15. Look at the Rain!The princess burst into a passion of tears, and fell on the floor. There she lay for an hour, and her tears never ceased. All the pent-up crying of her life was spent now. And a rain came on, such as had never been seen in that country. The sun shone all the time, and the great drops, which fell straight to the earth, shone likewise. The palace was in the heart of a rainbow. It was a rain of rubies, and sapphires, and emeralds, and topazes. The torrents poured from the mountains like molten gold; and if it had not been for its subterraneous outlet, the lake would have overflowed and inundated the country. It was full from shore to shore.But the princess did not heed the lake. She lay on the floor and wept, and this rain within doors was far more wonderful than the rain out of doors.For when it abated a little, and she proceeded to rise, she found, to her astonishment, that she could not. At length, after many efforts, she succeeded in getting upon her feet. But she tumbled down again directly. Hearing her fall, her old nurse uttered a yell of delight, and ran to her, screaming,—"My darling child! she's found her gravity!""Oh, that's it! is it?" said the princess, rubbing her shoulder and her knee alternately. "I consider it very unpleasant. I feel as if I should be crushed to pieces.""Hurrah!" cried the prince from the bed. "If you've come round, princess, so have I. How's the lake?""Brimful," answered the nurse."Then we're all happy.""That we are indeed!" answered the princess, sobbing.And there was rejoicing all over the country that rainy day. Even the babies forgot their past troubles, and danced and crowed amazingly. And the king told stories, and the queen listened to them. And he divided the money in his box, and she the honey in her pot, among all the children. And there was such jubilation as was never heard of before.Of course the prince and princess were betrothed at once. But the princess had to learn to walk, before they could be married with any propriety. And this was not so easy at her time of life, for she could walk no more than a baby. She was always falling down and hurting herself."Is this the gravity you used to make so much of?" said she one day to the prince, as he raised her from the floor. "For my part, I was a great deal more comfortable without it.""No, no, that's not it. This is it," replied the prince, as he took her up, and carried her about like a baby, kissing her all the time. "This is gravity.""That's better," said she. "I don't mind that so much."And she smiled the sweetest, loveliest smile in the prince's face. And she gave him one little kiss in return for all his; and he thought them overpaid, for he was beside himself with delight. I fear she complained of her gravity more than once after this, notwithstanding.It was a long time before she got reconciled to walking. But the pain of learning it was quite counterbalanced by two things, either of which would have been sufficient consolation. The first was, that the prince himself was her teacher; and the second, that she could tumble into the lake as often as she pleased. Still, she preferred to have the prince jump in with her; and the splash they made before was nothing to the splash they made now.The lake never sank again. In process of time, it wore the roof of the cavern quite through, and was twice as deep as before.The only revenge the princess took upon her aunt was to tread pretty hard on her gouty toe the next time she saw her. But she was sorry for it the very next day, when she heard that the water had undermined her house, and that it had fallen in the night, burying her in its ruins; whence no one ever ventured to dig up her body. There she lies to this day.So the prince and princess lived and were happy; and had crowns of gold, and clothes of cloth, and shoes of leather, and children of boys and girls, not one of whom was ever known, on the most critical occasion, to lose the smallest atom of his or her due proportion of gravity.你看，下雨了！公主号啕大哭起来，一下子瘫倒在地上。她趴在那里哭了足足有一个钟头，眼泪哗哗地流个不停。她这辈子闷在心中的泪水一下子都宣泄出来了。就在这时，天空下起雨来，是一场这个国家从未见过的雨。太阳一直照耀着，大雨也在下着，瓢泼大雨同阳光一起倾泻而下。整个宫殿落在了彩虹的中心。雨点好似一颗颗的红宝石、蓝宝石、绿宝石和黄宝石，山上奔涌下来的洪流好似熔化的金子，湖水来不及从地下的管道流走，都溢出湖堤蔓延到了整个国家，流得到处都是。