奥黛丽·赫本 | 讲童话故事《睡美人》

I'm an old woman now, so old that all these past gets mixed up in my mind with what is now. When I remember my childhood, what I remember most is him. No memory is without Maurice Ravel, that small and elegant man who was to me the greatest composer who ever lived.
如今我是个老妇人了，老到以至于在我脑海里过去和现在都混淆不清了。当我回忆起我的童年，能记起来最多的还是他。任何一段记忆里都有着莫里斯·拉威尔的影子对我来说，瘦小而又优雅的他是一个曾经存在过的最优秀的作曲家。

In those years between 1906 and 1908, he would've come often to la Grand Gate, our country house near Paris, to visit my parents. One day he came, very excited. "I had written a piano piece, and I think you would like to meet me", he said.."It's called Ma mère l'Oye, My Mother Goose". It was old stories I love best told in music. And then he showed me the front page, it was dedicated to my brother and to me.
在1906到1908之间的这几年，他经常来到La Grand Gete，去我们在巴黎附近的乡下房子看望我的父母。有一天他过来的时候非常激动地说：“我写了一首钢琴曲，我觉得你应该会想要来见见我的。”他说道：“它叫鹅妈妈。”这是我最喜欢讲述老故事时听的音乐。然后他给我展示了首页，它是献给我和我的兄弟的。

And now I sit, an old woman, outside in the orange late summer morning. The music in my mind is starting to play, I think of my wonderful Monsieur Ravel. I've heard her live in a castle. It was covered with roses”; Monsieur Ravel says to me. "Ah! The gasp of the sleeping princess", I cried. "It is perhaps my favorite story of all! Oh, tell it to me please!" He smiles, draws me onto his lap and begins the story of the Sleeping Princess.
而现在，我，一个老妇人，在一个盛夏的橘黄色早晨在屋外坐着，这首歌开始在我的脑海里演奏了起来。我想念着我最棒的莫里斯·拉威尔。“我听说她住在城堡里，那里到处覆盖着玫瑰.”莫里斯·拉威尔这样对我说。“啊！睡公主的故事，”我尖叫道，“这可能是所有故事中我最爱的了！噢，请快点告诉我吧！”他微笑着，把我抱起坐在他的膝上，开始讲述睡公主的故事。

Once upon a time, a magic time, in a fair far green country, lived a King and Queen. They've longed to have a child. And finally on one bright morning in June, a daughter was born to them. 
在很久很久以前的一个神奇的时代，遥远的绿色国度里住着国王和王后。他们一直渴望着能有一个孩子，终于在六月的一个明媚的早晨，他们的女儿诞生了。

"We must give her the grandest christening that ever was", the Queen said, "We must even use the golden plates." And the King, who did not agree to much she suggested, agreed to this. Everyone in the land, all the town's people were invited to the christening. But the most special guest of all were the six good fairies of the kingdom, the godmothers of the little Princess.
“我们必须给予她最伟大的洗礼，就像以前一样。”王后说道，“我们甚至必须要用到金盘子。”在这一点上，就算是不同意她许多提议的国王也都表示赞同。这个国度里的每一个人，所有的镇民都被邀请参加洗礼仪式。但最特别的客人还是王国里的六位仙女，她们是这位小公主的教母。

One by one, these fairies passed by the royal cradle and gave the baby a blessing and a gift. One promised the princess beauty; One a bright mind; One an even brighter spirit; One a voice of charm; One a loving heart. But just as the last fairy was about to present her gift, a quick angry draft suddenly blew the door open.
这些仙女一个接一个的经过皇室的摇篮，并给予这个小宝贝一个祝福和一个礼物。一位承诺赐予小公主美丽的容貌，一位赐予她一颗聪明的心，一位赐予她更加崇高光明的精神，一位赐予她迷人的声音，一位赐予她一颗充满爱的心。但就在最后一位仙女将要送出她的礼物的时候，一阵充满愤怒的气息突然把门冲开了。

"Why? It's just the wind"，laughed the king. But it wasn't wind. It was a little old woman, thin as wind perhaps. But (she was) so powerful the door the guest shrank back in fear of her. "Melusine", someone whispered:" Melusine!" The chocked cry went around. Melusine was an evil fairy. She had disappeared from the kingdom many years before, and no one knew what had become of her.
“什么？只是一阵风而已。”国王笑道。但这并不是风，而是一位瘦小的老女人，她瘦的几乎跟一阵风一般。但她却如此强力的冲开了门，客人们纷纷害怕的退缩开来。“Melusine，”有人低声说道，“Melusine”，断断续续的哭声环绕着四周。Melusine是一位邪恶的女巫，很多年前她就在这个国度消失，也没有人知道她后来怎么样了。

