- 相關(guān)推薦
安徒生童話故事第34篇：妖山The Elfin Hill
引導(dǎo)語(yǔ)：安徒生的經(jīng)典童話故事，大家知道哪些?下面是小編整理的妖山，還有英文版，歡迎大家閱讀!
在一株老樹的裂縫里有好幾只蜥蜴在活潑地跑著。它們彼此都很了解，因?yàn)樗鼈冎v著同樣的蜥蜴語(yǔ)。
“嗨，住在老妖精山上的那些家伙號(hào)叫得才厲害呢!”一只蜥蜴說(shuō)，“他們的鬧聲把我弄得兩整夜合不上眼睛。這簡(jiǎn)直跟躺在床上害牙痛差不多，因?yàn)槲覚M豎是睡不著的!”
“那兒一定有什么事情!”另一只蜥蜴說(shuō)。“他們把那座山用四根紅柱子支起來(lái)，一直支到雞叫為止。這座山算是痛痛快快地通了一次風(fēng);那些女妖還學(xué)會(huì)了像跺腳這類的新舞步呢。那兒一定有什么事情!”
“對(duì)，我剛才還跟我認(rèn)識(shí)的一位蚯蚓談起過(guò)這件事，”第二只蜥蜴說(shuō)。“這位蚯蚓是直接從山里來(lái)的——他晝夜都在那山里翻土。他聽到了許多事情�？蓱z的東西，他的眼睛看不見東西，可是他卻知道怎樣摸路和聽別人談話。妖山上的人正在等待一些客人到來(lái)——一些有名望的客人。不過(guò)這些客人究竟是誰(shuí)，蚯蚓可不愿意說(shuō)出來(lái)——也許他真的不知道。所有的鬼火都得到了通知，要舉行一個(gè)他們所謂的火炬游行。他們已經(jīng)把金銀器皿——這些東西他們山里有的是——擦得煥然一新，并且在月光下擺出來(lái)啦!”
“那些客人可能是誰(shuí)呢?”所有的蜥蜴一齊問。“那兒在發(fā)生什么事情呢!聽呀，多么鬧!多么吵!”
正在這時(shí)候，妖山開了。一位老妖小姐①急急忙忙地走出來(lái)。她的衣服穿得倒蠻整齊，可就是沒有背。她是老妖王的管家娘娘，也是他的一個(gè)遠(yuǎn)房親戚。她的額角上戴著一顆心形的琥珀。她的一雙腿動(dòng)得真夠快：得!得!嗨，她才會(huì)走呢!她一口氣走到住在沼澤地上的夜烏鴉那兒去。
“請(qǐng)你到妖山上去，今晚就去，”她說(shuō)。“不過(guò)先請(qǐng)你幫幫忙，把這些請(qǐng)?zhí)统鋈ズ脝?您自己既然無(wú)家可管，你總得做點(diǎn)事情呀!我們今天有幾個(gè)非常了不起的客人——很重要的魔法師。老國(guó)王也希望借這個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)排場(chǎng)一下!”
“究竟要請(qǐng)一些什么客人呢?”夜烏鴉問。
“噯，誰(shuí)都可以來(lái)參加這個(gè)盛大的跳舞會(huì)，甚至人都可以來(lái)——只要他們能在睡夢(mèng)中講話，或者能懂一點(diǎn)我們所做的事情。不過(guò)參加第一次宴會(huì)的人可要挑選一下;我們只能請(qǐng)最有名的人。我曾經(jīng)跟妖王爭(zhēng)論過(guò)一次，因?yàn)槲覉?jiān)持我們連鬼怪也不能請(qǐng)。我們得先請(qǐng)海人和他的一些女兒。他們一定很喜歡來(lái)拜訪干燥的陸地的。不過(guò)他們得有一塊潮濕的石頭，或者比這更好的東西，當(dāng)做座位;我想這樣他們就不好意思拒絕不來(lái)了。我們也可以請(qǐng)那些長(zhǎng)有尾巴的頭等魔鬼、河人和小妖精來(lái)。我想我們也不應(yīng)該忘記墓豬、整馬和教堂的小鬼②。事實(shí)上他們都是教會(huì)的一部分，跟我們這些人沒有關(guān)系。但是那也不過(guò)是他們的職務(wù)，他們跟我們的來(lái)往很密切，常常拜訪我們!”