但是公主没有去留意湖水。她躺在地上哭泣着，这房间里面下的雨可要比外面的灿烂得多了。过了一会儿，稍微好了一点点的公主想要爬起来，结果惊讶地发现，自己竟然爬不起来了。最后，费了好大的劲，她终于站了起来，但是立刻又把自己给绊倒了。听到公主摔倒，公主的保姆发出了一声开心的尖叫，一边跑过去扶她起来，一边大声喊道：“我亲爱的孩子！你找到重力了！”“哦，真的！那是真的吗？”公主说道，掸了掸肩膀和膝盖，“我觉得十分不舒服。我想我已经被撕成碎片了。”“好哇！”王子从床上喊出声来，“你已经复原了，我也一样。湖水怎么样了？”“都漫出来了。”保姆回答道。“那么我们都幸福了。”“是的，我们真的幸福了。”公主一边抽泣着一边回答。在那么一个下着雨的日子，举国上下一片欢腾。就连小宝宝们都忘记了他们过去的不愉快，激动得又跳又唱。国王讲着故事，王后聆听着。国王把钱箱子里的 金币，王后把蜜罐子里的蜂蜜都分给孩子们。这样的庆贺是前所未有、闻所未闻的。王子和公主当然立刻就订婚了。在他们找一个良辰吉日举行婚礼之前，公主还要从头开始学走路。对于她这个年纪的人来说，这可不是件轻松的事情。她走起路来还不如一个小宝宝呢，总是磕磕碰碰摔大跟头。“这就是你平时老是挂念的重力？”有一天，王子把公主从地上搀起来的时候，她对王子说道，“在我看来，没有它我会过得很舒坦。”“不，不是的，那不是的。这才是。”王子回答着，他一下子把公主抱起来，就像对一个小宝宝一样把她搂在怀里，深深地吻下去，“这才是重力。” “这感觉好多了，”公主说道，“这下我没那么讨厌它了。”公主的脸上浮现出最甜美、最可爱的微笑。她轻轻地给王子一个吻，感谢他为她做的一切。王子觉得这远远超出了他的付出，开心得忘乎所以了。公主花了不少时间，终于能顺顺当当地走路了。而且学习走路的痛苦被两件事情正好抵消了，每一件事情都是很好的安慰。第一件事是她的老师，也就是王子本人，第二件事就是只要她愿意，她就可以落进湖里。当然，她更喜欢和王子一起跳进湖里，他们溅起来的水花可比以前的大多了。湖水再没有降下去。随着时间的推移，湖底越陷越深，比原来足足深了一倍。公主对她姑姑唯一的惩罚，就是后来见到她的时候，在她痛风的脚指头上狠狠地踩了一脚。就在第二天，公主听说大水把老公主的房子冲垮了，把她给活埋了。没有人敢冒险去把她的尸首挖出来，她在那里一直躺到今天。于是王子和公主幸福地生活在一起，戴着金色的王冠，穿着绫罗绸缎，脚踩皮靴，生了好多男孩和女孩。而且我听说，他们中间不曾有一个人，在最关键的地方丢掉哪怕是一丁点的重力。

PART IVThe water rose and rose. It touched his chin. It touched his lower lip. It touched between his lips. He shut them hard to keep it out. The princess began to feel strange. It touched his upper lip. He breathed through his nostrils. The princess looked wild. It covered his nostrils. Her eyes looked scared, and shone strange in the moonlight. His head fell back; the water closed over it, and the bubbles of his last breath bubbled up through the water. The princess gave a shriek, and sprang into the lake.She laid hold first of one leg, and then of the other, and pulled and tugged, but she could not move either. She stopped to take breath, and that made her think that HE could not get any breath. She was frantic. She got hold of him, and held his head above the water, which was possible now his hands were no longer on the hole. But it was of no use, for he was past breathing.Love and water brought back all her strength. She got under the water, and pulled and pulled with her whole might, till at last she got one leg out. The other easily followed. How she got him into the boat she never could tell; but when she did, she fainted away. Coming to herself, she seized the oars, kept herself steady as best she could, and rowed and rowed, though she had never rowed before. Round rocks, and over shallows, and through mud she rowed, till she got to the landing-stairs of the palace. By this time her people were on the shore, for they had heard her shriek. She made them carry the prince to her own room, and lay him in her bed, and light a fire, and send for the doctors."But the lake, your Highness!" said the chamberlain, who, roused by the noise, came in, in his nightcap."Go and drown yourself in it!" she said.This was the last rudeness of which the princess was ever guilty; and one must allow that she had good cause to feel provoked with the lord chamberlain.Had it been the king himself, he would have fared no better. But both he and the queen were fast asleep. And the chamberlain went back to his bed. Somehow, the doctors never came. So the princess and her old nurse were left with the prince. But the old nurse was a wise woman, and knew what to do.They tried everything for a long time without success. The princess was nearly distracted between hope and fear, but she tried on and on, one thing after another, and everything over and over again.At last, when they had all but given it up, just as the sun rose, the prince opened his eyes.第4节湖水继续上涨，这次碰到王子的下巴……又碰到他的下嘴唇，现在碰到他的双唇之间了。他紧紧闭上双唇不让水流进去。公主心里有了些奇怪的感觉。片刻之后，湖水没过了王子的上嘴唇，他只能用鼻孔呼吸了。公主看上去有些焦躁不安。紧接着，湖水没过了王子的鼻孔。公主的眼睛露出恐惧，在月光下发出奇怪的光芒。王子的头向后仰去，湖水盖过了他的脸，他最后的气息化作串串水泡冒出水面。公主发出一声惊人的尖叫，跃入湖中。 她先是抱住王子的一条腿，然后又抱住另一条，连拔带拽，想把王子从洞眼中拉出来，但是她怎么也拉不动。她停下来换口气，马上就想到王子已经不能再呼吸了，简直要疯了。公主抓住王子，想把他的头往水面上托，他的手现在已经不再卡在洞眼中，所以她可以做到，但是一切都已经为时过晚，王子真的已经停止了呼吸。 爱和湖水让公主恢复了全部的气力。她潜入水中，用尽全身的力气使劲地推呀推，终于把王子的一条腿拔了出来，另外一条腿也就很容易地跟着被拖出来了。她是如何将王子推入船中的谁也不知道，但是当她做完这一切的时候，就昏了过去。 过了一会儿，公主苏醒过来。她抓住船桨，尽可能让自己保持平稳，划呀划，虽然在这之前她从来没有划过船。绕过岩石，越过浅滩，穿过泥沼，最后她终于把小船划到了岸上——王宫的台阶上。此刻，她的下人们已经都等在那里了，因为他们都听到了公主的叫声。公主让他们把王子抬到自己的房间去，把他放在自己的床上，生起壁炉，然后派人去找御医。“可是湖怎么办，公主殿下？”王宫总管问道，他听到一阵喧哗就赶来了，头上还戴着睡帽。“你可以去水里淹死你自己！”公主说道。这是公主唯一一次因为内疚而大发脾气。不过我们都可以理解，她有足够的理由这么做，因为总管先生的话刺痛了她的心。就是国王本人遇到这种事情，他也不会觉得很好受。不过他和王后都已经睡熟了。于是总管就回到自己床上睡觉去了。不知何故，御医一直都没有来。于是公主和她的老保姆一起留在王子身边。好在老保姆是一个聪明的女人，她知道该做些什么。他们花了很长时间，试了各种办法都没有成功。公主在希望和恐惧的煎熬下，心乱如麻。不过她还是一遍又一遍地试着，一个办法不行就换下一个，所有的办法都一遍遍地翻来覆去，不停地试着。最后，当她们准备放弃的时候，就在太阳升起来的一刹那，王子睁开了眼睛。

