手机版

格林童话: 莴苣姑娘(英)

阅读 :

Rapunzel

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

  Once upon a time there was a man and a woman who had long, but to no avail, wished for a child. Finally the woman came to believe that the good Lord would fulfill her wish. Through the small rear window of these people's house they could see into a splendid garden that was filled with the most beautiful flowers and herbs. The garden was surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared enter, because it belonged to a sorceress who possessed great power and was feared by everyone.

  One day the woman was standing at this window, and she saw a bed planted with the most beautiful rapunzel. It looked so fresh and green that she longed for some. It was her greatest desire to eat some of the rapunzel. This desire increased with every day, and not knowing how to get any, she became miserably ill.

  Her husband was frightened, and asked her, "What ails you, dear wife?"

  "Oh," she answered, " if I do not get some rapunzel from the garden behind our house, I shall die."

  The man, who loved her dearly, thought, "Before you let your wife die, you must get her some of the rapunzel, whatever the cost."

  So just as it was getting dark he climbed over the high wall into the sorceress's garden, hastily dug up a handful of rapunzel, and took it to his wife. She immediately made a salad from it, which she devoured eagerly. It tasted so very good to her that by the next day her desire for more had grown threefold. If she were to have any peace, the man would have to climb into the garden once again. Thus he set forth once again just as it was getting dark. But no sooner than he had climbed over the wall than, to his horror, he saw the sorceress standing there before him.

  "How can you dare," she asked with an angry look, "to climb into my garden and like a thief to steal my rapunzel? You will pay for this."

  "Oh," he answered, "Let mercy overrule justice. I cam to do this out of necessity. My wife saw your rapunzel from our window, and such a longing came over her, that she would die, if she did not get some to eat."

  The sorceress's anger abated somewhat, and she said, "If things are as you say, I will allow you to take as much rapunzel as you want. But under one condition: You must give me the child that your wife will bring to the world. It will do well, and I will take care of it like a mother."

  In his fear the man agreed to everything.

  When the woman gave birth, the sorceress appeared, named the little girl Rapunzel, and took her away. Rapunzel became the most beautiful child under the sun. When she was twelve years old, the fairy locked her in a tower that stood in a forest and that had neither a door nor a stairway, but only a tiny little window at the very top.

  When the sorceress wanted to enter, she stood below and called out: Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair to me. Rapunzel had splendid long hair, as fine as spun gold. When she heard the sorceress's voice, she untied her braids, wound them around a window hook, let her hair fall twenty yards to the ground, and the sorceress climbed up it.

  A few years later it happened that a king's son was riding through the forest. As he approached the tower he heard a song so beautiful that he stopped to listen. It was Rapunzel, who was passing the time by singing with her sweet voice. The prince wanted to climb up to her, and looked for a door in the tower, but none was to be found.

  He rode home, but the song had so touched his heart that he returned to the forest every day and listened to it. One time, as he was thus standing behind a tree, he saw the sorceress approach, and heard her say: Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair. Then Rapunzel let down her strands of hair, and the sorceress climbed up them to her.

  "If that is the ladder into the tower, then sometime I will try my luck."

  And the next day, just as it was beginning to get dark, he went to the tower and called out: Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair. The hair fell down, and the prince climbed up.

  At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a man such as she had never seen before came in to her. However, the prince began talking to her in a very friendly manner, telling her that his heart had been so touched by her singing that he could have no peace until he had seen her in person. Then Rapunzel lost her fear, and when he asked her if she would take him as her husband, she thought, "He would rather have me than would old Frau Gothel." She said yes and placed her hand into his. She said, "I would go with you gladly, but I do not know how to get down. Every time that you come, bring a strand of silk, from which I will weave a ladder. When it is finished I will climb down, and you can take me away on your horse. They arranged that he would come to her every evening, for the old woman came by day.

  The sorceress did not notice what was happening until one day Rapunzel said to her, "Frau Gothel, tell me why it is that you are more difficult to pull up than is the young prince, who will be arriving any moment now?"

  "You godless child," cried the sorceress. "What am I hearing from you? I thought I had removed you from the whole world, but you have deceived me nonetheless."

  In her anger she grabbed Rapunzel's beautiful hair, wrapped it a few times around her left hand, grasped a pair of scissors with her right hand, and snip snap, cut it off. And she was so unmerciful that she took Rapunzel into a wilderness where she suffered greatly.

