Briar Rose

A king and queen once upon a time reigned in a country a great way off, where there were in those days fairies. Now this king and queen had plenty of money, and plenty of fine clothes to wear, and plenty of good things to eat and drink, and a coach to ride out in every day: but though they had been married many years they had no children, and this grieved them very much indeed.

从前在一个遥远的国度，有一位国王和一位王后统治着国家，那个年代还有仙女存在。这位国王和王后有的是钱财，有的是华服可穿，有的是美味佳肴可享用，还有一辆马车每天可供他们出游；可他们结婚多年，却始终没有孩子，这让他们十分伤心。

But one day as the queen was walking by the side of the river, at the bottom of the garden, she saw a poor little fish, that had thrown itself out of the water, and lay gasping and nearly dead on the bank. Then the queen took pity on the little fish, and threw it back again into the river; and before it swam away it lifted its head out of the water and said, ‘I know what your wish is, and it shall be fulfilled, in return for your kindness to me—you will soon have a daughter.’

有一天，王后正沿着花园尽头的河边散步，忽然瞧见一条可怜的小鱼，正跃出水面，躺在岸边喘着气，奄奄一息。王后心生怜悯，便把小鱼重新扔回了河里；那小鱼游走之前，把头探出水面说道：“我知道你的心愿是什么，为了报答你对我的善意，你的心愿这就要实现了——你很快就会有个女儿。”

What the little fish had foretold soon came to pass; and the queen had a little girl, so very beautiful that the king could not cease looking on it for joy, and said he would hold a great feast and make merry, and show the child to all the land. So he asked his kinsmen, and nobles, and friends, and neighbours. But the queen said, ‘I will have the fairies also, that they might be kind and good to our little daughter.’

小鱼的预言很快便应验了；王后生下了一个小女孩，长得如此美丽，国王喜不自禁，怎么也看不够，说他要大摆宴席，好好庆贺一番，把孩子展示给全国的百姓看。于是他邀请了亲族、贵族、朋友和邻居们。可王后说：“我还要请那些仙女来，好让她们也善待我们的小女儿。”

Now there were thirteen fairies in the kingdom; but as the king and queen had only twelve golden dishes for them to eat out of, they were forced to leave one of the fairies without asking her. So twelve fairies came, each with a high red cap on her head, and red shoes with high heels on her feet, and a long white wand in her hand: and after the feast was over they gathered round in a ring and gave all their best gifts to the little princess. One gave her goodness, another beauty, another riches, and so on till she had all that was good in the world.

这王国里共有十三位仙女；可国王和王后只有十二个金盘子供她们用餐，只得把其中一位仙女撇下不请。于是十二位仙女来了，个个头戴高高的红帽子，脚穿高跟红鞋，手持一根白色的长杖；宴席结束后，她们便围成一圈，把自己最好的礼物都赐给了这位小公主。一位赐给她善良，一位赐给她美貌，一位赐给她财富，如此这般，直到她拥有了世间一切美好的品质。

Just as eleven of them had done blessing her, a great noise was heard in the courtyard, and word was brought that the thirteenth fairy was come, with a black cap on her head, and black shoes on her feet, and a broomstick in her hand: and presently up she came into the dining-hall. Now, as she had not been asked to the feast she was very angry, and scolded the king and queen very much, and set to work to take her revenge.

正当十一位仙女已经赐福完毕的时候，院子里忽然传来一阵喧闹声，有人来报，说第十三位仙女来了，头戴黑帽子，脚穿黑鞋子，手里拿着一把扫帚；不一会儿她便走进了宴会大厅。这位仙女因为没有被邀请，心里十分恼怒，把国王和王后大骂了一通，随即着手报起仇来。

So she cried out, ‘The king’s daughter shall, in her fifteenth year, be wounded by a spindle, and fall down dead.’ Then the twelfth of the friendly fairies, who had not yet given her gift, came forward, and said that the evil wish must be fulfilled, but that she could soften its mischief; so her gift was, that the king’s daughter, when the spindle wounded her, should not really die, but should only fall asleep for a hundred years.

于是她高声喊道：“国王的女儿将在十五岁那年，被纺锤刺伤，倒地而死。”这时那第十二位善良的仙女，还没有赐下她的礼物，便走上前来，说这恶毒的诅咒必须应验，可她能减轻其中的祸害；于是她的礼物便是：国王的女儿被纺锤刺伤时，不会真正死去，只会沉睡一百年。

However, the king hoped still to save his dear child altogether from the threatened evil; so he ordered that all the spindles in the kingdom should be bought up and burnt. But all the gifts of the first eleven fairies were in the meantime fulfilled; for the princess was so beautiful, and well behaved, and good, and wise, that everyone who knew her loved her.

