The Master-Smith

Once on a time, in the days when our Lord and St Peter used to wander on earth, they came to a smith’s house. He had made a bargain with the Devil, that the fiend should have him after seven years, but during that time he was to be the master of all masters in his trade, and to this bargain both he and the Devil had signed their names. So he had stuck up in great letters over the door of his forge: _“Here dwells the Master over all Masters.”_

从前，在我们的主和圣彼得还在人间游历的日子里，他们来到一个铁匠的家。这铁匠曾与魔鬼立下契约：七年之后，魔鬼便可以将他带走，但在这七年当中，他要成为这一行里技艺最高超的师傅，无人能及。这份契约由他和魔鬼二人签了名。于是他便在锻造铺的门上，用大字写着：“此处住着高于一切师傅的师傅。”

Now when our Lord passed by and saw that, he went in.

我们的主路过时看见了这几个字，便走了进去。

“Who are you?” he said to the Smith.

“你是谁？”他问铁匠。

“Read what’s written over the door”, said the Smith; “but maybe you can’t read writing. If so, you must wait till some one comes to help you.”

“门上写着什么，你自己看去”，铁匠说；“不过也许你不识字。若是这样，你得等有人来帮你念了。”

Before our Lord had time to answer him, a man came with his horse, which he begged the Smith to shoe.

我们的主还没来得及回答，就有一个人牵着马来了，请铁匠给马钉掌。

“Might I have leave to shoe it?” asked our Lord.

“可否让我来钉这掌？”我们的主问道。

“You may try, if you like”, said the Smith; “you can’t do it so badly that I shall not be able to make it right again.”

“你想试试就试试吧”，铁匠说；“反正你钉得再糟，我也能重新钉好。”

So our Lord went out and took one leg off the horse, and laid it in the furnace, and made the shoe red-hot; after that, he turned up the ends of the shoe, and filed down the heads of the nails, and clenched the points; and then he put back the leg safe and sound on the horse again.

于是我们的主走出去，卸下马的一条腿，放进炉火里，把马掌烧得通红；然后他把掌的两端翻起，把钉头锉平，把钉尖敲弯钉牢；做完之后，又把那条腿完好无损地装回马身上。

And when he was done with that leg, he took the other fore-leg and did the same with it; and when he was done with that, he took the hind-legs—first, the off, and then the near leg, and laid them in the furnace, making the shoes red-hot, turning up the ends; filing the heads of the nails, and clenching the points; and after all was done, putting the legs on the horse again. All the while, the Smith stood by and looked on.

做完那条腿之后，他又拿起另一条前腿，照样做了一遍；做完之后，又拿起后腿——先是右边那条，再是左边那条，同样放进炉火，把掌烧红，翻起两端，锉平钉头，敲弯钉尖；一切做完，又把腿装回马身上。这一切当中，铁匠一直站在旁边看着。

“You’re not so bad a smith after all”, said he.

“你这铁匠手艺倒也不算差”，他说。

“Oh, you think so, do you?” said our Lord.

“哦，你这么想吗？”我们的主说。

A little while after came the Smith’s mother to the forge, and called him to come home and eat his dinner; she was an old, old woman with an ugly crook on her back, and wrinkles in her face, and it was as much as she could do to crawl along.

过了一会儿，铁匠的母亲来到锻造铺，叫他回家吃饭；她是个很老很老的妇人，背驼得厉害，脸上满是皱纹，几乎只能勉强爬着走路。

“Mark now, what you see”, said our Lord.

“你且看好了”，我们的主说。

Then he took the woman and laid her in the furnace, and smithied a lovely young maiden out of her.

说着，他把那妇人放进炉火里，锻出了一个美丽的年轻姑娘。

“Well”, said the Smith, “I say now, as I said before, you are not such a bad smith after all. There it stands over my door. _Here dwells the Master over all Masters_ ; but for all that, I say right out, one learns as long as one lives”; and with that he walked off to his house and ate his dinner.

“好啊”，铁匠说，“我还是那句话，你这铁匠手艺确实不差。我门上写着的那句——‘此处住着高于一切师傅的师傅’——可话虽如此，我还是要说一句实话，人活到老，学到老”；说完他便回家吃饭去了。

So after dinner, just after he had got back to his forge, a man came riding up to have his horse shod.

