儿子却向森林深处走去了。他吃着面包,心情十分愉快,在绿色的枝叶中间看,看能不能发现一个鸟窝。他这么走来走去,终于走到一棵很高很苍老的橡树底下。它看样子准有几百年的树龄,主干粗得五个人也合抱不住。小伙子停住脚,望着树想:肯定有些鸟儿在上边筑了窝。突然,他觉得听见一点声音。他摒息静听,果然听见一个很低沉的声音在呼喊:“放我出来!放我出来!”小伙子四处张望,却什么也没发现,倒感觉那声音是从地底下钻出来似的。他于是喊:“你在哪儿呀?”那声音回答:“我在下边的橡树根旁。放我出来!放我出来!”小伙子开始清除树下的杂草,在树根周围找来找去,终于在一处小土坑里发现一只玻璃瓶。他拾起玻璃瓶,对着日光一照,看见一个青蛙模样的小东西,在瓶中跳上跳下。“放我出来!放我出来!”小东西又喊开了。小伙子估计有恶魔,拔掉了瓶上的塞子。那精灵一下子窜出瓶来,立刻开始长大,长大,转瞬之间已变成一个可怕的巨人,个头儿几乎有小伙子跟前那老橡树的一半高。“你知道,你放我出来,会得到什么报酬吗?”大妖怪用非常吓人的声音问。“不,” 小伙子毫不畏惧地回答,“我怎么会知道呢?”“那我就告诉你,”妖怪大声说;“我为此一定要拧断你的脖子!”“这你该早告诉我才是,”小伙子回答,“这样我会仍然让你待在瓶子里边,我可不想让自己的脑袋被你拧下来,你必须去求更多的人。”“什么更多的人不更多的人,现在反正你该得到自己的报酬!”妖怪吼道,“你以为,我被关了这么久,是受谁的恩惠么?不,是惩罚我!我是强有力的墨丘利乌斯,啊,谁放我出来,我就一定得拧断谁的脖子。”“等一等,”小伙子回答,“这么急不行,我先还得弄清楚,你是不是真在这只小瓶子里待过,是不是真正的妖怪。如果是真的,你再钻进去,我才相信你的话,然后你想把我怎么办,就怎么办好啦。”妖怪很骄傲地说:“这还不容易!”说着便把身体缩小,越缩越小,最后和当初逃出玻璃瓶时一个样,又一溜烟儿钻进瓶颈中去了。可他刚到瓶中,小伙子立刻摁上瓶塞儿,把瓶子扔到树根旁的老地方。这样,妖怪就上当了。
And now the schoolboy was about to return to his father, but the spirit cried very piteouslypiteously adv.可怜地, 慈悲地, “Ah, do let me out, ah, do let me out.” “No,” answered the boy, “not a second time. He who has once tried to take my life shall not be set free by me, now that I have caught him again.” “If you will set me free,” said the spirit, “I will give you so much that you will have plenty all the days of your life.” “No,” answered the boy, “you would cheat me as you did the first time.” “You are spurningspurn v.弃绝 you own good luck,” said the spirit, “I will do you no harm but will reward you richlyrichly adv.富裕地, 丰富地, 贵重地, 富饶地.” The boy thought, “I will venture it, perhaps he will keep his word, and anyhow he shall not get the better of me.”
这时候,这个有学问的小伙子想回到父亲身边去,那妖怪却可怜地叫起来:“唉,放我出来啊!放我出来啊!”“不,”小伙子回答,“别想有第二次,谁起过一次害死我的坏心,我关住了他就绝不会再放掉,现在我又一次抓到了你。”“只要你放了我,”妖怪叫道,“我愿意给你许多许多钱,叫你一辈子花不完。”“不,”小伙子回答,“你会像刚才一样骗我。”“这样你就错过了自己的幸福了,”妖怪说,“我不会再碰你的一根毫毛,而要多多地酬谢你呵!”这个有学问的小伙子想:“嗯,可以再冒次险,也许他说话算话哩。而且,他也不能把我怎么样。”
Then he took out the cork, and the spirit rose up from the bottle as he had done before, stretched himself out and became as big as a giantgiant n.巨人, 大力士, 巨大的动物或植物, 伟人, 天才. “Now you shall have your reward,” said he, and handed the boy a little ragrag n.抹布, 碎屑, 石板瓦, 破旧衣服, 少量 just like stikingplaster, and said, “If you spread one end of this over a wound it will healheal v.治愈, 医治, 结束, and if you rub steel or iron with the other end it will be changed into silver.” “I must just try that.” said the boy, and went to a tree, tore off the bark with his axe, and rubbed it with one end of the plaster. It immediately closed together and was healed. “Now, it is all right,” he said to the spirit, “and we can part.” The spirit thanked him for his releaserelease n.释放, 让渡, 豁免, and the boy thanked the spirit for his present, and went back to his father.
于是,他又拔掉瓶塞,那妖怪像第一次一样钻了出来,越长越大,越长越大,最后成了一个巨人。“现在你该得到你的报酬了,”巨人说,递给小伙子一块跟橡皮膏差不多的布条,告诉他,“你用它的一端轻轻拂一拂伤口,伤口便会痊愈,你用另一端拂一拂钢和铁,它便会成为银子。”“这我得先试试看,”小伙子说,说着走到一棵树跟前,用斧头在树皮上划一道口子,然后用布条的一端拂了它一下,树皮立刻长拢了,一点伤痕没留下。“嗯,确实不错,”小伙子对巨人说,“现在咱们可以分手了。”妖怪感谢小伙子救了它,小伙子也对它送的礼物表示感谢,然后回父亲那儿去了。