PART IIIAs she fed him, he contrived to kiss the tips of her fingers now and then. She did not seem to mind it, one way or the other. But the prince felt better."Now for your own sake, princess," said he, "I cannot let you go to sleep. You must sit and look at me, else I shall not be able to keep up.""Well, I will do anything I can to oblige you," answered she, with condescension; and, sitting down, she did look at him, and kept looking at him with wonderful steadiness, considering all things.The sun went down, and the moon rose, and, gush after gush, the waters were rising up the prince's body. They were up to his waist now."Why can't we go and have a swim?" said the princess. "There seems to be water enough Just about here.""I shall never swim more," said the prince."Oh, I forgot," said the princess, and was silent.So the water grew and grew, and rose up and up on the prince. And the princess sat and looked at him. She fed him now and then. The night wore on. The waters rose and rose. The moon rose likewise higher and higher, and shone full on the face of the dying prince. The water was up to his neck."Will you kiss me, princess?" said he, feebly.The nonchalance was all gone now."Yes, I will," answered the princess, and kissed him with a long, sweet, cold kiss."Now," said he, with a sigh of content, "I die happy."He did not speak again. The princess gave him some wine for the last time: he was past eating. Then she sat down again, and looked at him.第3节在公主喂他的时候，王子不时地设法亲她的指尖。因为这样或者那样的原因，公主似乎对此并不在意。王子觉得心里美美的。 王子说：“公主，现在为了你好，我不能让你睡过去。你要坐在这里看着我，以免我支撑不下去。” “好吧，所有能够报答你的事情我都会做。”公主殷勤地娇声答道。然后她坐下来，就这么看着他，一直极为坚定地看着他，凝视着一切。 太阳落山了，月亮升起来，水“咕噜咕噜”地涌出来，湖水渐渐升到了王子的腰部。 “为什么我们不去游一会儿？”公主说道，“看起来这里的水已经够多了。” “我再也不能去游泳了。” “哦，我忘了。”公主回答，然后就不说话了。湖水越涨越高，慢慢从王子身边升起。公主坐在那里看着他，不时地喂东西给他吃。夜幕渐渐降临，湖水越升越高，月亮也同样越升越高，月光照耀在即将死去的王子的面庞上。这时候湖水已经没到他的脖子了。“你愿意吻我一下吗，公主？”他极为虚弱地说道。那暗淡的眼神已经随波而逝了。“是的，我愿意。”公主说完，给了他一个长长的、甜甜的、凉凉的吻。王子带着满意的叹息声说：“这下，我可以幸福地死去了。” 王子没有再说话。公主给他喝了一点葡萄酒，因为他刚吃过一点东西。接着她又坐了下来，看着王子。

PART II"Sing again, prince. It makes it less tedious," said the princess.But the prince was too much overcome to sing any more, and a long pause followed."This is very kind of you, prince," said the princess at last, quite coolly, as she lay in the boat with her eyes shut."I am sorry I can't return the compliment," thought the prince; "but you are worth dying for, after all."Again a wavelet, and another, and another flowed over the stone, and wetted both the prince's knees; but he did not speak or move. Two—three—four hours passed in this way, the princess apparently asleep, and the prince very patient. But he was much disappointed in his position, for he had none of the consolation he had hoped for.At last he could bear it no longer."Princess!" said he.But at the moment up started the princess, crying,—"I'm afloat! I'm afloat!"And the little boat bumped against the stone."Princess!" repeated the prince, encouraged by seeing her wide awake and looking eagerly at the water."Well?" said she, without looking round."Your papa promised that you should look at me, and you haven't looked at me once.""Did he? Then I suppose I must. But I am so sleepy!""Sleep then, darling, and don't mind me," said the poor prince."Really, you are very good," replied the princess. "I think I will go to sleep again.""Just give me a glass of wine and a biscuit first," said the prince, very humbly."With all my heart," said the princess, and gaped as she said it.She got the wine and the biscuit, however, and leaning over the side of the boat towards him, was compelled to look at him."Why, prince," she said, "you don't look well! Are you sure you don't mind it?" "Not a bit," answered he, feeling very faint indeed. "Only I shall die before it is of any use to you, unless I have something to eat.""There, then," said she, holding out the wine to him."Ah! you must feed me. I dare not move my hands. The water would run away directly.""Good gracious!" said the princess; and she began at once to feed him with bits of biscuit and sips of wine.