英文
The Blue Light
There was once on a time a soldier who for many years had served the King faithfully, but when the war came to an end could serve no longer because of the many wounds which he had received. The King said to him,“You may return to your home, I need you no longer, and you will not receive any more money, for he only receives wages who renders me service for them.”Then the soldier did not know how to earn a living, went away greatly troubled, and walked the whole day, until in the evening he entered a forest. When darkness came on, he saw a light, which he went up to, and came to a house wherein lived a witch.“Do give me one night's lodging, and a little to eat and drink,”said he to her,“or I shall starve.”
“Oho!”she answered,“who gives anything to a run-away soldier? Yet will I be compassionate, and take you in, if you will do what I wish.”
“What do you wish?”said the soldier.“That you should dig all round my garden for me, tomorrow.”The soldier consented, and next day labored with all his strength, but could not finish it by the evening.“I see well enough,”said the witch,“that you can do no more to-day, but I will keep you yet another night, in payment for which you must to-morrow chop me a load of wood, and make it small.”The soldier spent the whole day in doing it, and in the evening the witch proposed that he should stay one night more.“To-morrow, you shall only do me a very trifling piece of work. Behind my house, there is an old dry well, into which my light has fallen, it burns blue, and never goes out, and you shall bring it up again for me.”Next day the old woman took him to the well, and let him down in a basket. He found the blue light, and made her a signal to draw him up again. She did draw him up, but when he came near the edge, she stretched down her hand and wanted to take the blue light away from him.“No,”said he, perceiving her evil intention,“I will not give you the light until I am standing with both feet upon the ground.”The witch fell into a passion, let him down again into the well, and went away.
The poor soldier fell without injury on the moist ground, and the blue light went on burning, but of what use was that to him? He saw very well that he could not escape death. He sat for a while very sorrowfully, then suddenly he felt in his pocket and found his tobacco pipe, which was still half full.“This shall be my last pleasure,”thought he, pulled it out, lit it at the blue light and began to smoke. When the smoke had circled about the cavern, suddenly a little black dwarf stood before him, and said,“Lord, what are your commands?”
“What commands have I to give you?”replied the soldier, quite astonished.
“I must do everything you bid me,”said the little man.
“Good,”said the soldier;“then in the first place help me out of this well.”The little man took him by the hand, and led him through an underground passage, but he did not forget to take the blue light with him. On the way the dwarf showed him the treasures which the witch had collected and hidden there, and the soldier took as much gold as he could carry. When he was above, he said to the little man,“Now go and bind the old witch, and carry her before the judge.”In a short time she, with frightful cries, came riding by, as swift as the wind on a wild tom-cat, nor was it long after that before the little man re-appeared.“It is all done,”said he,“and the witch is already hanging on the gallows. What further commands has my lord?”inquired the dwarf.
“At this moment, none,”answered the soldier;“You can return home, only be at hand immediately, if I summon you.”
“Nothing more is needed than that you should light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear before you at once.”Thereupon he vanished from his sight.
The soldier returned to the town from which he had come. He went to the best inn, ordered himself handsome clothes, and then bade the landlord furnish him a room as handsome as possible. When it was ready and the soldier had taken possession of it, he summoned the little black mannikin and said,“I have served the King faithfully, but he has dismissed me, and left me to hunger, and now I want to take my revenge.”
“What am I to do?”asked the little man.
“Late at night, when the King's daughter is in bed, bring her here in her sleep, she shall do servant's work for me.”
The mannikin said,“That is an easy thing for me to do, but a very dangerous thing for you, for if it is discovered, you will fare ill.”
When twelve o'clock had struck, the door sprang open, and the mannikin carried in the princess.“Aha! are you there?”cried the soldier,“get to your work at once! Fetch the broom and sweep the chamber.”When she had done this, he ordered her to come to his chair, and then he stretched out his feet and said,“Pull off my boots for me,”and then he threw them in her face, and made her pick them up again, and clean and brighten them. She, however, did everything he bade her, without opposition, silently and with half-shut eyes. When the first cock crowed, the mannikin carried her back to the royal palace, and laid her in her bed.
Next morning when the princess arose, she went to her father, and told him that she had had a very strange dream.“I was carried through the streets with the rapidity of lightning,”said she,“and taken into a soldier's room, and I had to wait upon him like a servant, sweep his room, clean his boots, and do all kinds of menial work. It was only a dream, and yet I am just as tired as if I really had done everything.”
“The dream may have been true,”said the King,“I will give you a piece of advice. Fill your pocket full of peas, and make a small hole in it, and then if you are carried away again, they will fall out and leave a track in the streets.”But unseen by the King, the mannikin was standing beside him when he said that, and heard all. At night when the sleeping princess was again carried through the streets, some peas certainly did fall out of her pocket, but they made no track, for the crafty mannikin had just before scattered peas in every street there was. And again the princess was compelled to do servant's work until cock-crow.
