The Tinder-Box(2)

By
Hans Christian¹ Andersen

(1835)
英汉对照
One dark evening, he had not even a penny to buy a candle; then all at once he remembered that there was a piece of candle stuck in the tinder-box, which he had brought from the old tree, into which the witch had helped him.

He found the tinder-box, but no sooner had he struck a few sparks from the flint and steel, than the door flew open and the dog with eyes as big as teacups, whom he had seen while down in the tree, stood before him, and said, “What orders, master?”

“Hallo,” said the soldier; “well this is a pleasant tinderbox, if it brings me all I wish for.”

“Bring me some money,” said he to the dog.

He was gone in a moment, and presently returned, carrying a large bag of coppers³ in his month. The soldier very soon discovered after this the value of the tinder-box. If he struck the flint once, the dog who sat on the chest of copper² money made his ; if twice, the dog came from the chest of silver; and if three times, the dog with eyes like towers, who watched over the gold. The soldier had now plenty of money; he returned to his elegant⁴ rooms, and reappeared in his fine clothes, so that his friends knew him again directly, and made as much of him as before.

After a while he began to think it was very strange that no one could get a look at the princess. “Every one says she is very beautiful,” thought he to himself; “but what is the use of that if she is to be shut up in a copper castle surrounded by so many towers. Can I by any means get to see her. Stop! where is my tinder-box?” Then he struck a light, and in a moment the dog, with eyes as big as teacups, stood before him.

“It is midnight,” said the soldier, “yet I should very much like to see the princess, if only for a moment.”

The dog disappeared instantly, and before the soldier could even look round, he returned with the princess. She was lying on the dog's back asleep, and looked so lovely, that every one who saw her would know she was a real princess. The soldier could not help kissing her, true soldier as he was. Then the dog ran back with the princess; but in the morning, while at breakfast with the king and queen, she told them what a singular dream she had had during the night, of a dog and a soldier, that she had ridden on the dog's back, and been kissed by the soldier.

“That is a very pretty story, indeed,” said the queen. So the next night one of the old ladies of the court was set to watch by the princess's bed, to discover whether it really was a dream, or what else it might be.

The soldier longed very much to see the princess once more, so he sent for the dog again in the night to fetch her, and to run with her as fast as ever he could. But the old lady put on water boots, and ran after him as quickly as he did, and found that he carried the princess into a large house. She thought it would help her to remember the place if she made a large cross on the door with a piece of chalk. Then she went home to bed, and the dog presently returned with the princess. But when he saw that a cross had been made on the door of the house, where the soldier lived, he took another piece of chalk and made crosses on all the doors in the town, so that the lady-in-waiting might not be able to find out the right door.

Early the next morning the king and queen accompanied the lady and all the officers of the household, to see where the princess had been.

“Here it is,” said the king, when they came to the first door with a cross on it.

“No, my dear husband, it must be that one,” said the queen, pointing to a second door having a cross also.

“And here is one, and there is another!” they all exclaimed; for there were crosses on all the doors in every direction.

So they felt it would be useless to search any farther. But the queen was a very clever woman; she could do a great deal more than merely ride in a carriage. She took her large gold scissors, cut a piece of silk into squares, and made a neat little bag. This bag she filled with buckwheat flour, and tied it round the princess's neck; and then she cut a small hole in the bag, so that the flour might be scattered⁵ on the ground as the princess went along. During the night, the dog came again and carried the princess on his back, and ran with her to the soldier, who loved her very much, and wished that he had been a prince, so that he might have her for a wife. The dog did not observe how the flour ran out of the bag all the way from the castle wall to the soldier's house, and even up to the window, where he had climbed with the princess. Therefore in the morning the king and queen found out where their daughter had been, and the soldier was taken up and put in prison. Oh, how dark and disagreeable it was as he sat there, and the people said to him, “To-morrow you will be hanged.” It was not very pleasant news, and besides, he had left the tinder-box at the inn. In the morning he could see through the iron grating of the little window how the people were hastening out of the town to see him hanged; he heard the drums beating, and saw the soldiers marching. Every one ran out to look at them. and a shoemaker's boy, with a leather apron⁶ and slippers⁷ on, galloped⁸ by so fast, that one of his slippers flew off and struck against the wall where the soldier sat looking through the iron grating. “Hallo, you shoemaker's boy, you need not be in such a hurry,” cried the soldier to him. “There will be nothing to see till I come; but if you will run to the house where I have been living, and bring me my tinder-box, you shall have four shillings, but you must put your best foot foremost⁹.”

