同路人(三)

Travelling Companion

John had just come out of the wood， when a strong man's voice called out behind him， \"Halloo， comrade? Whither are you journeying?\"

\"Into the wide world!\" he replied. \"I have neither father nor mother， and am but a poor lad; but Providence will help me.\"

\"I am going out into the wide world， too，\" said the strange man: \"shall we two keep one another company?\"

\"Yes， certainly，\" said John; and so they went on together. Soon they became very fond of each other， for they were both good souls. But John saw that the stranger was much more clever than himself. He had travelled through almost the whole world， and could tell of almost everything that existed.

The sun already stood high when they seated themselves under a great tree to eat their breakfast; and just then an old woman came up. Oh， she was very old， and walked quite bent， leaning upon a crutch; upon her back she carried a bundle of firewood which she had collected in the forest. Her apron was tucked up， and John saw that three great stalks of fern and some willow twigs stuck out of it. When she was close to them， her foot slipped; she fell and gave a loud scream， for she had broken her leg， the poor old woman!

John directly proposed that they should carry the old woman home to her dwelling; but the stranger opened his knapsack， took out a little jar， and said that he had a salve there which would immediately make her leg whole and strong， so that she could walk home herself， as if she had never broken her leg at all. But for that he required that she should give him the three rods which she carried in her apron.

\"That would be paying well!\" said the old woman， and she nodded her head in a strange way. She did not like to give away the rods， but then it was not agreeable to lie there with a broken leg. So she gave him the wands; and as soon as he had only rubbed the ointment on her leg， the old mother arose， and walked much better than before--such was the power of this ointment. But then it was not to be bought at the chemist's.

\"What do you want with the rods?\" John askedhistravelling companion.

\"Theyarethree capital fern brooms，\" replied he. \"I like those very much， for I am a whimsical fellow.\"

And they went on a good way.

\"See how the sky is becoming overcast，\" said John， pointing straight before them. \"Those are terribly thick clouds.\"

\"No，\" replied his travelling companion， \"those are not clouds， they are mountains--the great glorious mountains， on which one gets quite up over the clouds， and into the free air. Believe me， it is delicious! Tomorrow we shall certainly be far out into the world.\"

But that was not so near as it looked; they had to walk for a whole day before they came to the mountains， where the black woods grew straight up towards heaven， and there were stones almost as big as a whole town. It might certainly be hard work to get quite across them， and for that reason John and his comrade went into the inn to rest themselves well， and gather strength for the morrow's journey.

Down in the great common room in the inn many guests were assembled， for a man was there exhibiting a puppet-show. He had just put up his little theatre， and the people were sitting round to see the play. Quite in front a fat old butcher had taken his seat in the very best place; his great bulldog， who looked very much inclined to bite， sat at his side， and made big eyes， as all the rest were doing.

Now the play began; and it was a very nice play， with a king and a queen in it; they sat upon a velvet throne， and had gold crowns on their heads and long trains to their cloaks， for their means admitted of that. The prettiest of wooden dolls with glass eyes and great moustaches stood at all the doors， and opened and shut them so that fresh air might come into the room. It was a very pleasant play， and not at all mournful. But--goodness knows what the big bulldog can have been thinking of! --Just as the queen stood up and was walking across the boards， as the fat butcher did not hold him， he made a spring upon the stage， and seized the queen round her slender waist so that it cracked. It was quite terrible!

The poor man who managed the play was very much frightened and quite sorrowful about his queen， for she was the daintiest little doll he possessed， and now the ugly bulldog had bitten off her head. But afterwards， when the people went away， the stranger said that he would put her to rights again; and then he brought out his little jar and rubbed the doll with the ointment with which he had cured the old woman when she broke her leg. As soon as the doll had been rubbed， she was whole again; yes， she could even move all her limbs by herself; it was no longer necessary to pull her by her string. The doll was like a living person， only that she could not speak. The man who had the little puppet-show was very glad， now he had not to hold this doll any more. She could dance by herself， and none of the others could do that.(to be continued)

約翰剛從樹林中走出來，就聽見一個洪亮的聲音在他身后喊道:“喂，兄弟，你到哪兒去呀?”

“到廣闊的世界里去!”他答道，“我父母雙亡，是個孤苦伶仃的人。但老天會幫我的。”

“我也想到廣闊的世界去，”那個陌生人說，“我們兩個做伴好嗎?”