“好極了!”夜烏鴉說(shuō)，接著他就拿著請(qǐng)?zhí)w走了。
女妖們已經(jīng)在妖山上跳起舞來(lái)了。她們披著霧氣和月光織成的長(zhǎng)圍脖跳。凡是喜歡披這種東西的人，跳起來(lái)倒是蠻好看的。妖山的正中央是一個(gè)裝飾得整整齊齊的大客廳。它的地板用月光洗過(guò)一次，它的墻用巫婆的蠟油擦過(guò)一番，因此它們就好像擺在燈面前的郁金香花瓣似的，射出光輝。廚房里全是烤青蛙、蛇皮色的小孩子的手指、毒菌絲拌的涼菜、濕耗子鼻、毒胡蘿卜等;還要沼澤地里巫婆熬的麥酒③和從墳窖里取來(lái)的亮晶晶的硝石酒。所有的菜都非常實(shí)在，甜菜中包括生了銹的指甲和教堂窗玻璃碎片這幾個(gè)菜。
老妖王用石筆把他的金王冠擦亮。這是一根小學(xué)六年級(jí)用的石筆，而老妖王得到一根六年級(jí)用的石筆是很不容易的!他的睡房里掛著幔帳，而這幔帳是用蝸牛的分泌物粘在一起的。是的，那里面?zhèn)鞒鲆魂囍ㄖㄔ穆曇簟?/p>
“現(xiàn)在我們要焚一點(diǎn)馬尾和豬鬃，當(dāng)做香燒;這樣，我想我的工作可算是做完了!”老妖小姐說(shuō)。
“親愛的爸爸!”最小的女兒說(shuō)，“我現(xiàn)在可不可以知道，我們最名貴的客人是些什么人呢?”
“嗯，”他說(shuō)，“我想我現(xiàn)在不得不公開宣布了!我有兩個(gè)女兒應(yīng)該準(zhǔn)備結(jié)婚!她們兩個(gè)人必須結(jié)婚。挪威的那位老地精將要帶著他的兩個(gè)少爺?shù)絹?lái)——他們每人要找一個(gè)妻子。這位老地精住在老杜伏爾山中，他有好幾座用花崗石筑的宮堡，還有一個(gè)誰(shuí)都想象不到的好金礦。這位老地精是一個(gè)地道的、正直的挪威人，他老是那么直爽和高興。在我跟他碰杯結(jié)為兄弟以前，我老早就認(rèn)識(shí)他。他討太太的時(shí)候到這兒來(lái)過(guò)�，F(xiàn)在她已經(jīng)死了。她是莫恩巖石王的女兒。真是像俗話所說(shuō)的，他在白堊巖上討太太④。啊，我多么想看看這位挪威的地精啊!他的孩子據(jù)說(shuō)是相當(dāng)粗野的年輕人，不過(guò)這句話可能說(shuō)得不公平。他們到年紀(jì)大一點(diǎn)就會(huì)變好的。我倒要看看，你們?cè)鯓影阉麄兘痰枚乱稽c(diǎn)。”
“他們什么時(shí)候到來(lái)呢?”一個(gè)女兒?jiǎn)枴?/p>
“這要看風(fēng)色和天氣而定，”老妖王說(shuō)，“他們總是找經(jīng)濟(jì)的辦法旅行的!他們總是等機(jī)會(huì)坐船來(lái)。我倒希望他們經(jīng)過(guò)瑞典來(lái)，不過(guò)那個(gè)老家伙不是這么想法!他趕不上時(shí)代——這點(diǎn)我不贊成!”
