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1、国外英文文学系列 Fairy Tales of Hans Christian AndersenTitle: Fairy Tales of Hans Christian AndersenAuthor: Hans Christian Andersen A STORYIn the garden all the apple-trees were in blossom. They had hastened to bring forth flowers before they got green leaves, and in the yard all the ducklings walked up and
2、 down, and the cat too: it basked in the sun and licked the sunshine from its own paws. And when one looked at the fields, how beautifully the corn stood and how green it shone, without comparison! and there was a twittering and a fluttering of all the little birds, as if the day were a great festiv
3、al; and so it was, for it was Sunday. All the bells were ringing, and all the people went to church, looking cheerful, and dressed in their best clothes. There was a look of cheerfulness on everything. The day was so warm and beautiful that one might well have said: Gods kindness to us men is beyond
4、 all limits. But inside the church the pastor stood in the pulpit, and spoke very loudly and angrily. He said that all men were wicked, and God would punish them for their sins, and that the wicked, when they died, would be cast into hell, to burn for ever and ever. He spoke very excitedly, saying t
5、hat their evil propensities would not be destroyed, nor would the fire be extinguished, and they should never find rest. That was terrible to hear, and he said it in such a tone of conviction; he described hell to them as a miserable hole where all the refuse of the world gathers. There was no air b
6、eside the hot burning sulphur flame, and there was no ground under their feet; they, the wicked ones, sank deeper and deeper, while eternal silence surrounded them! It was dreadful to hear all that, for the preacher spoke from his heart, and all the people in the church were terrified. Meanwhile, th
7、e birds sang merrily outside, and the sun was shining so beautifully warm, it seemed as though every little flower said: God, Thy kindness towards us all is without limits. Indeed, outside it was not at all like the pastors sermon.The same evening, upon going to bed, the pastor noticed his wife sitt
8、ing there quiet and pensive.What is the matter with you? he asked her.Well, the matter with me is, she said, that I cannot collect my thoughts, and am unable to grasp the meaning of what you said to-day in churchthat there are so many wicked people, and that they should burn eternally. Alas! eternal
9、lyhow long! I am only a woman and a sinner before God, but I should not have the heart to let even the worst sinner burn for ever, and how could our Lord to do so, who is so infinitely good, and who knows how the wickedness comes from without and within? No, I am unable to imagine that, although you
10、 say so.It was autumn; the trees dropped their leaves, the earnest and severe pastor sat at the bedside of a dying person. A pious, faithful soul closed her eyes for ever; she was the pastors wife.If any one shall find rest in the grave and mercy before our Lord you shall certainly do so, said the p
11、astor. He folded her hands and read a psalm over the dead woman.She was buried; two large tears rolled over the cheeks of the earnest man, and in the parsonage it was empty and still, for its sun had set for ever. She had gone home.It was night. A cold wind swept over the pastors head; he opened his
12、 eyes, and it seemed to him as if the moon was shining into his room. It was not so, however; there was a being standing before his bed, and looking like the ghost of his deceased wife. She fixed her eyes upon him with such a kind and sad expression, just as if she wished to say something to him. Th
13、e pastor raised himself in bed and stretched his arms towards her, saying, Not even you can find eternal rest! You suffer, you best and most pious woman?The dead woman nodded her head as if to say Yes, and put her hand on her breast.And can I not obtain rest in the grave for you?Yes, was the answer.