吃过饭后，他刚回到锻造铺，就有一个人骑马来了，要给马钉掌。

“It shall be done in the twinkling of an eye”, said the Smith, “for I have just learnt a new way to shoe; and a very good way it is when the days are short.”

“这事一眨眼就能办好”，铁匠说，“因为我刚学了一种新法子；这法子在白天短的时候特别管用。”

So he began to cut and hack till he had got all the horse’s legs off, for he said, I don’t know why one should go pottering backwards and forwards—first, with one leg, and then with another.

于是他动手又砍又割，把马的四条腿全都卸了下来，他心想，何必来来回回地折腾，先弄一条腿，再弄另一条呢。

Then he laid the legs in the furnace, just as he had seen our Lord lay them, and threw on a great heap of coal, and made his mates work the bellows bravely; but it went as one might suppose it would go. The legs were burnt to ashes, and the Smith had to pay for the horse.

然后他把四条腿一齐放进炉火里，就像他见我们的主做的那样，还添了一大堆煤，叫伙计们卖力地拉风箱；可结果正如人们所料。那些腿全都烧成了灰，铁匠只好赔了马钱。

Well, he didn’t care much about that, but just then an old beggar-woman came along the road, and he thought to himself, “better luck next time”; so he took the old dame and laid her in the furnace, and though she begged and prayed hard for her life, it was no good.

好在他并不太在意，因为正巧这时有个讨饭的老妇人从路上走来，他心想，“这回运气该好些了”；于是他把老妇人放进炉火，任凭她苦苦哀求、拼命求饶，也没有用。

“You’re so old, you don’t know what is good for you”, said the Smith; “now you shall be a lovely young maiden in half no time, and for all that, I’ll not charge you a penny for the job.”

“你这么老了，也不知道什么对你好”，铁匠说；“这就让你转眼变成个美丽的年轻姑娘，而且这一回我一分钱也不收你的。”

But it went no better with the poor old woman than with the horse’s legs.

可这一次，那可怜的老妇人的下场，并不比那马腿好到哪里去。

“That was ill done, and I say it”, said our Lord.

“这事做得太糟了，我可要说一句”，我们的主说。

“Oh! for that matter”, said the Smith, “there’s not many who’ll ask after her, I’ll be bound; but it’s a shame of the Devil, if this is the way he holds to what is written up over the door.”

“唉，说到这个”，铁匠说，“反正也没多少人会来问她的下落，我敢打赌；不过魔鬼倒真是可恶，门上明明写着那句话，他却不当一回事。”

“If you might have three wishes from me”, said our Lord, “what would you wish for?”

“若是我给你三个愿望”，我们的主说，“你会许什么愿？”

“Only try me”, said the Smith, “and you’ll soon know.”

“你尽管试试”，铁匠说，“很快就知道了。”

So our Lord gave him three wishes.

于是我们的主便给了他三个愿望。

“Well”, said the Smith, “first and foremost, I wish that any one whom I ask to climb up into the pear-tree that stands outside by the wall of my forge, may stay sitting there till I ask him to come down again. The second wish I wish is, that any one whom I ask to sit down in my easy chair which stands inside the workshop yonder, may stay sitting there till I ask him to get up. Last of all, I wish that any one whom I ask to creep into the steel purse which I have in my pocket, may stay in it till I give him leave to creep out again.”

“好”，铁匠说，“第一，我愿凡是我请上锻造铺墙外那棵梨树的人，都要一直坐在树上，直到我叫他下来为止。第二个愿望是，凡是我请坐进铺子里那把安乐椅的人，都要一直坐着，直到我叫他起来为止。最后，我愿凡是我请他钻进我口袋里这个钢钱包的人，都要一直待在里面，直到我准他爬出来为止。”

“You have wished as a wicked man”, said St Peter; “first and foremost, you should have wished for God’s grace and goodwill.”

“你许的可真是恶人的愿望”，圣彼得说；“你本该先求上帝的恩典和眷顾才是。”

“I durstn’t look so high as that”, said the Smith; and after that our Lord and St Peter bade him “good-bye”, and went on their way.

“我可不敢奢望那么高的东西”，铁匠说；说完，我们的主和圣彼得便向他道别，继续赶路去了。

Well, the years went on and on, and when the time was up, the Devil came to fetch the Smith, as it was written in their bargain.