不过，国王仍希望能彻底避免这预言中的灾祸，于是他下令把国内所有的纺锤都收集起来烧毁。可与此同时，前十一位仙女所赐的礼物却都一一应验了；因为这位公主长得如此美丽，又如此乖巧、善良、聪慧，凡是认识她的人无不喜爱她。

It happened that, on the very day she was fifteen years old, the king and queen were not at home, and she was left alone in the palace. So she roved about by herself, and looked at all the rooms and chambers, till at last she came to an old tower, to which there was a narrow staircase ending with a little door. In the door there was a golden key, and when she turned it the door sprang open, and there sat an old lady spinning away very busily.

事情正巧发生在她满十五岁的那一天，国王和王后都不在家，只留她一人待在宫里。于是她便独自四处闲逛，看遍了宫中的每一间房间，最后来到了一座古老的塔楼前，那里有一道狭窄的楼梯，通向一扇小门。门上插着一把金钥匙，她一转动钥匙，门便弹开了，只见里面坐着一位老妇人，正忙碌地纺着线。

‘Why, how now, good mother,’ said the princess; ‘what are you doing there?’ ‘Spinning,’ said the old lady, and nodded her head, humming a tune, while buzz! went the wheel. ‘How prettily that little thing turns round!’ said the princess, and took the spindle and began to try and spin. But scarcely had she touched it, before the fairy’s prophecy was fulfilled; the spindle wounded her, and she fell down lifeless on the ground.

“哎呀，这是怎么回事，老婆婆，”公主说道，“您在这儿做什么呢？”“纺线呀，”老妇人一边说，一边点着头，哼着小曲，纺车嗡嗡地转着。“这小东西转得可真好看呀！”公主说着便拿起纺锤，试着纺了起来。可她刚一碰到纺锤，仙女的预言便应验了，纺锤刺伤了她，她便倒在地上，毫无生气。

However, she was not dead, but had only fallen into a deep sleep; and the king and the queen, who had just come home, and all their court, fell asleep too; and the horses slept in the stables, and the dogs in the court, the pigeons on the house-top, and the very flies slept upon the walls.

不过她并没有死去，只是陷入了沉沉的睡梦；而刚刚回到家的国王和王后，还有满朝的宫廷众人，也都跟着睡着了；马厩里的马睡了，院子里的狗睡了，屋顶上的鸽子睡了，就连墙上的苍蝇也睡着了。

Even the fire on the hearth left off blazing, and went to sleep; the jack stopped, and the spit that was turning about with a goose upon it for the king’s dinner stood still; and the cook, who was at that moment pulling the kitchen-boy by the hair to give him a box on the ear for something he had done amiss, let him go, and both fell asleep; the butler, who was slyly tasting the ale, fell asleep with the jug at his lips: and thus everything stood still, and slept soundly.

就连壁炉里的火也不再燃烧，睡着了；烤肉的转轮停了下来，那正转着的、串着一只准备给国王当晚餐的鹅的烤肉铁扦也停住不动了；那位厨娘，正巧因为厨房小厮做错了什么事，揪着他的头发要打他一记耳光，这时也松了手，两人一起睡着了；那位管家，正偷偷尝着麦酒，嘴唇还贴着酒罐子，便也睡着了；就这样，万物都静止下来，沉沉睡去。

A large hedge of thorns soon grew round the palace, and every year it became higher and thicker; till at last the old palace was surrounded and hidden, so that not even the roof or the chimneys could be seen. But there went a report through all the land of the beautiful sleeping Briar Rose (for so the king’s daughter was called): so that, from time to time, several kings’ sons came, and tried to break through the thicket into the palace. This, however, none of them could ever do; for the thorns and bushes laid hold of them, as it were with hands; and there they stuck fast, and died wretchedly.

一大丛荆棘很快便在宫殿四周长了起来，一年比一年更高更密；最后这座古老的宫殿被团团围住，彻底隐没不见，就连屋顶和烟囱也看不见了。可全国各地都流传起了这位沉睡的美丽公主“荆棘玫瑰”（国王的女儿便是这般称呼的）的传闻，于是不时便有几位王子前来，试图冲破那片荆棘丛闯入宫殿。然而谁也无法做到；因为那些荆棘和灌木仿佛长着手一般把他们缠住，他们便被死死困住，凄惨地丧了命。

After many, many years there came a king’s son into that land: and an old man told him the story of the thicket of thorns; and how a beautiful palace stood behind it, and how a wonderful princess, called Briar Rose, lay in it asleep, with all her court. He told, too, how he had heard from his grandfather that many, many princes had come, and had tried to break through the thicket, but that they had all stuck fast in it, and died. Then the young prince said, ‘All this shall not frighten me; I will go and see this Briar Rose.’ The old man tried to hinder him, but he was bent upon going.

