在那儿，把蛇叼走了。

The next day, the old woman went up to her roof to put some clothing to dry in the sunshine when she spotted the necklace. She understood that this was the queen’s stolen necklace and that the queen desperately wanted it back.

第二天，阳光明媚，老奶奶爬上屋顶晾衣服，她看到了那条项链。她知道那是女王被偷的项链，女王非常想找回来。

It happened that the festival of light known as3)Diwali was in two days time. At that festival, everyone lights oil lamps and candles to4)appease the Goddess of Wealth. The old woman made a plan. She went to the queen’s palace and asked the guard if she could see the queen. When the queen saw her necklace, she was very happy and promised to give the old woman a large sum of money.

恰巧两天后就是排灯节—庆祝灯光的节日。在这个节日里，所有人都会点亮煤油灯和蜡烛以安抚财富女神。老奶奶想好了计策。她来到女王的宫殿，问侍卫她能否见女王。女王看到项链后非常高兴并承诺给老奶奶一大笔财富。

But the old woman declined. Instead she said,“Thank you very much, my lady, for your offer but I am poor and won’t be able to guard this treasure. If you agree, I want that on the night of Diwali only my household should be allowed to light oil lamps, and no one else should be allowed to light their lamps.”

然而老奶奶拒绝了。她说：“我的女王，非常感谢您的赏赐，但我太穷了，没有能力看管这些财富。要是您同意，我希望在排灯节的晚上，只有我家可以点亮煤油灯，其他人都不能点灯。”

The queen was surprised at this request, but was so grateful that she granted the old woman her wish and issued instructions that only the old woman’s house would be lit at Diwali that year.

女王对她的请求感到很吃惊，但同时也很感激她。于是，她同意满足其愿望。女王下令：今年的排灯节只有老奶奶的家里可以点灯。

1) console [kən΄səʊl] v. 安慰，抚慰

2) swoop [swuːp] v. 猝然下降，飞扑

3) Diwali [diː΄wɑːlɪ] n. （印度的宗教节日）排灯节

4) appease [ə΄piːz] v. 使……满足，使……平静

The festival of Diwali came. The old woman asked all the members of her household to clean every nook and cranny of the house and decorate it with beautiful scented fowers. Everyone worked together on these tasks and, in the evening, the old woman lit lamps and candles in every part of her house.

排灯节到了。老奶奶让全家人把家里的每一个角落都打扫干净，并且摆上芬芳美丽的花儿。每个人都按吩咐一起干活，到了晚上，老奶奶在家里各处都点了灯和蜡烛。

At midnight, the Goddess of Wealth came for her annual visit. She was disappointed to see pitch darkness everywhere in the kingdom. Then she saw beautiful lights shining from the old woman’s house. As the goddess loved lights, she quickly made her way straight to the old woman’s house and knocked on the door. Hearing the knock, the old woman opened the door signalling her sons, daughtersin-law and grandchildren to welcome the goddess with fower5)garlands, perfume and sweets. This they did and the Goddess was very pleased. She asked them what they would like her to give them in return for their devotion to her.

午夜时分，财富女神来访，她每年都会来一次。看到这个国家到处漆黑一片，她非常失望。突然，她看到了老奶奶家明亮、漂亮的灯光。女神很喜欢灯光，于是径直去到老奶奶家并敲门。听到敲门声后，老奶奶示意她的儿子、媳妇和孙子、孙女用花环、香水和糖果来迎接女神。他们按要求照做，女神很高兴。她问他们想她如何回报他们的招待。

The old woman came forward and said, “We ask that you stay in our house forever so that we live in prosperity and happiness.”

老奶奶上前对她说：“我们请求您从此永远留在我们家，让我们生活富足、幸福快乐。”

The Goddess thought for a moment and said, “I am happy to stay here in your house forever but only if you all stay united, not fighting but loving each other. If anyone disobeys this condition, I will leave the house.”

女神想了一会儿，说：“我很乐意永远留在你们家，但你们一定要团结、不打架、相亲相爱，如果有任何人违背了这个规定，我就会离开这里。”

Everyone was so happy to know that the Goddess was pleased, that they all agreed to her request and, since then, all the members of the family lived in harmony, flled with love and respect for each other. The old woman was very happy as her desire for her children to live peacefully had finally been granted. And the Goddess of Wealth stayed in their house for all the coming generations.

得知女神乐意，大家都很开心，都同意了她的要求，从此这一家人生活和谐美满、相亲相爱、彼此尊重。老奶奶希望儿女们和睦相处的愿望终于实现了，她很高兴。从此，财富女神一直留在他们家里，经过了世世代代也不曾离去。

5) garland [΄ɡɑːlənd] n. 花环，花冠