這時(shí)有兩顆鬼火跳過(guò)來(lái)了。這一個(gè)跳得比另一個(gè)快，因此快的那一個(gè)就先到。
“他們來(lái)了!他們來(lái)了!”他們大聲叫著。
“快把我的王冠拿來(lái)，我要站進(jìn)月光里去!”老妖王說(shuō)。
幾個(gè)女兒把她們的長(zhǎng)圍脖拉開，把腰一直彎到地上。
杜伏爾的老地精就站在他們面前。他的頭上戴著堅(jiān)硬的冰柱和光滑的松球做成的王冠;此外，他還穿著熊皮大衣和滑雪的靴子。他的兒子恰恰相反，脖子上什么也沒有圍，褲子上也沒有吊帶，因?yàn)樗麄兌际呛芙Y(jié)實(shí)的人。
“這就是那個(gè)土堆嗎?”最年輕的孩子指著妖山問。“我們?cè)谂餐堰@種東西叫做土坑。”
“孩子!”老頭子說(shuō)，“土坑向下洼，土堆向上凸，你的腦袋上沒有長(zhǎng)眼睛嗎?”
他們說(shuō)他們?cè)谶@兒惟一感到驚奇的事情是，他們懂得這兒的語(yǔ)言。
“不要在這兒鬧笑話吧!”老頭兒說(shuō)，“否則別人以為你們是鄉(xiāng)巴佬!”
他們走進(jìn)妖山。這兒的客人的確都是上流人物，而且在這樣短促的時(shí)間內(nèi)就都請(qǐng)來(lái)了。人們很可能相信他們是風(fēng)吹到一起的。每個(gè)客人的座位都是安排得既舒服而又得體。海人的席位是安排在一個(gè)水盆里，因此他們說(shuō)，他們簡(jiǎn)直像在家里一樣舒服。每人都很有禮貌，只是那兩個(gè)小地精例外。他們把腿蹺到桌子上，但是他們卻以為這很適合他們的身份!
“把腳從盤子上拿開!”老地精說(shuō)。他們接受了這個(gè)忠告，可并不是馬上就改。他們用松球在小姐們身上呵癢;他們?yōu)榱俗约旱氖娣�，把靴子脫下�?lái)叫小姐們拿著。不過(guò)他們的爸爸——那個(gè)老地精——跟他們完全兩樣。他以生動(dòng)的神情描述著挪威的那些石山是怎樣莊嚴(yán)，那些濺著白泡沫的瀑布怎樣發(fā)出雷轟或風(fēng)琴般的聲音。他敘述鮭魚一聽到水精彈起金豎琴時(shí)就怎樣逆流而上。他談起在明朗的冬夜里，雪橇的鈴是怎樣叮當(dāng)叮當(dāng)?shù)仨�，孩子們�(cè)鯓优e著火把在光滑的冰上跑，怎樣把冰照得透亮，使冰底下的魚兒在他們的腳下嚇得亂竄。的確，他講得有聲有色，在座的人簡(jiǎn)直好像親眼見過(guò)和親耳聽過(guò)似的：好像看見鋸木廠在怎樣鋸木料，男子和女子在怎樣唱歌和跳挪威的“哈鈴舞”。嘩啦!這個(gè)老地精出乎意料地在老妖小姐的臉上接了一個(gè)響亮的“舅舅吻”⑤。這才算得是一個(gè)吻呢!不過(guò)他們并不是親戚。
現(xiàn)在妖小姐們要跳舞了。她們跳普通步子，也跳蹬腳的步子。這兩種步子對(duì)她們都很適合。接著她們就跳一種很藝術(shù)的舞——她們也把它叫做“前無(wú)古人、后無(wú)來(lái)者”的舞。乖乖!她們的腿動(dòng)得才靈活呢!你簡(jiǎn)直分不出來(lái)，哪里是開頭，哪里是結(jié)尾;你也看不清楚，哪里是手臂，哪里是腿。它們簡(jiǎn)直像刨花一樣，攪混得亂七八糟。她們跳得團(tuán)團(tuán)轉(zhuǎn)，把“整馬”弄得頭昏腦漲，不得不退下桌子。
“噓噓!”老地精說(shuō)，“這才算得是一回大腿的迷人舞呢!不過(guò)，她們除了跳舞、伸伸腿和扇起一陣旋風(fēng)以外，還能做什么呢?”