日子一年年过去，约定的年限到了，魔鬼便按契约上写的，来找铁匠了。

“Are you ready?” he said, as he stuck his nose in at the door of the forge.

“你准备好了吗？”他一边说，一边把鼻子探进锻造铺的门口。

“Oh”, said the Smith, “I must just hammer the head of this tenpenny nail first; meantime, you can just climb up into the pear-tree, and pluck yourself a pear to gnaw at; you must be, both hungry and thirsty after your journey.”

“哦”，铁匠说，“我这颗十便士的钉子头还没锤好呢；你不妨先爬上那棵梨树，摘个梨啃啃，一路辛苦，想必又饥又渴了吧。”

So the Devil thanked him for his kind offer, and climbed up into the pear-tree.

魔鬼谢过他的好意，便爬上了那棵梨树。

“Very good”, said the Smith; “but now, on thinking the matter over, I find I shall never be able to have done hammering the head of this nail till four years are out at least, this iron is so plaguey hard; down you can’t come in all that time, but may sit up there and rest your bones.”

“很好”，铁匠说；“不过我这会儿细细一想，觉得这钉子头没有四年功夫，怕是锤不完了，这铁实在太硬了；这段时间你可下不来，只好在树上坐着歇歇骨头了。”

When the Devil heard this, he begged and prayed till his voice was as thin as a silver penny that he might have leave to come down; but there was no help for it. There he was, and there he must stay. At last he had to give his word of honour not to come again till the four years were out, which the Smith had spoken of, and then the Smith said, “Very well, now you may come down.”

魔鬼听了这话，苦苦哀求，声音都细得像枚银币一样，只求让他下来；可是没有用。他上去了，就得留在上面。最后他只得发誓，在铁匠所说的这四年满了之前决不再来，铁匠这才说：“好吧，现在你可以下来了。”

So when the time was up, the Devil came again to fetch the Smith.

时限一到，魔鬼又来找铁匠了。

“You’re ready now, of course”, said he; “you’ve had time enough to hammer the head of that nail, I should think.”

“你现在总该准备好了吧”，他说；“这么长时间，那钉子头也该锤好了。”

“Yes, the head is right enough now”, said the Smith; “but still you have come a little tiny bit too soon, for I haven’t quite done sharpening the point; such plaguey hard iron I never hammered in all my born days. So while I work at the point, you may just as well sit down in my easy chair and rest yourself; I’ll be bound you’re weary after coming so far.”

“不错，钉头是锤好了”，铁匠说；“可你还是来早了一点点，我这钉尖还没磨好呢；这么硬的铁，我这辈子都没锤过。趁我磨钉尖的功夫，你不妨坐进我那把安乐椅歇歇；这么远的路走来，想必也累了。”

“Thank you kindly”, said the Devil, and down he plumped into the easy chair; but just as he had made himself comfortable, the Smith said, on second thoughts, he found he couldn’t get the point sharp till four years were out. First of all, the Devil begged so prettily to be let out of the chair, and afterwards, waxing wroth, he began to threaten and scold; but the Smith kept on, all the while excusing himself, and saying it was all the iron’s fault, it was so plaguy hard, and telling the Devil he was not so badly off to have to sit quietly in an easy chair, and that he would let him out to the minute when the four years were over.

“多谢你的好意”，魔鬼说着，便一屁股坐进了安乐椅；可他刚坐得舒坦，铁匠又改口说，他想了想，这钉尖没有四年功夫怕是磨不尖。魔鬼起先苦苦哀求要放他出椅子，后来又气得破口大骂、出言威胁；可铁匠只是一味推脱，把过错全推到铁太硬上，还说他坐在安乐椅里也不算亏待，说等四年一到，一分钟都不会耽误就放他出来。

Well, at last there was no help for it, and the Devil had to give his word of honour not to fetch the Smith till the four years were out; and then the Smith said:

到了最后，实在没有别的办法，魔鬼只得发誓，在四年满了之前决不来找铁匠；铁匠这才说：

“Well now, you may get up and be off about your business”, and away went the Devil as fast as he could lay legs to the ground.

