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安徒生童话英文版:She Was Good for Nothing
添加时间:2014-02-27 14:41:22 浏览次数: 作者:Andersen
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  • (1853)

    THE mayor stood at the open window. He looked smart, for his shirt-frill, in which he had stuck a breast-pin, and his ruffles1, were very fine. He had shaved his chin uncommonly2 smooth, although he had cut himself slightly, and had stuck a piece of newspaper over the place. “Hark ’ee, youngster!” cried he.

    The boy to whom he spoke3 was no other than the son of a poor washer-woman, who was just going past the house. He stopped, and respectfully took off his cap. The peak of this cap was broken in the middle, so that he could easily roll it up and put it in his pocket. He stood before the mayor in his poor but clean and well-mended clothes, with heavy wooden shoes on his feet, looking as humble4 as if it had been the king himself.

    “You are a good and civil boy,” said the mayor. “I suppose your mother is busy washing the clothes down by the river, and you are going to carry that thing to her that you have in your pocket. It is very bad for your mother. How much have you got in it?”

    “Only half a quartern,” stammered5 the boy in a frightened voice.

    “And she has had just as much this morning already?”

    “No, it was yesterday,” replied the boy.

    “Two halves make a whole,” said the mayor. “She’s good for nothing. What a sad thing it is with these people. Tell your mother she ought to be ashamed of herself. Don’t you become a drunkard, but I expect you will though. Poor child! there, go now.”

    The boy went on his way with his cap in his hand, while the wind fluttered his golden hair till the locks stood up straight. He turned round the corner of the street into the little lane that led to the river, where his mother stood in the water by her washing bench, beating the linen6 with a heavy wooden bar. The floodgates at the mill had been drawn7 up, and as the water rolled rapidly on, the sheets were dragged along by the stream, and nearly overturned the bench, so that the washer-woman was obliged to lean against it to keep it steady. “I have been very nearly carried away,” she said; “it is a good thing that you are come, for I want something to strengthen me. It is cold in the water, and I have stood here six hours. Have you brought anything for me?”

    The boy drew the bottle from his pocket, and the mother put it to her lips, and drank a little.

    “Ah, how much good that does, and how it warms me,” she said; “it is as good as a hot meal, and not so dear. Drink a little, my boy; you look quite pale; you are shivering in your thin clothes, and autumn has really come. Oh, how cold the water is! I hope I shall not be ill. But no, I must not be afraid of that. Give me a little more, and you may have a sip8 too, but only a sip; you must not get used to it, my poor, dear child.” She stepped up to the bridge on which the boy stood as she spoke, and came on shore. The water dripped from the straw mat which she had bound round her body, and from her gown. “I work hard and suffer pain with my poor hands,” said she, “but I do it willingly, that I may be able to bring you up honestly and truthfully, my dear boy.”

    At the same moment, a woman, rather older than herself, came towards them. She was a miserable-looking object, lame9 of one leg, and with a large false curl hanging down over one of her eyes, which was blind. This curl was intended to conceal10 the blind eye, but it made the defect only more visible. She was a friend of the laundress, and was called, among the neighbors, “Lame Martha, with the curl.” “Oh, you poor thing; how you do work, standing11 there in the water!” she exclaimed. “You really do need something to give you a little warmth, and yet spiteful people cry out about the few drops you take.” And then Martha repeated to the laundress, in a very few minutes, all that the mayor had said to her boy, which she had overheard; and she felt very angry that any man could speak, as he had done, of a mother to her own child, about the few drops she had taken; and she was still more angry because, on that very day, the mayor was going to have a dinner-party, at which there would be wine, strong, rich wine, drunk by the bottle. “Many will take more than they ought, but they don’t call that drinking! They are all right, you are good for nothing indeed!” cried Martha indignantly.

    “And so he spoke to you in that way, did he, my child?” said the washer-woman, and her lips trembled as she spoke. “He says you have a mother who is good for nothing. Well, perhaps he is right, but he should not have said it to my child. How much has happened to me from that house!”

    “Yes,” said Martha; “I remember you were in service there, and lived in the house when the mayor’s parents were alive; how many years ago that is. Bushels of salt have been eaten since then, and people may well be thirsty,” and Martha smiled. “The mayor’s great dinner-party to-day ought to have been put off, but the news came too late. The footman told me the dinner was already cooked, when a letter came to say that the mayor’s younger brother in Copenhagen is dead.”