The King, hiding his surprise and fear, invited her in and hastily made a place for her at the high table. But he couldn't give her one of the golden plates. But it was simply not enough. Melusine looked at the china plate given her instead, and she smiled, a very thin and awful smile. Hobbling up to the baby's cradle, she touched the child's cheek with her papery hand. "I too have a gift for you, my precious" the fairy whispered:" And here it is: One day you will prick your finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and died!"
国王掩饰着他的惊惧和害怕，邀请她进来并匆忙地在高桌上摆了个位置。国王没有给女巫金盘子，因为金盘子不够，而是给了她一个中式盘子。女巫看着国王给她的盘子，然后露出一个很细薄而可怕的微笑。女巫蹒跚着走向小婴儿的摇篮，用她干瘪的手触摸着婴儿的脸颊：“我也有一件礼物要送给你，我的小宝贝儿，”她低语道，“那就是这个——总有一天你会在纺车的轴上戳破你的手指并死去！”

The guests shrank back screaming. The Queen fainted. Only the last of the six fairies had come. She came forward slowly and faced Melusine. "I have not yet given my blessing to the princess", she said softly. "Alas. I cannot undo the fairy curse, but I can surely soften it. The princess will indeed prick her finger on a spindle, but she will not die. She will only sleep for a hundred years until a prince shall come and wake her."
客人们尖叫着缩开了，王后晕倒了。之后六位仙女中的最后一位走上前去，她慢慢地走向女巫并面对着她。“我还没有赐予公主我的祝福呢。”她轻声说道，“虽然我无法解开魔女的诅咒，但我保证能够缓解它。公主确实会在纺锤上戳破她的手指，但她不会死去的。她只会因此沉睡一百年，知道有一位王子过来唤醒她。”

17 years passed, and the Princess was now a young woman. She was beautiful, with little golden hair and flecked green eyes. She was honest and courageous, curious, tender, marry, and a little clumsy. Her favorite game was to explore the huge castle and make up stories with the queer things she found there.

就这样17年过去了，公主如今已是一位年轻的女人。她美貌非凡，有着金色的秀发和斑点绿的眼睛。她诚实，勇敢，富有好奇心，温柔，快乐，但有点笨拙。她最喜欢的游戏便是探索这座巨大的城堡，用她在城堡里找到的稀奇古怪的东西编故事。

One morning in May, the Princess was exploring a wing she had not been in before, and she came up on a funny little room, inside sat an old woman spinning. The Princess was enchanted by the strange site. "What are you doing? Oh do let me try!" She cried and rush forward. In an instant her finger pricked the spindle, she gave a scream and saint lifeless on the floor.
五月的一天早晨，公主在探索一个她以前没待过的厢房。她来到一个有趣的小房间，里面有一位老妇人正坐着纺纱。公主被这个奇怪的地方迷住了。“你在做些什么呢？噢让我也试试吧！”她叫喊着跑过去，而后她的手指瞬间被纺锤刺痛了。她尖叫一声，便毫无生气地倒在了地上。

The old woman smiled, the cold thin smile of the fairy Mellusine, and melted into icy wind. The moment the Princess touched the spindle and fell into a sleep, a strange thing began to happen-the whole palace began to sleep as well. The king was in the throne room making a new law, nodded off, still holding his quill pen. The Queen, having her hair brushed by her lady in waiting, fell asleep at the dressing table. The lady in waiting fell asleep in mid brush stroke. And on and on, until finally the whole palace was still, heavy, and filled with dreamers.
老妇人笑了，这来自魔女Mellusine的冰冷而细薄的微笑，化作了刺骨的寒风。触碰到纺锤的那一瞬间，公主便陷入了沉睡中。一件奇怪的事情开始发生——整个宫殿都开始沉睡了起来。国王在王座上颁布了一项新律法，打着瞌睡，手里仍然握着他的羽毛笔；王后，在等待着她的侍女给她梳理头发，也在梳妆台前陷入了沉睡中；那位王后正在等待的侍女在刷牙的时候睡着了。这种现象无休无止地持续着，直到整个皇宫都变得沉重了，到处都是睡着的人儿。

And then darkness came to those who dreamed. For up, up. Back away of green grew the brambles, climbing and folding huge thorns raised. Up the vines grew, protectively fiercely, until finally the whole castle was suckled in her arms. And then, even the brambles slept too. 
然后黑暗降临到了那些正在做梦的人身上，蔓延着蔓延着，绿色开始褪去，荆棘疯狂生长，攀升，交错，巨大的刺凸了起来。藤蔓坚定地伸展着，直到最终整个城堡都陷入了它的怀抱中。最后，即使是荆棘也陷入了沉睡。

They slept for a hundred years. Slept through wars, and warm harvests, and marriages, and new fashions; Slept through the crown of the kingdom passing to a new family, slept through the birth of a new little prince. The prince's name is not important. What is important about him is his curiosity.
他们沉睡了整整一百年。他们在沉睡中度过了战争，温暖的收获日，婚礼，还有新的时代；在沉睡中，国王的王冠传到了一个新的家族里；在沉睡中，新的小王子诞生了。而王子的名字并不重要，重要的是他的好奇心。