“你等著瞧吧!”妖王說(shuō)。
于是他把最小的女兒喊出來(lái)。她輕盈和干凈得像月光一樣;她是所有姊妹之中最嬌嫩的一位。她把一根白色的木栓放在嘴里，馬上她就不見了——這就是她的魔法。
不過(guò)老地精說(shuō)，他倒不希望自己的太太有這樣一套本領(lǐng)。他也不認(rèn)為他的兒子喜歡這套本領(lǐng)。
第二個(gè)女兒可以跟自己并排走，好像她有一個(gè)影子似的——但是山精是沒有影子的。
第三個(gè)女兒有一套完全不同的本領(lǐng)。她在沼澤女人的酒房里學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)，所以她知道怎樣用螢火蟲在接骨木樹樁上擦出油來(lái)。
“她可以成為一個(gè)很好的家庭主婦!”老地精說(shuō)。他對(duì)她擠了擠眼睛代替敬酒，因?yàn)樗辉敢夂染铺唷?/p>
現(xiàn)在第四個(gè)妖姑娘來(lái)了。她有一架很大的金豎琴。她彈第一下的時(shí)候，所有的人就都得照她的意思動(dòng)作。
“這是一個(gè)危險(xiǎn)的女人!”老地精說(shuō)。不過(guò)他的兩位少爺都已從山里走出來(lái)，因?yàn)樗齻円呀?jīng)感到膩了。
“下一位小姐能夠做什么呢?”老地精問。
“我已經(jīng)學(xué)會(huì)了怎樣愛挪威人!”她說(shuō)，“如果我不能到挪威去，我就永遠(yuǎn)不結(jié)婚!”
不過(guò)最小的那個(gè)女兒低聲對(duì)老地精說(shuō)：“這是因?yàn)樗?jīng)聽過(guò)一支挪威歌的緣故。歌里說(shuō)，當(dāng)世界滅亡的時(shí)候，挪威的石崖將會(huì)仍然作為紀(jì)念碑而存在。所以她希望到挪威去，因?yàn)樗ε聹缤觥?rdquo;
“呵!呵!”老地精說(shuō)，“這倒是說(shuō)的心坎里的話!最后的第七個(gè)小姐能夠做什么呢?”
“第七位頭上還有第六位呀!”妖王說(shuō)，因?yàn)樗粫?huì)計(jì)算數(shù)字�？墒悄堑诹恍〗銋s姍姍地不愿意出來(lái)。
“我只能對(duì)人講真話!”她說(shuō)，“誰(shuí)也不理我，而我做我的壽衣已經(jīng)夠忙的了!”
這時(shí)第七位，也是最后的一位，走出來(lái)了。她能夠做什么呢?她能講故事——要她講多少就能講多少。
“這是我的五個(gè)指頭?”老地精說(shuō)。“把每個(gè)指頭編一個(gè)故事吧!”
這位姑娘托起他的手腕，她笑得連氣都喘不過(guò)來(lái)。它戴著一個(gè)戒指，好像它知道有人快要訂婚似的，當(dāng)她講到“金火”的時(shí)候，老地精說(shuō)，“把你握著的東西捏緊吧，這只手就是你的!我要討你做太太!”
妖姑娘說(shuō)，“‘金火’和‘比爾——玩朋友’⑥的故事還沒有講完!”
