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安徒生童话英文版-20 The Elf of the Rose
添加时间:2014-01-16 14:57:11 浏览次数: 作者:Andersen
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  • (1839)

    IN the midst of a garden grew a rose-tree, in full blossom, and in the prettiest of all the roses lived an elf. He was such a little wee thing, that no human eye could see him. Behind each leaf of the rose he had a sleeping chamber1. He was as well formed and as beautiful as a little child could be, and had wings that reached from his shoulders to his feet. Oh, what sweet fragrance2 there was in his chambers3! and how clean and beautiful were the walls! for they were the blushing leaves of the rose.

    During the whole day he enjoyed himself in the warm sunshine, flew from flower to flower, and danced on the wings of the flying butterflies. Then he took it into his head to measure how many steps he would have to go through the roads and cross-roads that are on the leaf of a linden-tree. What we call the veins4 on a leaf, he took for roads; ay, and very long roads they were for him; for before he had half finished his task, the sun went down: he had commenced his work too late. It became very cold, the dew fell, and the wind blew; so he thought the best thing he could do would be to return home. He hurried himself as much as he could; but he found the roses all closed up, and he could not get in; not a single rose stood open. The poor little elf was very much frightened. He had never before been out at night, but had always slumbered5 secretly behind the warm rose-leaves. Oh, this would certainly be his death. At the other end of the garden, he knew there was an arbor6, overgrown with beautiful honey-suckles. The blossoms looked like large painted horns; and he thought to himself, he would go and sleep in one of these till the morning. He flew thither7; but “hush8!” two people were in the arbor,—a handsome young man and a beautiful lady. They sat side by side, and wished that they might never be obliged to part. They loved each other much more than the best child can love its father and mother.

    “But we must part,” said the young man; “your brother does not like our engagement, and therefore he sends me so far away on business, over mountains and seas. Farewell, my sweet bride; for so you are to me.”

    And then they kissed each other, and the girl wept, and gave him a rose; but before she did so, she pressed a kiss upon it so fervently9 that the flower opened. Then the little elf flew in, and leaned his head on the delicate, fragrant10 walls. Here he could plainly hear them say, “Farewell, farewell;” and he felt that the rose had been placed on the young man’s breast. Oh, how his heart did beat! The little elf could not go to sleep, it thumped11 so loudly. The young man took it out as he walked through the dark wood alone, and kissed the flower so often and so violently, that the little elf was almost crushed. He could feel through the leaf how hot the lips of the young man were, and the rose had opened, as if from the heat of the noonday sun.

    There came another man, who looked gloomy and wicked. He was the wicked brother of the beautiful maiden12. He drew out a sharp knife, and while the other was kissing the rose, the wicked man stabbed him to death; then he cut off his head, and buried it with the body in the soft earth under the linden-tree.

    “Now he is gone, and will soon be forgotten,” thought the wicked brother; “he will never come back again. He was going on a long journey over mountains and seas; it is easy for a man to lose his life in such a journey. My sister will suppose he is dead; for he cannot come back, and she will not dare to question me about him.”

    Then he scattered13 the dry leaves over the light earth with his foot, and went home through the darkness; but he went not alone, as he thought,—the little elf accompanied him. He sat in a dry rolled-up linden-leaf, which had fallen from the tree on to the wicked man’s head, as he was digging the grave. The hat was on the head now, which made it very dark, and the little elf shuddered14 with fright and indignation at the wicked deed.

    It was the dawn of morning before the wicked man reached home; he took off his hat, and went into his sister’s room. There lay the beautiful, blooming girl, dreaming of him whom she loved so, and who was now, she supposed, travelling far away over mountain and sea. Her wicked brother stopped over her, and laughed hideously15, as fiends only can laugh. The dry leaf fell out of his hair upon the counterpane; but he did not notice it, and went to get a little sleep during the early morning hours. But the elf slipped out of the withered16 leaf, placed himself by the ear of the sleeping girl, and told her, as in a dream, of the horrid17 murder; described the place where her brother had slain18 her lover, and buried his body; and told her of the linden-tree, in full blossom, that stood close by.

