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安徒生童話故事第162篇：紙牌The Court Cards
引導語：紙牌是一種娛樂的工具，那么關于安徒生的童話故事《紙牌》，大家閱讀學習過?下面是小編收集的原文，歡迎大家閱讀!
人們能夠用紙剪出和剪貼出多少可愛的東西來啊!小小的威廉就這樣貼出了一個官殿。它的體積很大，占滿了整個桌面。它涂上了顏色，好像它就是用紅磚砌的，而且還有發亮的銅屋頂呢。它有塔，也有吊橋;河里的水，朝下面一望，就好像是鏡子——它的確是鏡子做的。在最高的那個塔上還有一個木雕的守塔人。他有一個可以吹的號筒，但是他卻不去吹。
這個小孩子親自拉起或放下吊橋，把錫兵放在吊橋上列隊走過，打開宮殿的大門，朝那個寬大的宴會廳里窺望。廳里掛著許多鑲在鏡框里的畫像。這都是從紙牌里剪出來的：紅心、方塊、梅花和黑桃等。國王們頭上戴著王冠，手中拿著王節;王后們戴著面紗，一直垂到肩上。她們的手里還拿著花。杰克拿著戟和搖擺著的羽毛。
有一天晚上，這個小家伙朝敞開的宮殿大門偷偷地向大廳里窺望。它的墻上掛著的許多花紙牌。它們真像大殿上掛著的古老畫像。他覺得國王似乎在用王節向他致敬，黑桃王后在搖著她手里的郁金香，紅心王后在舉起她的扇子。四位王后都客氣地表示注意到了他。為了要看得仔細一點，他就把頭更向前伸，結果撞著了宮殿，把它弄得搖動起來。這時紅心、方塊。梅花和黑桃的四位杰克就舉起戟，警告他不要再向前頂，因為他的頭太大了。
小家伙點點頭，接著又點了一次。然后他說：“請講幾句話吧!”但是花紙牌一句話也不說。不過當他對紅心杰克第三次點頭的時候，后者就從紙牌——它像一個屏風似的掛在墻上——里跳出來。他站在中央，帽子上的那根羽毛搖動著.手里拿著一根鐵皮包著的長矛。
“你叫什么名字?”他問這個小家伙。“你有明亮的眼睛和整齊的牙齒，但是你的手卻洗得不勤!”
這句話當然是說得不客氣的。
“我叫威廉，”小家伙說。“這個宮殿就是屬于我的，所以你就是我的紅心杰克!”
“我是我的國王和王后的杰克，不是你的!”紅心杰克說。“我可以從牌里走出來，從框架里走出來;比起我來，我高貴的主人更可以走出來。我們可以一直走到廣大的世界上去，不過我們已經出去厭了。坐在紙牌里，保持我們的本來面目，要比那樣舒服和愉快得多。”
“難道你們曾經是真正的人嗎?”小家伙問。
“當然是的!”紅心杰克說，“不過不夠好就是了。請你替我點一根蠟燭吧——最好是一根紅的，因為這就是我的、也是我的主人的顏色。這樣，我就可以把我們的故事告訴給宮殿的所有人——因為你說過，你就是這個宮殿的所有人。不過請你不要打斷我。如果我講故事，那就得一口氣講完!”
于是他就講了：
“這里有四個國王，他們都是兄弟;不過紅心國王的年紀最大，因為他一生下來就有一個金王冠和金蘋果，他立刻就統治起國家來。他的王后生下來就有一把金扇子——你可以看得出來，她現在仍然有。他們的生活過得非常愉快，他們不須上學校，他們可以整天地玩耍。他們造起宮殿，又把它拆下來;他們做錫兵，又和玩偶玩耍。如果他們要吃黃油面包，面包的兩面總是涂滿了黃油的，而且還撒了些紅糖。那要算是一個最好的時候，不過日子過得太好人們也就會生厭了。他們就是這樣——于是方塊就登基了!”
