双语安徒生童话:“Soup from a Sausage Skewer” 肉肠签子汤

发布时间:2017-07-31 编辑:tyl

  E had such an excellent dinner yesterday,“ saidan old mouse of the female sex to another who hadnot been present at the feast. ”I sat number twenty-one below the mouse-king, which was not a badplace. Shall I tell you what we had? Everything wasfirst rate. Mouldy bread, tallow candle, andsausage. And then, when we had finished thatcourse, the same came on all over again; it was asgood as two feasts. We were very sociable, andthere was as much joking and fun as if we had beenall of one family circle. Nothing was left but the sausage skewers, and this formed a subject ofconversation, till at last it turned to the proverb, 'Soup from sausage skins;' or, as thepeople in the neighboring country call it, 'Soup from a sausage skewer.' Every one had heardthe proverb, but no one had ever tasted the soup, much less prepared it. A capital toastwas drunk to the inventor of the soup, and some one said he ought to be made a relievingofficer to the poor. Was not that witty? Then the old mouse-king rose and promised that theyoung lady-mouse who should learn how best to prepare this much-admired and savory soupshould be his queen, and a year and a day should be allowed for the purpose.“

  “That was not at all a bad proposal,” said the other mouse; “but how is the soupmade?”

  “Ah, that is more than I can tell you. All the young lady mice were asking the samequestion. They wished very much to be queen, but they did not want to take the trouble ofgoing out into the world to learn how to make soup, which was absolutely necessary to bedone first. But it is not every one who would care to leave her family, or her happy corner bythe fire-side at home, even to be made queen. It is not always easy to find bacon and cheese-rind in foreign lands every day, and it is not pleasant to have to endure hunger, and beperhaps, after all, eaten up alive by the cat.”

  Most probably some such thoughts as these discouraged the majority from going out intothe world to collect the required information. Only four mice gave notice that they were readyto set out on the journey. They were young and lively, but poor. Each of them wished to visitone of the four divisions of the world, so that it might be seen which was the most favored byfortune. Every one took a sausage skewer as a traveller's staff, and to remind them of theobject of their journey. They left home early in May, and none of them returned till the first ofMay in the following year, and then only three of them. Nothing was seen or heard of thefourth, although the day of decision was close at hand. “Ah, yes, there is always sometrouble mixed up with the GREatest pleasure,” said the mouse-king; but he gave orders thatall the mice within a circle of many miles should be invited at once. They were to assemble inthe kitchen, and the three travelled mice were to stand in a row before them, while asausage skewer, covered with crape, was to be stuck up instead of the missing mouse. Noone dared to express an opinion until the king spoke, and desired one of them to go on withher story. And now we shall hear what she said.

  What the First Little Mouse Saw and Heard on Her Travels

  HEN I first went out into the world,“ said the little mouse, ”I fancied, as so many of myage do, that I already knew everything, but it was not so. It takes years to acquire GREatknowledge. I went at once to sea in a ship bound for the north. I had been told that the ship'scook must know how to prepare every dish at sea, and it is easy enough to do that withplenty of sides of bacon, and large tubs of salt meat and mouldy flour. There I found plenty ofdelicate food, but no opportunity for learning how to make soup from a sausage skewer.We sailed on for many days and nights; the ship rocked fearfully, and we did not escapewithout a wetting. As soon as we arrived at the port to which the ship was bound, I left it,and went on shore at a place far towards the north. It is a wonderful thing to leave your ownlittle corner at home, to hide yourself in a ship where there are sure to be some nice snugcorners for shelter, then suddenly to find yourself thousands of miles away in a foreign land. Isaw large pathless forests of pine and birch trees, which smelt so strong that I sneezed andthought of sausage. There were great lakes also which looked as black as ink at a distance,but were quite clear when I came close to them. Large swans were floating upon them, and Ithought at first they were only foam, they lay so still; but when I saw them walk and fly, Iknew what they were directly. They belong to the goose species, one can see that by theirwalk. No one can attempt to disguise family descent. I kept with my own kind, and associatedwith the forest and field mice, who, however, knew very little, especially about what Iwanted to know, and which had actually made me travel abroad. The idea that soup could bemade from a sausage skewer was to them such an out-of-the-way, unlikely thought, thatit was repeated from one to another through the whole forest. They declared that the problemwould never be solved, that the thing was an impossibility. How little I thought that in thisplace, on the very first night, I should be initiated into the manner of its preparation.

