尼诺和忠狗——睡美人1

Once upon a time there lived a king and queen in a faraway country. It gave them great pleasure to have a lovely baby girl.

They were so happy that they decided to have a big festival for the baby's christening.

It was well-known that there were seven good fairies in the country and the king invited them to be present at the great event, and he hoped that each of the fairies would bless the baby with some good gifts.

On the day of the christening the palace was shining. Lights shone even to the highest tower. To the melodies of beautiful music, fountains bubbled in pools made of snow-white marble, and the pleasant smell of a thousand flowers rose to the air.

The baby princess lay in a cradle with a coverlet woven of rose-pink silk. The royal guests were seated at the gleaming banquet tables. Then the seven good fairies, looking  like colorful angels, came flying into the great hall and stood smiling around the royal cradle.

"My gift to the little princess," said the first fairy, "shall be beauty. She will be the loveliest lady in the land."

"I," said the second, "present her with intelligence." She shall be the sweetest lady in the world," said the third.

The fourth wished her the grace of a flower.

"And the voice of a nightingale," added the fifth.

"And from me," said the sixth, "she shall have the gift of making music on any musical instrument she touches."

The king and queen were very happy. But no one noticed the arrival of an old evil witch. She slipped into the banquet hall while the sixth fairy was speaking. Of course, the witch had not been invited to the princess' christening and she was angry at being slighted. She stood in a shadowy corner of the banquet hall waiting for a chance to make trouble.

Now the time had come. She was mistaken for the seventh fairy. So, stepping forwards, she said to the king and queen, "Huh! You don't think I am good enough to be a guest at your daughter's christening. You despised me. I'm going to put a lifelong spell on your child. This is it: one day she will try to spin at a spinning wheel and when she does, the spindle will prick her finger and she will fall dead at once."

After the evil witch spoke, she disappeared. The sound of her awful laughter echoed in the ears and in the hearts of the guests. A terrible quiet fell on the christening party which had been so cheerful only a moment before. The king and queen were overcome with grief.

But suddenly there appeared the seventh of the good fairies who, as you remember, had not yet wished her gift on the little princess. She said in a voice as clear and lovely as a silver bell, "Unfortunately, I have no power to break the curse the evil witch has just cast on the princess. The girl's finger will be pricked by a spindle. But I order that when that happens, she should only seem to fall dead. Really, she will be in a deep sleep─a sleep so deep that it will last for a hundred years─long enough to make the evil witch consider her dead. But during the hundred years the princess will be as young and beautiful as she is on the day when she falls asleep. So she will be known as Sleeping Beauty. When the hundred years are over, she will be awakened by a prince who will have the power to break the witch's spell."

With these words the fairy joined her sisters and the seven fairies disappeared in a rainbow-colored mist.

As the little princess grew older, all the good fairies' wishes came true. She was beautiful, intelligent, sweet, kind, thoughtful, and graceful. And she was wonderfully good at music and all the arts. Everyone loved her. Of course, no one had ever whispered a word to her about the witch's curse. The king forbade all the people to bring a spinning wheel into the palace or even talk about spinning. The princess grew up happily.

On her sixteenth birthday the king and queen planned a celebration that was much bigger than the christening. Many noblemen were invited and the whole palace was decorated with burning bright lights. The sweet smells and colors of the flowers matched beautifully the long dresses and jewels of the guests and the elegance of the banquet tables.

The princess wore a gown that shone like dewdrops in the sunlight. How happy she was! After the feast, there was dancing. All the young noblemen wanted to have the honor of dancing with the lovely princess. In the middle of the excitement, the princess wanted to be alone for a while to get some fresh air.

"I know what to do now," she said to herself. "I will go up into the highest tower of the castle. It will be cool there and I shall be alone and able to look out and see the stars."

Though it was difficult, she slipped out of the great hall. She skipped up flights of stairs to the tower. She had never been there before and she felt excited going there alone. The sounds of merrymaking from below were growing fainter and fainter. At last she reached the top of the ancient tower. But there were no windows through which she could look at the stars. To her surprise, she found herself in a room with a tiny door. She opened the door fearfully and came upon a strange sight. There sat an old, old woman. She was deaf and never heard anything in the castle. She was sitting at a spinning wheel, spinning silken threads of many colors.

The princess was attracted to it. "What is it? What are you doing here?" she asked smiling, and making gestures of what she meant.

"I am spinning, my dear," said the old woman.

"How interesting!" cried the princess. "May I try?"

The old woman let the princess sit at the wheel. The princess started handling the spinning wheel awkwardly, and just as the bad witch had said at the christening, the spindle pricked the princess' finger.

At once the girl fell on the floor. Greatly alarmed, the old woman cried out loudly for help. Soon the excited voices and the rough sounds of shoes rose up the stairs.

The king and queen led a great crowd of noblemen and noblewomen, courtiers, ladies-in-waiting, and palace attendants. They jammed into the tiny room.

When they saw the lovely princess lying dead on the floor beside the spinning wheel, they knew that the evil witch's curse had worked. They tried in every way they knew to bring her back to life, but in vain. She did not so much as blink.

So the king and queen had the princess carried down to her own room. Maids of honor laid her down gently. She was on a royal bed which was curtained off with cloth-of-gold. In her perfect beauty, with a smile of heavenly sweetness on her lips as she lay motionless on the bed, the princess looked indeed like an angel.