“好的，當然可以。”約翰說。于是他們就一起走。不久他們就喜歡上了對方，因為他們都有一付好心腸。不過約翰發現，這個陌生人要比自己聰明得多。他差不多周游了全世界，幾乎對世上的一切事情都了如指掌。

他們坐在一棵大樹下吃早飯的時候，太陽已經升得老高了。這時，一個老太婆走了過來。噢，她可真夠老的，走路的時候腰躬得很厲害，拄著一根拐杖上。她背上背著一捆柴禾，那是她在森林里撿的。她的圍裙朝上兜著，約翰發現有三根蕨草稈和一些柳樹枝刺穿了出來。她走近他們的時候，腳下一打滑，倒在地上，大叫一聲，因為她的腿摔斷了。這個可憐的老太婆!

約翰馬上提議，他們應該把老太婆送回她的住地。但陌生人打開了包裹，取出一個小瓶子，說里面是一種藥膏，馬上就能把她的腿治好，并且會強健起來。這樣，她就可以自己回家了，好像腿根本就沒有摔斷過一樣。但是作為報答，老太婆應該把她圍裙里裝的那三根蕨草稈給他。

“這對你可是個不錯的買賣!”老太婆邊說邊奇怪地點點頭。她不愿意把三根枝條給他，但她一條腿斷了，躺在地上，那滋味也不是好受的。于是她就把枝條給了他。他把藥膏朝老太婆腿上一抹，她就站立起來了，比原來走路還要利索得多。這正是那個藥膏的效用。不過這種藥膏在藥店里可是買不到的。

“你要這蕨草稈兒有什么用?”約翰問他的同路人。

“這可是三根很好的蕨草掃帚呀!”他答道，“我特別喜歡這些東西，因為我是古怪的人。”

他們繼續朝前，走了很遠一段路。

“瞧，天陰得多厲害呀，”約翰指著正前方，說，“烏云是多么重啊。”

“不對，”他的旅伴答道，“那可不是什么烏云，那是大山——最雄偉的山脈。你上了山，就是站在了云端之上，進到清新的空氣里了。相信我的話，那兒真是美不勝收!明天我們肯定就要鉆進大山深處。”

但那山看著近，走起來卻很遠。他們走了一整天，才到山腳下。高高的黑森林直插云霄，巨石差不多有城市那么大，要想爬過去可不是件容易的事兒。于是約翰和他的同伴走進一家旅店，想好好歇一歇，養足力氣，明天去爬山。

在旅館的大廳里，聚集了好多客人，原來有個人在演木偶戲。他剛擺好自己的小舞臺，人們都圍著準備看戲。在最前面的是個胖屠夫，他坐到了最好的位置。他的那條大叭喇狗，看起來好像隨時會咬人似的，就坐在他旁邊，像其他的觀眾一樣，瞪圓了大眼睛。

戲開始演了。那是個精彩的表演，戲里有一個國王和一個王后。他們坐在天鵝絨的王位上，頭戴金王冠，王袍后面拖著長長的裾帶，因為他們很富有。那些漂亮的木偶，玻璃眼，長胡須，站在門邊負責看門和關門，好把新鮮空氣放進來。這個戲很逗樂，一點都不傷感情。但是，天知道那條狗腦子里想的是什么!就在王后站起身，穿過舞臺的時候，那個胖屠夫一時沒勒住狗，它一下子就躍上舞臺，抓住王后的細腰。只聽得咔嚓一聲，真是嚇人一跳!

那個玩木偶戲的可憐藝人嚇壞了，為他的王后傷心不已，因為這是他最好的小木偶，卻被那條可惡的狗給咬掉了頭。但在觀眾都走后，那個陌生的同路人說自己能把王后修好。于是他拿出自己的小藥瓶，在木偶身上涂了一些藥膏，就是給那摔斷腿的老太婆涂的那種藥。木偶剛涂上藥膏，就恢復了原狀。一點不假，她能夠自己動胳膊了，不需要再去拉線。那個木偶除了不能說話，看來就像個活人。演木偶戲的人非常高興，因為不用他自己拉木偶了。她能夠自己跳舞，而別的木偶都不行。

(未完待續)