From the time the Prince was tiny, he has wondered and wondered about the huge castle in the kingdom, the one that was all covered with brambles. "Who lives there?" he asked. And when he was told the legend of the Sleeping Princess, he had smiled. "Ah", he said: “I should be the one to awaken her." But everyone laughed at him because he was only a tiny child, and his thumb wasn't even as big as one of the brambles that guarded the castle.
王子从很小的时候开始，他就很想很想知道关于这个王国的巨大城堡，一个布满了荆棘的城堡的事情。“是谁住在那里呢？”他问道。而当他被告知了睡公主的传说时，他笑了，“哈，”他说，“我应该是那位唤醒她的人。”但是所有人都嘲笑他因为那时他还是个很小的孩子，他的拇指甚至还没有守护着城堡的一朵荆棘花那么大。

But time passed, and one day the Prince was no longer a child. He had grown into a man, well-favored, and well-liked, but with a certain sadness always about him. The sadness was the strongest when he rode into the woods. And stood at the gates of that mysterious castle, thinking of the Princess who lay inside. Many ladies in the kingdom were in love with the Prince, but he could not return their love, for he had a strange image always before his eyes, the image of a bright-face child, whose hair was tangled yellow, and whose eyes were flecked with green.
但是时间过去了，有一天王子已经不再是个孩子了。他长成了一个男人，一个非常受欢迎和喜爱的人，但总有某种悲伤环绕着他。这股悲伤来得最为强烈的时候，就是他走进森林站在那座神秘的城堡大门面前想着沉睡在里面的公主的时候。王国里的很多女人都爱上了王子，但他却不能回应她们的爱，因为在他面前老是有一个神秘而奇怪的形象——一个有着明亮开朗的脸蛋的孩子，那个人的头发是斑驳的黄色，而眼睛里点缀着绿色。

On his 21st birthday, the prince left the celebration, and rode as usual to the bramble covered castle. As he stood looking, the longing filled him so much, he began to weep. "Let the bramble tear me apart", he thought. "If I must die, let me die trying to find the princess."
在王子21岁的生日时，他离开了生日庆典，并像往常一样骑马去那座荆棘遍布的城堡。当他站在那里看着城堡时，他的心中充满了（某种）渴望，他开始哭了起来，“就让荆棘撕裂我吧。”他想道，“如果我必须死去，那么就让我在去找公主的时候死去吧！”

The Prince climbed the gate, rusted by years of disuse. And as he took his first step into the garden, something wonderful happened - the thorns, would have been so angry and sharp only a moment before, melted into piles of rose petals at his feet. 
王子攀上了那座因多年废弃而生锈的大门，伴随着他踏进花园的第一步，一些美妙的事情发生了——荆棘，这些在片刻前只会充满愤怒和尖锐的荆棘，融化在了他脚边的玫瑰花瓣中。

And the Prince rushed into the palace, thus he saw everywhere - gloomy spider webs and piles of sleeping people. He run upstairs and searched the whole castle, and there, in the little backroom, he found his princess, still lying beside the spinning wheel. He smiled when he saw her, for this was the girl who had lived in his mind all these years.
王子冲进了宫殿，于是他看见了到处都是在阴暗的蜘蛛网还有沉睡中的人堆。他跑上楼搜索了整个城堡，然后在那里，一个小小的卧室里他发现了他的公主，依旧躺在纺车旁边。
当他看着公主的时候他笑了，因为这就是多年以来，一直活在他脑海里的那个女孩。

He bend forward and kissed her. And when he draw back, a pair of marry tender flecked green eyes were looking at him. "I was just dreaming about you", the Princess said. 
他弯下腰，亲吻了她。当他抽回身子时，一双欢快而温柔的斑点绿色眼睛正看着他。“我刚刚正好梦见你了。”公主说道。

Down in the hallway bellow, the king yawned and stretched, "Huh...I must have dozed off", he said: “I have a law to finish." "Ouch!" the Queen said, as the hair maid combing her hair pulled to sharply on a curl. 
而在走廊里，国王伸了伸懒腰并打了个哈欠。“嗯...我肯定是睡着了。”他说道，“我还有一个律法需要完成。”“哎哟！”王后喊道，当她的头发正被为她梳头的侍女梳得卷曲成一团时。

The whole palace was stirring now, all wondering: amazed! "Are you ready, Princess?" the Prince asked. "Yes" she said. And hand in hand, they slowly and started down the long curving staircase.
如今整个宫殿都苏醒了过来，所有人都想知道发生了什么，这一切难以置信！“你准备好了吗，公主？”王子问道。“好了。"公主说。然后他们手牵手从长长的弯弯的楼梯上慢慢走下来。