14、And how?Give me one haironly one single hairfrom the head of the sinner for whom the fire shall never be extinguished, of the sinner whom God will condemn to eternal punishment in hell.Yes, one ought to be able to redeem you so easily, you pure, pious woman, he said.Follow me, said the dead woman. I
15、t is thus granted to us. By my side you will be able to fly wherever your thoughts wish to go. Invisible to men, we shall penetrate into their most secret chambers; but with sure hand you must find out him who is destined to eternal torture, and before the cock crows he must be found! As quickly as
16、if carried by the winged thoughts they were in the great city, and from the walls the names of the deadly sins shone in flaming letters: pride, avarice, drunkenness, wantonnessin short, the whole seven-coloured bow of sin.Yes, therein, as I believed, as I knew it, said the pastor, are living those w
17、ho are abandoned to the eternal fire. And they were standing before the magnificently illuminated gate; the broad steps were adorned with carpets and flowers, and dance music was sounding through the festive halls. A footman dressed in silk and velvet stood with a large silver-mounted rod near the e
18、ntrance.Our ball can compare favourably with the kings, he said, and turned with contempt towards the gazing crowd in the street. What he thought was sufficiently expressed in his features and movements: Miserable beggars, who are looking in, you are nothing in comparison to me.Pride, said the dead
19、woman; do you see him?The footman? asked the pastor. He is but a poor fool, and not doomed to be tortured eternally by fire!Only a fool! It sounded through the whole house of pride: they were all fools there.Then they flew within the four naked walls of the miser. Lean as a skeleton, trembling with
20、cold, and hunger, the old man was clinging with all his thoughts to his money. They saw him jump up feverishly from his miserable couch and take a loose stone out of the wall; there lay gold coins in an old stocking. They saw him anxiously feeling over an old ragged coat in which pieces of gold were
21、 sewn, and his clammy fingers trembled.He is ill! That is madnessa joyless madnessbesieged by fear and dreadful dreams!They quickly went away and came before the beds of the criminals; these unfortunate people slept side by side, in long rows. Like a ferocious animal, one of them rose out of his sle
22、ep and uttered a horrible cry, and gave his comrade a violent dig in the ribs with his pointed elbow, and this one turned round in his sleep:Be quiet, monstersleep! This happens every night!Every night! repeated the other. Yes, every night he comes and tortures me! In my violence I have done this an
23、d that. I was born with an evil mind, which has brought me hither for the second time; but if I have done wrong I suffer punishment for it. One thing, however, I have not yet confessed. When I came out a little while ago, and passed by the yard of my former master, evil thoughts rose within me when
24、I remembered this and that. I struck a match a little bit on the wall; probably it came a little too close to the thatched roof. All burnt downa great heat rose, such as sometimes overcomes me. I myself helped to rescue cattle and things, nothing alive burnt, except a flight of pigeons, which flew i
25、nto the fire, and the yard dog, of which I had not thought; one could hear him howl out of the fire, and this howling I still hear when I wish to sleep; and when I have fallen asleep, the great rough dog comes and places himself upon me, and howls, presses, and tortures me. Now listen to what I tell
26、 you! You can snore; you are snoring the whole night, and I hardly a quarter of an hour! And the blood rose to the head of the excited criminal; he threw himself upon his comrade, and beat him with his clenched fist in the face.Wicked Matz has become mad again! they said amongst themselves. The othe
27、r criminals seized him, wrestled with him, and bent him double, so that his head rested between his knees, and they tied him, so that the blood almost came out of his eyes and out of all his pores.You are killing the unfortunate man, said the pastor, and as he stretched out his hand to protect him w
28、ho already suffered too much, the scene changed. They flew through rich halls and wretched hovels; wantonness and envy, all the deadly sins, passed before them. An angel of justice read their crimes and their defence; the latter was not a brilliant one, but it was read before God, Who reads the hear
29、t, Who knows everything, the wickedness that comes from within and from without, Who is mercy and love personified. The pastors hand trembled; he dared not stretch it out, he did not venture to pull a hair out of the sinners head. And tears gushed from his eyes like a stream of mercy and love, the c
30、ooling waters of which extinguished the eternal fire of hell.Just then the cock crowed.Father of all mercy, grant Thou to her the peace that I was unable to procure for her!I have it now! said the dead woman. It was your hard words, your despair of mankind, your gloomy belief in God and His creation
31、, which drove me to you. Learn to know mankind! Even in the wicked one lives a part of Godand this extinguishes and conquers the flame of hell!The pastor felt a kiss on his lips; a gleam of light surrounded himGods bright sun shone into the room, and his wife, alive, sweet and full of love, awoke hi
