格林童话选 英文版 Grimms' Fairy Tales
格林兄弟 Brüder Grimm
LILY AND THE LION
A merchant, who had three daughters, was once setting out upon ajourney; but before he went he asked each daughter what gift he shouldbring back for her. The eldest wished for pearls; the second forjewels; but the third, who was called Lily, said, 'Dear father, bringme a rose.' Now it was no easy task to find a rose, for it was themiddle of winter; yet as she was his prettiest daughter, and was veryfond of flowers, her father said he would try what he could do. So hekissed all three, and bid them goodbye.
And when the time came for him to go home, he had bought pearls andjewels for the two eldest, but he had sought everywhere in vain forthe rose; and when he went into any garden and asked for such a thing,the people laughed at him, and asked him whether he thought roses grewin snow. This grieved him very much, for Lily was his dearest child;and as he was journeying home, thinking what he should bring her, hecame to a fine castle; and around the castle was a garden, in one halfof which it seemed to be summer-time and in the other half winter. Onone side the finest flowers were in full bloom, and on the othereverything looked dreary and buried in the snow. 'A lucky hit!' saidhe, as he called to his servant, and told him to go to a beautiful bedof roses that was there, and bring him away one of the finest flowers.
This done, they were riding away well pleased, when up sprang a fiercelion, and roared out, 'Whoever has stolen my roses shall be eaten upalive!' Then the man said, 'I knew not that the garden belonged toyou; can nothing save my life?' 'No!' said the lion, 'nothing, unlessyou undertake to give me whatever meets you on your return home; ifyou agree to this, I will give you your life, and the rose too foryour daughter.' But the man was unwilling to do so and said, 'It maybe my youngest daughter, who loves me most, and always runs to meet mewhen I go home.' Then the servant was greatly frightened, and said,'It may perhaps be only a cat or a dog.' And at last the man yieldedwith a heavy heart, and took the rose; and said he would give the lionwhatever should meet him first on his return.
And as he came near home, it was Lily, his youngest and dearestdaughter, that met him; she came running, and kissed him, and welcomedhim home; and when she saw that he had brought her the rose, she wasstill more glad. But her father began to be very sorrowful, and toweep, saying, 'Alas, my dearest child! I have bought this flower at ahigh price, for I have said I would give you to a wild lion; and whenhe has you, he will tear you in pieces, and eat you.' Then he told herall that had happened, and said she should not go, let what wouldhappen.
But she comforted him, and said, 'Dear father, the word you have givenmust be kept; I will go to the lion, and soothe him: perhaps he willlet me come safe home again.'
The next morning she asked the way she was to go, and took leave ofher father, and went forth with a bold heart into the wood. But thelion was an enchanted prince. By day he and all his court were lions,but in the evening they took their right forms again. And when Lilycame to the castle, he welcomed her so courteously that she agreed tomarry him. The wedding-feast was held, and they lived happily togethera long time. The prince was only to be seen as soon as evening came,and then he held his court; but every morning he left his bride, andwent away by himself, she knew not whither, till the night came again.
After some time he said to her, 'Tomorrow there will be a great feastin your father's house, for your eldest sister is to be married; andif you wish to go and visit her my lions shall lead you thither.' Thenshe rejoiced much at the thoughts of seeing her father once more, andset out with the lions; and everyone was overjoyed to see her, forthey had thought her dead long since. But she told them how happy shewas, and stayed till the feast was over, and then went back to thewood.
Her second sister was soon after married, and when Lily was asked togo to the wedding, she said to the prince, 'I will not go alone thistime--you must go with me.' But he would not, and said that it wouldbe a very hazardous thing; for if the least ray of the torch-lightshould fall upon him his enchantment would become still worse, for heshould be changed into a dove, and be forced to wander about the worldfor seven long years. However, she gave him no rest, and said shewould take care no light should fall upon him. So at last they set outtogether, and took with them their little child; and she chose a largehall with thick walls for him to sit in while the wedding-torches werelighted; but, unluckily, no one saw that there was a crack in thedoor. Then the wedding was held with great pomp, but as the train camefrom the church, and passed with the torches before the hall, a verysmall ray of light fell upon the prince. In a moment he disappeared,and when his wife came in and looked for him, she found only a whitedove; and it said to her, 'Seven years must I fly up and down over theface of the earth, but every now and then I will let fall a whitefeather, that will show you the way I am going; follow it, and at lastyou may overtake and set me free.'
This said, he flew out at the door, and poor Lily followed; and everynow and then a white feather fell, and showed her the way she was tojourney. Thus she went roving on through the wide world, and lookedneither to the right hand nor to the left, nor took any rest, forseven years. Then she began to be glad, and thought to herself thatthe time was fast coming when all her troubles should end; yet reposewas still far off, for one day as she was travelling on she missed thewhite feather, and when she lifted up her eyes she could nowhere seethe dove. 'Now,' thought she to herself, 'no aid of man can be of useto me.' So she went to the sun and said, 'Thou shinest everywhere, onthe hill's top and the valley's depth--hast thou anywhere seen mywhite dove?' 'No,' said the sun, 'I have not seen it; but I will givethee a casket--open it when thy hour of need comes.'
