皇帝的新装

◎ 田 甜//译

皇帝的新装

◎ 田 甜//译

The Emperor’s New Clothes

“We shall be much obliged to you.” said the impostors， and then they named the different colors and described the pattern of the pretended stuff．The old minister listened attentively to their words，in order that he might repeat them to the Emperor；and then the knaves asked for more silk and gold，saying that it was necessary to complete what they had begun．However，they put all that was given them into their knapsacks； and continued to work with as much apparent diligence as before at their empty looms．

The Emperor now sent another officer of his court to see how the men were getting on，and to ascertain whether the cloth would soon be ready．It was just the same with this gentleman as with the minister；he surveyed the looms on all sides，but could see nothing at all but the empty frames．

“Does not the stuff appear as beautiful to you，as it did to my lord the minister？”asked the impostors of the Emperor’s second ambassador；at the same time making the same gestures as before，and talking of the design and colors which were not there．

“I certainly am not stupid！”thought the messenger．“It must be，that I am not fit for my good，profitable office！That is very odd；however，no one shall know anything about it．”And accordingly he praised the stuff he could not see，and declared that he was delighted with both colors and patterns．

“Indeed，please your Imperial Majesty，”said he to his sovereign when he returned，“the cloth which the weavers are preparing is extraordinarily magnificent．”

The whole city was talking of the splendid cloth which the Emperor had ordered to be woven at his own expense．

（To be continued…）

译文

“嗯，我们听到您的话真高兴。”两个织工一起说。他们把这些稀有的色彩和花纹描述了一番，还加上些名词。这位老大臣全神贯注地听着，以便回到皇帝那里去时，可以照样背得出来。事实上他也就这样办了。

这两个骗子又要了更多的钱、丝和金子，他们说这是为了织布的需要。他们把这些东西全装进自己的腰包里，连一根线也没有放到织机上去。不过他们还是继续在空空的机架上工作。

“您看这段布美不美？”两个骗子问。他们指着一些美丽的花纹，并且作了一些解释。事实上什么花纹也没有。

过了不久，皇帝派了另一位诚实的官员去看看布是不是很快就可以织好。他的运气并不比头一位大臣的好——他看了又看，但是那两架空空的织机上什么也没有，他什么东西也看不出来。

“我并不愚蠢！”这位官员想，“这大概是因为我不配担当现在这样好的官职吧？这也真够滑稽，但是我决不能让人看出来！”因此他就把他完全没有看见的布称赞了一番，同时对他们说，他非常喜欢这些美丽的颜色和巧妙的花纹。“是的，那真是太美了。”他回去对皇帝说。

城里所有的人都在谈论这美丽的布料。

（未完待续）

注释

oblige迫使；强制

impostors骗子；冒充者

describe描述，描写

pattern图案

pretend假装，伪装

stuff东西；材料

minister部长；大臣

attentively注意地；聚精会神地

repeat重复

knaves无赖；流氓

silk丝绸

complete完成

knapsacks背包

apparent显然的；表面上的

diligence勤奋，勤勉

court法院

ascertain确定；查明

survey调查；俯视

frames框架

ambassador大使；代表

gestures手势，姿态

profitable有利可图的；赚钱的

declare宣布，声明

delight高兴；快乐

sovereign君主

magnificent高尚的；壮丽的

splendid辉煌的

woven机织织物

expense损失，代价