“結果是怎樣呢?”小家伙問，不過紅心杰克再也不開口了。他筆直地站著，望著那根燃著的紅蠟燭。
結果就是如此。小家伙只好向方塊杰克點頭。他點了三次以后，方塊杰克就從紙牌里跳出來，筆直地站著，說了這兩個字：“蠟燭。”!
小家伙馬上點起一根紅蠟燭，放在他的面前。方塊杰克舉起他的戟致敬，同時把故事接著講下去。我們現在把他的話一字不漏地引下來：
“接著方塊國王就登基了!”他說，“這位國王的胸口上有一塊玻璃，王后的胸口上也有一塊玻璃，人們可以望見他們的內心，而他們的內臟和普通人也沒有什么兩樣。他們是兩個可愛的人，因此大家為他們建立了一個紀念碑。這個紀念碑豎了足足七年沒有倒，雖然它是為了要永垂不朽而建立的。”
方塊杰克敬了禮，于是就呆呆地望著那根紅蠟燭。小小的威廉還來不及點頭，梅花杰克就一本正經地走下來了，正好像一只鸛鳥在草地上走路的那副樣兒。紙牌上的那朵梅花也飛下來了，像一只鳥兒似的向外飛走，而且它的翅膀越變越大。它在他頭上飛過去，然后又飛回到墻邊的那個白紙牌上來，鉆到它原來的位置上去。梅花杰克和前面的那兩位杰克不同，沒有要求點一根蠟燭就講話了：
“不是每一個人都能吃到兩面涂滿了黃油的面包的。我的國王和王后就沒有吃到過。他們是最應該吃的，不過他們得先到學校里去學習國王不曾學過的東西。他們的胸口也有一塊玻璃，不過人們看它的時候只是想知道它里面的機件出毛病沒有。我了解情況，因為我一直就在為他們做事——我現在還在為他們做事，服從他們的命令。我聽他們的話，我現在敬禮!”于是他就敬禮了。
威廉也為他點起一根蠟燭——一根雪白的蠟燭。
黑桃杰克忽然站出來了。他并沒有敬禮，他的腿有點破。
“你們每個人都有了一根蠟燭，”他說，“我知道我也應該有一根!不過假如我們杰克都有一根，我們的主人就應該有三根了。我是最后一個到來，我們已經是很沒有面子了，人們在圣誕節還替我起了一個綽號：故意把我叫做‘哭喪的貝爾①’，誰也不愿意我在紙牌里出現。是的，我還有一個更糟糕的名字——說出來真不好意思：人們把我叫做‘爛泥巴’。我這個人起初還是黑桃國王的騎士呢，但現在我可是最末的一個人了。我不愿意敘述我主人的歷史。你是這位宮殿的所有人，如果你想知道的話，請你自己去想象吧。不過我們是在下降，不是在上升，除非有一天我們騎著棗紅馬向上爬，爬得比云還高。”
于是小小的威廉在每一個國王和每一個王后面前點了三根蠟燭，騎士的大殿里真是大放光明，比在最華貴的宮廷里還要亮。這些高貴的國王和王后們客客氣氣地彼此致敬，紅心王后搖著她的金扇子，黑桃王后捻著她那朵金郁金香——它亮得像燃著的火，像燎著的焰花。這高貴的一群跳到大殿中來，舞著，一忽兒像火光;一忽兒像焰花。整個宮殿像一片焰火，威廉驚恐地跳到一邊，大聲地喊：“爸爸!媽媽!宮殿燒起來了!”宮殿在射出火花，在燒起來了：“現在我們騎著棗紅馬爬得很高，比云還要高，爬到最高的光輝燦爛中去。這正是合乎國王和王后的身份。杰克們跟上來吧!”
是的，威廉的宮殿和他的花紙牌就這樣完事了。威廉現在還活著，也常常洗手。
他的宮殿燒掉了，這不能怪他。
①因為它的顏色是黑的;原文是Sorte Peer，直譯即“黑色的貝爾”。
紙牌英文版：
The Court Cards
HOW many beautiful things may be cut out of and pasted on paper! Thus a castle was cut out and pasted, so large that it filled a whole table, and it was painted as if it were built of red stones. It had a shining copper roof, it had towers and a draw-bridge, water in the canals just like plate glass, for it was plate-glass, and in the highest tower stood a wooden watchman. He had a trumpet, but he did not blow it.