The shoemaker's boy liked the idea of getting the four shillings, so he ran very fast and fetched the tinder-box, and gave it to the soldier. And now we shall see what happened. Outside the town a large gibbet had been erected¹⁰, round which stood the soldiers and several thousands of people. The king and the queen sat on splendid thrones opposite to the judges and the whole council. The soldier already stood on the ladder; but as they were about to place the rope around his neck, he said that an innocent request was often granted to a poor criminal before he suffered death. He wished very much to smoke a pipe, as it would be the last pipe he should ever smoke in the world. The king could not refuse this request, so the soldier took his tinder-box, and struck fire, once, twice, thrice,— and there in a moment stood all the dogs;—the one with eyes as big as teacups, the one with eyes as large as mill-wheels, and the third, whose eyes were like towers. “Help me now, that I may not be hanged,” cried the soldier.

And the dogs fell upon the judges and all the councilors; seized one by the legs, and another by the nose, and tossed¹¹ them many feet high in the air, so that they fell down and were dashed to pieces.

“I will not be touched,” said the king. But the largest dog seized him, as well as the queen, and threw them after the others. Then the soldiers and all the people were afraid, and cried, “Good soldier, you shall be our king, and you shall marry the beautiful princess.”

So they placed the soldier in the king's carriage, and the three dogs ran on in front and cried “Hurrah!” and the little boys whistled through their fingers, and the soldiers presented arms. The princess came out of the copper castle, and became queen, which was very pleasing to her. The wedding festivities lasted a whole week, and the dogs sat at the table, and stared with all their eyes.