许多许多年后，这片土地上来了一位王子；一位老人给他讲了那荆棘丛的故事，说荆棘丛后面藏着一座美丽的宫殿，宫殿里睡着一位名叫“荆棘玫瑰”的绝色公主，连同她满朝的宫廷众人，都一起沉睡在那里。老人还说，他从自己祖父那儿听来，曾有许许多多王子前来尝试冲破那荆棘丛，结果全都被困死在里面。这位年轻的王子听了便说：“这些都吓不倒我，我要去看看这位荆棘玫瑰。”老人试图阻拦他，可他执意要去。

Now that very day the hundred years were ended; and as the prince came to the thicket he saw nothing but beautiful flowering shrubs, through which he went with ease, and they shut in after him as thick as ever. Then he came at last to the palace, and there in the court lay the dogs asleep; and the horses were standing in the stables; and on the roof sat the pigeons fast asleep, with their heads under their wings.

恰好就在这一天，那一百年的期限到了；王子来到荆棘丛前，眼前只见一片美丽盛开的灌木丛，他轻而易举地穿了过去，灌木丛又在他身后合拢起来，跟先前一样密实。他终于来到了宫殿前，只见院子里躺着熟睡的狗，马厩里站着马，屋顶上蹲着熟睡的鸽子，脑袋埋在翅膀底下。

And when he came into the palace, the flies were sleeping on the walls; the spit was standing still; the butler had the jug of ale at his lips, going to drink a draught; the maid sat with a fowl in her lap ready to be plucked; and the cook in the kitchen was still holding up her hand, as if she was going to beat the boy.

他走进宫殿，只见墙上的苍蝇都睡着了；烤肉的铁扦静止不动；管家嘴唇还贴着麦酒罐，正要喝上一口；女仆坐在那儿，膝上放着一只准备拔毛的家禽；厨房里的厨娘还举着手，仿佛正要打那小厮一记耳光似的。

Then he went on still farther, and all was so still that he could hear every breath he drew; till at last he came to the old tower, and opened the door of the little room in which Briar Rose was; and there she lay, fast asleep on a couch by the window. She looked so beautiful that he could not take his eyes off her, so he stooped down and gave her a kiss. But the moment he kissed her she opened her eyes and awoke, and smiled upon him; and they went out together; and soon the king and queen also awoke, and all the court, and gazed on each other with great wonder.

他继续往前走，四周静得他能听见自己的每一声呼吸，最后他来到了那座古老的塔楼前，打开了荆棘玫瑰所在的那间小屋的门；只见她正沉睡在窗边的一张长榻上。她看起来是那样美丽，他不由得挪不开目光，便俯下身去，吻了她一下。可就在他吻上她的那一刻，她睁开了眼睛，醒了过来，对他微微一笑；两人便一同走了出去；不一会儿，国王和王后，还有满朝的宫廷众人，也都跟着醒了过来，彼此惊讶地对望着。

And the horses shook themselves, and the dogs jumped up and barked; the pigeons took their heads from under their wings, and looked about and flew into the fields; the flies on the walls buzzed again; the fire in the kitchen blazed up; round went the jack, and round went the spit, with the goose for the king’s dinner upon it; the butler finished his draught of ale; the maid went on plucking the fowl; and the cook gave the boy the box on his ear.

马儿抖擞了身子，狗儿跳起来吠叫；鸽子把头从翅膀底下抬起来，四下张望后便飞向了田野；墙上的苍蝇又嗡嗡叫了起来；厨房里的炉火重新旺盛地燃烧起来；转轮转动了起来，串着鹅肉的铁扦也转动了起来，那鹅正是给国王准备的晚餐；管家喝完了他那口麦酒；女仆继续拔着家禽的毛；厨娘则给了那小厮一记耳光。

And then the prince and Briar Rose were married, and the wedding feast was given; and they lived happily together all their lives long.

随后王子便与荆棘玫瑰成了婚，举行了盛大的婚宴；他们从此幸福地生活在一起，白头偕老。