“留到冬天再講給我聽吧!”老地精說(shuō)。“那時(shí)我們還可以聽聽關(guān)于松樹的故事，赤楊的故事，山妖送禮的故事和寒霜的故事!你可以盡量講故事，因?yàn)槟莾哼�沒有人會(huì)這一套!那時(shí)我們可以坐在石室里，燒起松木來(lái)烤火，用古代挪威國(guó)王的角形金杯盛蜜酒喝——山精送了兩個(gè)這樣的酒杯給我!我們坐在一起，加爾波⑦將會(huì)來(lái)拜訪我們，他將對(duì)你唱著關(guān)于山中牧女的歌。那才快樂呢。鮭魚在瀑布里跳躍，撞著石壁，但是卻鉆不進(jìn)去!嗨，住在親愛的老挪威才痛快呢!但是那兩個(gè)孩子到什么地方去了?”
是的，那兩個(gè)孩子到什么地方去了呢?他們?cè)谔镆袄锉寂�，把那些好心好意�?zhǔn)備來(lái)參加火炬游行的鬼火都吹走了。
“你們居然這樣胡鬧!”老地精說(shuō)，“我為你們找到了一個(gè)母親�，F(xiàn)在你們也可以在這些姨媽中挑一個(gè)呀!”
不過(guò)少爺說(shuō)，他們喜歡發(fā)表演說(shuō)，為友情干杯，但是沒有心情討太太。因此他們就發(fā)表演說(shuō)，為友情干杯，而且還把杯子套在手指尖上，表示他們真正喝干了。他們脫下上衣倒在桌子上呼呼地睡起來(lái)，因?yàn)樗麄儾辉敢庵v什么客套。但是老地精跟他的年輕夫人在房里跳得團(tuán)團(tuán)轉(zhuǎn)，而且還交換靴子，因?yàn)榻粨Q靴子比交換戒指好。
“現(xiàn)在雞叫了!”管家的老妖姑娘說(shuō)。“我們現(xiàn)在要把窗扉關(guān)上，免得太陽(yáng)烤著我們!”
這樣，妖山就關(guān)上了。
不過(guò)外面的那四只蜥蜴在樹的裂口里跑上跑下。這個(gè)對(duì)那個(gè)說(shuō)：
“啊，我喜歡那個(gè)挪威的老地精!”
“我更喜歡他的幾個(gè)孩子!”蚯蚓說(shuō)。不過(guò)，可憐的東西，他什么也看不見。
�、僭氖荅lverpige，據(jù)丹麥的傳說(shuō)，老妖小姐像一個(gè)假面具，前面很好看，后面則是空的。
�、诟鶕�(jù)丹麥的古老迷信，每次建造一個(gè)教堂的時(shí)候，地下就要活埋一匹馬。凡是一個(gè)人要死，這匹馬就用三只腿在夜里走到他家里來(lái)。有些教堂活埋一只豬。這只豬的魂魄叫做“墓豬”。“教堂小鬼”(Kirkegrimen)專門看守墓地;他懲罰侵害墓地的人。
�、鄹鶕�(jù)丹麥的傳說(shuō)，沼澤地上住著一個(gè)巫婆。她天天在熬麥酒。天下霧就是她熬酒時(shí)冒出來(lái)的水蒸氣。
�、苓@是丹麥的一個(gè)成語(yǔ)：“白堊巖上討太太”(Han tog sin kone paa krjd)，即“不費(fèi)一文討太太”的意思。
�、菰氖荕orbroder-Smadsk，意義不明。許多其他文字的譯者干脆把它譯成“一個(gè)吻”。大概這種吻是親戚之間的一種表示親熱的吻，沒有任何其他的意義。
�、捱@兒是雙關(guān)的意思，根據(jù)歐洲的習(xí)慣，把手交給誰(shuí)，即答應(yīng)跟誰(shuí)訂婚的意思。
�、哌@是挪威傳說(shuō)中的一種善良的田野妖精。
妖山英文版：
The Elfin Hill
AFEW large lizards were running nimbly about in the clefts of an old tree; they could understand one another very well, for they spoke the lizard language.
