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Thenthey embraced each other, and John went into the town and walked to the palace.The great hall was full of people, and the judges sat in arm-chairs, witheider-down cushions to rest their heads upon, because they had so much to thinkof.
于是他们互相拥抱了一下。约翰奈斯走进城,直接到宫里去。大殿里挤满了人:裁判官都坐在靠椅上,而且还在脑袋后边垫了许多鸭绒枕头——因为他们有很多事情要费脑筋来想。
Theold king stood near, wiping his eyes with his white pocket-handkerchief. Whenthe princess entered, she looked even more beautiful than she had appeared theday before, and greeted every one present most gracefully; but to John she gaveher hand, and said, "Good morning to you."
老国王站起来,用一块白手帕措了一下眼睛。这时公主也进来了。她的样子比昨天还要漂亮。她很和气地向大家行礼,不过她对约翰奈斯伸出手来,说:“祝你平安!”
Nowcame the time for John to guess what she was thinking of; and oh, how kindlyshe looked at him as she spoke.
现在约翰奈斯要猜猜她心里想的是什么东西。老天爷!她瞧着他的那副样儿真可爱,
Butwhen he uttered the single word shoe, she turned as pale as a ghost; all herwisdom could not help her, for he had guessed rightly.
不过当她一听到他说出“一只鞋子”以后,她脸上立刻变得比粉笔还要惨白。她的全身发抖,但是这也解决不了问题,因为他猜对了!
Oh,how pleased the old king was! It was quite amusing to see how he capered about.All the people clapped their hands, both on his account and John's, who hadguessed rightly the first time.
真想不到:老国王才高兴呢!他翻了一个跟头,样子真好看。所有在场的人都为他和约翰奈斯鼓掌——他是第一次猜中了的人!
Hisfellow-traveller was glad also, when he heard how successful John had been.
旅伴听到这个圆满的结果,也感到很高兴。
ButJohn folded his hands, and thanked God, who, he felt quite sure, would help himagain; and he knew he had to guess twice more.
但是约翰奈斯合着双手,感谢仁慈的上帝——他下一次一定也会帮助他的。第二天他又得去猜。
The evening passed pleasantly like the onepreceding. While John slept, his companion flew behind the princess to themountain, and flogged her even harder than before; this time he had taken tworods with him.
这天晚上过得像昨天一样。当约翰奈斯睡着了的时候,旅伴仍旧跟在公主后面飞到山里去。他在路上把她拍得比上次还要厉害,因为这次他带着两根枝条。
Noone saw him go in with her, and he heard all that was said.
谁也看不见他,可是他什么都能听见。
Theprincess this time was to think of a glove, and he told John as if he had againheard it in a dream. The next day, therefore, he was able to guess correctlythe second time, and it caused great rejoicing at the palace.
公主这次心里要想的是一只手套。旅伴把这事又作为一个梦告诉了约翰奈斯。因此约翰奈斯又猜中了。宫里的人全都非常高兴。
The whole court jumped about as they had seenthe king do
theday before, but the princess lay on the sofa, and would not say a single word.
所有的大臣,照上次他们看到国王翻跟头的那个样子,也都翻起跟头来。只有公主一个人躺在沙发上,一句话也说不出来。
Allnow depended upon John. If he only guessed rightly the third time, he wouldmarry the princess, and reign over the kingdom after the death of the old king:
现在的问题是:约翰奈斯是不是第三次也能猜得中呢?如果他能猜中的话,他不仅有了这位美丽的公主,还可以在国王死后继承整个的王国哩。
but if he failed, he would lose his life, andthe magician would have his beautiful blue eyes.
如果他猜不中,他就要丧失生命,而且那个魔法师还要把他的那一对美丽的蓝眼珠吃掉。
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