王子复仇记—星子-2

One day a poor woman beggar passed through the village. Her clothes were torn and ragged.

When the Star-Child saw her, he said to his companions, "Look! What a dirty and ugly beggar woman! Come, let's drive her away from here."

So he came near and threw stones at her. She looked at him with terror in her eyes, but she didn't move her gaze from him. Just then the woodcutter came along and said to the Star-Child, "Don't do such a cruel thing. Did I treat you like that when I found you in the forest ten years ago?"

When the woman heard these words, she gave a loud cry and lost her senses. The woodcutter carried her to his own house to take care of her. When she came to her senses, she said, "He is my little son whom I lost in the forest ten years ago. Please send for him quickly. I have wandered all over the world in search of him."

So the woodcutter went out for the Star-Child, and said to him, "Go into the house. Your mother is waiting for you."

He ran in wonderingly. But when he saw the woman, he laughed scornfully and said, "Where is my mother?"

"I am your mother," said the woman.

"You are mad to say so," cried the Star-Child angrily. "I am not your son, for you are a beggar, and ugly, and in rags. Get out!"

The woman rose, and went away into the forest weeping bitterly. When she had gone, the Star-Child was glad and ran back to his playmates.

But when they saw him coming, they laughed at him and said, " You are as dirty as the toad, and as wicked as the adder. Go away! We won't let you play with us." They drove him out of the garden.

He went to a well and looked into it. And lo! His face was like the face of a toad, and his body like an adder! He flung himself down on the grass and wept. He said to himself, "Surely this has come upon me because of my sin. For I have denied my mother and have driven her away. I must go and find her even if I have to travel the whole world."

He ran away into the forest and called out for his mother, but there was no answer. All day long he called out for her. When the sun set, he lay down to sleep on a bed of leaves. In the morning he got up and kept on looking for the woman beggar.

When he passed through the villages the children laughed at him, and threw stones at him.

For more than three years he wandered over the world, and found that there was neither love nor kindness in this wide world.

有一天，一位可怜的乞妇经过这个村庄。她穿的衣服又破又烂。

星子看到她时，便对同伴们说：『看！好一个又脏又丑的乞妇！来，我们把她赶出村庄去。』

于是他走近她并向她丢石头。她看着他，眼中充满着恐惧，但并没有移开他的视线。就在此时，樵夫走了过来对星子说：『别做这种残忍的事。十年前我在森林里发现你的时候，是这幺对待你的吗？』

这名乞妇听到这些话时，大叫了一声，接着昏了过去。樵夫就把她带回自己家中照顾她。她醒过来时，便说道：『他就是我十年前在森林里遗失的小儿子。请赶快把他找过来。我为了寻找他已走遍了世界各地。』

于是樵夫就到屋外去找星子，并对他说：『进屋去，你母亲正在等你。』

他惊异地跑进屋里。但当他看到那位乞妇时，轻蔑地笑道：『嘿！我母亲在哪里？』

这个妇人便说道：『我就是你的母亲。』

星子生气地大叫道：『你疯了才会这幺说。我不是你的儿子，因为你是个衣衫褴褛的丑乞丐。出去！』

这个妇人于是站起身来，伤心哭泣地走到森林里。她走了以后，星子就很高兴地跑回去找他的玩伴。

但是当那些玩伴看到他过来时，他们嘲笑他说：『嘿！你和癞蛤蟆一样脏，和毒蛇一样邪恶。走开！我们不要你和我们一起玩。』于是就把他赶出花园。

他来到一口井旁向里面望下去。天啊！他的脸跟癞蛤蟆的脸一样，身子就像条毒蛇！他猛然倒在草地上痛哭了起来。他自言自语说：『这一定是我罪过的报应。因为我拒绝承认自己的母亲，又把她赶走。即使要走遍全世界，我也要把她找到。』

他跑到森林里呼叫他的母亲，但是却没有响应。他一直叫了一整天，日落时，他便躺下来睡在树叶铺成的床上。早上他起身，又继续寻找那名乞妇。

每当他经过各个村庄时，孩子们都嘲笑他，并向他丢石头。

他在世界各地流浪了三年多，发现在这广大的世上根本没有爱，也没有仁慈。