    “That you may not think this is only a dream that I have told you,” he said, “you will find on your bed a withered leaf.”

    Then she awoke, and found it there. Oh, what bitter tears she shed! and she could not open her heart to any one for relief.

    The window stood open the whole day, and the little elf could easily have reached the roses, or any of the flowers; but he could not find it in his heart to leave one so afflicted19. In the window stood a bush bearing monthly roses. He seated himself in one of the flowers, and gazed on the poor girl. Her brother often came into the room, and would be quite cheerful, in spite of his base conduct; so she dare not say a word to him of her heart’s grief.

    As soon as night came on, she slipped out of the house, and went into the wood, to the spot where the linden-tree stood; and after removing the leaves from the earth, she turned it up, and there found him who had been murdered. Oh, how she wept and prayed that she also might die! Gladly would she have taken the body home with her; but that was impossible; so she took up the poor head with the closed eyes, kissed the cold lips, and shook the mould out of the beautiful hair.

    “I will keep this,” said she; and as soon as she had covered the body again with the earth and leaves, she took the head and a little sprig of jasmine that bloomed in the wood, near the spot where he was buried, and carried them home with her. As soon as she was in her room, she took the largest flower-pot she could find, and in this she placed the head of the dead man, covered it up with earth, and planted the twig20 of jasmine in it.

    “Farewell, farewell,” whispered the little elf. He could not any longer endure to witness all this agony of grief, he therefore flew away to his own rose in the garden. But the rose was faded; only a few dry leaves still clung to the green hedge behind it.

    Alas21! how soon all that is good and beautiful passes away,” sighed the elf.

    After a while he found another rose, which became his home, for among its delicate fragrant leaves he could dwell in safety. Every morning he flew to the window of the poor girl, and always found her weeping by the flower pot. The bitter tears fell upon the jasmine twig, and each day, as she became paler and paler, the sprig appeared to grow greener and fresher. One shoot after another sprouted22 forth23, and little white buds blossomed, which the poor girl fondly kissed. But her wicked brother scolded her, and asked her if she was going mad. He could not imagine why she was weeping over that flower-pot, and it annoyed him. He did not know whose closed eyes were there, nor what red lips were fading beneath the earth. And one day she sat and leaned her head against the flower-pot, and the little elf of the rose found her asleep. Then he seated himself by her ear, talked to her of that evening in the arbor, of the sweet perfume of the rose, and the loves of the elves. Sweetly she dreamed, and while she dreamt, her life passed away calmly and gently, and her spirit was with him whom she loved, in heaven. And the jasmine opened its large white bells, and spread forth its sweet fragrance; it had no other way of showing its grief for the dead. But the wicked brother considered the beautiful blooming plant as his own property, left to him by his sister, and he placed it in his sleeping room, close by his bed, for it was very lovely in appearance, and the fragrance sweet and delightful24. The little elf of the rose followed it, and flew from flower to flower, telling each little spirit that dwelt in them the story of the murdered young man, whose head now formed part of the earth beneath them, and of the wicked brother and the poor sister. “We know it,” said each little spirit in the flowers, “we know it, for have we not sprung from the eyes and lips of the murdered one. We know it, we know it,” and the flowers nodded with their heads in a peculiar25 manner. The elf of the rose could not understand how they could rest so quietly in the matter, so he flew to the bees, who were gathering26 honey, and told them of the wicked brother. And the bees told it to their queen, who commanded that the next morning they should go and kill the murderer. But during the night, the first after the sister’s death, while the brother was sleeping in his bed, close to where he had placed the fragrant jasmine, every flower cup opened, and invisibly the little spirits stole out, armed with poisonous spears. They placed themselves by the ear of the sleeper27, told him dreadful dreams and then flew across his lips, and pricked28 his tongue with their poisoned spears. “Now have we revenged the dead,” said they, and flew back into the white bells of the jasmine flowers. When the morning came, and as soon as the window was opened, the rose elf, with the queen bee, and the whole swarm29 of bees, rushed in to kill him. But he was already dead. People were standing30 round the bed, and saying that the scent31 of the jasmine had killed him. Then the elf of the rose understood the revenge of the flowers, and explained it to the queen bee, and she, with the whole swarm, buzzed about the flower-pot. The bees could not be driven away. Then a man took it up to remove it, and one of the bees stung him in the hand, so that he let the flower-pot fall, and it was broken to pieces. Then every one saw the whitened skull32, and they knew the dead man in the bed was a murderer. And the queen bee hummed in the air, and sang of the revenge of the flowers, and of the elf of the rose and said that behind the smallest leaf dwells One, who can discover evil deeds, and punish them also.