“What a buzzing and a rumbling there is in the elfin hill,” said one of the lizards; “I have not been able to close my eyes for two nights on account of the noise; I might just as well have had the toothache, for that always keeps me awake.”
“There is something going on within there,” said the other lizard; “they propped up the top of the hill with four red posts, till cock-crow this morning, so that it is thoroughly aired, and the elfin girls have learnt new dances; there is something.”
“I spoke about it to an earth-worm of my acquaintance,” said a third lizard; “the earth-worm had just come from the elfin hill, where he has been groping about in the earth day and night. He has heard a great deal; although he cannot see, poor miserable creature, yet he understands very well how to wriggle and lurk about. They expect friends in the elfin hill, grand company, too; but who they are the earth-worm would not say, or, perhaps, he really did not know. All the will-o’-the-wisps are ordered to be there to hold a torch dance, as it is called. The silver and gold which is plentiful in the hill will be polished and placed out in the moonlight.”
“Who can the strangers be?” asked the lizards; “what can the matter be? Hark, what a buzzing and humming there is!”
Just at this moment the elfin hill opened, and an old elfin maiden, hollow behind,1 came tripping out; she was the old elf king’s housekeeper, and a distant relative of the family; therefore she wore an amber heart on the middle of her forehead. Her feet moved very fast, “trip, trip;” good gracious, how she could trip right down to the sea to the night-raven.2
“You are invited to the elf hill for this evening,” said she; “but will you do me a great favor and undertake the invitations? you ought to do something, for you have no housekeeping to attend to as I have. We are going to have some very grand people, conjurors, who have always something to say; and therefore the old elf king wishes to make a great display.”
“Who is to be invited?” asked the raven.
“All the world may come to the great ball, even human beings, if they can only talk in their sleep, or do something after our fashion. But for the feast the company must be carefully selected; we can only admit persons of high rank; I have had a dispute myself with the elf king, as he thought we could not admit ghosts. The merman and his daughter must be invited first, although it may not be agreeable to them to remain so long on dry land, but they shall have a wet stone to sit on, or perhaps something better; so I think they will not refuse this time. We must have all the old demons of the first class, with tails, and the hobgoblins and imps; and then I think we ought not to leave out the death-horse,3 or the grave-pig, or even the church dwarf, although they do belong to the clergy, and are not reckoned among our people; but that is merely their office, they are nearly related to us, and visit us very frequently.”
“Croak,” said the night-raven as he flew away with the invitations.
The elfin maidens we’re already dancing on the elf hill, and they danced in shawls woven from moonshine and mist, which look very pretty to those who like such things. The large hall within the elf hill was splendidly decorated; the floor had been washed with moonshine, and the walls had been rubbed with magic ointment, so that they glowed like tulip-leaves in the light. In the kitchen were frogs roasting on the spit, and dishes preparing of snail skins, with children’s fingers in them, salad of mushroom seed, hemlock, noses and marrow of mice, beer from the marsh woman’s brewery, and sparkling salt-petre wine from the grave cellars. These were all substantial food. Rusty nails and church-window glass formed the dessert. The old elf king had his gold crown polished up with powdered slate-pencil; it was like that used by the first form, and very difficult for an elf king to obtain. In the bedrooms, curtains were hung up and fastened with the slime of snails; there was, indeed, a buzzing and humming everywhere.
“Now we must fumigate the place with burnt horse-hair and pig’s bristles, and then I think I shall have done my part,” said the elf man-servant.
“Father, dear,” said the youngest daughter, “may I now hear who our high-born visitors are?”
