The Seven Swabians

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

　　Once seven Swabians were together. The first was Herr Schulz, the second Jackli, the third Marli, the fourth Jergli, the fifth Michal, the sixth Hans, and the seventh Veitli.

　　All seven had decided¹ to travel throughout the world seeking adventure and performing great deeds. In order to arm themselves and assure their safety, they thought it would be a good thing to have a single, but very strong and very long spear made for them. Together all seven of them took hold of this spear. The bravest and most manly² of them was in front, and that had to be Herr Schulz. The others followed in order, with Veitli bringing up the rear.

　　Now one day in the month of July, when they had walked a long way but still had a good piece to go before reaching the village where they were going to spend the night, it happened that they were in a meadow just as it was getting dark, and a large beetle³ or hornet flew by them from behind a bush, buzzing in a threatening manner.

　　Herr Schulz was so frightened that he almost let go of the spear, and a cold sweat broke out over his whole body. "Listen, listen," he shouted to his comrades. "Good heaven, I hear a drum!"

　　Jackli, who was holding the spear behind him, and who had just smelled I don't know what, said, "Something is here for sure. I can smell the powder and the fuses."

　　Hearing these words, Herr Schulz began to run away, and he quickly jumped over a fence, landing right on the teeth of a rake that had been left lying there from haymaking. The handle hit him in the face with a tremendous blow.

　　"Oh dear, oh dear," screamed Master Schulz. "Take me prisoner! I surrender! I surrender!"

　　The other six all jumped toward him, one over the other, screaming, "If you surrender, I surrender too. If you surrender, I surrender too."

　　But no enemy was there to bind⁴ them and take them away, so they finally saw that they had been deceived. To keep the story from getting out and causing them to look foolish and to be ridiculed⁵, they all swore to one another that they would say nothing about it until one of them should open his mouth by mistake.

　　Then they traveled onward⁶.

　　The second danger that they experienced cannot be compared to the first one. A few days later their path led them across an unplowed field where a hare was sitting asleep in the sun. Its ears were standing⁷ straight up, and its large glassy eyes were wide open.

　　All of them were frightened at the sight of this terrible wild beast, and they discussed with one another what would be the least dangerous thing to do. If they were to run away, they feared that the monster would pursue them and devour⁸ them all, even their skin and hair.

　　So they said, "We will have to fight a great and dangerous battle. Well begun is half done!"

　　Then all seven took hold of the spear, Herr Schulz in front and Veitli at the rear. Herr Schulz was always trying to hold the spear back, but at the rear Veitli had become quite brave, and wanted to break loose. He shouted:

　　Strike out, in every Swabian's name, Or else I wish that you be lame⁹.

　　But Hans knew how to answer this, and he said:

　　Thunder and lightning, you're one to brag¹⁰, But at dragon hunting you always lag.

　　Michal shouted:

　　Nothing is missing, not even a hair. The devil himself is the one who is there.

　　Then it was Jergli's turn, and he said:

　　If he's not the one, it is his mother, Or else it is the devil's stepbrother.

　　Then Marli had a good idea, and he said to Veitli:

　　Forward, Veitli, go first, I say. I'm behind you all the way.

　　Veitli, however, did not obey, and Jackli said:

　　Let Herr Schulz be number one, That's an honor he has won.

　　Then Herrr Schulz took courage, and said:

　　Boldly then, we go to war. Then all will know how brave we are.

　　Then all together they attacked the dragon. Herr Schulz crossed himself and prayed to God for assistance, but none of this helped, so, approaching the enemy, he screamed in great fear, "Oh, oh, oh, oh!"

　　This awakened¹¹ the hare, and the frightened animal darted¹² swiftly away. When Herr Schulz saw it thus fleeing from the battlefield, he shouted out joyfully¹³:

　　Quick, Veitli, look there, The monster is a hare."

　　Then the band of Swabians went in search of further adventure, and they came to the Mosel, a mossy, still, deep river. There are only a few bridges over it, and in many places people have to cross it by boat. The seven Swabians did not know this, so they shouted to a man who was working on the opposite side of the river, and asked him how to get across.

　　Because of the distance and their language, the man did not understand what they wanted, and he asked, in the dialect of Trier, "Wat? Wat?"

　　Herr Schulz thought he was saying, "Wade¹⁴. Wade through the water," and because he was in front, he set forth¹⁵ and began walking into the Mosel. Before long he sank into the mud and into the deep waves that were driving against him. However, the wind blew his hat to the opposite shore. A frog sat down beside it, and croaked¹⁶, "wat, wat, wat."

　　The other six heard this from the other side and said, "Aha, our comrade Herr Schulz is calling us. If he can wade across, then why can't we?"

　　So in a rush and all together they jumped into the water and drowned.

　　Thus one frog took the lives of all six of them, and not one of the band of Swabians ever came home again.