    “Dead!” cried the laundress, turning pale as death.

    “Yes, certainly,” replied Martha; “but why do you take it so much to heart? I suppose you knew him years ago, when you were in service there?”

    “Is he dead?” she exclaimed. “Oh, he was such a kind, good-hearted man, there are not many like him,” and the tears rolled down her cheeks as she spoke. Then she cried, “Oh, dear me; I feel quite ill: everything is going round me, I cannot bear it. Is the bottle empty?” and she leaned against the plank12.

    “Dear me, you are ill indeed,” said the other woman. “Come, cheer up; perhaps it will pass off. No, indeed, I see you are really ill; the best thing for me to do is to lead you home.”

    “But my washing yonder?”

    “I will take care of that. Come, give me your arm. The boy can stay here and take care of the linen, and I’ll come back and finish the washing; it is but a trifle.”

    The limbs of the laundress shook under her, and she said, “I have stood too long in the cold water, and I have had nothing to eat the whole day since the morning. O kind Heaven, help me to get home; I am in a burning fever. Oh, my poor child,” and she burst into tears. And he, poor boy, wept also, as he sat alone by the river, near to and watching the damp linen.

    The two women walked very slowly. The laundress slipped and tottered13 through the lane, and round the corner, into the street where the mayor lived; and just as she reached the front of his house, she sank down upon the pavement. Many persons came round her, and Lame Martha ran into the house for help. The mayor and his guests came to the window.

    “Oh, it is the laundress,” said he; “she has had a little drop too much. She is good for nothing. It is a sad thing for her pretty little son. I like the boy very well; but the mother is good for nothing.”

    After a while the laundress recovered herself, and they led her to her poor dwelling14, and put her to bed. Kind Martha warmed a mug of beer for her, with butter and sugar—she considered this the best medicine—and then hastened to the river, washed and rinsed15, badly enough, to be sure, but she did her best. Then she drew the linen ashore16, wet as it was, and laid it in a basket. Before evening, she was sitting in the poor little room with the laundress. The mayor’s cook had given her some roasted potatoes and a beautiful piece of fat for the sick woman. Martha and the boy enjoyed these good things very much; but the sick woman could only say that the smell was very nourishing, she thought. By-and-by the boy was put to bed, in the same bed as the one in which his mother lay; but he slept at her feet, covered with an old quilt made of blue and white patchwork17. The laundress felt a little better by this time. The warm beer had strengthened her, and the smell of the good food had been pleasant to her.

    “Many thanks, you good soul,” she said to Martha. “Now the boy is asleep, I will tell you all. He is soon asleep. How gentle and sweet he looks as he lies there with his eyes closed! He does not know how his mother has suffered; and Heaven grant he never may know it. I was in service at the counsellor’s, the father of the mayor, and it happened that the youngest of his sons, the student, came home. I was a young wild girl then, but honest; that I can declare in the sight of Heaven. The student was merry and gay, brave and affectionate; every drop of blood in him was good and honorable; a better man never lived on earth. He was the son of the house, and I was only a maid; but he loved me truly and honorably, and he told his mother of it. She was to him as an angel upon earth; she was so wise and loving. He went to travel, and before he started he placed a gold ring on my finger; and as soon as he was out of the house, my mistress sent for me. Gently and earnestly she drew me to her, and spake as if an angel were speaking. She showed me clearly, in spirit and in truth, the difference there was between him and me. ‘He is pleased now,’ she said, ‘with your pretty face; but good looks do not last long. You have not been educated like he has. You are not equals in mind and rank, and therein lies the misfortune. I esteem18 the poor,’ she added. ‘In the sight of God, they may occupy a higher place than many of the rich; but here upon earth we must beware of entering upon a false track, lest we are overturned in our plans, like a carriage that travels by a dangerous road. I know a worthy19 man, an artisan, who wishes to marry you. I mean Eric, the glovemaker. He is a widower20, without children, and in a good position. Will you think it over?’ Every word she said pierced my heart like a knife; but I knew she was right, and the thought pressed heavily upon me. I kissed her hand, and wept bitter tears, and I wept still more when I went to my room, and threw myself on the bed. I passed through a dreadful night; God knows what I suffered, and how I struggled. The following Sunday I went to the house of God to pray for light to direct my path. It seemed like a providence21 that as I stepped out of church Eric came towards me; and then there remained not a doubt in my mind. We were suited to each other in rank and circumstances. He was, even then, a man of good means. I went up to him, and took his hand, and said, ‘Do you still feel the same for me?’ ‘Yes; ever and always,’ said he. ‘Will you, then, marry a maiden22 who honors and esteems23 you, although she cannot offer you her love? but that may come.’ ‘Yes, it will come,’ said he; and we joined our hands together, and I went home to my mistress. The gold ring which her son had given me I wore next to my heart. I could not place it on my finger during the daytime, but only in the evening, when I went to bed. I kissed the ring till my lips almost bled, and then I gave it to my mistress, and told her that the banns were to be put up for me and the glovemaker the following week. Then my mistress threw her arms round me, and kissed me. She did not say that I was ‘good for nothing;’ very likely I was better then than I am now; but the misfortunes of this world, were unknown to me then. At Michaelmas we were married, and for the first year everything went well with us. We had a journeyman and an apprentice24, and you were our servant, Martha.”