“好了，你现在可以起来走了”，魔鬼便拔腿飞奔，能跑多快跑多快。

When the four years were over, the Devil came again to fetch the Smith, and he called out, as he stuck his nose in at the door of the forge:

四年过去了，魔鬼又来找铁匠，一边把鼻子探进锻造铺的门口，一边喊道：

“Now, I know you must be ready.”

“这回你总该准备好了。”

“Ready, aye, ready”, answered the Smith; “we can go now as soon as you please; but hark ye, there is one thing I have stood here and thought, and thought, I would ask you to tell me. Is it true what people say, that the Devil can make himself as small as he pleases?”

“准备好了，准备好了”，铁匠答道；“你随时想走都可以走了；不过且听我说，有件事我站在这儿想了又想，想问问你。人们说魔鬼能把自己变得随心所欲地小，这是真的吗？”

“God knows, it is the very truth”, said the Devil.

“天知道，这是千真万确的”，魔鬼说。

“Oh!” said the Smith; “it is true, is it? then I wish you would just be so good as to creep into this steel purse of mine, and see whether it is sound at the bottom, for to tell you the truth, I’m afraid my travelling money will drop out.”

“哦！”铁匠说；“这是真的吗？那你不妨行行好，钻进我这个钢钱包里，看看包底结不结实，说实话，我担心我的盘缠会漏出去。”

“With all my heart”, said the Devil, who made himself small in a trice, and crept into the purse; but he was scarce in when the Smith snapped to the clasp.

“乐意之至”，魔鬼说着，一下子把自己缩得极小，钻进了钱包；可他刚一进去，铁匠便啪地一声扣上了扣子。

“Yes”, called out the Devil inside the purse; “it’s right and tight everywhere.”

“好了”，钱包里的魔鬼喊道；“到处都严丝合缝的。”

“Very good”, said the Smith; “I’m glad to hear you say so, but ‘more haste the worse speed’, says the old saw, and ‘forewarned is forearmed’, says another; so I’ll just weld these links a little together, just for safety’s sake”; and with that he laid the purse in the furnace, and made it red-hot.

“很好”，铁匠说；“听你这么说我就放心了，不过老话说得好，‘欲速则不达’，另一句老话又说，‘有备无患’；所以我还是把这些链环再焊牢一些，图个稳妥”；说着他便把钱包放进炉火，烧得通红。

“AU! AU!” screamed the Devil, “are you mad? don’t you know I’m inside the purse?”

“哎哟！哎哟！”魔鬼尖叫道，“你疯了吗？你不知道我在钱包里面吗？”

“Yes, I do!” said the Smith; “but I can’t help you, for another old saw says, ‘one must strike while the iron is hot’”; and as he said this, he took up his sledge-hammer, laid the purse on the anvil, and let fly at it as hard as he could.

“我当然知道！”铁匠说；“可我也没办法，因为还有句老话说，‘打铁要趁热’”；说着，他抄起大铁锤，把钱包放在铁砧上，使出全身力气砸了下去。

“AU! AU! AU!” bellowed the Devil, inside the purse. “Dear friend, do let me out, and I’ll never come near you again.”

“哎哟！哎哟！哎哟！”魔鬼在钱包里咆哮着。“好朋友，快放我出去，我再也不来烦你了。”

“Very well!” said the Smith; “now, I think, the links are pretty well welded, and you may come out”; so he unclasped the purse, and away went the Devil in such a hurry that he didn’t once look behind him.

“很好！”铁匠说；“我看这些链环也焊得差不多了，你可以出来了”；说着他解开钱包的扣子，魔鬼便匆匆逃走，一次也没敢回头看。

Now, some time after, it came across the Smith’s mind that he had done a silly thing in making the Devil his enemy, for, he said to himself:

过了一段时间，铁匠心里琢磨起来，觉得自己把魔鬼得罪成这样，实在不是件聪明事，他心想：

“If, as is like enough, they won’t have me in the kingdom of Heaven, I shall be in danger of being houseless, since I’ve fallen out with him who rules over Hell.”

“若是像很可能发生的那样，天国不肯收留我，我怕是要无家可归了，因为我已经跟那统治地狱的家伙结了怨。”

So he made up his mind it would be best to try to get either into Hell or Heaven, and to try at once, rather than to put it off any longer, so that he might know how things really stood. Then he threw his sledge-hammer over his shoulder and set off; and when he had gone a good bit of the way, he came to a place where two roads met, and where the path to the kingdom of Heaven parts from the path that leads to Hell, and here he overtook a tailor, who was pelting along with his goose in his hand.