The whole belonged to a little boy, whose name was William. He raised the draw-bridge himself and let it down again, made his tin soldiers march over it, opened the castle gate and looked into the large and elegant drawing-room, where all the court cards of a pack—Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades—hung in frames on the walls, like pictures in real drawing rooms. The kings held each a scepter, and wore crowns; the queens wore veils flowing down over their shoulders, and in their hands they held a flower or a fan; the knaves had halberds and nodding plumes.
One evening the little boy peeped through the open castle gate, to catch a glimpse of the court cards in the drawing room, and it seemed to him that the kings saluted him with their scepters, that the Queen of Spades swung the golden tulip which she held in her hand, that the Queen of Hearts lifted her fan, and that all four queens graciously recognized him. He drew a little nearer, in order to see better, and that made him hit his head against the castle so that it shook. Then all the four knaves of Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades, raised their halberds, to warn him that he must not try to get in that way.
The little boy understood the hint, and gave a friendly nod; he nodded again, and then said: “Say something!” but the knaves did not say a word. However, the third time be nodded, the Knave of Hearts sprang out of the card, and placed himself in the middle of the floor.
“What is your name?” the knave asked the little boy. “You have clear eyes and good teeth, but your hands are dirty: you do not wash them often enough!”
Now this was rather coarse language, but, of course, not much politeness can be expected from a knave. He is only a common fellow.
“My name is William,” said the little boy, “and the castle is mine, and you are my Knave of Hearts!”
“No, I am not. I am my king’s and my queen’s knave, not yours!” said the Knave of Hearts. “I am not obliged to stay here. I can get down off the card, and out of the frame too, and so can my gracious king and queen, even more easily than I. We can go out into the wide world, but that is such a wearisome march; we have grown tired of it; it is more convenient, more easy, more agreeable, to be sitting in the cards, and just to be ourselves!”
“Have all of you really been human beings once?” asked little William.
“Human beings!” repeated the Knave of Hearts. “Yes, we have; but not so good as we ought to have been! Please now light a little wax candle (I like a red one best, for that is the color of my king and queen); then I will tell the lord of the castle—I think you said you were the lord of the castle, did you not?—our whole history; but for goodness’ sake, don’t interrupt me, for if I speak, it must be done without any interruption whatever. I am in a great hurry! Do you see my king, I mean the King of Hearts ? He is the oldest of the four kings there, for he was born first,—born with a golden crown and a golden apple. He began to rule at once. His queen was born with a golden fan; that she still has. They both were very agreeably situated, even from infancy. They did not have to go to school, they could play the whole day, build castles, and knock them down, marshal tin soldiers for battle, and play with dolls. When they asked for buttered bread, then there was butter on both sides of the bread, and powdered brown sugar, too, nicely spread over it. It was the good old time, and was called the Golden Age; but they grew tired of it, and so did I. Then the King of Diamonds took the reins of government!”
The knave said nothing more. Little William waited to hear something further, but not a syllable was uttered; so presently he asked,—“Well, and then ?”
The Knave of Hearts did not answer; he stood up straight, silent, bold, and stiff, his eyes fixed upon the burning wax candle. Little William nodded; he nodded again, but no reply. Then he turned to the Knave of Diamonds; and when he had nodded to him three times, up he sprang out of the card, in the middle of the floor, and uttered only one single word,—
“Wax candle!”
Little William understood what he meant, and immediately lighted a red candle, and placed it before him. Then the Knave of Diamonds presented arms, for that is a token of respect, and said:—“Then the King of Diamonds succeeded to the throne! He was a king with a pane of glass on his breast; also the queen had a pane of glass on her breast, so that people could look right into her. For the rest, they were formed like other human beings, and were so agreeable and so handsome, that a monument was erected in honor of them, which stood for seven years without falling. Properly speaking, it should have stood forever, for so it was intended; but from some unknown reasons, it fell.” Then the Knave of Diamonds presented arms, Out of respect for his king, and he looked fixedly on his red wax candle.