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    1 chamber [ˈtʃeɪmbə(r)] wnky9   第7级
    n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所
    参考例句:
    • For many, the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber. 对许多人来说,牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
    • The chamber was ablaze with light. 会议厅里灯火辉煌。
    2 fragrance [ˈfreɪgrəns] 66ryn   第8级
    n.芬芳,香味,香气
    参考例句:
    • The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance. 苹果花使空气充满香味。
    • The fragrance of lavender filled the room. 房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。
    3 chambers [ˈtʃeimbəz] c053984cd45eab1984d2c4776373c4fe   第7级
    n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅
    参考例句:
    • The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间:Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网
    4 veins ['veɪnz] 65827206226d9e2d78ea2bfe697c6329   第7级
    n.纹理;矿脉( vein的名词复数 );静脉;叶脉;纹理
    参考例句:
    • The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的,感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    5 slumbered [] 90bc7b1e5a8ccd9fdc68d12edbd1f200   第9级
    微睡,睡眠(slumber的过去式与过去分词形式)
    参考例句:
    • The baby slumbered in his cradle. 婴儿安睡在摇篮中。
    • At that time my virtue slumbered; my evil, kept awake by ambition. 就在那时,我的善的一面睡着了,我的邪恶面因野心勃勃而清醒着。
    6 arbor ['ɑ:bə] fyIzz0   第11级
    n.凉亭;树木
    参考例句:
    • They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea. 他们坐在凉亭里,边喝茶边聊天。
    • You may have heard of Arbor Day at school. 你可能在学校里听过植树节。
    7 thither [ˈðɪðə(r)] cgRz1o   第12级
    adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的
    参考例句:
    • He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate. 他逛来逛去找玩伴。
    • He tramped hither and thither. 他到处流浪。
    8 hush [hʌʃ] ecMzv   第8级
    int.嘘,别出声;n.沉默,静寂;v.使安静
    参考例句:
    • A hush fell over the onlookers. 旁观者们突然静了下来。
    • Do hush up the scandal! 不要把这丑事声张出去!
    9 fervently ['fɜ:vəntlɪ] 8tmzPw   第8级
    adv.热烈地,热情地,强烈地
    参考例句:
    • "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦,我真高兴!”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊,我亲爱的,亲爱的,你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么?” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
    10 fragrant [ˈfreɪgrənt] z6Yym   第7级
    adj.芬香的,馥郁的,愉快的
    参考例句:
    • The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn. 深秋的香山格外美丽。
    • The air was fragrant with lavender. 空气中弥漫薰衣草香。
    11 thumped [θʌmpt] 0a7f1b69ec9ae1663cb5ed15c0a62795   第8级
    v.重击, (指心脏)急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 )
    参考例句:
    • Dave thumped the table in frustration . 戴夫懊恼得捶打桌子。
    • He thumped the table angrily. 他愤怒地用拳捶击桌子。
    12 maiden [ˈmeɪdn] yRpz7   第7级
    n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的
    参考例句:
    • The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden. 王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
    • The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow. 这架飞机明天首航。
    13 scattered ['skætəd] 7jgzKF   第7级
    adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
    参考例句:
    • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
    14 shuddered [ˈʃʌdəd] 70137c95ff493fbfede89987ee46ab86   第8级
    v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动
    参考例句:
    • He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车,车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    15 hideously ['hɪdɪəslɪ] hideously   第8级
    adv.可怕地,非常讨厌地
    参考例句:
    • The witch was hideously ugly. 那个女巫丑得吓人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • Pitt's smile returned, and it was hideously diabolic. 皮特的脸上重新浮现出笑容,但却狰狞可怕。 来自辞典例句
    16 withered [ˈwɪðəd] 342a99154d999c47f1fc69d900097df9   第7级
    adj. 枯萎的,干瘪的,(人身体的部分器官)因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式
    参考例句:
    • The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。
    • The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。
    17 horrid [ˈhɒrɪd] arozZj   第10级
    adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的
    参考例句:
    • I'm not going to the horrid dinner party. 我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
    • The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down. 这种药很难吃,她咽不下去。
    18 slain [sleɪn] slain   第10级
    杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词)
