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1、The Wicked Prince 恶毒的王子Once upon a time there was a proud and wicked prince who thought only about how he might conquer al 1 the nations of the earth and make his name a terror to al 1 mankind. He plunged forth with fire and sword; his soldiers trampled down the grain in the fields, and put the torc
2、h to the peasant* s cottage so that the red flames licked the very leaves from the trees, and the fruit hung roasted from black and charred limbs. Many a poor mother caught up her naked baby and tried to hide behind the smoking wal Is, but the soldiers followed her, and i f they found her and the ch
3、i Id, then began their devilish pleasure. Evil spirits could do no worse, but the Prince rejoiced in it all.Day by day his power increased; his name was feared by all, and fortune followed him in al 1 his deeds. From the conquered cities he carried away gold and precious treasures, until he had amas
4、sed in his capital riches such as were unequaled in any other place. Then he built superb palaces and temples and arches, and whoever saw his magnificence said, “Whal a great Prince!” Never did they think of the misery he had brought upon other lands; never did they listen to the groans and lamentat
5、ions from cities laid waste by fire.The Prince gazed upon his gold, looked at his superb buildings, and thought like the crowd, “What a great Prince!” But I must have more, much more! There is no power that can equal-much less surpass-mine!” And so he warred with his neighbors until all were defeate
6、d. The conquered kings wore chained to his chariot with chains of gold when he drove through the streets; and when he sat at table they lay at the feet of the Prince and his courtiers, eating such scraps as might be thrown to them. Now the Prince had his own statue set up in the market places and th
7、e palaces; yes, he would even have set it in the churches, on the altars, but to this the priests said, “Prince, you are great, but God is greater! We dare not obey your orders!” “Well,“ said the evil Prince, “then I shall conquer God too!* In the pride and folly of his heart he had built a splendid
8、ly constructed ship in which he could sail through the air. It was as colorful as a peacocks tail, and seemed decorated with a thousand eyes, but each eye was the barrel of a cannon. The Prince could sit in the center of the ship and, upon his touching a certain button, a thousand bullets wou 1 d st
9、ream forth, and the guns would at once be reloaded. Hundreds of strong eagles were harnessed to the ship, and so it flew away, up and up toward the sun.Far beneath lay the earth. At first its mountains and forests appeared like a plowed field, with a tuft of green peeping out here and there from the
10、 sod; then it seemed like an unrolled map, and finally it was wholly hidden in mists and clouds, as the eagles flow higher and higher.Then God sent forth a single one of His countless angels, and immediately the Prince let fly a thousand bullets at him, but they fell back like hail from the angels s
11、hining wings. Then one drop of blood-just one-fel1 from one of the angeT s white wing feathers onto the ship of the Prince. There it burned itself into it, and its weight of a thousand hundredweights of lead hurled the ship back down with terrible speed to the earth. The mighty wings of the eagles w
12、ere broken, the winds roared about the head of the Prince, and the clouds on every side, sprung from the smoke of burned cities, formed themselves into menacing shapes. Some were like mile-long crabs stretching out their huge claws toward him; others were like tumbling boulders or fire-breathing dra
13、gons. The Prince lay half dead in his ship, unti 1 i t was final ly caught in the tangled branches of a dense forest.“I will conquer God!” he said. I have sworn it; my will shall be done!Then for seven years he built other magnificent ships in which to sail through the air, and had lightning beams f
14、orged from the hardest of steels, to batter down the battlements of heaven itself. From al 1 the conquered countries he assembled vast armies which, when formed in battle array, covered mile after mile of ground.They embarked in the magni ficent ships, but as the Prince approached his own, God sent
15、forth a swarm of gnats-just one little swarm-which buzzed about the Prince, and stung his face and hands. In rage ho drew his sword, but he could cut only the empty air; he could not strike the gnats. Then he ordered that he be brought costly cloths, which were to be wrapped around him so that no gn
16、at could reach him with its sting. His orders were carried out; but one 1ittle gnat had concealed itself in the innermost covering, and now it crept into the Princes ear and stung him.11 smarted I ike f i re, and the poison rushed into his brain; he tore the clothes loose and flung them far away from him, rent his garments into rags, and danced naked before the ruggod and savage soldiers. Now they could only mock at the mad Prince who had started out to conquer God and had been himself conquered by a single little gnat!