登陆注册
28302000000012

第12章 THE THREE WISHES

Time-Once upon a time. Characters-A wood-cutter, a fairy, the wood-cutter"s wife.

Scene I.

Place-The middle of a forest. [The wood-culter is at work. He puts down his axe for a moment.]

Wood-cutter (sighing).-"How very poor, hungry, and unhappy I am. I work hard all day, and yet I can"t get enough to eat."[He picks up some wood, and turns to place it on the stack. Alittle white fairy enters and stands daintily on the log he is cutting.] Fairy.-"Good morning, wood-cutter."[The wood-cutter turns quickly and looks around; he does notsee the fairy at first because she is so small.] Fairy.-"Good morning, wood-cutter." [The wood-cutter looks down and sees her.] Wood-cutter.-" Good morning, ma"am."Fairy.-"I have heard all you say. I know how poor you are, and I am sorry for you. Now, I"ll give you three wishes. Wish what you please, and you shall have it."[The fairy flies away in the winking of an eye.]

Wood-cutter.-"She"s gone before I said, "Thank you." What luck she brings me! Now there"ll be no need to cut any more wood. I shall go home and tell my wife about the three wishes the fairy has given me."[He runs off, whistling a merry tune.]

Scene II.

Place-Inside the wood-cutter"s hut. [The wood- cutter"sWife is scrubbing the floor.]

Wife.- " Dear, oh dear, how tired I am, and how hard I have to work! There"s no fun in being the wife of a poor man." [The wood-cutter runs in. His wife stands up and looks at hisfeet.]

Wife.-"Stand off that patch and wipe your feet. What are you doing home at this time of day, you lazy, good-for- nothing fellow?"Wood-cutter.-"Wife, wife, don"t be angry with me. We soonshall be no longer poor. You won"t have to scrub any more floors."Wife.-"Why, what do you mean?"

Wood-cutter.-"As I was cutting wood just now, a fairy came and told me she would give me three wishes."Wife.-"Oh, how glad I am! Let us sit down, and thinkwhat we shall wish for."

Wood-cutter.-" We"d better take our dinner at the sametime. I am very hungry. We can talk about the wishes while we eat."[The wife places a jug of milk, some cups, and piece of drybread on the table. They sit down and begin their meal.]

Wood-cutter.- " We can wish for a great deal of money."Wife.-" We can ask for a grand house."

Wood-cutter.-" We can ask to be king and queen."Wife.-" Or to have some rich gems."

Wood-cutter.-" Well, what shall we ask for first? " [He takes some more bread and begins to eat it.]

Wood-cutter.-" This dry bread isn"t much of a meal. I wish I had a nice sausage to eat with it."[A large sausage falls upon the table. They stare at it inwonder.]

Wife.- "Look at what you"ve done, you stupid fellow. One of your wishes is gone, and you have got only a sausage for it."Wood-cutter.-"Yes, I have been foolish, but we have twowishes yet. We can still ask for a great deal of money, and to be made king and queen."Wife.-"Yes, but we cannot ask for rich gems. Why wereyou so foolish as to ask for nothing but a sausage? I"d never have done that! Would you rather have a sausage than pearls and diamonds?"Wood-cutter.-"I didn"t know that I was making a wish. Thewords slipped out before I could think."

Wife.-"Yes, that"s just like you. You never did know what you were talking about. You are nothing but an ass."Wood-cutter (angrily).-"You are always nagging, andalways turning up your nose at me. I wish the sausage were hanging from the end of it."[The sausage at once jumps from the table to the end of thewife"s nose.]

Wife.-"Now, look what you"ve done. Pull it Off,""

Wood-cutter.-"I really am an ass, after all." [He pulls at the sausage.]

Wife.-"Oh, you"re hurting me. Can"t you get it off?"Wood-cutter.-" It won"t come off. It"s grown to the end of your nose."Wife (crying).-"How very, very foolish I have been! Twowishes have gone, and we are worse off than we were at first. There is only one left."Wood-cutter.-" That is true, but we can still wish to be kingand queen."