Next morning the King sent his people out to seek the track, but it was all in vain, for in every street poor children were sitting, picking up peas, and saying,“It must have rained peas, last night.”“We must think of something else,”said the King;“keep your shoes on when you go to bed, and before you come back from the place where you are taken, hide one of them there, I will soon contrive to find it.”The black mannikin heard this plot, and at night when the soldier again ordered him to bring the princess, revealed it to him, and told him that he knew of no expedient to counteract this stratagem, and that if the shoe were found in the soldier's house it would go badly with him.“Do what I bid you,”replied the soldier, and again this third night the princess was obliged to work like a servant, but before she went away, she hid her shoe under the bed.
Next morning the King had the entire town searched for his daughter's shoe. It was found at the soldier's, and the soldier himself, who at the entreaty of the dwarf had gone outside the gate, was soon brought back, and thrown into prison. In his flight he had forgotten the most valuable things he had, the blue light and the gold, and had only one ducat in his pocket. And now loaded with chains, he was standing at the window of his dungeon, when he chanced to see one of his comrades passing by. The soldier tapped at the pane of glass, and when this man came up, said to him,“Be so kind as to fetch me the small bundle I have left lying in the inn, and I will give you a ducat for doing it.”His comrade ran thither and brought him what he wanted. As soon as the soldier was alone again, he lighted his pipe and summoned the black mannikin.“Have no fear,”said the latter to his master.“Go wheresoever they take you, and let them do what they will, only take the blue light with you.”Next day the soldier was tried, and though he had done nothing wicked, the judge condemned him to death. When he was led forth to die, he begged a last favor of the King.“What is it?”asked the King.
“That I may smoke one more pipe on my way.”
“You may smoke three,”answered the King,“but do not imagine that I will spare your life.”Then the soldier pulled out his pipe and lighted it at the blue light, and as soon as a few wreaths of smoke had ascended, the mannikin was there with a small cudgel in his hand, and said,“What does my lord command?”
“Strike down to earth that false judge there, and his constable, and spare not the King who has treated me so ill.”Then the mannikin fell on them like lightning, darting this way and that way, and whosoever was so much as touched by his cudgel fell to earth, and did not venture to stir again. The King was terrified; he threw himself on the soldier's mercy, and merely to be allowed to live at all, gave him his kingdom for his own, and his daughter to wife.