第二节“接着唱啊，王子，这样就不会觉得太无聊。”公主说道。 但是王子的感情实在难以自制，无法再唱下去了。一时间，他们沉默了许久。 “你真好，王子。”最后，公主十分冷静地说道。这时候，她躺在船里，眼睛微微闭上。 “我很难过我无法回答这番称赞，”王子想道，“但是为你去死是值得的，无论如何都是值得的。” 一个小水浪冒出来，接着又是一个，然后一个一个地从石头缝里冒出来，把王子的两个膝盖都打湿了，不过他既没有抱怨也没有挪动身体。就这样一个、两个、三个钟头过去了，公主显然已经睡着了，而王子却十分地有耐心。不过他觉得这样的状况很让人失望，因为他本来指望会有的稍许安慰，现在连一丁点都没有。最后，他再也无法忍受了。“公主！”他喊道。公主醒过来，一起身，立刻惊叫道：“我漂起来了！我漂起来了！” 小船渐渐地从石头上浮起来了。“公主！”王子又喊了一句，看到她醒了过来，如此热切地看着湖水，又有了勇气。“怎么了？”公主说道，但是并没有朝他看去。“你的父王答应过我，你会一直照看着我，可是你一直看都不看我一眼。” “他这么答应的？那么我想我也要那么做的。不过我真的觉得好困啊！” “那你睡吧，亲爱的，别管我。”可怜的王子说道。“真的，你实在是太好了，”公主答道，“我觉得我又要睡一会儿了。” “那么请先给我拿一杯葡萄酒和一份点心吧。”王子十分客气地说道。“乐意之至。”公主一边说一边打着哈欠。她取来葡萄酒和糕点，然后斜倚着船舷靠向他，这时候，她就不得不注视着他了。“啊，王子，”她说道，“你看起来不怎么好！你真的不要紧吗？” “一点都不要紧，”他回答道，显得相当虚弱，“如果我不吃点什么的话，恐怕在能帮到你之前就要死了。” “来，给你。”公主说着，把葡萄酒递给他。“啊！你得喂给我吃。我不能腾出手来吃东西，水会趁机流走的。” “好的，我的天哪！”公主说着，立刻把点心一点一点掰给他吃，把葡萄酒一小口一小口喂给他喝。

14. This Is Very Kind of You.The prince went to dress for the occasion, for he was resolved to die like a prince.When the princess heard that a man had offered to die for her, she was so transported that she jumped off the bed, feeble as she was, and danced about the room for joy. She did not care who the man was; that was nothing to her. The hole wanted stopping; and if only a man would do, why, take one. In an hour or two more everything was ready. Her maid dressed her in haste, and they carried her to the side of the lake. When she saw it she shrieked, and covered her face with her hands. They bore her across to the stone where they had already placed a little boat for her.The water was not deep enough to float it, but they hoped it would be, before long. They laid her on cushions, placed in the boat wines and fruits and other nice things, and stretched a canopy over all.In a few minutes the prince appeared. The princess recognized him at once, but did not think it worth while to acknowledge him."Here I am," said the prince. "Put me in.""They told me it was a shoeblack," said the princess."So I am," said the prince. "I blacked your little boots three times a day, because they were all I could get of you. Put me in."The courtiers did not resent his bluntness, except by saying to each other that he was taking it out in impudence.But how was he to be put in? The golden plate contained no instructions on this point. The prince looked at the hole, and saw but one way. He put both his legs into it, sitting on the stone, and, stooping forward, covered the corner that remained open with his two hands. In this uncomfortable position he resolved to abide his fate, and turning to the people, said,—"Now you can go."The king had already gone home to dinner."Now you can go," repeated the princess after him, like a parrot.The people obeyed her and went.Presently a little wave flowed over the stone, and wetted one of the prince's knees. But he did not mind it much. He began to sing, and the song he sang was this:—"As a world that has no well,Darting bright in forest dell;As a world without the gleamOf the downward-going stream;As a world without the glanceOf the ocean's fair expanse;As a world where never rainGlittered on the sunny plain;—Such, my heart, thy world would be,If no love did flow in thee.As a world without the soundOf the rivulets underground;Or the bubbling of the springOut of darkness wandering;Or the mighty rush and flowingOf the river's downward going;Or the music-showers that dropOn the outspread beech's top;Or the ocean's mighty voice,When his lifted waves rejoice;—Such, my soul, thy world would be,If no love did sing in thee.Lady, keep thy world's delight;Keep the waters in thy sight.Love hath made me strong to go,For thy sake, to realms below,Where the water's shine and humThrough the darkness never come;Let, I pray, one thought of meSpring, a little well, in thee;Lest thy loveless soul be foundLike a dry and thirsty ground."14.你人真好！ 王子决定为了这一刻穿戴体面，因为他觉得即使死也要死得像一个王子。 公主听说有人自愿为她献身，有些喜出望外，她虽然已经很虚弱了，还是一下子从床上跳起来，开心地在房间里打转。她并不在乎那个男人是谁，对她来说那是无所谓的事。那个洞会被堵住，要是必须有一个人那么做，好啊，就让他去。过了约莫一两个钟头，一切准备妥当。侍女匆匆为她准备好了一切，然后把她领到湖边。当她看到湖的时候，发出了一声尖叫，一下子用双手捂住了脸。人们把她抬到湖中间的石头边，那里已经为她预备好了一只小船。 湖水还不足以托起这只小船，但是大家希望不久以后就可以了。他们把公主放在一些软垫子上，在船里摆好葡萄酒、糕点和其他一些好东西，并在船上支起一个遮阳篷。过了一会儿，王子出现了。公主一下子认出他来，但是并没打算花时间去感谢他。“我来了，”王子说道，“把我放进去吧。” “他们告诉我你是一个擦鞋的。”公主说道。“就是我，”王子说，“我每天都把你的小靴子擦上三遍，因为它们让我感觉到你就在我身边。把我放进去吧。” 群臣们没有埋怨他的坦率，只是交头接耳认为他这样说话有些轻浮。但是要怎么样把他放进洞去呢？金盘子上并没有关于这个的指示。王子看了看那个洞，知道只有一个办法。他把双脚放进去，坐在石头上，然后向前一躬身落入洞中，再用双手将剩下的空隙堵住。他就以这样一种不舒服的姿势，毅然决然地接受了自己的命运。他扭头对人们说：“现在你们可以走了。” 这时候，国王早就已经回宫用膳了。“现在你们可以走了。”公主像只鹦鹉一般，在他身后重复道。人们听从她的命令，都走了。这时候，一个小水花从石头缝隙冒出来，打湿了王子的一个膝盖。但他并不是很在意，并开始唱起歌来。他的歌是这样唱的：世界没有了水井森林失去了日光；从此没有了光芒小河也不再流淌；世界没有了希望就像海洋失去波浪；世界再无雨天酷烈平原一片空旷心中不再有爱流淌，世界就会变成这样。世界没有了声音地下一片宁静；泉水不再喷涌只剩寂静的黑暗；河水不再奔腾也停下了波涛汹涌；没有了绵绵细雨落在山毛榉的树端；海洋不再动弹再无惊涛骇浪—— 我的灵魂如果不再有爱歌唱，世界就会变成这样。公主啊，是你让我一直开心快乐，让我眼前一直波光潋滟。爱让我愿意放弃生命为了这片深沉的湖泊，哪怕必须被黑暗淹没，也要让湖水重新闪耀欢唱我祈祷你能想起我，泉水重新在井里涌出寻回你不懂爱的灵魂，就像它也能滋润龟裂干枯的大地。

