安徒生童话(英文版)有声读物系列之——海的女儿（二）

鉴于之前被错误的举报侵犯版权(不知道是不是恶意)，特此声明：本系列英文版原文来自公有领域，属于公版书籍，因此不可能侵犯任何人版权，要举报的请看清楚。

        原著者：Hans Christian Andersen，1836年

        英文翻译者：Mrs. H. B. Paull，1872年译

        书籍信息：

        本音频的英文原文使用了Mrs. H.B. Paull于1872年发表的翻译版本。此版本现在在国际上属于公版书籍，任何人都无需任何许可免费使用。我们比较了若干翻译版本觉得Mrs. H.B. Paull使用的语言朴实却不失趣味，并且文字中没有滥用复杂和华丽的词藻，使得这个版本更符合安徒生童话的风格：以孩童的视角和口吻来叙述故事；也让这个翻译版本非常适合学习英语的人群，包括少年儿童和学习英语的成人。需要英文全文的朋友可以私信我。

《海的女儿》

The Little Mermaid

Part 2

第一集前情提要：

在幽蓝的海洋深处，有另一个神奇的世界，和我们陆地上的世界很像却又不一样。在这海洋深处的王国里，有一位老国王，他有很多可爱的孩儿孙们，其中年龄最小的孙女就是我们的主人公，一位美丽可爱的美人鱼公主。她和人类的公主一样纯真，善良，美丽，只不过她的下半身不是两条腿而是鱼尾。这位美丽的人鱼公主和她的姐姐们在海底无忧无虑的生活，长大。她们最向往和好奇的就是大海之外的人类的世界。等她们满15岁，她们就有机会浮出海面，去看看人类的世界，那小美人鱼们会有怎样的奇遇呢？请继续收听《海的女儿》第二集。

The Little Mermaid

by

Hans Christian Andersen

(1836)

Translation by Mrs. H.B. Paull (1872)

Narration by Alex Wood

Part 2

    As soon as the eldest was fifteen, she was allowed to rise to the surface of the ocean. When she came back, she had hundreds of things to talk about; but the most beautiful, she said, was to lie in the moonlight, on a sandbank, in the quiet sea, near the coast, and to gaze ([geiz] v. 凝视，注视) on a large town nearby, where the lights were twinkling (twinkle [‘twiŋkl] v. 闪烁) like hundreds of stars; to listen to the sounds of the music, the noise of carriages ([‘kæridʒ] n. 四轮马车), and the voices of human beings, and then to hear the merry bells peal out from the church steeples; and because she could not go near to all those wonderful things, she longed for them more than ever. Oh, did not the youngest sister listen eagerly ([‘iːɡərli] adv. 急切地；渴望地) to all these descriptions ([di’skripʃn] n. 描述)? and afterwards, when she stood at the open window looking up through the dark blue water, she thought of the great city, with all its bustle ([‘bʌsl] n. 喧闹) and noise, and even fancied (fancy [‘fænsi] v. 想象) she could hear the sound of the church bells, down in the depths of the sea.

    In another year the second sister received permission to rise to the surface of the water, and to swim about where she pleased. She rose just as the sun was setting, and this, she said, was the most beautiful sight of all. The whole sky looked like gold, while violet and rose-colored clouds, which she could not describe, floated over her; and, still more rapidly than the clouds, flew a large flock of wild swans towards the setting sun, looking like a long white veil ([veil] n. 面纱) across the sea. She also swam towards the sun; but it sunk into the waves, and the rosy tints faded from the clouds and from the sea.

    The third sister’s turn followed; she was the boldest (bold [bəʊld] adj. 大胆的) of them all, and she swam up a broad river that emptied itself into the sea. On the banks she saw green hills covered with beautiful vines; palaces and castles peeped out from amid the proud trees of the forest; she heard the birds singing, and the rays of the sun were so powerful that she was obliged often to dive down under the water to cool her burning face. In a narrow creek she found a whole troop of little human children, quite naked, and sporting about in the water; she wanted to play with them, but they fled in a great fright ([frait] n. 惊吓); and then a little black animal came to the water; it was a dog, but she did not know that, for she had never before seen one. This animal barked ([ba:k] v. 狗叫) at her so terribly that she became frightened, and rushed back to the open sea. But she said she should never forget the beautiful forest, the green hills, and the pretty little children who could swim in the water, although they had not fish’s tails.

    The fourth sister was more timid ([‘timid] adj. 胆小的); she remained in the midst of the sea, but she said it was quite as beautiful there as nearer the land. She could see for so many miles around her, and the sky above looked like a bell of glass. She had seen the ships, but at such a great distance that they looked like sea-gulls ([‘si:gʌl] n. 海鸥). The dolphins ([‘dɔlfin] n. 海豚) sported in the waves, and the great whales ([weil] n. 鲸) spouted ([spaʊt] v. （鲸鱼，海豚）从呼吸孔中喷出水柱) water from their nostrils ([‘nɔstrəl] n. （鲸鱼，海豚）的呼吸孔) till it seemed as if a hundred fountains ([‘faʊntn] n. 喷泉) were playing in every direction.

The fifth sister’s birthday occurred in the winter; so when her turn came, she saw what the others had not seen the first time they went up. The sea looked quite green, and large icebergs ([‘aɪsbəːrɡ] n. 冰山) were floating about, each like a pearl, she said, but larger and loftier than the churches built by men. They were of the most singular ([‘siŋɡjələr] adj. 非凡的，异常的) shapes, and glittered like diamonds ([‘daimənd] n. 钻石). She had seated herself upon one of the largest, and let the wind play with her long hair, and she remarked that all the ships sailed by rapidly, and steered ([stɪr] v. 驾驶，行驶) as far away as they could from the iceberg, as if they were afraid of it. Towards evening, as the sun went down, dark clouds covered the sky, the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed, and the red light glowed on the icebergs as they rocked ([rɔk] v. 摇动，摇晃) and tossed ([tɔs] v. 抛，投) on the heaving (起伏的) sea. On all the ships the sails were reefed with fear and trembling ([‘trembliŋ] n. 发抖，战栗), while she sat calmly on the floating iceberg, watching the blue lightning, as it darted its forked ([fɔːkt] adj. 分岔的) flashes into the sea.

    When the sisters first had permission to rise to the surface, they were each delighted with the new and beautiful sights they saw; but now, as grown-up girls, they could go when they pleased, and they had become indifferent ([in’difrənt] adj. 冷淡的，不关心的) about it. They wished themselves back again in the water, and after a month had passed they said it was much more beautiful down below, and pleasanter to be at home. Yet often, in the evening hours, the five sisters would twine ([twain] v. 缠，绕) their arms round each other, and rise to the surface, in a row. They had more beautiful voices than any human being could have; and before the approach of a storm, and when they expected a ship would be lost, they swam before the vessel ([vesl] n. 船，舰), and sang sweetly of the delights to be found in the depths of the sea, and begging the sailors not to fear if they sank to the bottom. But the sailors could not understand the song, they took it for the howling ([ˈhaʊliŋ] n. 啸鸣) of the storm. And these things were never to be beautiful for them; for if the ship sank, the men were drowned, and their dead bodies alone reached the palace of the Sea King.

When the sisters rose, arm-in-arm, through the water in this way, their youngest sister would stand quite alone, looking after them, ready to cry, only that the mermaids have no tears, and therefore they suffer more. “Oh, were I but fifteen years old,” said she: “I know that I shall love the world up there, and all the people who live in it.”

End of part 2

Oh how the five mermaid sisters loved the world above the sea, and the youngest sister is getting more and more anxious to see the world herself. Tune in next time to hear about when her turn finally comes.