The Story of King Frost 霜王

2021-08-12安德鲁·朗格丁占罡文宋倩倩译

英语世界 2021年7期

安德鲁·朗格丁占罡文宋倩倩译

There was once upon a time a peasant-woman who had a daughter and a step-daughter. The daughter had her own way1 in everything， and whatever she did was right in her mothers eyes; but the poor step-daughter had a hard time. Let her do what she would， she was always blamed， and got small thanks for all the trouble she took; nothing was right， everything wrong; and yet， if the truth were known， the girl was worth her weight in gold2—she was so unselfish and good-hearted. But her step-mother did not like her， and the poor girls days were spent in weeping; for it was impossible to live peacefully with the woman. The wicked shrew was determined to get rid of the girl by fair means or foul3， and kept saying to her father： ‘Send her away， old man; send her away—anywhere so that my eyes shant be plagued4 any longer by the sight of her， or my ears tormented5 by the sound of her voice. Send her out into the fields， and let the cutting frost do for6 her.

In vain did the poor old father weep and implore her pity; she was firm， and he dared not gainsay7 her. So he placed his daughter in a sledge， not even daring to give her a horse-cloth8 to keep herself warm with， and drove her out on to the bare， open fields， where he kissed her and left her， driving home as fast as he could， that he might not witness her miserable death.

Deserted by her father， the poor girl sat down under a fir-tree at the edge of the forest and began to weep silently. Suddenly she heard a faint sound： it was King Frost springing from tree to tree， and cracking his fingers as he went. At length he reached the fir-tree beneath which she was sitting， and with a crisp9 crackling10 sound he alighted11 beside her， and looked at her lovely face.

‘Well， maiden， he snapped out， ‘do you know who I am？ I am King Frost， king of the red-noses.

‘All hail to you， great King！ answered the girl， in a gentle， trembling voice. ‘Have you come to take me？

‘Are you warm， maiden？ he replied.

‘Quite warm， King Frost， she answered， though she shivered as she spoke.

Then King Frost stooped down， and bent over the girl， and the crackling sound grew louder， and the air seemed to be full of knives and darts; and again he asked：

‘Maiden， are you warm？ Are you warm， you beautiful girl？

And though her breath was almost frozen on her lips， she whispered gently， ‘Quite warm， King Frost.

Then King Frost gnashed12 his teeth， and cracked his fingers， and his eyes sparkled， and the crackling， crisp sound was louder than ever， and for the last time he asked her：

‘Maiden， are you still warm？ Are you still warm， little love？

And the poor girl was so stiff and numb13 that she could just gasp， ‘Still warm， O King！

Now her gentle， courteous14 words and her uncomplaining ways touched King Frost， and he had pity on her， and he wrapped her up in furs， and covered her with blankets， and he fetched a great box， in which were beautiful jewels and a rich robe embroidered in gold and silver. And she put it on， and looked more lovely than ever， and King Frost stepped with her into his sledge， with six white horses.

In the meantime the wicked step-mother was waiting at home for news of the girls death， and preparing pancakes for the funeral feast. And she said to her husband： ‘Old man， you had better go out into the fields and find your daughters body and bury her. Just as the old man was leaving the house the little dog under the table began to bark， saying：

‘YOUR daughter shall live to be your delight; HER daughter shall die this very night.

‘Hold your tongue， you foolish beast！ scolded the woman. ‘Theres a pancake for you， but you must say：

“HER daughter shall have much silver and gold; HIS daughter is frozen quite stiff and cold.”

But the doggie ate up the pancake and barked， saying：

‘His daughter shall wear a crown on her head; Her daughter shall die unwooed， unwed.

Then the old woman tried to coax the doggie with more pancakes and to terrify it with blows， but he barked on， always repeating the same words. And suddenly the door creaked15 and flew16 open， and a great heavy chest was pushed in， and behind it came the step-daughter， radiant and beautiful， in a dress all glittering with silver and gold. For a moment the step-mothers eyes were dazzled. Then she called to her husband： ‘Old man， yoke the horses at once into the sledge， and take my daughter to the same field and leave her on the same spot exactly， and so the old man took the girl and left her beneath the same tree where he had parted from his daughter. In a few minutes King Frost came past， and， looking at the girl， he said：

‘Are you warm， maiden？

‘What a blind old fool you must be to ask such a question！ she answered angrily. ‘Cant you see that my hands and feet are nearly frozen？

Then King Frost sprang to and fro in front of her， questioning her， and getting only rude， rough words in reply， till at last he got very angry， and cracked his fingers， and gnashed his teeth， and froze her to death.

But in the hut her mother was waiting for her return， and as she grew impatient she said to her husband： ‘Get out the horses， old man， to go and fetch her home; but see that you are careful not to upset the sledge and lose the chest.

But the doggie beneath the table began to bark， saying：

‘Your daughter is frozen quite stiff and cold， and shall never have a chest full of gold.

‘Dont tell such wicked lies！ scolded the woman. ‘Theres a cake for you; now say：

“HER daughter shall marry a mighty King.”

At that moment the door flew open， and she rushed out to meet her daughter， and as she took her frozen body in her arms she too was chilled to death.