PART II"Oh!" said he at last, putting up his sword with difficulty, it was so long; "I am obliged to you, you young fool! Take a glass of wine?""No, thank you," replied the prince."Very well," said the king. "Would you like to run and see your parents before you make your experiment?""No, thank you," said the prince."Then we will go and look for the hole at once," said his Majesty, and proceeded to call some attendants."Stop, please your Majesty; I have a condition to make," interposed the prince."What!" exclaimed the king, "a condition! and with me! How dare you?""As you please," returned the prince, coolly. "I wish your Majesty a good morning.""You wretch! I will have you put in a sack, and stuck in the hole.""Very well, your Majesty," replied the prince, becoming a little more respectful, lest the wrath of the king should deprive him of the pleasure of dying for the princess. "But what good will that do your Majesty? Please to remember that the oracle says the victim must offer himself.""Well, you have offered yourself," retorted the king."Yes, upon one condition.""Condition again!" roared the king, once more drawing his sword. "Begone! Somebody else will be glad enough to take the honour off your shoulders.""Your Majesty knows it will not be easy to get another to take my place.""Well, what is your condition?" growled the king, feeling that the prince was right."Only this," replied the prince: "that, as I must on no account die before I am fairly drowned, and the waiting will be rather wearisome, the princess, your daughter, shall go with me, feed me with her own hands, and look at me now and then to comfort me; for you must confess it IS rather hard. As soon as the water is up to my eyes, she may go and be happy, and forget her poor shoeblack."Here the prince's voice faltered, and he very nearly grew sentimental, in spite of his resolution."Why didn't you tell me before what your condition was? Such a fuss about nothing!" exclaimed the king."Do you grant it?" persisted the prince. "Of course I do," replied the king."Very well. I am ready.""Go and have some dinner, then, while I set my people to find the place."The king ordered out his guards, and gave directions to the officers to find the hole in the lake at once. So the bed of the lake was marked out in divisions and thoroughly examined, and in an hour or so the hole was discovered. It was in the middle of a stone, near the centre of the lake, in the very pool where the golden plate had been found. It was a three-cornered hole of no great size. There was water all round the stone, but very little was flowing through the hole.第2节 “哦！”国王终于说话了，他不太利索地把宝剑插回剑鞘，因为那是一把很长的宝剑，“我很感谢你，你这个年纪轻轻的傻瓜！要来杯葡萄酒吗？”“不，谢谢。”王子答道。“很好！”国王说道，“你要在这之前先回去一趟，看看你的父母吗？”“不，谢谢。”王子说道。“那么我们立刻就去找到那个洞眼。”国王陛下说着，就要召来随从。“别急，尊敬的陛下，我有一个条件。”“什么！”国王大声说道，“一个条件！和我谈条件！你怎么敢这样说话？”“随便您，”王子说完，很沉着地转身走了，“祝您有一个愉快的早晨。”“你这个无耻的人！我要把你塞进麻袋，然后用你堵住那个洞。”“很好，国王陛下。”王子答道，语气稍微恭敬了一些，以免过于激怒国王，反而让自己失去了为公主去死的荣幸，“不过那对您有什么好处呢？请别忘记那段预言中可是说了，必须要牺牲者自愿献出他自己。”“好啊，你就把自己献上吧。”国王回答道。“是的，不过有个条件。”“还要谈条件！”国王勃然大怒，又一次拔出他的宝剑，“滚！自然有别人乐意顶替你获得这份荣耀。”“国王陛下，您知道要再找到一个人来取代我并不是一件容易的事。”“好吧，说说你的条件。”国王吼道，因为他觉得王子的话也有道理。“是这样的，”王子答道，“到时候，在我完全沉入水中之前，我是绝对不能先死的，这份等待将是相当乏味的，公主，您的女儿，这时候要陪着我，亲手喂东西给我吃，不时地看着我，好给我一点安慰。因为您必须承认那份等待是相当艰辛的。等到湖水漫过我的双眼，公主就可以离开我，过幸福的生活了，再也不用去想她可怜的擦鞋匠了。”王子的声音有些颤抖，尽管他已经下定决心，但心中还是饱含伤感。“你怎么不早告诉我，就是这么一个条件？这简直不值一提。”国王大声说道。“您这是同意了？”王子将信将疑地说道。“我当然同意了。”国王答道。“很好。随时为您效劳。”“走，先去吃饭，然后我就派人 去找到那个地方。”国王立刻下令派地方官员去湖里找那个洞。于是整个湖床被划成几个区域，彻彻底底地被搜查了一遍，花了约莫一个钟头就找到了那个洞眼。这个洞在一块石头中央，在湖中心附近，就在找到金盘子的那个水洼里。这是一个三角形的不太大的洞眼。石头四周都是水，但是从洞眼里流出来的水却非常少。