32、m from a dream which God had sent him! BY THE ALMSHOUSE WINDOWNear the grass-covered rampart which encircles Copenhagen lies a great red house. Balsams and other flowers greet us from the long rows of windows in the house, whose interior is sufficiently poverty-stricken; and poor and old are the peo
33、ple who inhabit it. The building is the Warton Almshouse.Look! at the window there leans an old maid. She plucks the withered leaf from the balsam, and looks at the grass-covered rampart, on which many children are playing. What is the old maid thinking of? A whole life drama is unfolding itself bef
34、ore her inward gaze.The poor little children, how happy they arehow merrily they play and romp together! What red cheeks and what angels eyes! but they have no shoes nor stockings. They dance on the green rampart, just on the place where, according to the old story, the ground always sank in, and wh
35、ere a sportive, frolicsome child had been lured by means of flowers, toys and sweetmeats into an open grave ready dug for it, and which was afterwards closed over the child; and from that moment, the old story says, the ground gave way no longer, the mound remained firm and fast, and was quickly cov
36、ered with the green turf. The little people who now play on that spot know nothing of the old tale, else would they fancy they heard a child crying deep below the earth, and the dewdrops on each blade of grass would be to them tears of woe. Nor do they know anything of the Danish King who here, in t
37、he face of the coming foe, took an oath before all his trembling courtiers that he would hold out with the citizens of his capital, and die here in his nest; they know nothing of the men who have fought here, or of the women who from here have drenched with boiling water the enemy, clad in white, an
38、d biding in the snow to surprise the city.No! the poor little ones are playing with light, childish spirits. Play on, play on, thou little maiden! Soon the years will comeyes, those glorious years. The priestly hands have been laid on the candidates for confirmation; hand in hand they walk on the gr
39、een rampart. Thou hast a white frock on; it has cost thy mother much labor, and yet it is only cut down for thee out of an old larger dress! You will also wear a red shawl; and what if it hang too far down? People will only see how large, how very large it is. You are thinking of your dress, and of
40、the Giver of all goodso glorious is it to wander on the green rampart!And the years roll by; they have no lack of dark days, but you have your cheerful young spirit, and you have gained a friendyou know not how. You met, oh, how often! You walk together on the rampart in the fresh spring, on the hig
41、h days and holidays, when all the world come out to walk upon the ramparts, and all the bells of the church steeples seem to be singing a song of praise for the coming spring.Scarcely have the violets come forth, but there on the rampart, just opposite the beautiful Castle of Rosenberg, there is a t
42、ree bright with the first green buds. Every year this tree sends forth fresh green shoots. Alas! It is not so with the human heart! Dark mists, more in number than those that cover the northern skies, cloud the human heart. Poor child! thy friends bridal chamber is a black coffin, and thou becomest
43、an old maid. From the almshouse window, behind the balsams, thou shalt look on the merry children at play, and shalt see thine own history renewed.And that is the life drama that passes before the old maid while she looks out upon the rampart, the green, sunny rampart, where the children, with their
44、 red cheeks and bare shoeless feet, are rejoicing merrily, like the other free little birds. THE ANGELWhenever a good child dies, an angel of God comes down from heaven, takes the dead child in his arms, spreads out his great white wings, and flies with him over all the places which the child had lo
45、ved during his life. Then he gathers a large handful of flowers, which he carries up to the Almighty, that they may bloom more brightly in heaven than they do on earth. And the Almighty presses the flowers to His heart, but He kisses the flower that pleases Him best, and it receives a voice, and is
46、able to join the song of the chorus of bliss.These words were spoken by an angel of God, as he carried a dead child up to heaven, and the child listened as if in a dream. Then they passed over well-known spots, where the little one had often played, and through beautiful gardens full of lovely flowe
47、rs.Which of these shall we take with us to heaven to be transplanted there? asked the angel.Close by grew a slender, beautiful, rose-bush, but some wicked hand had broken the stem, and the half-opened rosebuds hung faded and withered on the trailing branches.Poor rose-bush! said the child, let us ta
48、ke it with us to heaven, that it may bloom above in Gods garden.The angel took up the rose-bush; then he kissed the child, and the little one half opened his eyes. The angel gathered also some beautiful flowers, as well as a few humble buttercups and hearts-ease.Now we have flowers enough, said the child; but the angel only nodded, he did not fly upward to heaven.It was night, and quite still in the great town. Here they remained, and the angel hovered over a small, narrow street, in which lay a large heap of straw, a