王子复仇记—星子-1

Once upon a time two poor woodcutters were making their way home through a great pine forest. It was a very cold night in winter. The snow lay thick on the ground and on the branches of the trees.

The woodcutters went on and on. At last they reached the outskirts of the forest. Far down in the valley below them, they could see the lights of their old village.

Just then a strange thing happened. A very bright and beautiful star fell from the sky. As they watched it wonderingly, it seemed to sink behind a clump of willow trees only a short distance from them.

"Why, there may be a pot of gold!" they cried. They began to run eagerly. One of them ran faster than his companion, and came to the spot first. And lo! On the white snow there was indeed a thing of gold. So he rushed towards it. But there was no treasure of any kind except a little baby who was asleep in a golden cloak.

One of them said to the other, "Let's leave it here."

But his companion said to him, "No, it would be an evil thing to leave the baby here in the snow. I will take it home with me. My wife will take care of it."

So he took up the baby very tenderly and went to his house.

And Star-Child was brought up with the woodcutter's children. And with the passage of time he became more and more handsome. He was as white as ivory, his lips were like the petals of a red flower, his eyes were like violets by a river of pure water, and his body was like a young tree in a green field.

But he became a bad boy because of his handsomeness. He became proud, and cruel, and selfish. He despised the woodcutter's children, and the other children of the village. He had no pity for poor people. He always threw stones at them and drove them away from the village.

The woodcutter and his wife often scolded him and said, "We didn't treat you like that. And so you must be kind to other people."

从前有两个贫穷的樵夫正穿越一大片松林赶路回家。当时正是某个寒冷的冬夜。大地和树枝上都覆盖着一层厚厚的雪。

他们不停地走，最后终于到了森林的外围。向山谷深处望下去，他们可以看见他们那古老村庄的灯火。

就在这时，发生了一件怪事。一颗非常明亮美丽的星星从天边滑落下来。当他们惊奇地看着它时，它似乎就掉在离他们不远的柳树丛后。

他们大叫道：『哇，那儿好象有一罐金子！』并开始迫不及待地跑过去。其中一个跑得比他的同伴快，先赶到了现场。瞧！洁白的雪地上的确有一块金色的东西。于是他急忙地冲过去。然而那里根本没有什幺财宝，只不过是一个睡在金色斗篷里的婴孩罢了。

其中一人向同伴说：『我们把他留在这里就好了。』

但是他的同伴却说：『把这孩子留在雪地里是不对的，我要带他回去。我太太会照顾他。』

于是他轻轻地抱起小孩带回家去。

星子和这位樵夫的孩子们一起被扶养长大。随着时光推移，他的样子也愈长愈帅。他的肌肤就像象牙一样白，嘴唇像红色花瓣，眼睛则像长在清澈河畔的紫罗兰，而他的身体就像翠绿平原上的小树。

但是他却因为他的俊俏而变成一个坏小孩。他变得骄傲、无情和自私。他瞧不起樵夫的孩子和村里其它的孩子。他对穷人没有同情心，而且常向他们丢石头，还把他们赶到村外去。

樵夫和他太太常常责备他说：『我们没有那样对待过你，所以你必须要好好对待别人。』