第5章 Why the Sea is Salt 为什么海水是咸的
(A FAIRY TALE)
Mary Howitt was born in 1804, at Coleford, England. She wrote many charming stories for children in prose and verse, and also translated many from Swedish, Danish, and German authors. This story is arranged from one in a collection named"Peter Drake's Dream, and Other Stories." She died in 1888.
There were, in very ancient times, two brothers, one of whom was rich, and the other poor. Christmas was approaching, but the poor man had nothing in the house for a Christmas dinner; so he went to his brother and asked him for a trifling gift.
The rich man was ill-natured, and when he heard his brother's request he looked very surly. But as Christmas is a time when even the worst people give gifts, he took a fine ham down from the chimney, where it was hanging to smoke, threw it at his brother, and bade him begone and never to let him see his face again.
The poor man thanked his brother for the ham, put it under his arm, and went his way. He had to pass through a great forest on his way home. When he had reached the thickest part of it, he saw an old man, with a long, white beard, hewing timber. "Good evening, "said he to him.
"Good evening," returned the old man, raising himself up from his work, and looking at him. "That is a fine ham you are carrying." On this, the poor man told him all about it.
"It is lucky for you," said the old man, "that you have met with me. If you will take that ham into the land of the dwarfs, the entrance to which lies just under the roots of this tree, you can make a capital bargain with it; for the dwarfs are very fond of ham, and rarely get any. But mind what I say: you must not sell it for money, but demand for it 'the old hand mill which stands behind the door.' When you come back, I'll show you how to use it."
The poor man thanked his new friend, who showed him the door under a stone below the roots of the tree, and by this door he entered into the land of the dwarfs. No sooner had he set his foot in it, than the dwarfs swarmed about him, attracted by the smell of the ham.They offered him queer, old-fashioned money and gold and silver ore for it; but he refused all their tempting offers, and said that he would sell it only for the old hand mill behind the door.
At this, the dwarfs held up their little old hands, and looked quite perplexed. "We can not make a bargain, it seems," said the poor man, "so I'll bid you all a good day."
The fragrance of the ham had by this time reached the remote parts of dwarf land. The dwarfs came flocking around in little troops, leaving their work of digging out precious ores, eager for the ham.
"Let him have the old mill," said some of the newcomers; "it is quite out of order, and he don't know how to use it. Let him have it, and we will have the ham."
So the bargain was made. The poor man took the old hand mill, which was a little thing not half so large as the ham, and went back to the woods. Here the old man showed him how to use it. All this had taken up a great deal of time, and it was midnight before he reached home.
"Where in the world have you been?" said his wife. "Here I have been waiting and waiting, and we have no wood to make a fire, nor anything to put into the porridge pot for our Christmas supper."
The house was dark and cold; but the poor man bade his wife wait and see what would happen. He placed the little hand mill on the table, and began to turn the crank. First, out there came some grand, lighted wax candles, and a fire on the hearth, and a porridge pot boiling over it, because in his mind he said they should come first. Then he ground out a tablecloth, and dishes, and spoons, and knives and forks.
He was himself astonished at his good luck, as you may believe; and his wife was almost beside herself with joy and astonishment. Well, they had a capital supper; and after it was eaten, they ground out of the mill every possible thing to make their house and themselves warm and comfortable. So they had a merry Christmas eve and morning.
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（一则童话故事）
玛丽·休伊特，1804年生于英格兰的科尔福德，给孩子们写过许多散文和诗歌，作品被翻译成瑞典语、丹麦语、德语。这则故事选自她的《彼得·德雷克的梦想及其他小故事》。她于1888年去世。
在很久以前，有这么一对兄弟，其中一个很富有，另一个很贫穷。圣诞节就要到了，但是那个穷兄弟家里一无所有，连一顿圣餐都没法准备。于是他去富兄弟那里，索要一个微不足道的礼物。
这个富兄弟品行不好，当他听到他的兄弟有这般要求的时候，便用极不友好的眼神看了看他兄弟。但是，在过圣诞节的时候，即使是最贫穷、最糟糕的人也会收到礼物。于是，他从烟囱底下找到一块火腿，把它丢给了他的兄弟，并让穷兄弟赶紧走，还说不想再看见他。
穷兄弟谢过富兄弟，把火腿夹在胳膊底下回家了。在回家的路上，要穿过一片大森林。当他走到森林最茂密的地方时，他看到一个留着长长的白胡子的老人在砍树。于是他向那个老人说：“晚上好。”
老人回答道：“晚上好。”然后站起身来，打量起这个年轻人。老人说：“你带的火腿看上去不错。”那个穷人把事情的原委统统说了出来。
“你真幸运，”老人说道，“因为你遇到了我，如果你把这火腿带到矮人国去，矮人国的入口就在这棵大树的树根底下，你就会大赚一笔。小矮人非常喜欢火腿，但是他们很少有机会得到火腿。不过要记住，你千万不要拿火腿卖钱，而是要去换他们门后面的旧手磨。当你回来的时候，我会告诉你怎么用它。”
这个穷人谢过他的新朋友，白胡子老人带他到了树根下面石头底下的大门口，他从这个门进入到了小矮人的世界。他还没来得及挪步，就被小矮人团团围住，他们都是被火腿的香味吸引过来的。矮人们拿来一些稀奇古怪的东西和一些古老的金币、铜币要跟他换火腿，但是他拒绝了他们的请求，只同意拿门后的旧手磨来换。
小矮人们拿起了旧手磨，很是不解地看着他说：“看来我们之间的买卖做不成了。”那个穷人说：“那我祝你们有美好的一天吧！”
这时，火腿的香味传到了矮人国的最远处。小矮人们成群结队地蜂拥而至，连挖珍贵矿石的活都不干了，他们都渴望得到火腿。
“让他拿走旧手磨吧！”一些新来的小矮人说，“而且他也不会用那旧手磨。让他拿走吧，这样我们就有火腿了。”
于是，他们成交了。那个穷人拿走了旧手磨。旧手磨还没有火腿的一半大。他很快回到森林里，老人开始告诉他如何使用旧手磨。他花了很长时间才弄明白怎么用，当他准备动身回家时，已经是午夜了。
“你去哪儿了？”妻子问，“我一直在等你，我们没有生火的木头，也无法做圣餐。”屋子里又黑又冷，不过穷人让妻子等着，他去看看还能做些什么。他把旧手磨放在桌子上，然后开始扳动曲柄。起初，从磨里面蹦出了一些华丽的、闪亮的蜡烛，之后壁炉里的火也生起来了，粥锅也沸腾了。因为在他看来，这些东西都是他们最需要的。然后他又磨出了一块桌布和一些碟子、勺子、刀以及叉子。
他为有如此的好运而感到震惊，他的妻子也满心欢喜，他们有了一顿丰盛的圣餐。吃过饭之后，他们又磨出了所有能够让他们家变得温暖和舒适的东西。他们就这样过了一个美好的圣诞节。