    “Ah, yes, and you were a dear, good mistress,” said Martha, “I shall never forget how kind you and your husband were to me.”

    “Yes, those were happy years when you were with us, although we had no children at first. The student I never met again. Yet I saw him once, although he did not see me. He came to his mother’s funeral. I saw him, looking pale as death, and deeply troubled, standing at her grave; for she was his mother. Sometime after, when his father died, he was in foreign lands, and did not come home. I know that he never married, I believe he became a lawyer. He had forgotten me, and even had we met he would not have known me, for I have lost all my good looks, and perhaps that is all for the best.” And then she spoke of the dark days of trial, when misfortune had fallen upon them.

    “We had five hundred dollars,” she said, “and there was a house in the street to be sold for two hundred, so we thought it would be worth our while to pull it down and build a new one in its place; so it was bought. The builder and carpenter made an estimate that the new house would cost ten hundred and twenty dollars to build. Eric had credit, so he borrowed the money in the chief town. But the captain, who was bringing it to him, was shipwrecked, and the money lost. Just about this time, my dear sweet boy, who lies sleeping there, was born, and my husband was attacked with a severe lingering illness. For three quarters of a year I was obliged to dress and undress him. We were backward in our payments, we borrowed more money, and all that we had was lost and sold, and then my husband died. Since then I have worked, toiled25, and striven for the sake of the child. I have scrubbed and washed both coarse and fine linen, but I have not been able to make myself better off; and it was God’s will. In His own time He will take me to Himself, but I know He will never forsake26 my boy.” Then she fell asleep. In the morning she felt much refreshed, and strong enough, as she thought, to go on with her work. But as soon as she stepped into the cold water, a sudden faintness seized her; she clutched at the air convulsively with her hand, took one step forward, and fell. Her head rested on dry land, but her feet were in the water; her wooden shoes, which were only tied on by a wisp of straw, were carried away by the stream, and thus she was found by Martha when she came to bring her some coffee.

    In the meantime a messenger had been sent to her house by the mayor, to say that she must come to him immediately, as he had something to tell her. It was too late; a surgeon had been sent for to open a vein27 in her arm, but the poor woman was dead.

    “She has drunk herself to death,” said the cruel mayor. In the letter, containing the news of his brother’s death, it was stated that he had left in his will a legacy28 of six hundred dollars to the glovemaker’s widow, who had been his mother’s maid, to be paid with discretion29, in large or small sums to the widow or her child.

    “There was something between my brother and her, I remember,” said the mayor; “it is a good thing that she is out of the way, for now the boy will have the whole. I will place him with honest people to bring him up, that he may become a respectable working man.” And the blessing30 of God rested upon these words. The mayor sent for the boy to come to him, and promised to take care of him, but most cruelly added that it was a good thing that his mother was dead, for “she was good for nothing.” They carried her to the churchyard, the churchyard in which the poor were buried. Martha strewed31 sand on the grave and planted a rose-tree upon it, and the boy stood by her side.

