七只烏鴉

There was a man who had seven sons， but he had no daughter， greatly though he longed for one. At last his wife told him that they could again expect a child and， sure enough， when it was born it was a baby girl. There was great rejoicing， but the child was weak and puny， so weak that it had to be christened at once. The father told one of the boys to go quickly to the spring and fetch christening water; the other six ran along with him， and because each of them wanted to be the first to dip the jug into the well， it fell in and sank. So there they stood and didn’t know what to do， and none of them dared go home. When they didn’t come back their father got impatient and said: “I’ll wager they’ve been playing some game again and forgotten all about it， the godless brats.” He was afraid the little girl would have to die unbaptized， and in his rage he cried out:“I wish those boys would all turn into ravens.” He’d scarcely spoken the words when he heard a whirring of wings in the air overhead， looked up and saw seven coal-black ravens flying away.

The parents were unable now to take back the curse， and yet， grief-stricken as they were at the loss of their seven sons， they look some comfort from their beloved little daughter， who soon got well and strong and became more beautiful with every day that passed. For a long time the little girl didn’t even know that she had had brothers， for her parents took care not to mention them， but one day by chance she heard some people talking about her. “The girl’s beautiful， of course，” they were saying， “but she’s to blame really for her seven brothers’ misfortune.” This made her very sad， and she went to her father and mother and asked whether it was true then that she had had brothers and what had become of them. So now it was no longer possible for her parents to conceal from her what had happened， though they told her that it had been God’s will and that her birth had only been the innocent occasion for it. But day after day she was conscience-stricken about it， and felt that it was her duty to free her brothers from the spell again. The thought gave her no peace， so in the end she left home secretly and went off into the wide world to try and trace her brothers wherever they might be， and rescue them at whatever cost. She took nothing with her but a ring belonging to her parents to remember them by， a loaf of bread for when she was hungry， a jug of water for when she was thirsty， and a little chair for when she was tired.

She went on and on， further and further， till she reached the end of the world. There she came to the sun， but it was too hot and terrible and it devoured little children. Quickly she ran away and went to the moon， but it was too cold and it was grisly and evil， and when it noticed the child it sail:“I smell human flesh.” So she hurried off as fast as she could and came to the stars， and they were friendly and kind to her， and each of them was sitting on its own little chair. But the morning star got up and gave her a little chicken’s leg and said:“If you don’t have this chicken’s leg， you won’t be able to unlock the glass mountain， and inside the glass mountain is where your brothers are.”

The girl took the leg， wrapped it up well in a piece of cloth， and set off again and went on and on until she came to the glass mountain. The gate was locked， and she tried to take out the chicken’s leg; but when she unwrapped the cloth it was empty， and she had lost the gift of the kindly stars. What was she to do now? she wanted to rescue her brothers， but she had no key to the glass mountain. The good little sister took a knife， chopped off one of her little fingers， stuck it in the lock and successfully opened the gate. When she got inside， a little dwarf came to meet her， saying:“My child， what are you looking for?” “I’m looking for my brothers， the seven ravens，” she answered. The dwarf said: “My masters the ravens are not at home， but if you would like to wait here till they get back， then come in.” Then the dwarf brought in the ravens’supper on seven little plates and in seven little cups， and the little sister ate a morsel from each plate and drank a sip from each cup; but into the last cup she dropped the ring she had brought with her.

Suddenly she heard a whirring and fluttering noise in the air， and the dwarf said:“Here come my lords the ravens flying home.” And they came， asked for food and drink and looked for their plates and cups. Then one after another of them said: “Who’s been eating from my plate? Who’s been drinking out of my cup? This must have been a human mouth.” And when the seventh of them had got to the bottom of his cup， the ring rolled out towards him. Then he looked at it and recognized it as a ring belonging to his father and mother， and said: “My God grant that our little sister is here; if she were， we should be freed from the spell.” The girl was standing listening behind the door， and when she heard him speak this wish she stepped out， and as she did so the ravens recovered their human shape. And they hugged and kissed each other and went happily home.