中文
蓝灯
从前有一个士兵，他为国王忠诚效劳了许多年，但当战争结束，这个士兵因为多处受伤，不能再在军中服务，国王就对他说：“你可以回家了，我不需要你了；你再拿不到什么钱了，因为只有能为我服务的人才能得到薪饷。”士兵不知道自己该靠什么维持生活，他满腹忧愁地离开，走了一整天，傍晚走进一座森林。暮色四合时，看见一点灯光，他朝灯光走去，来到一座房屋跟前，里面住着一个巫婆。“请你给我一个睡觉的地方，给我一点吃的喝的，”他对巫婆说，“我饿极了渴极了。”
“啊哈！”她回答说，“谁肯给一个散兵游勇东西啊？不过我要发善心，只要你能照我的要求去做，我就收留你。”
“你要我做什么？”士兵问。“明天你给我的园子翻地。”巫婆说。士兵答应了，第二天竭尽全力地干，天黑了还干不完。“我看，”巫婆说，“你今天是没法再干下去了，我愿意留你再住一夜，但是明天你得给我劈一车柴，劈得很细。”这活士兵干了一整天，晚上，巫婆建议他再住一夜：“明天你只需要替我办一件小事：我家后面有一口干涸的古井，我的灯掉井里去了，这盏灯发蓝光，不熄灭，你给我拿上来就行了。”第三天，老婆子带他到井边，叫他坐在一只大篮子里面下井去。士兵找到了蓝灯，发个信号，让她把他再拉上去。巫婆把他拉上来，快到井沿的时候，她伸手下去，要拿他手里的蓝灯。“不，”他说，看出她不怀好意，“我得双脚踩着地面，才能给你这盏灯。”巫婆一听，怒不可遏，又让他掉进井里，自己走了。
可怜的士兵摔在潮湿的井底，倒没受伤，蓝灯还一直亮着，但这对他有什么用？他明白自己难逃一死了。他很悲伤地坐了一会儿，无意中手伸进口袋，发现烟斗还在，烟锅里还装了半锅烟丝。他想，这是最后一点享受了，便拿出烟斗，就着蓝灯点上烟，抽起来。井里烟雾弥漫，这时，一个黑色小矮人站在他的面前，问道：“主人，你命令我做什么？”
“我能命令你干什么呢？”士兵答道，十分惊奇。
“你要我做什么事，”小矮人说，“我都必须办好。”
“好，”士兵说，“那你就先帮助我离开这口井。”小矮人拉着他的手，领他穿过地下通道，可是他并没忘记带上那盏蓝灯。一路上矮人指给他看巫婆收罗和储藏的财宝，士兵拿了尽可能多的黄金。到了地面上，他对小矮人说：“现在去把老巫婆绑了送上法庭。”不久，老巫婆骑在一只公猫背上，撕心裂胆地嚎叫着一阵风似地疾驰过去，又过不久，小矮人回来了，说：“事情都办完了，巫婆已经绞死了。”矮人又问：“主人，你还有什么命令？”
“现在不要你做什么，”士兵回答说，“你可以回家了，不过我一叫你，你得马上就到。”
“不用叫我，”小矮人说，“你只要在蓝色灯火上点着你的烟斗，我马上就出现在你的眼前。”说罢，他就在士兵眼前消失了。
士兵回到他原来那座城市，住进一家最好的旅馆，定做漂亮的衣服，然后吩咐旅馆老板替他布置一间房间，要尽可能的华丽。房间布置好了，士兵住进去，唤来小矮人，说：“我忠诚地为国王效劳，他却把我打发走，让我挨饿，现在我要报复。”
“要我干什么呢？”小矮人问。
“等到夜深人静，公主在床上睡着了，你把她背到我这里来，我要她给我当使女。”
小矮人说：“对我来说，这事容易，对你可是很危险的，一旦查出来，后果不堪设想。”
钟敲十二下的时候，士兵的门突然开了，小矮人背着公主进来。“啊哈，你来了？”士兵大声说，“快去干活！去拿扫帚打扫房间。”房间打扫完了，他把她叫到他坐的圈椅跟前，冲着她伸出双脚说：“给我脱靴子。”随后他把靴子朝公主脸上掷去，公主还得把靴子拾起来，擦干净，擦得锃亮。无论他叫她做什么，她都默默去做，并不抗拒，眼睛半睁半闭。鸡叫头遍的时候，小矮人又把她背回王宫，放在她的床上。
第二天早晨，公主起床后去见她的父亲，跟他说她做了一个怪梦：“一个人背着我像闪电般快地跑过几条街道，把我带到一个士兵的房间，我得给他当使女，伺候他，扫地、擦皮靴，什么下贱活都得干。这只是一个梦，可是我很累，像真干了那么多活那样累。”
“这梦也许是真的，”国王说，“我给你出个主意：把你的口袋铰一个小窟窿，口袋里装满豌豆，如果有人再把你带走，豌豆洒在路上，就留下线索了。”国王说这话的时候，小矮人正隐身在旁边，这些话他一句不漏都听见了。夜里，睡着的公主又被背着经过街道的时候，虽然豌豆从口袋里漏洒出来，但是不能提供什么线索，因为足智多谋的小矮人已经事先在所有街道上都洒了豌豆。公主又得干使女的活干到鸡叫。
第二天早晨国王派人四处寻找线索，但是无济于事，因为所有街道上穷人的孩子们都在捡豌豆，他们说：“昨夜天上掉下豌豆了。”国王说：“我们必须想个别的办法，你上床睡觉的时候不要脱鞋，再到那里，你把一只鞋藏在屋里；我有办法找到它。”小矮人听到了这个诡计。晚上，士兵又要他把公主弄来，他劝士兵打消这个念头，他说无法破这个诡计，一旦在他房间里找出那只鞋来，他就要遭殃了。“照我说的去做。”士兵回答说。第三天夜晚公主又得像使女一样干活，她被背回去之前，把一只鞋藏在了床下。
翌日早晨，国王在全城搜查他女儿的鞋；鞋在士兵房间里找到了。在此之前，士兵听从小矮人的请求，跑出城外，但他很快就被追上，抓进了监牢。逃跑时他忘了带上他最好的东西：蓝灯和黄金，口袋里只有一枚金币。他被铁链锁着，站在牢房窗边，看见他的一个伙伴走过。他敲窗玻璃，那人走过来，他对他说：“我在旅馆里落下一个小包，劳驾请你给我捎来，我给你一块金币。”那伙伴跑去，带来他所要的东西。士兵独自一人待着的时候，便在蓝灯上点着烟斗，叫黑色小矮人来。“不必惊慌，”小矮人对他的主人说，“他们押你去哪里，你就跟他们去哪里，不管发生什么事情，只要带着蓝灯，就没问题。”第二天对士兵进行审判，他虽然并没有干什么坏事，法官还是判处他死刑。他被押赴刑场的时候，请求国王给予他一个最后的恩典。“什么恩典？”国王问。
“准许我在路上抽一锅斗烟。”
“你可以抽三锅斗烟，”国王回答说，“但别以为我会饶你一命。”士兵于是抽出烟斗，就着蓝灯点燃了烟，几个烟圈升上来后，小矮人已经站在那里，手里拿着一根短棍，说：“主人命令我干什么？”
“把那些混账法官和他们的差役统统给我打倒在地，对那个待我刻薄的国王也别客气。”小矮人闪电一般地来回奔跑跳跃，谁一碰着他的棍子，谁就倒下，一动也不敢再动。国王害怕了，连声求饶，为了保住性命，他把王国交给士兵，并把女儿嫁给了他做妻子。