很久以前，有一位农妇。她有一个亲生女儿和一个继女。她的亲生女儿一向为所欲为，不管干什么在母亲眼里都是对的。而这个可怜的继女可就遭殃了，无论她做什么，总是遭到训斥，她所有的辛苦付出也换不来半点儿谢意。她干什么都不对，都是错的。事实上，这个姑娘像金子般宝贵——她是那样无私，那样善良！可继母不喜欢她。可怜的姑娘整日以泪洗面;与这个女人生活在一起，不可能过上安稳的日子。这个恶毒的悍妇决意不择手段地除掉继女，于是不停地对她父亲唠叨：“把她赶走，老头子，把她赶走，随便她去哪儿，省得我一看见她就眼烦，一听见她说话就耳腻。把她赶到野地里，让刺骨的冰霜要了她的命吧。”

可怜的老父亲流着泪乞求她发发善心，但无济于事。继母已铁了心，老父亲怎敢忤逆她。于是，他让女儿坐进雪橇，连一块苫马布都不敢给她御寒，就驾着雪橇把她拉到了空旷的野地里。他吻过女儿，以最快速度驱橇离她而去，如此，他可能就不用眼睁睁看着女儿悲惨地死去。

可怜的姑娘被父亲遗弃了。她坐在林边的一棵杉树下，默默地抽泣起来。突然，她听见一阵轻微的响动。原来是霜王正从树木间跳跃而过，行进时手指啪啪作响。最后，霜王跳跃到这棵杉树上，树下坐着这位姑娘。随着一阵清脆的咔嚓声，霜王降落在她身旁。他注视着姑娘迷人的面庞。

“喂，姑娘。”他厉声问道，“知道我是谁吗？我是霜王，世上的红鼻头们都是我的臣民。”

“向您致敬，伟大的霜王！”姑娘柔声答道，她的声音在颤抖，“您是要把我带走吗？”

“你暖和吗，姑娘？”他回问道。

“很暖和，霜王陛下。”她答道，可是边说边打寒战。

接着，霜王俯下身，弯腰面对着姑娘，咔嚓、咔嚓的爆裂声更大了，空气中像是布满了利刃和飞镖。他再次问道：

“姑娘，你暖和吗？你暖和吗，美丽的姑娘？”

尽管呼出的气息几乎在双唇上凝结成了冰霜，她还是温柔地低声答道：“很暖和，霜王陛下。”

接着，霜王牙齿咯咯磨，手指啪啪响，两眼放寒光，咔嚓、咔嚓的爆裂声比刚才更响了。他最后一次问姑娘：

“姑娘，你还暖和吗？还暖和吗，可爱的小姑娘？”

可怜的姑娘快冻僵了，几乎没了知觉。她艰难地喘着气，“暖和，哦，霜王！”

姑娘的回话既温柔又礼貌，而且毫不抱怨，这让霜王颇为感动。出于怜悯，他用毛皮把姑娘包裹起来，又给她披上毛毯，接着取来一个大箱子，里面尽是精美的珠宝，还有一件刺金绣银的华丽礼袍。姑娘穿上礼袍，比任何时候都要迷人。随后，霜王带着姑娘一同坐进他那架六匹白马拉的雪橇。

此时此刻，狠毒的继母正在家里一边等着继女的死讯，一边烙制丧宴面饼。她对老伴儿说道：“老头子，你最好出去一趟，到野地里找到你女儿的尸体，把她埋了吧。”老人正要出门，桌子下面的小狗叫了起来：

“让你欣，让你喜，你的女儿不会死;今夜冷，今夜寒，她的女儿要玩儿完。”

“住嘴，你这个愚蠢的畜牲！”继母骂道，“这个面饼给你，但是你必须说：

‘又有银，又有金，她的女儿变千金;硬邦邦，冰凉凉，他的女儿要冻僵。”

小狗吃完了面饼，却叫道：

“金灿灿，亮闪闪，他的女儿戴凤冠;无人求，无人娶，她的女儿迎死期。”

这个老妇人又拿出几张面饼哄诱小狗，还挥着拳头吓唬它，可小狗叫个不停，重复着同样的话。突然，“吱嘎”一声，门开了，一个又大又重的箱子被推进屋里，随后进来的正是她的继女，她身穿一袭璀璨闪耀的长裙，美丽无比、光彩照人。一时间，她的继母被照得眼花缭乱。接着，她朝老伴儿叫道：“老头子，赶紧把马套到雪橇上，拉着我女儿去那块野地，把她放在同一个地方，别搞错了！”于是老人带着继母的女儿来到野外，把她放在与自己女儿分手的那棵树下。几分钟后，霜王经过这里。他打量着眼前的姑娘，问道：

“你暖和吗，姑娘？”

“你这个又老又瞎的傻瓜，竟然问这样的问题！”继母的女儿气恼地答道，“没看见我的手脚都快冻僵了吗？”

霜王在继母的女儿面前跳来跳去，向她发问，但得到的只是既粗鲁又无礼的回答。最后，霜王大怒，他手指啪啪响，牙齿咯咯磨，冻死了继母的女儿。

可她的母亲还在家里等着她归来。她等得不耐烦了，对老伴儿说道：“驾马出去，老头子，去把她接回来。不过，你要当心，别弄翻了雪橇，丢了那箱宝贝。”

然而，桌子下面的小狗又叫了起来：

“硬邦邦，冰凉凉，你的女儿已冻僵，满箱黄金梦一场。”

“别胡说八道了！”继母呵斥道，“给你张面饼，你要说：

‘她的女儿嫁君王。”

正在这时，大门突然打开了，继母冲出去迎接女儿，可她刚一抱住女儿那冻僵的尸体，自己也即刻冻死了。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者;单位：中华女子学院）

1 have （get） ones own way随心所欲;按自己意愿行事。 2 worth ones weight in gold非常有價值的。 3 by fair means or foul千方百计，不择手段。 4 plague困扰，折磨。 5 torment折磨，使痛苦。

6 do for毁掉，杀死。 7 gainsay反驳，反对。 8 horse-cloth苫马布，马衣，马鞍毯。 9 crisp（雪、树叶等）发出脆响的。 10 crackling爆裂声，噼啪声。 11 alight降落，飞落。