安徒生童话英文版

2024年3月25日发(作者：强行健)

安徒生童话英文版

安徒生童话英文版

《安徒生童话》共由163篇故事组成，其中的《小人鱼》、《丑小鸭》、《卖火柴的'小女孩》、《拇指姑娘》都是我们爱看的童话。

安徒生童话英文版篇一

THE ELFIN HILL

A FEW large lizards were running nimbly about in the clefts

of an old tree. They could understand one another very well, for

they spoke the lizard language. "What a buzzing and a rumbling

there is in the elfin hill," said one of the lizards.

"I have not been able to clo my eyes for two nights on

account of the noi; I might just as well have had the toothache,

for that always keeps me awake."

"There is something going on within there," said the other

lizard; "they propped up the top of the hill with four red posts,

till cock-crowthis morning, so that it is thoroughly aired, and the

elfin girls have learnt new dances; there is something."

"I spoke about it to an earth-worm of my acquaintance," said

a third lizard; "the earth-worm had just come from the elfin hill,

where he has been groping about in the earth day and night. He

has heard a great deal; although he cannot e, poor mirable

creature, yet he understands very well how to wriggle and lurk

about. They expect friends in the elfin hill, grand company, too;

but who they are the earth-worm would not say, or, perhaps, he

really did not know. All the will-o'-the-wisps are ordered to be

there to hold a torch dance, as it is called. The silver and gold

which is plentiful in the hill will be polished and placed out in the

moonlight."

"Who can the strangers be?" asked the lizards; "what can the

matter be? Hark, what a buzzing and humming there is!"

Just at this moment the elfin hill opened, and an old elfin

maiden, hollow behind, came tripping out; she was the old elf

king's houkeeper, and a distant relative of the family; therefore

she wore an amber heart on the middle of her forehead. Her feet

moved very fast, "trip, trip;" good gracious, how she could trip

right down to the a to the night-raven.

"You are invited to the elf hill for this evening," said she; "but

will you do me a great favor and undertake the invitations? you

oughtto do something, for you have no houkeeping to attend

to as I have. We are going to have some very grand people,

conjurors, who have always something to say; and therefore the

old elf king wishes to make a great display."

"Who is to be invited?" asked the raven.

"All the world may come to the great ball, even human

beings, if they can only talk in their sleep, or do something after

our fashion. But for the feast the company must be carefully

lected; we can only admit persons of high rank; I have had a

dispute mylf with the elf king, as he thought we could not

admit ghosts. The merman and his daughter must be invited first,

although it may not be agreeable to them to remain so long on

dry land, but they shall have a wet stone to sit on, or perhaps

something better; so I think they will not refu this time. We

must have all the old demons of the first class, with tails, and the

hobgoblins and imps; and then I think we ought not to leave out

the death-hor, or the grave-pig, or even the church dwarf,

although they do belong to the clergy, and are not reckoned

among our people; but that is merely their office, they are nearly

related to us, and visit us very frequently."

"Croak," said the night-raven as he flew away with the

invitations.

The elfin maidens we're already dancing on the elf hill, and

they danced in shawls woven from moonshine and mist, which

look very pretty to tho who like such things. The large hall

within the elf hill was splendidly decorated; the floor had been

washed with moonshine, and the walls had been rubbed with

magic ointment, so that they glowed like tulip-leaves in the light.

In the kitchen were frogs roasting on the spit, and dishes

preparing of snail skins, with children's fingers in them, salad of

mushroom ed, hemlock, nos and marrow of mice, beer from

the marsh woman's brewery, and sparkling salt-petre wine from

the grave cellars. The were all substantial food. Rusty nails and

church-window glass formed the desrt. The old elf king had his

gold crown polished up with powdered slate-pencil; it was like

that ud by the first form, and very difficult for an elf king to

obtain. In the bedrooms, curtains were hung up and fastened

with the slime of snails; there was, indeed, a buzzing and

humming everywhere.

"Now we must fumigate the place with burnt hor-hair and

pig's bristles, and then I think I shall have done my part," said the

elf man-rvant.

"Father, dear," said the youngest daughter, "may I now hear

who our high-born visitors are?"

"Well, I suppo I must tell you now," he replied; "two of my

daughters must prepare themlves to be married, for the

marriages certainly will take place. The old goblin from Norway,

who lives in the ancient Dovre mountains, and who posss

many castles built of rock and freestone, besides a gold mine,

which is better than all, so it is thought, is coming with his two

sons, who are both eking a wife. The old goblin is a true-

hearted, honest, old Norwegian graybeard; cheerful and

straightforward. I knew him formerly, when we ud to drink

together to our good fellowship: he came here once to fetch his

wife, she is dead now. She was the daughter of the king of the

chalk-hills at Moen. They say he took his wife from chalk; I shall

be delighted to e him again. It is said that the boys are ill-bred,

forward lads, but perhaps that is not quite correct, and they will

become better as they grow older. Let me e that you know how

to teach them good manners."