Wife.-" Yes, but what would a queen look like with a sausage at the end of her nose? I had rather be the wife of a poor wood-cutter than be a queen like that. It"s all your fault."Wood-cutter.-" Well, I am sorry. I wish the sausage wasnot there."

[The sausage vanishes.]

Wife.-" Oh dear, that"s the last wish gone, and we"re nobetter off."

Wood-cutter.-"And now we haven"t even the sausage. I suppose I had better go back and cut some more wood. I shall have to be a wood-cutter all my life."Wife.-"And I shall have to scrub floors."

Dramatized from a story by the Brothers GrimmAuthors.-The Brothers Grimm.

General Notes.-What kind of man was the woodcutter? Why was the fairy kind to him? What kind of woman was the woodcutter"s wife? How did the fairy punish her?

同类推荐
  • 世界名牌大全(英汉双语版)

    世界名牌大全(英汉双语版)

    本书《世界名牌圣经》是中英文的对照白金版本,不仅给读者展现原汁原味的世界名牌,而且领略名牌风采的同时大幅度提高了英语水平和人生品质。本书根据中国人的喜好精心挑选了8大品类:尖端品牌、世界名表、品牌服装、化妆品、珠宝首饰、皮具、名酒、豪车系列。这8部分全是作者精挑细选出的世界名牌,每一个部分分为“品牌名片”、“品牌标志”、“品牌阅读”并附核心词汇。“品牌名片”一目了然列明名牌的品类、标志风格、创始人、诞生地、诞生时间;“品牌标志”展示名牌的商标;“品牌阅读”详细叙述名牌传奇、名牌经典之作等等。
  • 老人与海(有声双语经典)

    老人与海(有声双语经典)

    《老人与海》塑造了人类文学史上一个平民英雄的形象。古巴老渔夫圣地亚哥出海八十四天都一无所获,但他却并未绝望,最终钓上了一条大鱼。他和大鱼在海上搏斗了三天,才将鱼杀死,并将其绑在小船的一侧。归程中大鱼一再遭到鲨鱼的袭击,回港时就只剩下了脊骨和尾巴。
  • FoodinChina

    FoodinChina

    Chinaiscuisinehasevolvedintooneofthegreatcuisinesoftheworld.Formorethan5,000years,foodhasplayedanauspiciousroleinnearlyallaspectsofChinesesociety,fromhealthandmedicinetobusinessandcelebration,anditisnolessimportanttoday.
  • 双语学习丛书-校园趣话

    双语学习丛书-校园趣话

    流淌心灵的隽语,记忆的箴言,在双语的世界里,感受英语学习的乐趣,体会英语学习的奥妙,提高英语学习的能力!丛书包括:爱的交融、财富精英、成长课堂、醇香母爱、父爱如山、故乡情怀、节日趣闻、快乐心语、浪漫往昔等故事。
  • 用自己最爱的方式过一生

    用自己最爱的方式过一生

    本书精选了众多励志小故事,让我们在这些美文中开始一段心灵的旅行,去发现最好的自己,屏弃内心的杂念,给灵魂喘息的机会。人生变幻,目前的困境只是暂时的,偶尔一两次的失败并不代表什么,挺起胸膛,还有更长的路要走。打破禁锢,开放自我,充分相信自己的未来充满阳光,不断超越自己,发现最好的自己,踏上更高、更广阔的舞台。
热门推荐
  • 侦探Q与杀手R

    侦探Q与杀手R

    左前在经历了痛失未婚妻、离开警队、自我放逐之后,本想当一介抓猫找狗查小三的私家侦探,悠闲度日。怎奈逃不过侦探体质,命案纷纷贴上身,杀妻仇人找上门。而他的伙伴只有骗子一名、杀手一位。看落魄的私家侦探如何让凶犯领教什么叫作罪无可逭。
  • 纯情丫头火辣辣