I. Translation for Reference(参考译文) 　

打火匣（2）

有一天晚上天很黑。他连一根蜡烛也买不起。这时他忽然记起，自己还有一根蜡烛头装
在那个打火匣里——巫婆帮助他到那空树底下取出来的那个打火匣。他把那个打火匣和蜡烛
头取出来。当他在火石上擦了一下，火星一冒出来的时候，房门忽然自动地开了，他在树底
下所看到的那条眼睛有茶杯大的狗儿就在他面前出现了。它说：
“我的主人，有什么吩咐？”
“这是怎么一回事儿？”兵土说。“这真是一个滑稽的打火匣。如果我能这样得到我想
要的东西才好呢！替我弄几个钱来吧！”他对狗儿说。于是“嘘”的一声，狗儿就不见了。
一会儿，又是“嘘”的一声，狗儿嘴里衔着一大口袋的钱回来了。
现在士兵才知道这是一个多么美妙的打火匣。只要他把它擦一下，那只狗儿就来了，坐
在盛有铜钱的箱子上。要是他擦它两下，那只有银子的狗儿就来了。要是他擦三下，那只有
金子的狗儿就出现了。现在这个兵士又搬到那几间华美的房间里去住，又穿起漂亮的衣服来
了。他所有的朋友马上又认得他了，并且还非常关心他起来。
有一次他心中想：“人们不能去看那位公主，也可算是一桩怪事。大家都说她很美；不
过，假如她老是独住在那有许多塔楼的铜宫里，那有什么意思呢？难道我就看不到她一眼吗
？——我的打火匣在什么地方？”他擦出火星，马上“嘘”的一声，那只眼睛像茶杯一样的
狗儿就跳出来了。
“现在是半夜了，一点也不错，”兵士说。“不过我倒很想看一下那位公主哩，哪怕一
忽儿也好。”
狗儿立刻就跑到门外去了。出乎这士兵的意料之外，它一会儿就领着公主回来了。她躺
在狗的背上，已经睡着了。谁都可以看出她是一个真正的公主，因为她非常好看。这个兵士
忍不住要吻她一下，因为他是一个不折不扣的丘八呀。
狗儿又带着公主回去了。但是天亮以后，当国王和王后正在饮茶的时候，公主说她在晚
上做了一个很奇怪的梦，梦见一只狗和一个兵，她自己骑在狗身上，那个兵吻了她一下。“
这倒是一个很好玩的故事呢！”王后说。
因此第二天夜里有一个老宫女就得守在公主的床边，来看看这究竟是梦呢，还是什么别
的东西。
那个兵士非常想再一次看到这位可爱的公主。因此狗儿晚上又来了，背起她，尽快地跑
走了。那个老宫女立刻穿上套鞋，以同样的速度在后面追赶。当她看到他们跑进一幢大房子
里去的时候，她想：“我现在可知道这块地方了。”她就在这门上用白粉笔画了一个大十字
。随后她就回去睡觉了，不久狗儿把公主送回来了。不过当它看见兵士住的那幢房子的门上
画着一个十字的时候，它也取一支粉笔来，在城里所有的门上都画了一个十字。这件事做得
很聪明，因为所有的门上都有了十字，那个老宫女就找不到正确的地方了。
早晨，国王、王后、那个老宫女以及所有的官员很早就都来了，要去看看公主所到过的
地方。
当国王看到第一个画有十字的门的时候，他就说：“就在这儿！”
但是王后发现另一个门上也有个十字，所以她说：“亲爱的丈夫，不是在这儿呀？”
这时大家都齐声说：“那儿有一个！那儿有一个！”因为他们无论朝什么地方看，都发
现门上画有十字。所以他们觉得，如果再找下去，也不会得到什么结果。
不过王后是一个非常聪明的女人。她不仅只会坐四轮马车，而且还能做一些别的事情。
她取出一把金剪刀，把一块绸子剪成几片，缝了一个很精致的小袋，在袋里装满了很细的荞
麦粉。她把这小袋系在公主的背上。这样布置好了以后，她就在袋子上剪了一个小口，好叫
公主走过的路上，都撒上细粉。
晚间狗儿又来了。它把公主背到背上，带着她跑到兵士那儿去。这个兵士现在非常爱她
；他倒很想成为一位王子，和她结婚呢。
狗儿完全没有注意到，面粉已经从王宫那儿一直撒到兵士那间屋子的窗上——它就是在
这儿背着公主沿着墙爬进去的。早晨，国王和王后已经看得很清楚，知道他们的女儿曾经到
什么地方去过。他们把那个兵士抓来，关进牢里去。
他现在坐在牢里了。嗨，那里面可够黑暗和闷人啦！人们对他说：“明天你就要上绞架
了。”这句话听起来可真不是好玩的，而且他把打火匣也忘掉在旅馆里。第二天早晨，他从
小窗的铁栏杆里望见许多人涌出城来看他上绞架。他听到鼓声，看到兵士们开步走。所有的
人都在向外面跑。在这些人中间有一个鞋匠的学徒。他还穿着破围裙和一双拖鞋。他跑得那
么快，连他的一双拖鞋也飞走了，撞到一堵墙上。那个兵士就坐在那儿，在铁栏杆后面朝外
望。
“喂，你这个鞋匠的小鬼！你不要这么急呀！”兵士对他说。“在我没有到场以前，没
有什么好看的呀。不过，假如你跑到我住的那个地方去，把我的打火匣取来，我可以给你四
块钱。但是你得使劲地跑一下才行。”这个鞋匠的学徒很想得到那四块钱，所以提起脚就跑
，把那个打火匣取来，交给这兵士，同时——唔，我们马上就可以知道事情起了什么变化。
在城外面，一架高大的绞架已经竖起来了。它的周围站着许多兵士和成千成万的老百姓。国
王和王后，面对着审判官和全部陪审的人员，坐在一个华丽的王座上面。
那个兵士已经站到梯子上来了。不过，当人们正要把绞索套到他脖子上的时候，他说，
一个罪人在接受他的裁判以前，可以有一个无罪的要求，人们应该让他得到满足：他非常想
抽一口烟，而且这可以说是他在这世界上最后抽的一口烟了。
对于这要求，国王不愿意说一个“不”字。所以兵士就取出了他的打火匣，擦了几下火
。一——二——三！忽然三只狗儿都跳出来了——一只有茶杯那么大的眼睛，一只有水车轮
那么大的眼睛——还有一只的眼睛简直有“圆塔”那么大。
“请帮助我，不要叫我被绞死吧！”兵士说。
这时这几只狗儿就向法官和全体审判的人员扑来，拖着这个人的腿子，咬着那个人的鼻
子，把他们扔向空中有好几丈高，他们落下来时都跌成了肉酱。
“不准这样对付我！”国王说。不过最大的那只狗儿还是拖住他和他的王后，把他们跟
其余的人一起乱扔，所有的士兵都害怕起来，老百姓也都叫起来：“小兵，你做咱们的国王
吧！你跟那位美丽的公主结婚吧！”
这么着，大家就把这个兵士拥进国王的四轮马车里去。那三只狗儿就在他面前跳来跳去
，同时高呼：“万岁！”小孩子用手指吹起口哨来；士兵们敬起礼来。那位公主走出她的铜
宫，做了王后，感到非常满意。结婚典礼举行了足足八天。那三只狗儿也上桌子坐了，把眼
睛睁得比什么时候都大。
（１８３５年）