“Well, I suppose I must tell you now,” he replied; “two of my daughters must prepare themselves to be married, for the marriages certainly will take place. The old goblin from Norway, who lives in the ancient Dovre mountains, and who possesses many castles built of rock and freestone, besides a gold mine, which is better than all, so it is thought, is coming with his two sons, who are both seeking a wife. The old goblin is a true-hearted, honest, old Norwegian graybeard; cheerful and straightforward. I knew him formerly, when we used to drink together to our good fellowship: he came here once to fetch his wife, she is dead now. She was the daughter of the king of the chalk-hills at Moen. They say he took his wife from chalk; I shall be delighted to see him again. It is said that the boys are ill-bred, forward lads, but perhaps that is not quite correct, and they will become better as they grow older. Let me see that you know how to teach them good manners.”
“And when are they coming?” asked the daughter.
“That depends upon wind and weather,” said the elf king; “they travel economically. They will come when there is the chance of a ship. I wanted them to come over to Sweden, but the old man was not inclined to take my advice. He does not go forward with the times, and that I do not like.”
Two will-o’-the-wisps came jumping in, one quicker than the other, so of course, one arrived first. “They are coming! they are coming!” he cried.
“Give me my crown,” said the elf king, “and let me stand in the moonshine.”
The daughters drew on their shawls and bowed down to the ground. There stood the old goblin from the Dovre mountains, with his crown of hardened ice and polished fir-cones. Besides this, he wore a bear-skin, and great, warm boots, while his sons went with their throats bare and wore no braces, for they were strong men.
“Is that a hill?” said the youngest of the boys, pointing to the elf hill, “we should call it a hole in Norway.”
“Boys,” said the old man, “a hole goes in, and a hill stands out; have you no eyes in your heads?”
Another thing they wondered at was, that they were able without trouble to understand the language.
“Take care,” said the old man, “or people will think you have not been well brought up.”
Then they entered the elfin hill, where the select and grand company were assembled, and so quickly had they appeared that they seemed to have been blown together. But for each guest the neatest and pleasantest arrangement had been made. The sea folks sat at table in great water-tubs, and they said it was just like being at home. All behaved themselves properly excepting the two young northern goblins; they put their legs on the table and thought they were all right.
“Feet off the table-cloth!” said the old goblin. They obeyed, but not immediately. Then they tickled the ladies who waited at table, with the fir-cones, which they carried in their pockets. They took off their boots, that they might be more at ease, and gave them to the ladies to hold. But their father, the old goblin, was very different; he talked pleasantly about the stately Norwegian rocks, and told fine tales of the waterfalls which dashed over them with a clattering noise like thunder or the sound of an organ, spreading their white foam on every side. He told of the salmon that leaps in the rushing waters, while the water-god plays on his golden harp. He spoke of the bright winter nights, when the sledge bells are ringing, and the boys run with burning torches across the smooth ice, which is so transparent that they can see the fishes dart forward beneath their feet. He described everything so clearly, that those who listened could see it all; they could see the saw-mills going, the men-servants and the maidens singing songs, and dancing a rattling dance,—when all at once the old goblin gave the old elfin maiden a kiss, such a tremendous kiss, and yet they were almost strangers to each other.
Then the elfin girls had to dance, first in the usual way, and then with stamping feet, which they performed very well; then followed the artistic and solo dance. Dear me, how they did throw their legs about! No one could tell where the dance begun, or where it ended, nor indeed which were legs and which were arms, for they were all flying about together, like the shavings in a saw-pit! And then they spun round so quickly that the death-horse and the grave-pig became sick and giddy, and were obliged to leave the table.
“Stop!” cried the old goblin, “is that the only house-keeping they can perform? Can they do anything more than dance and throw about their legs, and make a whirlwind?”
