The Riddle
谜语
There was once a king"s son who was seized(seize v.抓住，逮住，夺取)with a desire to travel about the world，and took no one with him but a faithful servant.One day he came to a great forest，and when darkness overtook him he could find no shelter，and knew not where to pass the night.Then he saw a girl who was going towards a small house，and when he came nearer，he saw that the maiden was young and beautiful.He spoke to her，and said，“Dear child，can I and my servant find shelter for the night in the little house.”“Oh，yes，”said the girl in a sad voice，“that you certainly can，but I do not advise you to venture(venture v.冒险，冒昧，斗胆，胆敢(谦语))it.”“Do not go in.Why not.”asked the king"s son.The maiden sighed and said，“My stepmother practises wicked arts.She is illdisposed toward strangers.”Then he saw very well that he had come to the house of a witch(witch n.巫婆，女巫，迷人的女子)，but as it was dark，and he could not go farther，and also was not afraid，he entered.The old woman was sitting in an armchairarmchair n.扶手椅子by the fire，and looked at the stranger with her red eyes.“Good evening.”growled(growl v.咆哮，发牢骚地说)she，and pretended to be quite friendly.“Take a seat and rest yourselves.”She fanned the fire on which she was cooking something in a small pot.The daughter warned the two to be prudent(prudent adj.谨慎的)，to eat nothing，and drink nothing，for the old woman brewe(dbrew v.酿造，酝酿)evil drinks.They slept quietly until early morning.When they were making ready for their departure，and the king"s son was already seated on his horse，the old woman said，“Stop a moment，I will first hand you a parting draught.”Whilst she fetched it，the king"s son rode away，and the servant who had to buckle(buckle v.扣住，变弯曲)his saddle(saddle n.鞍，鞍状物)tight，was the only one present when the wicked witch came with the drink.“Take that to your master.”said she.But at that instant the glass broke and the poison spirted(spirt vi.(=spurt)冲，溅，喷出)on the horse，and it was so strong that the animal immediately fell down dead.The servant ran after his master and told him what had happened，but as he did not want to leave his saddle behind，he ran back to fetch it.When he came to the dead horse，however，a raven was already sitting on it devouring it.“Who knows whether we shall find anything better today.”said the servant.So he killed the raven(raven n.大乌鸦，掠夺)，and took it with him.And now they journeyed onwards into the forest the whole day，but could not get out of it.By nightfall they found an inn and entered it.The servant gave the raven to the innkeeper(innkeeper n.旅馆主人)to prepare for supper.They had stumbled(stumble v.绊倒，使困惑，蹒跚，结结巴巴地说话，踌躇)，however，on a den of murderers，and during the darkness twelve of these came，intending to kill the strangers and rob them.But before they set about this work，they sat down to supper，and the innkeeper and the witch sat down with them，and together they ate a dish of soup in which was cut up the flesh of the raven.Hardly had they swallowed a couple of mouthfuls，before they all fell down dead，for the raven had communicated to them the poison from the horseflesh.There was no one else left in the house but the innkeeper"s daughter，who was honest，and had taken no part in their godless deeds.She opened all doors to the stranger and showed him the store of treasures.But the king"s son said she might keep everything，he would have none of it，and rode onwards with his servant.