有個人，他有七個兒子，他很希望有個女兒，可是怎么盼也沒有。好不容易，妻子又懷孕了。生下來一看，果然是個女孩。他們非常高興。但是孩子太小，又非常虛弱，非得馬上急救洗禮不可。父親打發一個男孩立即到井臺去打洗禮水，其余六個也跟著去了。在井臺旁，他們都爭著先打水，結果罐子掉進井里，沉了下去。他們不知道該怎么辦才好，都真楞楞地站在那兒，誰也不敢回家了。父親在家里等得不耐煩了，就說：“我敢說這些無法無天的孩子一定是貪玩，把打水的事給忘了。”他擔心女孩子不經洗禮會死，就生氣地大聲喊起來：“淘氣鬼，都變成烏鴉才好呢！”這話剛出口，就聽到頭頂有“吧噠吧噠”鳥兒拍打翅膀的聲音。他抬頭一看，只見空中有七只漆黑漆黑的烏鴉飛過去了。

這咒語再也不能收回了，父母失去了七個兒子，心里非常悲傷，可是有了個可愛的女兒，看到她很快地結實起來，長得一天比一天漂亮，他們心里多少還得到一些安慰。女孩子一點也不知道哥哥們的事，父母也倍加小心，從不提及此事。可是，有一天她偶然聽到人們議論說：“那女孩子，別看長得漂亮，她七個哥哥就是因為她才倒霉的。”女孩子非常難過，就去問父母：“我有哥哥嗎？要是有，他們都到哪里去了？”這樣，父母再也瞞不住了，只好說：“那是老天爺的安排啊！你恰巧生在那個時候。這可不是你的罪過！”盡管如此，女孩子每天仍感到痛苦。她想，她應該設法救哥哥們，使他們擺脫咒語。她再也不能平靜了，于是，她悄悄地從家里溜出來，下決心不管遇到什么困難，不管到哪里，也得找到他們。她從家里只帶了一只小戒指，是父母給她作紀念的；一塊面包，是肚子餓的時候吃的；一壺水，是渴的時候喝的；還有一只小凳子，是疲乏的時候坐著用的。

小女孩上路了，她走啊走，走得遠遠直到天邊。她走到太陽這里來。太陽非常熱，又太可怕了，它要把小孩子大口大口地吃掉。她急忙跑開，又來到月亮這兒。可是，月亮太冷了，還特別殘忍，心腸歹毒，一發覺孩子來了就說：“有人肉味了！”于是小女孩飛快地逃跑了。她來到星星這里。星星友好親切，一個個都坐在各自的椅子上。一顆啟明星站起來，給她一個小雞腿說：“你的七個哥哥，都住在玻璃山上。你要是沒有這只小雞腿，就打不開那玻璃山的大門。”

小女孩接過雞腿，小心翼翼地包在小布片里，又往前走。走啊走，好不容易走到了玻璃上。山門緊瑣著。她想拿出小雞腿來，可是，打開小布包一看，空空的。她把好心的星星的禮物弄丟了。怎么辦才好呢？她想救出哥哥們，可是沒有玻璃山的鑰匙了。好心的小妹妹，拿出小刀，割下一個手指頭，插進門里去，門一下子就打開了。她走進去，有一個小矮人兒過來問：“我的孩子，你找誰？”“我找我的哥哥——變成七只烏鴉的哥哥們，”小女孩回答說。“我的主人——烏鴉都不在家，你要是等他們回家，就請進來吧！”小矮人兒說。然后，他端近來七個小盤子和七個小酒杯，里面裝著七只烏鴉吃的東西。小妹妹把每一個小盤子里的東西都吃一點兒，把每一個酒杯里的酒都喝一口。最后，她在最后邊的小酒杯里放進了她帶來的小戒指。

突然，她聽到鳥兒拍打翅膀的沙沙響。小矮人兒說：“我的主人們飛回來了！”烏鴉飛來了，找到了他們的小盤子和小酒杯，又要吃的，又要喝的。烏鴉一個接一個地說：“誰吃了我盤子里的東西了？誰喝我小酒杯里的酒了？”“這一定是人嘴吃的！”第七只烏鴉喝酒喝到杯底的時候，小戒指滾到他嘴邊來。一看見這只戒指，他明白了：這是爸爸和媽媽的戒指啊。他說：“上帝保佑我們，如果我們的小妹妹來了，我們可就得救了！”小妹妹站在門后，聽到他的祝愿就走了出來。于是，七只烏鴉都恢復了人形，他們高興地互相擁抱親吻，然后回家去了。