    参考例句:
    • The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
    • His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。
    19 afflicted [əˈfliktid] aaf4adfe86f9ab55b4275dae2a2e305a   第7级
    使受痛苦,折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 )
    参考例句:
    • About 40% of the country's population is afflicted with the disease. 全国40%左右的人口患有这种疾病。
    • A terrible restlessness that was like to hunger afflicted Martin Eden. 一阵可怕的、跟饥饿差不多的不安情绪折磨着马丁·伊登。
    20 twig [twɪg] VK1zg   第8级
    n.小树枝,嫩枝;v.理解
    参考例句:
    • He heard the sharp crack of a twig. 他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
    • The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away. 细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。
    21 alas [əˈlæs] Rx8z1   第10级
    int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)
    参考例句:
    • Alas! The window is broken! 哎呀! 窗子破了!
    • Alas, the truth is less romantic. 然而,真理很少带有浪漫色彩。
    22 sprouted [sprɑʊtɪd] 6e3d9efcbfe061af8882b5b12fd52864   第7级
    v.发芽( sprout的过去式和过去分词 );抽芽;出现;(使)涌现出
    参考例句:
    • We can't use these potatoes; they've all sprouted. 这些土豆儿不能吃了,都出芽了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • The rice seeds have sprouted. 稻种已经出芽了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
    23 forth [fɔ:θ] Hzdz2   第7级
    adv.向前;向外,往外
    参考例句:
    • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth. 风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
    • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession. 他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
    24 delightful [dɪˈlaɪtfl] 6xzxT   第8级
    adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的
    参考例句:
    • We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday. 上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
    • Peter played a delightful melody on his flute. 彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。
    25 peculiar [pɪˈkju:liə(r)] cinyo   第7级
    adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
    参考例句:
    • He walks in a peculiar fashion. 他走路的样子很奇特。
    • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression. 他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
    26 gathering [ˈgæðərɪŋ] ChmxZ   第8级
    n.集会,聚会,聚集
    参考例句:
    • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering. 他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
    • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels. 他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
    27 sleeper [ˈsli:pə(r)] gETyT   第7级
    n.睡眠者,卧车,卧铺
    参考例句:
    • I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
    • But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。
    28 pricked [prikt] 1d0503c50da14dcb6603a2df2c2d4557   第7级
    刺,扎,戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 ); 刺伤; 刺痛; 使剧痛
    参考例句:
    • The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry. 厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
    • He was pricked by his conscience. 他受到良心的谴责。
    29 swarm [swɔ:m] dqlyj   第7级
    n.(昆虫)等一大群;vi.成群飞舞;蜂拥而入
    参考例句:
    • There is a swarm of bees in the tree. 这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
    • A swarm of ants are moving busily. 一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。
    30 standing [ˈstændɪŋ] 2hCzgo   第8级
    n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
    参考例句:
    • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing. 地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
    • They're standing out against any change in the law. 他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
    31 scent [sent] WThzs   第7级
    n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;vt.嗅,发觉;vi.发出…的气味;有…的迹象;嗅着气味追赶
    参考例句:
    • The air was filled with the scent of lilac. 空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
    • The flowers give off a heady scent at night. 这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。
    32 skull [skʌl] CETyO   第7级
    n.头骨;颅骨
    参考例句:
    • The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. 头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
    • He fell out of the window and cracked his skull. 他从窗子摔了出去,跌裂了颅骨。

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