But now at once, without any nod or invitation from little William, the Knave of Clubs stepped out, grave and proud, like the stork that struts with such a dignified air over the green meadow. The black clover-leaf in the corner of the card flew like a bird beyond the knave, and then flew back again, and stuck itself where it had been sticking before.
And without waiting for his wax candle, the Knave of Clubs spoke:—
“Not all get butter on both sides of the bread, and brown powdered sugar on that. My king and queen did not get it. They had to go to school, and learn what they had not learnt before. They also had a pane of glass on their breasts, but nobody looked through it, except to see if there was not some. thing wrong with their works inside, in order to find, if possible, some reason for giving them a scolding! I know it; I have served my king and queen all my life-time; I know everything about them, and obey their commands. They bid me say nothing more to-night. 1 keep silent, therefore, and present arms!”
But little William was a kind-hearted boy, so he lighted a candle for this knave also, a shining white one, white like snow. No sooner was the candle lighted, than the Knave of Spades appeared in the middle of the drawing-room. He came hurriedly; yet he limped, as if he had a sore leg. Indeed, it had once been broken, and he had had, moreover, many ups and down in his life. He spoke as follows:—
“My brother knaves have each got a candle, and I shall also get one; I know that. But if we poor knaves have so much honor, our kings and queens must have thrice as much. Now, it is proper that my King of Spades and my Queen of Spades should have four candles to gladden them. An additional honor ought to be conferred upon them. Their history and trials are so doleful, that they have very good reason to wear mourning, and to have a grave-digger’s spade on their coat of arms. My own fate, poor knave that I am, is deplorable enough. In one game at cards, I have got the nickname of ‘Black Peter!’1 But alas! I have got a still uglier name, which, indeed, it is hardly the thing to mention aloud,” and then he whispered,—“In another game, I have been nicknamed ‘Dirty Mads!’2 I, who was once the King of Spades’ Lord Chamberlain! Is not this a bitter fate? The history of my royal master and queen I will not relate; they don’t wish me to do so! Little lord of the castle, as he calls himself, may guess it himself if he chooses, but it is very lamentable,—O, no doubt about that! Their circumstances have become very much reduced, and are not likely to change for the better, until we are all riding on the red horse higher than the skies, where there are no haps and mishaps!”
Little William now lighted, as the Knave of Spades had said was proper, three candles for each of the kings, and three for each of the queens; but for the King and Queen of Spades he lighted four candles apiece, and the whole drawing-room became as light and transparent as the palace of the richest emperor, and the illustrious kings and queens bowed to each other serenely and graciously. The Queen of Hearts made her golden fan bow; and the Queen of Spades swung her golden tulip in such a way, that a stream of fire issued from it. The royal couples alighted from the cards and frames, and moved in a slow and graceful minuet up and down the floor. They were dancing in the very midst of flames, and the knaves were dancing too.
But alas! the whole drawing-room was soon in a blaze; the devouring element roared up through the roof, and all was one crackling and hissing sheet of fire; and in a moment little William’s castle itself was enveloped in flames and smoke. The boy became frightened, and ran off, crying to his father and mother,—“Fire, fire, fire! my castle is on fire!“ He grew pale as ashes, and his little hands trembled like the aspen-leaf The fire continued sparkling and blazing, but in the midst of this destructive scene, the following words were uttered in a singing tone:—
“Now we are riding on the red horse, higher than the skies! This is the way for kings and queens to go, and this is the way for their knaves to go after them!“
Yes I that was the end of William’s castle, and of the court cards. William did not perish in the flames; he is still alive, and he washed his small bands, and said: “I am innocent of the destruction of the castle.“ And, indeed, it was not his fault that the castle was burnt down.
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