从前在一个很遥远的国度里有一位国王和皇后，他们生了一位漂亮的小女婴而感到非常高兴。

他们真是太高兴了，因此决定为这小宝贝举行一个盛大的受洗仪式。

大家都知道在这个国家有七个善良的仙女；国王邀请她们来出席这个盛大的仪式，希望她们每一位都能送些好礼物来祝福这个小宝贝。

在受洗的那一天，皇宫到处金碧辉煌。光线甚至照到最高的塔顶。喷泉随着美妙的旋律，在雪白大理石打造的池子里冒泡，上千花朵的香味飘散在空气中。

小公主躺在包着粉红色丝织被单的摇篮里。皇室贵宾们坐在闪烁的宴会桌旁。然后，七个宛如彩色天使般的善良仙女飞进大厅中，微笑地站在皇室的摇篮旁。

第一个仙女说：『我给小公主的礼物是美丽。她将会是这个国家最漂亮的淑女。』

第二个仙女说：『我给她的礼物是智能。』

第三个仙女说：『她将会是世界上最甜美的淑女。』

第四个仙女祝福她像花朵般地优雅。

第五个仙女接着说：『她还会有夜莺般嗓音。』

第六个仙女说：『而我的礼物则是让她有碰到任何乐器就能弹奏出音乐的天赋。』

国王和皇后非常高兴。但是却没有人注意到一位邪恶老女巫的来临。第六个仙女在说话时，她已偷偷地溜进宴会厅。当然，女巫并没有受邀参加公主的受洗仪式，她因被忽视而非常生气。她站在宴会厅里一个阴暗的角落中，等待着机会来制造麻烦。

现在机会来了。她被误认为是第七个仙女。于是她走上前来，告诉国王和皇后：『哼！你们认为我没有资格参加公主的受洗仪式。你们轻视我，所以我将给予你们的孩子终生诅咒。那就是：有一天她会试着在纺车上纺织，而当她这幺做时，纺锤将会刺破她的手指，她就会马上倒地而死。』

坏女巫说完后就消失了。她可怕的笑声在每一个客人的耳中和心中回响着。不久前还充满着欢乐的受洗宴会，如今笼罩在一片可怕的沉寂中。国王和皇后心中悲伤逾恒。

但是，第七个善良仙女突然出现了，大家还记得，她还没送给小公主她的祝福礼物。她用银铃般清脆悦耳的声音说：『不幸的是，我并没有能力破解坏女巫刚才加诸在公主身上的诅咒。她的手指将会被纺锤刺破。但是我在此下令，当这事发生时，她只会是看似死去。实际上，她将陷入沉睡──这沉睡将会持续一百年──长得足够使坏女巫以为她真的死了。在这一百年中，公主将会和她入睡那一天一样地年轻美丽。所以她将会是众所皆知的睡美人。当一百年过去后，她将会被一位有能力破解坏女巫诅咒的王子唤醒。』

话毕，仙女和她的姐妹们一起消失在彩虹般的雾里。

随着小公主的长大，所有好仙女的祝福都实现了。她很漂亮，聪明，甜美，仁慈，体贴和优雅。而且她在音乐和各种艺术方面都极为专精。每一个人都爱她。当然，关于女巫的诅咒没有人曾向她透露过一个字。国王禁止所有的人带纺车进宫殿，甚至不准谈论有关纺织的事。公主很快乐地长大了。

在她十六岁生日的那天，国王和皇后计画了一个比她受洗仪式还要盛大的庆祝会。许多贵族们都受到邀请，而整个皇宫到处装饰着明亮的灯光。花朵的芳香和色彩与宾客的长礼服及珠宝，和宴会桌的优美相互辉映，显得极为美丽。

公主穿著一件耀眼夺目的礼服，宛如阳光下闪闪发光的点点露珠。她快乐极了！餐宴过后舞会便开始了。所有的贵族青年都希望有幸能和美丽的公主共舞。在兴高采烈之中，公主想要单独一会儿去呼吸点新鲜空气。

她自言自语道：『我知道现在该怎幺做。我要去城堡里最高的塔上。那里会十分凉爽，我可以独自一个人向外看星星。』

虽然困难，她还是偷溜出大厅。她一蹦一跳地踏着阶梯往塔上走去。她以前从来没去过那里，她觉得一个人去那里非常刺激。楼下欢乐声越来越小。最后她终于到了这古老的塔顶。但是这里并没有窗户可以让她看星星。她惊讶地发现自己在一个只有一扇小门的房间里。她害怕地打开了门，突然看到一个奇怪的景象。在那里坐着一个很老很老的妇人。她是个聋子，所以城堡里的任何事她都没听说过。她正坐在一辆纺车前，织着各种颜色的丝线。

公主被这情景所吸引。『那是什幺？你在这里做什幺？』她微笑地问道，并用手势表达她的意思。

这老妇人回答说：『我正在纺纱，亲爱的。』

公主叫道：『好好玩啊！我可以试一试吗？』

老妇人让公主坐在纺车前。公主开始笨手笨脚地纺起纱来，这时，就像坏女巫在受洗仪式时所说的，纺锤刺破了公主的手指。

公主马上倒在地板上。老妇人大惊，高声呼叫求救。激动的说话声和鞋子触地的沙沙声立刻沿楼梯而上。

国王和皇后带领着一大群贵族、贵妇、侍臣、宫女及皇宫侍从。他们挤进这个小房间。

当他们看到美丽的公主像死了一样地躺在纺车旁的地板上时，便知道坏女巫的诅咒生效了。他们试尽了每一种方法想使她醒过来，但却徒劳无功。她连眼睛都不眨一下。

于是国王和皇后叫人把她抬下去到她的房间。侍女们轻轻地把她放下来，放在黄金帐幕围起的皇室床上。她静静地躺在那里，嘴角上依然展现着甜美的笑容，那份无瑕之美使她看起来真像是一位天使。