13. Here I Am.This was a very disheartening revelation to the king—not that he was unwilling to sacrifice a subject, but that he was hopeless of finding a man willing to sacrifice himself. No time was to be lost, however, for the princess was lying motionless on her bed, and taking no nourishment but lake-water, which was now none of the best. Therefore the king caused the co  ntents of the wonderful plate of gold to be published throughout the country.No one, however, came forward.The prince, having gone several days' journey into the forest, to consult a hermit whom he had met there on his way to Lagobel, knew nothing of the oracle till his return.When he had acquainted himself with all the particulars, he sat down and thought,—"She will die if I don't do it, and life would be nothing to me without her; so I shall lose nothing by doing it. And life will be as pleasant to her as ever, for she will soon forget me. And there will be so much more beauty and happiness in the world!—To be sure, I shall not see it." (Here the poor prince gave a sigh.) "How lovely the lake will be in the moonlight, with that glorious creature sporting in it like a wild goddess!—It is rather hard to be drowned by inches, though. Let me see—that will be seventy inches of me to drown." (Here he tried to laugh, but could not.) "The longer the better, however," he resumed: "for can I not bargain that the princess shall be beside me all the time? So I shall see her once more, kiss her perhaps,—who knows?—and die looking in her eyes. It will be no death. At least, I shall not feel it. And to see the lake filling for the beauty again!—All right! I am ready."He kissed the princess's boot, laid it down, and hurried to the king's apartment. But feeling, as he went, that anything sentimental would be disagreeable, he resolved to carry off the whole affair with nonchalance. So he knocked at the door of the king's counting-house, where it was all but a capital crime to disturb him.When the king heard the knock he started up, and opened the door in a rage. Seeing only the shoeblack, he drew his sword. This, I am sorry to say, was his usual mode of asserting his regality when he thought his dignity was in danger. But the prince was not in the least alarmed."Please your Majesty, I'm your butler," said he."My butler! you lying rascal! What do you mean?""I mean, I will cork your big bottle.""Is the fellow mad?" bawled the king, raising the point of his sword."I will put a stopper—plug—what you call it, in your leaky lake, grand monarch," said the prince.The king was in such a rage that before he could speak he had time to cool, and to reflect that it would be great waste to kill the only man who was willing to be useful in the present emergency, seeing that in the end the insolent fellow would be as dead as if he had died by his Majesty's own hand. 13.我来了对于国王来说，这是一个令人沮丧的发现，倒不是他不想让谁去做这个牺牲，而是他根本就没指望找到一个愿意牺牲自己性命的人。然而时不我待，无论如何，公主正一动不动地躺在床上，什么药也没有用，除非湖水回来。这是唯一的救命稻草。于是国王下令将那个金盘子上的预言内容昭告全国。然而，没有一个人自告奋勇地站出来。这些日子，王子离开王宫去了森林，去拜访一位他来纳格贝尔旅途上遇到的隐士。他回来之后才听说预言的事。他坐下来想了想：“如果我不去的话，她就会死掉，没了她，我活着也没什么意思，所以做这件事情对我来说没有什么损失。她又会和以前一样开心地活着了，她会很快就忘记我。这个世界上还有那么多奇妙美丽的东西！我肯定，再也看不到了。”想到这里，可怜的王子叹了一口气，“月光下的湖是多么地可爱，那个女孩在湖里简直就是充满野性的女神化身！我猜，一寸寸地被水淹没也不是一时半会儿就能搞定的。让我看看，要淹个七十英寸才把我淹死哦。”想到这里，他想挤出一点笑容，但是他做不到。“不管怎么说，越久越好。”他继续想道，“为什么不请求让公主一直陪在我身边呢？我可以再见她一次，没准还能亲亲她，天知道。最后在她的目光中死去，也没有多可怕。至少，到时候我就完全感觉不到了。为了再见公主一面，就去把湖填了！对！就这么办。”他亲了亲公主的靴子，把它们放下来，起身赶往国王的房间。一路走过去，王子想到，所有伤感都只会带来更多 的不愉快，于是他决定要若无其事地把整件事情做完，什么都不去想。他敲了敲国王会计室的门，而这时候打扰国王差不多是罪不可恕的。国王听到有人敲门，很快站起身来，生气地打开了门。看到是一个擦鞋匠站在门口，他立刻拔出宝剑。在这里，我不得不解释一下，只要国王觉得自己的尊严受到了威胁，拔出宝剑就是他维护权威的常用方式。不过王子面不改色地站在那里，眼睛眨都不眨一下。“尊敬的陛下，我是您的奴仆。”他说道。“我的奴仆！你这个撒谎的无赖！你到底在说些什么？”“我是说，我要去塞住那个大瓶子。”“这小伙子疯了吗？”国王大叫道，举起了他的宝剑。“我将做一个塞子——瓶塞——随您怎么叫，塞进那个漏了的湖，伟大的君主。”王子说道。国王的情绪非常激动，以至于一时无法冷静下来。不过他意识到，在这紧要关头杀掉唯一愿意挺身而出的人，会是很大的浪费，反正这个粗野的小伙子无论最后是死在他这个国王的手上，还是死在湖里，都是一样的。