So she thanked the sun, and went on her way till eventide; and whenthe moon arose, she cried unto it, and said, 'Thou shinest through thenight, over field and grove--hast thou nowhere seen my white dove?''No,' said the moon, 'I cannot help thee but I will give thee an egg--break it when need comes.'
Then she thanked the moon, and went on till the night-wind blew; andshe raised up her voice to it, and said, 'Thou blowest through everytree and under every leaf--hast thou not seen my white dove?' 'No,'said the night-wind, 'but I will ask three other winds; perhaps theyhave seen it.' Then the east wind and the west wind came, and saidthey too had not seen it, but the south wind said, 'I have seen thewhite dove--he has fled to the Red Sea, and is changed once more intoa lion, for the seven years are passed away, and there he is fightingwith a dragon; and the dragon is an enchanted princess, who seeks toseparate him from you.' Then the night-wind said, 'I will give theecounsel. Go to the Red Sea; on the right shore stand many rods--countthem, and when thou comest to the eleventh, break it off, and smitethe dragon with it; and so the lion will have the victory, and both ofthem will appear to you in their own forms. Then look round and thouwilt see a griffin, winged like bird, sitting by the Red Sea; jump onto his back with thy beloved one as quickly as possible, and he willcarry you over the waters to your home. I will also give thee thisnut,' continued the night-wind. 'When you are half-way over, throw itdown, and out of the waters will immediately spring up a high nut-treeon which the griffin will be able to rest, otherwise he would not havethe strength to bear you the whole way; if, therefore, thou dostforget to throw down the nut, he will let you both fall into the sea.'
So our poor wanderer went forth, and found all as the night-wind hadsaid; and she plucked the eleventh rod, and smote the dragon, and thelion forthwith became a prince, and the dragon a princess again. Butno sooner was the princess released from the spell, than she seizedthe prince by the arm and sprang on to the griffin's back, and wentoff carrying the prince away with her.
Thus the unhappy traveller was again forsaken and forlorn; but shetook heart and said, 'As far as the wind blows, and so long as thecock crows, I will journey on, till I find him once again.' She wenton for a long, long way, till at length she came to the castle whitherthe princess had carried the prince; and there was a feast got ready,and she heard that the wedding was about to be held. 'Heaven aid menow!' said she; and she took the casket that the sun had given her,and found that within it lay a dress as dazzling as the sun itself. Soshe put it on, and went into the palace, and all the people gazed uponher; and the dress pleased the bride so much that she asked whether itwas to be sold. 'Not for gold and silver.' said she, 'but for fleshand blood.' The princess asked what she meant, and she said, 'Let mespeak with the bridegroom this night in his chamber, and I will givethee the dress.' At last the princess agreed, but she told herchamberlain to give the prince a sleeping draught, that he might nothear or see her. When evening came, and the prince had fallen asleep,she was led into his chamber, and she sat herself down at his feet,and said: 'I have followed thee seven years. I have been to the sun,the moon, and the night-wind, to seek thee, and at last I have helpedthee to overcome the dragon. Wilt thou then forget me quite?' But theprince all the time slept so soundly, that her voice only passed overhim, and seemed like the whistling of the wind among the fir-trees.
Then poor Lily was led away, and forced to give up the golden dress;and when she saw that there was no help for her, she went out into ameadow, and sat herself down and wept. But as she sat she bethoughtherself of the egg that the moon had given her; and when she broke it,there ran out a hen and twelve chickens of pure gold, that playedabout, and then nestled under the old one's wings, so as to form themost beautiful sight in the world. And she rose up and drove thembefore her, till the bride saw them from her window, and was sopleased that she came forth and asked her if she would sell the brood.'Not for gold or silver, but for flesh and blood: let me again thisevening speak with the bridegroom in his chamber, and I will give theethe whole brood.'
Then the princess thought to betray her as before, and agreed to whatshe asked: but when the prince went to his chamber he asked thechamberlain why the wind had whistled so in the night. And thechamberlain told him all--how he had given him a sleeping draught, andhow a poor maiden had come and spoken to him in his chamber, and wasto come again that night. Then the prince took care to throw away thesleeping draught; and when Lily came and began again to tell him whatwoes had befallen her, and how faithful and true to him she had been,he knew his beloved wife's voice, and sprang up, and said, 'You haveawakened me as from a dream, for the strange princess had thrown aspell around me, so that I had altogether forgotten you; but Heavenhath sent you to me in a lucky hour.'
And they stole away out of the palace by night unawares, and seatedthemselves on the griffin, who flew back with them over the Red Sea.When they were half-way across Lily let the nut fall into the water,and immediately a large nut-tree arose from the sea, whereon thegriffin rested for a while, and then carried them safely home. Therethey found their child, now grown up to be comely and fair; and afterall their troubles they lived happily together to the end of theirdays.