The Golden Key

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

　　Once in the wintertime when the snow was very deep， a poor boy had to go out and fetch wood on a sled. After he had gathered it together and loaded it， he did not want to go straight home， because he was so frozen¹， but instead to make a fire and warm himself a little first. So he scraped² the snow away， and while he was thus clearing the ground he found a small golden key. Now he believed that where there was a key， there must also be a lock， so he dug in the ground and found a little iron chest. “If only the key fits！” he thought. “Certainly there are valuable things in the chest.” He looked， but there was no keyhole. Finally he found one， but so small that it could scarcely³ be seen. He tried the key， and fortunately it fitted. Then he turned it once， and now we must wait until he has finished unlocking⁴ it and has opened the lid. Then we shall find out what kind of wonderful things there were in the little chest.

　隆冬，积雪覆盖大地，一个贫苦的小男孩不得不出门，滑着雪橇去拾柴。拣到柴，把它们捆起来后，小男孩多么希望他不必立刻回家，能就地升上一堆火暖暖身子啊，他快冻僵了。於是他把雪扒到一边，清理出一块地方来，这时他发现了一把小小的金钥匙。他想，既然钥匙在，锁也一定就在附近，便往地里挖，挖出了个铁盒子。“要是这钥匙能配这铁锁就好了！”他想，“那小盒子里一定有许多珍宝。”他找了找，却找不到锁眼。最后他发现了一个小孔，小得几乎看不见。他试了试，钥匙正好能插进。他转动了钥匙，现在我们要等一等，待他把铁盒子打开，揭开盖子，就会知道盒子里有甚么好东西了。