    纯情丫头火辣辣

    天黑黑,看不见,她华丽丽地将帝少戏耍了一遍!收拾包袱,逃之夭夭!两年后,冤家齐聚头,她费劲心计跳槽的公司,竟是这该死男人的地盘!他微微一笑很倾城:“小东西,借我的东西该还了!”糟糕!为自己挖的坑,有点大了……
  • 妖孽太无良

    妖孽太无良

    九界一洲,强者辈出。历练白岭的寸土之上,宠家大小姐不幸挂了。乱斗之中,少女惊艳重生,激情热血,还带坑蒙拐骗。“你是天才你别怂!”五山宗大变,新生代弟子几乎全覆。九塔夺宝战,上演一幕幕生死时速。“命运别当我的路!”直到能力觉醒的那一天——来自小片段:周尊界,第五十世家周。周主像孔雀般高傲仰头,颇有股指点江山的味道:“九界之中,灵者上亿异者数万,你凭何说你与他人不同?”少女长指微点,淡淡的白光随手而动,骤然间,三千苍茫雪倾覆!她一挑唇角,凌厉的回看他,就凭“万相生一变,我域无敌!”
  • 木叶之DNF入侵

    木叶之DNF入侵

    “鬼剑士技能,DNF的怪物入侵木叶,这到底是不是木叶了?”叶小天望着空中的九座悬浮大陆,呢喃道。“吃了他的肉,能长生不死,喝了她的血,能够青春永驻。”坏人们和怪物们指着叶小天和雏田说道。
  • 天行

    天行

    号称“北辰骑神”的天才玩家以自创的“牧马冲锋流”战术击败了国服第一弓手北冥雪,被誉为天纵战榜第一骑士的他,却受到小人排挤,最终离开了效力已久的银狐俱乐部。是沉沦,还是再次崛起?恰逢其时,月恒集团第四款游戏“天行”正式上线,虚拟世界再起风云!
  • 千年记之降世的日月星辰

    千年记之降世的日月星辰

    玄风大陆旧历、天瞑王朝历一千七百二十六年,距今一千〇四十五年,九幽之浊与时空之阴杰拉菲特大陆自东西两个方向同时越洋入侵玄风大陆,掀起长达两百余年的神遗之战,玄风大陆旧历一千九百三十九年,神遗之战以玄风大陆战败,天瞑部落消失,及其天暝王朝崩塌与玄风大陆原住百族北迁荒漠为最终结果落下帷幕……一千多年后,玄风大陆“九日月之舞,七十二星辰降世”大势骤起,天下沈家遗脉觉醒者只身入天下五大秘境之一的轩砀山,掀起大荒百族寻回祖地的第三次全大陆战争。
  • 绝无生机

    绝无生机

    讲述一个发生在3千以后的故事,地球生态系统完全崩溃,人类被迫回到地下,开始穴居人的生活,一波一波的遭难袭来,哈恩带领人类决出逢生,讲述一个强者的心路历程。
  • 素怀诗草

    素怀诗草

    我与高升同志相识已经多年。最初,他给我的感觉是气质儒雅、为人谦和,后因工作关系接触多了,感到他勤于思考干事练达。近日有幸读到他的诗作,让我对他又有了新的认识,感到他才思敏锐、心存高远,大气荡然。这部《素怀诗草》小诗集,是他发自心底对学习、工作、生活的深刻思考和感知感悟。内容涉及较广,既有从政从经的体会、对当代人情世故的诠释,也有对世事国事家事的观察和理解。特别是对改革开放以来家乡变化的讴歌和赞叹,表达了对祖国、对事业、对家乡及对朋友的深厚情感。
  • 飘渺神雕

    飘渺神雕

    一颗神秘的玉石,一个尽职的特工;阴差阳错的穿越,神雕,又见神雕!杨过,小龙女,程英,陆无双,公孙绿萼,他们又会有什么不一样的境遇呢?
  • 新月夜游神

    新月夜游神

    游光恶鬼,行拂自由,游行白月之下,隐匿白昼之时。求收藏求推荐求点击收藏就送屠龙刀,点击就送复活戒,推荐就送蚩尤甲原价就要998你的时间很值钱,我在这本书里面等着你