“You shall soon see what they can do,” said the elf king. And then he called his youngest daughter to him. She was slender and fair as moonlight, and the most graceful of all the sisters. She took a white chip in her mouth, and vanished instantly; this was her accomplishment. But the old goblin said he should not like his wife to have such an accomplishment, and thought his boys would have the same objection. Another daughter could make a figure like herself follow her, as if she had a shadow, which none of the goblin folk ever had. The third was of quite a different sort; she had learnt in the brew-house of the moor witch how to lard elfin puddings with glow-worms.
“She will make a good housewife,” said the old goblin, and then saluted her with his eyes instead of drinking her health; for he did not drink much.
Now came the fourth daughter, with a large harp to play upon; and when she struck the first chord, every one lifted up the left leg (for the goblins are left-legged), and at the second chord they found they must all do just what she wanted.
“That is a dangerous woman,” said the old goblin; and the two sons walked out of the hill; they had had enough of it. “And what can the next daughter do?” asked the old goblin.
“I have learnt everything that is Norwegian,” said she; “and I will never marry, unless I can go to Norway.”
Then her youngest sister whispered to the old goblin, “That is only because she has heard, in a Norwegian song, that when the world shall decay, the cliffs of Norway will remain standing like monuments; and she wants to get there, that she may be safe; for she is so afraid of sinking.”
“Ho! ho!” said the old goblin, “is that what she means? Well, what can the seventh and last do?”
“The sixth comes before the seventh,” said the elf king, for he could reckon; but the sixth would not come forward.
“I can only tell people the truth,” said she. “No one cares for me, nor troubles himself about me; and I have enough to do to sew my grave clothes.”
So the seventh and last came; and what could she do? Why, she could tell stories, as many as you liked, on any subject.
“Here are my five fingers,” said the old goblin; “now tell me a story for each of them.”
So she took him by the wrist, and he laughed till he nearly choked; and when she came to the fourth finger, there was a gold ring on it, as if it knew there was to be a betrothal. Then the old goblin said, “Hold fast what you have: this hand is yours; for I will have you for a wife myself.”
Then the elfin girl said that the stories about the ring-finger and little Peter Playman had not yet been told.
“We will hear them in the winter,” said the old goblin, “and also about the fir and the birch-trees, and the ghost stories, and of the tingling frost. You shall tell your tales, for no one over there can do it so well; and we will sit in the stone rooms, where the pine logs are burning, and drink mead out of the golden drinking-horn of the old Norwegian kings. The water-god has given me two; and when we sit there, Nix comes to pay us a visit, and will sing you all the songs of the mountain shepherdesses. How merry we shall be! The salmon will be leaping in the waterfalls, and dashing against the stone walls, but he will not be able to come in. It is indeed very pleasant to live in old Norway. But where are the lads?”
Where indeed were they? Why, running about the fields, and blowing out the will-o’-the-wisps, who so good-naturedly came and brought their torches.
“What tricks have you been playing?” said the old goblin. “I have taken a mother for you, and now you may take one of your aunts.”
But the youngsters said they would rather make a speech and drink to their good fellowship; they had no wish to marry. Then they made speeches and drank toasts, and tipped their glasses, to show that they were empty. Then they took off their coats, and lay down on the table to sleep; for they made themselves quite at home. But the old goblin danced about the room with his young bride, and exchanged boots with her, which is more fashionable than exchanging rings.
“The cock is crowing,” said the old elfin maiden who acted as housekeeper; “now we must close the shutters, that the sun may not scorch us.”
Then the hill closed up. But the lizards continued to run up and down the riven tree; and one said to the other, “Oh, how much I was pleased with the old goblin!”
“The boys pleased me better,” said the earth-worm. But then the poor miserable creature could not see.
【安徒生童話故事第：妖山The Elfin Hill】相關(guān)文章：
安徒生童話故事第108篇：雪人The Snow Man11-22
池中水妖-童話故事05-31
安徒生童話故事第111篇：冰姑娘The Ice Maiden12-05
安徒生童話故事第150篇：《請(qǐng)你去問牙買加的女人》06-03
安徒生童話故事第17篇：銅豬The Metal Pig12-22