PART IIThe lake went on sinking. Small slimy spots began to appear, which glittered steadily amidst the changeful shine of the water. These grew to broad patches of mud, which widened and spread, with rocks here and there, and floundering fishes and crawling eels swarming. The people went everywhere catching these, and looking for anything that might have dropped from the royal boats.At length the lake was all but gone, only a few of the deepest pools remaining unexhausted.It happened one day that a party of youngsters found themselves on the brink of one of these pools in the very centre of the lake. It was a rocky basin of considerable depth. Looking in, they saw at the bottom something that shone yellow in the sun. A little boy jumped in and dived for it. It was a plate of gold covered with writing. They carried it to the king. On one side of it stood these words:—"Death alone from death can save.Love is death, and so is brave—Love can fill the deepest grave.Love loves on beneath the wave."Now this was enigmatical enough to the king and courtiers. But the reverse of the plate explained it a little. Its writing amounted to this:—"If the lake should disappear, they must find the hole through which the water ran. But it would be useless to try to stop it by any ordinary means. There was but one effectual mode.—The body of a living man could alone stanch the flow. The man must give himself of his own will; and the lake must take his life as it filled. Otherwise the offering would be of no avail. If the nation could not provide one hero, it was time it should perish."第2节湖水一天天在减少，小的泥淖开始浮现，散落在闪亮的水面中，反射出点点光芒。这些泥淖很快结成大块的泥巴，越来越大，渐渐连成一片，四下夹杂着石块。挣扎的鱼儿和翻滚的鳝鳗一起挤在还有水的地方，人们在湖里窜来窜去地抓它们，或是四处搜寻那些过去从王室游船上落入湖中的宝贝。最终，湖水都流光了。只有湖底最深的地方还有一些水洼没有干涸。有一天，一群小孩子跑到湖正中央的一个水洼边上玩。这是一个相当深的石头池子。他们向里面看，结果看到池底有什么东西在阳光的照射下发出金光。一个小男孩跳进水里，一个猛子扎下去。原来那是一个上面写满字的金质盘子。他们把盘子交给国王。只见盘子的一面写着这样几行字：独死之死可救赎。爱之死，爱之勇气——爱可填极致之墓。爱于浪下永不腐。这些话对于国王和他的臣子们来说实在是太费解了。不过好在盘子的另一面还有一些解释，是这样写着的：“如果湖水将要消失，人们必须找到湖水流走的那个洞。任何通常的做法都无法阻止湖水流走。只有一个办法——一个活人的躯体可以止住水流。这个人必须自愿献出他自己，而升起的湖水必会取走他的生命。如果王国中没有一个英雄挺身而出，湖水就将干涸。”

12. Where Is the Prince?Never since the night when the princess left him so abruptly had the prince had a single interview with her. He had seen her once or twice in the lake; but as far as he could discover, she had not been in it any more at night. He had sat and sung, and looked in vain for his Nereid; while she, like a true Nereid, was wasting away with her lake, sinking as it sank, withering as it dried. When at length he discovered the change that was taking place in the level of the water, he was in great alarm and perplexity. He could not tell whether the lake was dying because the lady had forsaken it; or whether the lady would not come because the lake had begun to sink. But he resolved to know so much at least.He disguised himself, and, going to the palace, requested to see the lord chamberlain. His appearance at once gained his request; and the lord chamberlain, being a man of some insight, perceived that there was more in the prince's solicitation than met the ear. He felt likewise that no one could tell whence a solution of the present difficulties might arise. So he granted the prince's prayer to be made shoeblack to the princess. It was rather cunning in the prince to request such an easy post, for the princess could not possibly soil as many shoes as other princesses.He soon learned all that could be told about the princess. He went nearly distracted; but after roaming about the lake for days, and diving in every depth that remained, all that he could do was to put an extra polish on the dainty pair of boots that was never called for.For the princess kept her room, with the curtains drawn to shut out the dying lake, But she could not shut it out of her mind for a moment. It haunted her imagination so that she felt as if the lake were her soul, drying up within her, first to mud, then to madness and death. She thus brooded over the change, with all its dreadful accompaniments, till she was nearly distracted. As for the prince, she had forgotten him. However much she had enjoyed his company in the water, she did not care for him without it. But she seemed to have forgotten her father and mother too.12.王子在哪里？自从那一夜，公主匆匆地离开以后，王子就再也没有和公主打过一个照面。他在湖里看见过她一两次，但是每到他可以看清楚的时候，公主又消失在夜里了。他坐下来唱着歌，徒劳无功地找着他的涅瑞伊得斯。而她就像真的涅瑞伊得斯，和她的湖一起消失不见了——随着它下沉而下沉，随着它干涸而干涸。最终王子也发现了湖的水位在发生变化，他感到了震惊和困惑。他不知道是因为一位姑娘抛弃了湖，所以湖水就消失了；还是因为湖水干涸了，所以姑娘才不再来了。不过他决定，一定要弄明白这一切。王子乔装打扮了一番，前往王宫，要求见王宫总管。他的要求立刻得到了满足，王宫总管是一个有些洞察力的人，感觉出王子的求见远非他自己所 说的那么简单。他同样感觉得出，目前有一个大麻烦，还没有人能够知道从何处找到解决办法。就这样，他同意了王子的请求，允许他为公主擦鞋。王子要求这份轻巧的工作实在是很聪明，因为公主可不像其他的公主那样整天脚沾地。他很快就知道了所有关于公主的事情。他有些六神无主，不过在湖边漫步了几日，又在仅存的一点湖水中游过泳之后，剩下可以做的，只是把一双双从来都不会被穿到的精美靴子擦得锃亮而已。公主一直就待在她的房间里，窗帘放下来，遮掩住日渐干涸的湖泊，而公主的想法却一时一刻也无法被遮住。她魂牵梦萦的湖仿佛就是她的灵魂，带着她一起干枯了，先成为泥土，然后成为狂乱和死亡。她反复想着这一变化，以及所有将紧随而来的可怕后果，直到心烦意乱。关于那个王子，她已经把他给忘了。无论她和王子一起在水里时是多么地快活，如果湖没了，她对他一点都不在乎。并且，她似乎也同样把父王和母后都给忘了。