    “Oh, my poor mother!” he cried, while the tears rolled down his cheeks. “Is it true what they say, that she was good for nothing?”

    “No, indeed, it is not true,” replied the old servant, raising her eyes to heaven; “she was worth a great deal; I knew it years ago, and since the last night of her life I am more certain of it than ever. I say she was a good and worthy woman, and God, who is in heaven, knows I am speaking the truth, though the world may say, even now she was good for nothing.”



    点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

    1 ruffles [ˈrʌflz] 1b1aebf8d10c4fbd1fd40ac2983c3a32   第9级
    褶裥花边( ruffle的名词复数 )
    参考例句:
    • You will need 12 yards of ribbon facing for the ruffles. 你将需要12码丝带为衣服镶边之用。
    • It is impossible to live without some daily ruffles to our composure. 我们日常的平静生活免不了会遇到一些波折。
    2 uncommonly [ʌnˈkɒmənli] 9ca651a5ba9c3bff93403147b14d37e2   第8级
    adv. 稀罕(极,非常)
    参考例句:
    • an uncommonly gifted child 一个天赋异禀的儿童
    • My little Mary was feeling uncommonly empty. 我肚子当时正饿得厉害。
    3 spoke [spəʊk] XryyC   第11级
    n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
    参考例句:
    • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company. 他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
    • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre. 辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
    4 humble [ˈhʌmbl] ddjzU   第7级
    adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;vt.降低,贬低
    参考例句:
    • In my humble opinion, he will win the election. 依我拙见,他将在选举中获胜。
    • Defeat and failure make people humble. 挫折与失败会使人谦卑。
    5 stammered [ˈstæməd] 76088bc9384c91d5745fd550a9d81721   第8级
    v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )
    参考例句:
    • He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
    • Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠,结结巴巴地说,“你是什么意思?” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
    6 linen [ˈlɪnɪn] W3LyK   第7级
    n.亚麻布,亚麻线,亚麻制品;adj.亚麻布制的,亚麻的
    参考例句:
    • The worker is starching the linen. 这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
    • Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool. 精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。
    7 drawn [drɔ:n] MuXzIi   第11级
    v.(draw的过去式)拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
    参考例句:
    • All the characters in the story are drawn from life. 故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
    • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside. 她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
    8 sip [sɪp] Oxawv   第7级
    vt.&vi.小口地喝,抿,呷;n.一小口的量
    参考例句:
    • She took a sip of the cocktail. 她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
    • Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee. 伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。
    9 lame [leɪm] r9gzj   第7级
    adj.跛的,(辩解、论据等)无说服力的;vi.变跛;vt.使跛;使成残废
    参考例句:
    • The lame man needs a stick when he walks. 那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
    • I don't believe his story. It'sounds a bit lame. 我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。
    10 conceal [kənˈsi:l] DpYzt   第7级
    vt.隐藏,隐瞒,隐蔽
    参考例句:
    • He had to conceal his identity to escape the police. 为了躲避警方,他只好隐瞒身份。
    • He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure. 他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。
    11 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。
    12 plank [plæŋk] p2CzA   第8级
    n.板条,木板,政策要点,政纲条目
    参考例句:
    • The plank was set against the wall. 木板靠着墙壁。
    • They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade. 他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。
    13 tottered [ˈtɔtəd] 60930887e634cc81d6b03c2dda74833f   第11级
    v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 );踉跄;蹒跚;摇摇欲坠
    参考例句:
    • The pile of books tottered then fell. 这堆书晃了几下,然后就倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • The wounded soldier tottered to his feet. 伤员摇摇晃晃地站了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    14 dwelling [ˈdwelɪŋ] auzzQk   第7级
    n.住宅,住所,寓所
    参考例句:
    • Those two men are dwelling with us. 那两个人跟我们住在一起。
    • He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street. 他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。
    15 rinsed [rinst] 637d6ed17a5c20097c9dbfb69621fd20   第8级