"And when are they coming?" asked the daughter.

"That depends upon wind and weather," said the elf king;

"they travel economically. They will come when there is the

chance of a ship. I wanted them to come over to Sweden, but the

old man was not inclined to take my advice. He does not go

forward with the times, and that I do not like."

Two will-o'-the-wisps came jumping in, one quicker than the

other, so of cour, one arrived first. "They are coming! they are

coming!" he cried.

"Give me my crown," said the elf king, "and let me stand in

the moonshine."

The daughters drew on their shawls and bowed down to the

ground. There stood the old goblin from the Dovre mountains,

with his crown of hardened ice and polished fir-cones. Besides

this, he wore a bear-skin, and great, warm boots, while his sons

went with their throats bare and wore no braces, for they were

strong men.

"Is that a hill?" said the youngest of the boys, pointing to the

elf hill, "we should call it a hole in Norway."

"Boys," said the old man, "a hole goes in, and a hill stands

out; have you no eyes in your heads?"

Another thing they wondered at was, that they were able

without trouble to understand the language.

"Take care," said the old man, "or people will think you have

not been well brought up."

Then they entered the elfin hill, where the lect and grand

company were asmbled, and so quickly had they appeared that

they emed to have been blown together. But for each guest the

neatest and pleasantest arrangement had been made. The a

folks sat at table in great water-tubs, and they said it was just like

being at home. All behaved themlves properly excepting the

two young northern goblins; they put their legs on the table and

thought they were all right.

"Feet off the table-cloth!" said the old goblin. They obeyed,

but not immediately. Then they tickled the ladies who waited at

table, with the fir-cones, which they carried in their pockets. They

took off their boots, that they might be more at ea, and gave

them to the ladies to hold. But their father, the old goblin, was

very different; he talked pleasantly about the stately Norwegian

rocks, and told fine tales of the waterfalls which dashed over

them with a clattering noi like thunder or the sound of an organ,

spreading their white foam on every side. He told of the salmon

that leaps in the rushing waters, while the water-god plays on his

golden harp. He spoke of the bright winter nights, when the

sledge bells are ringing, and the boys run with burning torches

across the smooth ice, which is so transparent that they can e

the fishes dart forward beneath their feet. He described

everything so clearly, that tho who listened could e it all; they

could e the saw-mills going, the men-rvants and the

maidens singing songs, and dancing a rattling dance,- when all

at once the old goblin gave the old elfin maiden a kiss, such a

tremendous kiss, and yet they were almost strangers to each

other.

Then the elfin girls had to dance, first in the usual way, and

then with stamping feet, which they performed very well; then

followed the artistic and solo dance. Dear me, how they did throw

their legs about! No one could tell where the dance begun, or

where it ended, nor indeed which were legs and which were arms,

for they were all flying about together, like the shavings in a saw-pit! And then they spun round so quickly that the death-hor

and the grave-pig became sick and giddy, and were obliged to

leave the table.

"Stop!" cried the old goblin," is that the only hou-keeping

they can perform? Can they do anything more than dance and

throw about their legs, and make a whirlwind?"

"You shall soon e what they can do," said the elf king. And

then he called his youngest daughter to him. She was slender and

fair as moonlight, and the most graceful of all the sisters. She

took a white chip in her mouth, and vanished instantly; this was

her accomplishment. But the old goblin said he should not like

his wife to have such an accomplishment, and thought his boys

would have the same objection. Another daughter could make a

figure like herlf follow her, as if she had a shadow, which none

of the goblin folk ever had. The third was of quite a different sort;

she had learnt in the brew-hou of the moor witch how to lard

elfin puddings with glow-worms.

"She will make a good houwife," said the old goblin, and

then saluted her with his eyes instead of drinking her health; for

he did not drink much.

Now came the fourth daughter, with a large harp to play

upon; and when she struck the first chord, every one lifted up the

left leg (for the goblins are left-legged), and at the cond chord

they found they must all do just what she wanted.

"That is a dangerous woman," said the old goblin; and the

two sons walked out of the hill; they had had enough of it. "And

what can the next daughter do?" asked the old goblin.

"I have learnt everything that is Norwegian," said she; "and I

will never marry, unless I can go to Norway."

Then her youngest sister whispered to the old goblin, "That

is only becau she has heard, in a Norwegian song, that when

the world shall decay, the cliffs of Norway will remain standing

like monuments; and she wants to get there, that she may be safe;

for she is so afraid of sinking."

"Ho! ho!" said the old goblin, "is that what she means? Well,

what can the venth and last do?"

"The sixth comes before the venth," said the elf king, for

he could reckon; but the sixth would not come forward.

"I can only tell people the truth," said she. "No one cares for

me, nor troubles himlf about me; and I have enough to do to

w my grave clothes."

So the venth and last came; and what could she do? Why,

she could tell stories, as many as you liked, on any subject.