  “It was the height of summer, which the micetold me was the reason that the forest smelt sostrong, and that the herbs were so fragrant, andthe lakes with the white swimming swans so dark,and yet so clear. On the margin of the wood, nearto three or four houses, a pole, as large as themainmast of a ship, had been erected, and fromthe summit hung wreaths of flowers and flutteringribbons; it was the Maypole. Lads and lassesdanced round the pole, and tried to outdo theviolins of the musicians with their singing. They wereas merry as ever at sunset and in the moonlight, but I took no part in the merry-making.What has a little mouse to do with a Maypole dance? I sat in the soft moss, and held mysausage skewer tight. The moon threw its beams particularly on one spot where stood a treecovered with exceedingly fine moss. I may almost venture to say that it was as fine and soft asthe fur of the mouse-king, but it was GREen, which is a color very agreeable to the eye. Allat once I saw the most charming little people marching towards me. They did not reach higherthan my knee; they looked like human beings, but were better proportioned, and they calledthemselves elves. Their clothes were very delicate and fine, for they were made of the leavesof flowers, trimmed with the wings of flies and gnats, which had not a bad effect. By theirmanner, it appeared as if they were seeking for something. I knew not what, till at last one ofthem espied me and came towards me, and the foremost pointed to my sausage skewer,and said, 'There, that is just what we want; see, it is pointed at the top; is it notcapital?' and the longer he looked at my pilgrim's staff, the more delighted he became. 'I willlend it to you,' said I, 'but not to keep.'

  “'Oh no, we won't keep it!' they all cried; and then they seized the skewer, which Igave up to them, and danced with it to the spot where the delicate moss GREw, and set itup in the middle of the green. They wanted a maypole, and the one they now had seemed cutout on purpose for them. Then they decorated it so beautifully that it was quite dazzling tolook at. Little spiders spun golden threads around it, and then it was hung with fluttering veilsand flags so delicately white that they glittered like snow in the moonshine. After that theytook colors from the butterfly's wing, and sprinkled them over the white drapery whichgleamed as if covered with flowers and diamonds, so that I could not recognize my sausageskewer at all. Such a maypole had never been seen in all the world as this. Then came a greatcompany of real elves. Nothing could be finer than their clothes, and they invited me to bepresent at the feast; but I was to keep at a certain distance, because I was too large forthem. Then commenced such music that it sounded like a thousand glass bells, and was so fulland strong that I thought it must be the song of the swans. I fancied also that I heard thevoices of the cuckoo and the black-bird, and it seemed at last as if the whole forest sent forthglorious melodies—the voices of children, the tinkling of bells, and the songs of the birds;and all this wonderful melody came from the elfin maypole. My sausage peg was a completepeal of bells. I could scarcely believe that so much could have been produced from it, till Iremembered into what hands it had fallen. I was so much affected that I wept tears such as alittle mouse can weep, but they were tears of joy. The night was far too short for me; thereare no long nights there in summer, as we often have in this part of the world. When themorning dawned, and the gentle breeze rippled the glassy mirror of the forest lake, all thedelicate veils and flags fluttered away into thin air; the waving garlands of the spider's web,the hanging bridges and galleries, or whatever else they may be called, vanished away as ifthey had never been. Six elves brought me back my sausage skewer, and at the same timeasked me to make any request, which they would grant if in their power; so I beggedthem, if they could, to tell me how to make soup from a sausage skewer.