于是他打定主意，最好还是尽快弄清楚，自己究竟能进地狱还是能进天国，与其一拖再拖，不如趁早试一试。于是他把大铁锤扛在肩上，动身出发；走了一段路后，他来到一处两条路交叉的地方，一条通往天国的路，从这里分出通往地狱的另一条路；在这儿他追上了一个裁缝，那人正拿着熨斗匆匆赶路。

“Good day”, said the Smith; “whither are you off to?”

“你好”，铁匠说；“你这是要去哪儿？”

“To the kingdom of Heaven”, said the Tailor, “if I can only get into it”—“but whither are you going yourself?”

“去天国”，裁缝说，“但愿我能进得去”——“不过你自己又是要去哪儿呢？”

“Oh, our ways don’t run together”, said the Smith; “for I have made up my mind to try first in Hell, as the Devil and I know something of one another, from old times.”

“哦，咱们俩的路可不一样”，铁匠说；“我打定主意先去地狱试试，我跟魔鬼也算是老相识了。”

So they bade one another “Good-bye”, and each went his way; but the Smith was a stout, strong man, and got over the ground far faster than the tailor, and so it wasn’t long before he stood at the gates of Hell. Then he called the watch, and bade him go and tell the Devil there was some one outside who wished to speak a word with him.

于是两人便互道“再见”，各奔前程；可铁匠身强体壮，走起路来比裁缝快得多，没多久便到了地狱的大门前。他叫来了守门人，让他去告诉魔鬼，说外面有人想跟他说句话。

“Go out”, said the Devil to the watch, “and ask him who he is?” So that when the watch came and told him that, the Smith answered:

“你出去”，魔鬼对守门人说，“问问他是谁？”守门人便出去问了，铁匠答道：

“Go and greet the Devil in my name, and say it is the Smith who owns the purse he wots of; and beg him prettily to let me in at once, for I worked at my forge till noon, and I have had a long walk since.”

“替我向魔鬼问个好，就说是那个他知道的钱包的主人——铁匠来了；求他行行好，赶紧放我进去，我在锻造铺一直干到中午，又走了这么长的路。”

But when the Devil heard who it was, he charged the watch to go back and lock up all the nine locks on the gates of Hell.

可魔鬼一听是谁来了，立刻吩咐守门人回去，把地狱大门上九把锁全都锁上。

“And, besides”, he said, “you may as well put on a padlock, for if he only once gets in, he’ll turn Hell topsy-turvy!”

“还有”，他说，“最好再加一把挂锁，他要是让他进来了，非把地狱闹得天翻地覆不可！”

“Well!” said the Smith to himself, when he saw them busy bolting up the gates, “there’s no lodging to be got here, that’s plain; so I may as well try my luck in the kingdom of Heaven”; and with that he turned round and went back till he reached the cross-roads, and then he went along the path the tailor had taken. And now, as he was cross at having gone backwards and forwards so far for no good, he strode along with all his might, and reached the gate of Heaven just as St Peter was opening it a very little, just enough to let the half-starved tailor slip in. The Smith was still six or seven strides off the gate, so he thought to himself, “Now there’s no time to be lost”; and, grasping his sledge-hammer, he hurled it into the opening of the door just as the tailor slunk in; and if the Smith didn’t get in then, when the door was ajar, why I don’t know what has become of him.

“好啊！”铁匠见他们忙着上门闩，心里暗想，“看来这儿是没地方留宿了，明摆着的；那我不如去天国碰碰运气”；于是他转身往回走，一直走到那两路交叉的地方，然后顺着裁缝走过的那条路走去。他这一来一回白跑了这么远，心里正窝着火，便使出全身力气大步赶路，正赶到天国门口时，圣彼得刚把门打开一条极小的缝，刚好够那饿得半死的裁缝溜进去。铁匠离门还有六七步远，他心想，“这下可不能再耽搁了”；于是抓起他的大铁锤，趁裁缝溜进去的那一刻，把锤子扔进了门缝里；至于铁匠有没有趁着门还开着那一点点缝钻进去，那我可就不知道了。