奧列.路卻埃(六)

SATURDAY

“Am I to hear some stories now.” asked little Hjalmar， as soon as Ole Luk-Oie had got him into bed.

“This evening we have no time for that，” replied Ole; and he spread his fine umbrella over the lad. “Only look at these Chinamen!”

And the whole umbrella looked like a great China dish， with blue trees and pointed bridges with little Chinamen upon them， who stood there nodding their heads.

“We must have the whole world prettily decked out for tomorrow morning，” said Ole， “for that is a holiday—it is Sunday. I will go to the church steeples to see that the little church goblins are polishing the bells， that they may sound sweetly. I will go out into the field， and see if the breezes are blowing the dust from the grass and leaves; and， what is the greatest work of all， I will bring down all the stars， to polish them. I take them in my apron; but first each one must be numbered， and the holes in which they are fixed up there must be numbered likewise， so that they may be placed in the same holes again; otherwise they would not sit fast， and we should have too many shooting stars， for one after another would fall down.”

“Hark-ye! Do you know， Mr. Luk-Oie，” said an old Portrait which hung on the wall where Hjalmar slept，“I am Hjalmar’s great-grandfather. I thank you for telling the boy stories; but you must not confuse his ideas. The stars cannot be taken down and polished!The stars are world-orbs， just like our own earth， and that is just the good thing about them.”

“I thank you， old great-grandfather，” said Ole Luk-Oie，“I thank you!You are the head of the family. You are the ancestral head; but I am older than you!I am an old heathen: the Romans and Greeks called me the Dream God. I have been in the noblest houses， and am admitted there stillt I know how to act with great people and with small. Now you may tell your own story！” And Ole Luk-Oie took his umbrella， and went away.

“Well， well! May one not even give an opinion nowadays? grumbled the old Portrait. And Hjalmar awoke.

星期六

“現在您能講幾個故事給我聽嗎?”小哈爾馬問道。奧列·路卻埃剛剛把他送上床。

“今晚我們沒有時間，”奧列答道。他打開漂亮的傘，支在小家伙頭上。“瞧瞧這上面的中國人吧。”

雨傘的形壯像一個大磁盤子，上面有綠樹、拱橋，橋上還有一些很小的中國人，他們正站在那里點頭呢。

“明早我們得把整個世界打扮得干干凈凈的，”奧列說，“因為明天是假日——星期天。我要到教堂的尖頂上，督促教堂的小精靈把大鐘擦干凈，這樣鐘聲聽起來才悅耳。我要到田野里，看看風有沒有把草和樹葉上的灰塵吹掉。最偉大的一項工作是，我要把星星摘下來，擦得亮亮的。我要把它們裝在我的裙子里，不過首先得給它們編個號碼，同時，還要在它們所在的洞那里寫上相應的號碼，這樣才能把它們送回老地方。否則它們就站不住，我們就會看到好多好多流星，一個接一個落下來。”

“聽好了!路卻埃先生，您知道，”一幅老畫像說，它就掛在哈爾馬睡的房間的墻上，“我是哈爾馬的祖先。我謝謝你給孩子講了那么多故事；但你不能把他的思想給攪糊涂了。星星是不能摘下來擦的!星星是球狀的，像我們的地球一樣，這正是它們美妙的地方。”

“謝謝您，老爺爺，”奧列·路卻埃說，“謝謝您!您是一家之長，您是家族的祖先，但我比您年紀還大呀!我是老異教徒，羅馬和希臘人叫我夢神。我去過最尊貴的家庭，現在仍然可以進入!我知道怎么跟大人物和小人物打交道。現在您說說自己的故事吧!”奧列·路卻埃帶上傘，離開了。

“喂，喂!如今，一個人連發表點看法都不行嗎?”老畫像嘟噥道。這時，哈爾馬醒了。