  On the evening of the same day that she sent Rapunzel away, the fairy tied the cut-off hair to the hook at the top of the tower, and when the prince called out: Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair. she let down the hair.

  The prince climbed up, but above, instead of his beloved Rapunzel, he found the sorceress, who peered at him with poisonous and evil looks.

  "Aha!" she cried scornfully. "You have come for your Mistress Darling, but that beautiful bird is no longer sitting in her nest, nor is she singing any more. The cat got her, and will scratch your eyes out as well. You have lost Rapunzel. You will never see her again."

  The prince was overcome with grief, and in his despair he threw himself from the tower. He escaped with his life, but the thorns into which he fell poked out his eyes. Blind, he wandered about in the forest, eating nothing but grass and roots, and doing nothing but weeping and wailing over the loss of his beloved wife. Thus he wandered about miserably for some years, finally happening into the wilderness where Rapunzel lived miserably with the twins that she had given birth to.

  He heard a voice and thought it was familiar. He advanced toward it, and as he approached, Rapunzel recognized him, and crying, through her arms around his neck. Two of her tears fell into his eyes, and they became clear once again, and he could see as well as before. He led her into his kingdom, where he was received with joy, and for a long time they lived happily and satisfied.

更多 英语小故事英文故事英语故事英语童话故事、少儿英语故事儿童英语故事

请继续关注 英语作文大全

少儿 英语 故事
本文标题:格林童话: 莴苣姑娘(英) - 英语故事_英文故事_英语小故事
本文地址:http://www.dioenglish.com/writing/story/50962.html

相关文章

  • The Elves and the Shoemaker

      There was once a shoemaker, who, through no fault of his own, became so poor that at last he had nothing left but just enough leather to make one pair of shoes. He cut out the shoes at night,...

    2018-12-09 英语故事
  • 古德明英语军事小故事:二 次 大 战 伦 敦 一 幕(中英对照)

    古德明《征服英语》之英语军事故事,古德明,香港英语教育作家,他开了一个《征服英语专栏》,在专栏中专门用英语写了世界近代史上的军事小故事,用英...

    2018-11-07 英语故事
  • 格林童话(63)

    Grimms' Fairy Tales SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED There was once a poor widow who lived in a lonely cottage. In front of the cottage was a garden wherein stood two rose-trees, one of which bore...

    2018-12-12 英语故事
  • The Boy and the Nettle

    A boy playing in the fields got stung by a nettle.He ran home to his mother,telling her that he had but touched that nasty weed,and it had stung him.“It is just your touching it,my boy,”said his m...

    2018-12-11 英语故事
  • 伊索寓言

    《伊索寓言》简介伊索寓言《伊索寓言》(Aesop's Fables)原书名为《埃索波斯故事集成》,是古希腊民间流传的讽喻故事,经后人加工,成为现在流传的《伊索寓言》。相传其中故事是一名埃塞俄比亚黑人奴隶所作,"伊索"即是"埃塞俄...

    2019-01-21 英语故事
  • The Dream Palace

      Raja Krishnadevrai, once dreamt of a queer palace made of Varicolored stones and hanging in the air. The palace could be lighted at will. This palace appeared to him full of luxury item and opu...

    2018-12-12 英语故事
  • 海的女儿10

    On the same evening the bride and bridegroom went on board ship; cannons were roaring, flags waving, and in the centre of the ship a costly tent of purple and gold had been erected. It contained eleg...

    2019-01-21 英语故事
  • 安徒生童话:God Can Never Die 老上帝还没有灭亡

      it was a sunday morning. the sun shone brightly and warmly into the room, as the air, mild and refreshing, flowed through the ope...

    2018-10-29 英语故事
  • The Wolf who grew good

      Long, long ago there lived a wolf who was always hungry. When he was looking for food, he came out of the woods and prowled round the streets of a nearby city, and very often he stole something f...

    2018-12-12 英语故事
  • Courage Conquers All

      Life is only froth and bubble  Two things stand like stone  Kindness in another's trouble  Courage in your own.  “Have you heard the latest news? A new boy is to join our class!” Tikko...

    2018-12-12 英语故事
你可能感兴趣