    v.漂洗( rinse的过去式和过去分词 );冲洗;用清水漂洗掉(肥皂泡等);(用清水)冲掉
    参考例句:
    • She rinsed out the sea water from her swimming-costume. 她把游泳衣里的海水冲洗掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • The clothes have been rinsed three times. 衣服已经洗了三和。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
    16 ashore [əˈʃɔ:(r)] tNQyT   第7级
    adv.在(向)岸上,上岸
    参考例句:
    • The children got ashore before the tide came in. 涨潮前,孩子们就上岸了。
    • He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore. 他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。
    17 patchwork [ˈpætʃwɜ:k] yLsx6   第12级
    n.混杂物;拼缝物
    参考例句:
    • That proposal is nothing else other than a patchwork. 那个建议只是一个大杂烩而已。
    • She patched new cloth to the old coat, so it seemed mere patchwork. 她把新布初到那件旧上衣上,所以那件衣服看上去就象拼凑起来的东西。
    18 esteem [ɪˈsti:m] imhyZ   第7级
    n.尊敬,尊重;vt.尊重,敬重;把…看作
    参考例句:
    • I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust. 我认为他不值得信赖。
    • The veteran worker ranks high in public love and esteem. 那位老工人深受大伙的爱戴。
    19 worthy [ˈwɜ:ði] vftwB   第7级
    adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的
    参考例句:
    • I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust. 我认为他不值得信赖。
    • There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned. 没有值得一提的事发生。
    20 widower [ˈwɪdəʊə(r)] fe4z2a   第10级
    n.鳏夫
    参考例句:
    • George was a widower with six young children. 乔治是个带著六个小孩子的鳏夫。
    • Having been a widower for many years, he finally decided to marry again. 丧偶多年后,他终于决定二婚了。
    21 providence [ˈprɒvɪdəns] 8tdyh   第12级
    n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝
    参考例句:
    • It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat. 乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
    • To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence. 照你的所作所为那样去行事,是违背上帝的意志的。
    22 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。
    23 esteems [isˈti:mz] 138f71eda3452b1a346a3b078c123d2e   第7级
    n.尊敬,好评( esteem的名词复数 )v.尊敬( esteem的第三人称单数 );敬重;认为;以为
    参考例句:
    • No one esteems your father more than I do. 没有人比我更敬重你的父亲了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • Fourth, esteems and the attention specially to the Marxism theory absorption. 第四,特别推崇和关注对马克思主义学说的吸收。 来自互联网
    24 apprentice [əˈprentɪs] 0vFzq   第8级
    n.学徒,徒弟
    参考例句:
    • My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop. 我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
    • The apprentice is not yet out of his time. 这徒工还没有出徒。
    25 toiled ['tɔɪld] 599622ddec16892278f7d146935604a3   第8级
    长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉
    参考例句:
    • They toiled up the hill in the blazing sun. 他们冒着炎炎烈日艰难地一步一步爬上山冈。
    • He toiled all day long but earned very little. 他整天劳碌但挣得很少。
    26 forsake [fəˈseɪk] iiIx6   第7级
    vt.遗弃,抛弃;舍弃,放弃
    参考例句:
    • She pleaded with her husband not to forsake her. 她恳求丈夫不要抛弃她。
    • You must forsake your bad habits. 你必须革除你的坏习惯。
    27 vein [veɪn] fi9w0   第7级
    n.血管,静脉;叶脉,纹理;情绪;vt.使成脉络
    参考例句:
    • The girl is not in the vein for singing today. 那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
    • The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein. 医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。
    28 legacy [ˈlegəsi] 59YzD   第7级
    n.遗产,遗赠;先人(或过去)留下的东西
    参考例句:
    • They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left. 它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
    • He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods. 他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。
    29 discretion [dɪˈskreʃn] FZQzm   第9级
    n.谨慎;随意处理
    参考例句:
    • You must show discretion in choosing your friend. 你择友时必须慎重。
    • Please use your best discretion to handle the matter. 请慎重处理此事。
    30 blessing [ˈblesɪŋ] UxDztJ   第7级
    n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿
    参考例句:
    • The blessing was said in Hebrew. 祷告用了希伯来语。
    • A double blessing has descended upon the house. 双喜临门。
    31 strewed [stru:d] c21d6871b6a90e9a93a5a73cdae66155   第10级
    v.撒在…上( strew的过去式和过去分词 );散落于;点缀;撒满
    参考例句:
    • Papers strewed the floor. 文件扔了一地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • Autumn leaves strewed the lawn. 草地上撒满了秋叶。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

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