PART IIIShe then untwined the snake from her body, and held it by the tail high above her. The hideous creature stretched up its head towards the roof of the cavern, which it was just able to reach. It then began to move its head backwards and forwards, with a slow oscillating motion, as if looking for something. At the same moment the witch began to walk round and round the cavern, coming nearer to the centre every circuit; while the head of the snake described the same path over the roof that she did over the floor, for she kept holding it up. And still it kept slowly oscillating. Round and round the cavern they went, ever lessening the circuit, till at last the snake made a sudden dart, and clung to the roof with its mouth."That's right, my beauty!" cried the princess; "drain it dry."She let it go, left it hanging, and sat down on a great stone, with her black cat, which had followed her all round the cave, by her side. Then she began to knit and mutter awful words. The snake hung like a huge leech, sucking at the stone; the cat stood with his back arched, and his tail like a piece of cable, looking up at the snake; and the old woman sat and knitted and muttered. Seven days and seven nights they remained thus; when suddenly the serpent dropped from the roof as if exhausted, and shrivelled up till it was again like a piece of dried seaweed. The witch started to her feet, picked it up, put it in her pocket, and looked up at the roof. One drop of water was trembling on the spot where the snake had been sucking. As soon as she saw that, she turned and fled, followed by her cat. Shutting the door in a terrible hurry, she locked it, and having muttered some frightful words, sped to the next, which also she locked and muttered over; and so with all the hundred doors, till she arrived in her own cellar. Then she sat down on the floor ready to faint, but listening with malicious delight to the rushing of the water, which she could hear distinctly through all the hundred doors.But this was not enough. Now that she had tasted revenge, she lost her patience. Without further measures, the lake would be too long in disappearing. So the next night, with the last shred of the dying old moon rising, she took some of the water in which she had revived the snake, put it in a bottle, and set out, accompanied by her cat. Before morning she had made the entire circuit of the lake, muttering fearful words as she crossed every stream, and casting into it some of the water out of her bottle. When she had finished the circuit she muttered yet again, and flung a handful of water towards the moon. Thereupon every spring in the country ceased to throb and bubble, dying away like the pulse of a dying man. The next day there was no sound of falling water to be heard along the borders of the lake. The very courses were dry; and the mountains showed no silvery streaks down their dark sides. And not alone had the fountains of mother Earth ceased to flow; for all the babies throughout the country were crying dreadfully—only without tears.第3节她把蛇从身上解下，拎着尾巴高高地举起来。可怕的怪物伸长脑袋，刚好能够触到洞窟的顶部。接着，它开始前后摆动脑袋，还慢慢地抖动着身子，似乎在找些什么。与此同时，老公主开始绕着洞窟走来走去，渐渐地一点点靠近了圆圈的中心。这时候，巨蟒的脑袋就在洞顶上留下相同的轨迹，因为她一直都举着巨蟒。巨蟒不断地微微颤动。她走呀走，走了一圈又一圈，每转一圈，圆圈就会缩小一点，最后，巨蟒突然蹿了起来，冲向洞顶，一口咬住。“这就对了，我的美人！”老公主大叫道，“给我吸干它。”老公主随巨蟒去折腾，就让它挂在那里，自己找了一块大石头坐了下来，抱起她的黑猫。这个小家伙一直跟着她绕着洞窟跑，此刻靠在了她的脚边。老公主接着开始皱起眉头嘀咕一些可怕的咒语。巨蟒挂在那里就像是一只巨大的水蛭，在岩石上拼命地吮吸。黑猫在一旁把背弓着，它的尾巴就好像是一根绳索，一动不动地向上指着巨蟒。老公主就这么一直坐着，皱着眉头念念有词，她们就这个样子持续了几天几夜……突然，巨蟒像是精疲力竭一样从洞顶掉了下来，不断地收缩干瘪，最后又变成一块干瘪海草的样子。老公主这才起身站起，把它拾起来，放进口袋里，然后看了看洞顶。刚才巨蟒吮吸的地方有一滴水珠在那里颤动。老公主一看到水珠，立刻带着黑猫转身就跑。她手忙脚乱地一把关上门，锁上，接着念叨起几句可怕的咒语，就冲向下一道门，再接着把门锁上，念上几句咒语……就这么穿过一百道门，最后回到了地窖。她一屁股坐在了地上，差不多要昏过去了，不过还是带着幸灾乐祸的快感听着水流的咆哮，就是隔着一百道门她还是可以清楚地听到。不过，这还远远不够。现在既然已经享受到复仇的快感，她也就一发不可收拾了。她不能等下去了，如果不采取进一步的手段，湖水还是要等很长时间才会消失。于是就在第二天夜里，当最后一弯细细的下弦月升起的时候，她把一些用来苏醒巨蟒的药水装在一个小瓶子里，带在身上，让黑猫跟着她一起出发了。在清晨到来之前，老公主绕着湖转了整整一圈，她越过每一条溪流，念叨着可怕的咒语，并且把瓶子的药水洒几滴到水流中。当她走完一圈的时候，又念了一遍咒语，然后将一捧药水洒向月亮。于是全国每一眼泉水都不再跃动喷涌了，如同将死之人的脉搏一样停止了跳动。第二天，湖边就再也听不到山涧溪流的声音了。每一条沟渠都干涸了，山岩上、黑色的崖壁上再也不是水光粼粼的了。而且不只是大地母亲的泉眼停止了涌动，就是全国上下所有小宝宝的啼哭也都变得很可怕——光有哭声没有眼泪。