Золушка / Cinderella
Шрифт:
The cat ran on ahead [42] . Meeting some countrymen who were mowing a meadow [43] , he said to them, “My good fellows, if you do not tell the king that the meadow you are mowing belongs to my Lord Marquis of Carabas, you shall be chopped up like mincemeat [44] .”
The king asked the mowers whose meadow it was that they were mowing.
“It belongs to my Lord Marquis of Carabas,” they answered altogether because the cat had frightened them.
42
on ahead – вперед
43
who were mowing a meadow – которые косили
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you shall be chopped up like mincemeat – вы будете изрублены на фарш
“You see, sir,” said the Marquis, “this is a meadow which always yield a plentiful harvest every year.”
The master cat, still running on ahead, met with some reapers and said to them, “My good fellows, if you do not tell the king that all this grain belongs to the Marquis of Carabas, you shall be chopped up like mincemeat.”
The king, who passed by a moment later, asked them whose grain it was that they were reaping.
“It belongs to my Lord Marquis of Carabas,” replied the reapers, which pleased both the king and the marquis. The king congratulated him for his fine harvest. The master cat continued to run ahead and said the same words to all he met. The king was surprised at the big estates of the Lord Marquis of Carabas.
The master cat came at last to a castle, the lord of which was an ogre, the richest that had ever been known [45] . All the lands which the king had just passed by belonged to this castle. The cat, who found out who this ogre was and what he could do, asked to speak with him, saying he could not pass so near his castle without having the honor of paying his respects to him.
The ogre received him as civilly as an ogre could do and invited him to sit down. “I have heard,” said the cat, “that you are able to change yourself into any kind of creature. You can, for example, transform yourself into a lion, an elephant, or the like.”
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that had ever been known – которого когда-либо знали
“That is true,” answered the ogre, “and to convince you, I shall now become a lion.”
The cat was so terrified to see a lion so near him that he leaped onto the roof, that was even more difficult for him because his boots didn’t help him to walk on the tiles. However, the ogre resumed his natural form, and the cat came down, saying that he had been very frightened indeed.
“I have further been told,” said the cat, “that you can also transform yourself into the smallest of animals, for example, a rat or a mouse. But I can scarcely believe that. I think that that would be quite impossible.”
“Impossible!” cried the ogre. “You shall see!”
He immediately changed himself into a mouse and began to run about the floor. As soon as the cat saw this, he fell upon him and ate him up.
Meanwhile the king, who saw this fine castle of the ogre’s as he passed, decided to go inside. The cat, who heard the noise of his majesty’s coach running over the drawbridge, ran out and said to the king, “Your majesty is welcome to this castle of my Lord Marquis of Carabas.”
“What! My Lord Marquis,” cried the king, “and does this castle also belong to you? There can be nothing finer than this court and all the stately buildings which surround it. Let us go inside, if you don’t mind [46] .”
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if you don’t mind – если вы не возражаете
The marquis gave his hand to the princess and followed the king, who went first. They passed into a spacious hall, where they found a magnificent feast, which the ogre had prepared for his friends, who were coming to visit him that very day but dared not to enter, knowing the king was there.
His majesty was perfectly charmed with the good qualities of my Lord Marquis of Carabas, as was his daughter, who had fallen violently in love with him. Seeing the vast estate he possessed, the king said to him, after having drunk five or six glasses, “It will be your own fault, my Lord Marquis, if you do not become my son-in-law.”
The marquis, making several low bows, accepted the honor which his majesty conferred upon him [47] and that very same day married the princess.
The cat became a great lord and never again ran after mice, except for entertainment.
The Little Mermaid
Far out in the ocean, where the water is blue and very, very deep, lived the Sea King and his subjects. His castle stood in the deepest spot of the ocean. Its walls were built of coral, and the long windows were of the clearest amber. The roof was made of shells that opened and closed as the water flowed over them.
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accepted the honor which his majesty conferred upon him –
The Sea King had six beautiful children; but the youngest was the prettiest of them all. Her skin was as clear and delicate as a roseleaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea. Like all the others, she had no feet, and her body ended in a fish’s tail [48] . All day long she played with her sisters in the great halls of the castle. Outside the castle there was a beautiful garden, in which grew bright red and dark blue flowers, and blossoms like flames of fire [49] . Over everything shined a beautiful blue light. Each of the young princesses had a little plot of ground [50] in the garden, where they planted different flowers. One arranged her flower-bed into the shape of a whale; another made hers look like the figure of a mermaid. The youngest sister made hers round like the sun, with red flowers. She was a quiet child. Her sisters liked to find different wonderful things at the wrecks of vessels, but she cared for nothing but her flowers and one beautiful marble statue. It was a statue of a handsome boy, carved out of pure white stone, which had fallen to the bottom of the sea from a wreck. She planted a rose-colored weeping willow by the statue. It grew fast, and very soon hung its fresh branches over the statue. She also loved to hear stories about the world above the sea. To her it seemed most wonderful and beautiful [51] to hear that the flowers of the land had fragrance; that the trees of the forest were green; and that the fish among the trees could sing so sweetly, that it was quite a pleasure to hear them.
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her body ended in a fish’s tail – а её тело заканчивалось рыбьим хвостом
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blossoms like flames of fire – цветы, похожие на языки пламени
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a little plot of ground – маленький участок земли
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To her it seemed most wonderful and beautiful – для неё было удивительным и прекрасным
Once the princesses reached their fifteenth year, they would be allowed to rise up out of the sea and see the world above. But the youngest would have to wait five years before it was her turn to rise to the surface.
Each princess promised to tell the others what she saw on her first visit, and what she thought the most beautiful [52] . As soon as the eldest was fifteen, she was allowed to rise to the surface of the ocean. When she came back, she had hundreds of things to talk about; but the most beautiful, she said, was to lie in the moonlight, on a sandbank, in the quiet sea, near the coast, and to gaze on a large town nearby, where the lights were twinkling like hundreds of stars; to listen to the sounds of the music, the noise of carriages, and the voices of humans.
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what she thought the most beautiful – что показалось ей наиболее красивым
In another year the second sister rose to the surface of the water. It was at sunset, and this, she said, was the most beautiful sight of all. The sky was full of gold, while, violet and rose-colored clouds, which she could not describe. Above her flew a large flock of wild swans. She swam towards the sun; but it sunk into the waves, and the rosy color faded from the clouds and from the sea.
The third sister’s turn followed. She was the boldest of them all, and she swam up a broad river that emptied itself into the sea [53] . On the banks she saw green hills covered with beautiful vines. There were palaces and castles amid the trees of the forest; she heard the birds singing, and the rays of the sun were so powerful that she had to dive down under the water a few times to cool her burning face. She said she should never forget the beautiful forest and the green hills.
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a broad river that emptied itself into the sea – широкая река, вливающаяся в море