　  从前有七个斯瓦比亚人住在一块，他们分别是斯尔茨先生、杰克力、马力、约科力、米绍尔、汉斯和韦特利。七个人都决心周游世界去猎奇探险，行善济世。但是为了行路安全，手中须有武器，他们认为最好能造一根又长又结实的矛。矛造好后七个人马上把那根矛抓在手里，排好了队，排头的是那个最大胆勇猛的斯尔茨先生，其他六个一字排开，紧随其后，韦特利排在最后。他们走啊走啊，走了好长的路，但距离他们要投宿的村庄还有一大段路，他们只好在干草堆上睡上一宿。黄昏时在一片草地上，一只大甲虫亦或是大赤蜂从灌木丛后飞来，嗡嗡地发出扰人的声音。斯尔茨先生吓出了一身冷汗，赶紧放下手中的矛。“听啊！
　　听啊！“他叫道，”天啊！我听到一阵鼓声。“杰克力紧随其后托着那支矛，鼻子里也闻到了某种气味，”肯定发生了什么事，我闻到了火药和火柴味。“一听这话斯尔茨先生调转头就跑，转眼就跨过了树篱，但当他就要跳过人们晒完草后扔在一边的耙犁时，耙柄撞了一下他的脸，狠狠地砸了他一下。”唉哟！唉哟！“他大叫起来，”你抓着我了，我投降！我投降！“其他六个也都跌撞过来，一个趴在另一个头上，大呼小叫：”你投降，我也投降！你投降，我也投降！“最后，并没有敌人来把他们捆起来带走，他们意识到自己弄错了，为了不让别人知道这件事，免得别人戏谑嘲笑，他们互相起誓要保守机密，当然此事到很久以后还是有人无意中说出来了。于是他们又继续往前走。他们经历的第二道难关比起第一次来差远了。又过了几天，他们走进了一片荒地，发现一只野兔正缩在那儿晒太阳，它双耳耸立，瞪着对亮晶晶的大眼睛。七个人看到可怕的野兽都给吓怕了，商量着怎样做才会最安全。因为他们知道一旦跑开，那只怪兽恐怕就会追上来将他们吃掉。所以他们说：”我们必须进行一场刺激惊险的搏斗，勇敢向前就是成功的一半。“七个人紧紧地抓着矛，斯尔茨先生总想把矛拿着不动，但排在最后的韦特利却变得极为勇敢，想冲锋向前，口中念念有词：

　　“以全体斯瓦比亚人的名义勇敢地向前冲，

　　不然你们就像跛子一样趴下！“

　　但是汉斯知道怎么对付，说：

　　“我敢打赌，你只是说得漂亮，

　　每次战斗你总是落在最后。“

　　米绍尔说道：

　　“丝毫不差，丝毫不差，

　　那家伙简直就是一个鬼。“

　　轮到约科力了，他接着说：

　　“如果不是鬼，就是鬼的妈，

　　要不就是鬼的过继兄弟。“

　　马力突然有了个好主意，他对韦特利说：“上吧，韦特利；上吧，韦特利，

　　有我在后面抓着矛。“

　　韦特利没有照着做，于是杰克力说：

　　“斯尔茨先生该是第一个，

　　要知光荣属于冲在最先的人。“

　　最后斯尔茨先生鼓起了勇气，威风凛凛地说：

　　“让我们冲锋向前，参加战斗，

　　以显示我们的勇猛和力量。“

　　于是七个人一齐冲向那野兽。斯尔茨先生双手划着十字，祈求上帝的帮助，但这一切都无济于事，当他离“敌人”越来越近时，他口中惊恐地发出了：“喔！喔！”声并且是声嘶力竭，痛苦万分的声音，叫声惊醒了野兔，它吓了一大跳便迅速逃开了。斯尔茨先生见她逃离了战场，高兴地大叫：

　　“快看哪，韦特利，快看哪，

　　那恶魔只不过是只野兔。“

　　接着七个斯瓦比亚人继续他们的探险，这天他们来到了摩塞莱河。这是一条布满了青苔，平静而深沉的河流，水面上桥儿不多，有好多地方要乘船过去。但这七个斯瓦比亚人却对此一概不知。他们冲着对岸一位正在干活的人猛叫，问他怎样才能过去。因两岸距离远，别人又听不懂他们的话，那人没懂他们要干什么，于是就用他特武人的土话说：“干啥子？

　　干啥子？“斯尔茨先生以为他在说：”涉水过河。“因为他排在最头，所以第一个踏入了河里。不久他就陷进泥里站不起来了，河里的浪花不断向他砸来，他的帽子也被风吹到了对岸。一只青蛙正好蹲在帽子旁，叫着：”呱，呱，呱。“呆在一边的六个人听到叫声，说道：”喔，伙计们，斯尔茨先生在叫咱们，既然他能涉水过河，我们为什么不能？“于是六人一齐跳入了水中，结果全部淹死了。就这样一只青蛙要了六条人命，那群斯瓦比亚人没有一个活着回家的。

 

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