勇敢的小裁縫

文/From+howstuffworks.com+譯/程天淇

One morning， a little tailor sat in his shop. He bent over his work， sewing as he always did this time of day. Suddenly the tailor had a taste for raspberry1） jelly. He took out a loaf of bread， and cut a big slice from it. Before eating his snack he wanted to sew a few more stitches. When he finished， he saw a swarm of flies buzzing around his tasty jelly. The little man waved the flies away with his hand. But they flew right back.

The tailor grabbed a piece of cloth and growled2）， "Now I'll let you have it！" The cloth burst through the air as the tailor beat at the buzzing flies.

When he lifted the cloth away， seven flies lay dead on the table. "The whole world should know of my skill！" said the tailor. He cut a belt just his size. With his finest thread， he sewed these words： "Seven in one blow！"

The tailor tied the red belt around his waist. "I feel the need for a big adventure！" he shouted.

The tailor looked for something useful to take with him on his big adventure. All he found was an old piece of cheese. He put it in his pocket. As he was locking the door， he heard a rustle3） in the bushes.

A bird was trapped among the thorns. The tailor gently pulled the bird from the bush and put it in his pocket. Then he set off to find adventure.

The tailor walked through town and up the side of a mountain. At the top， he met a giant. "Hello， Giant，" said the tailor with a bow. "I am on a big adventure. Will you join me？"

"A little man like you on a big adventure？" rumbled4） the giant. For an answer， the tailor showed the giant his belt. The giant read the words： "Seven in one blow！"

The giant， who was not very smart， thought that the belt meant seven men， not flies. He found it very hard to believe that this tiny tailor could kill seven men with one blow. So he decided to test the man's strength. "You must be very strong. Can you do this？" asked the giant. He picked up a stone and squeezed5） it until water dripped from the stone.

The tailor was obviously not as strong as the giant， but he was much cleverer. "Watch this，" the little tailor said as he took something from his pocket. The giant thought it was a stone， too， but it was actually the piece of cheese. The tailor squeezed it in his hand until liquid dripped from his palm.

The giant raised his eyebrows. "Well， can you do this？" he asked. He picked up another stone and tossed it high into the air. It flew almost out of sight.endprint

"Watch this，" the tailor said as he took something from his pocket. It was the bird， of course. With a toss of his hand， the tailor sent the little bird flying. Pretty soon the bird was out of sight. In fact， it never came down！

This did not convince the giant， though. He was a poor loser. "If you are so strong， help me carry this tree，" the giant ordered.

Once again， the tailor knew he was not as strong as the giant. He quickly came up with an idea. The tailor walked to the leafy end of the fallen oak. "I will carry the branches，" he said. "I wouldn't want them to scratch6） you. Besides， it is no trouble for one who can kill seven at one blow."

The giant lifted the tree trunk onto his shoulder. He could not see the tailor at the other end. The tailor knew this. He hopped7） into the branches and let the giant do all the work.

When the giant stopped to rest， the tailor jumped out and pretended to be carrying the leafy end of the tree. When the giant looked back at the tailor， he saw that he was not even tired！

"Perhaps you would like to come home with me and meet my friends，" the giant said with an evil gleam8） in his eye.

"Certainly，" the clever tailor replied.

The giant took the tailor to his cave. A group of giants sat around a roaring fire. They watched as their friend lead the little man into the cave.

"You can sleep here，" said the giant pointing to a giant-size bed. "Even a man who can kill seven in one blow needs to rest！"

The tailor was not used to sleeping in such a big bed. So he slept in a corner instead. It was good for him that he did. During the night， the giants pounded on the bed with clubs9）， until they thought they had taken care of10） the pesky11） tailor.

In the morning， the giants went swimming in the river. They joked about the strange man and his silly belt. When the tailor walked up whistling a merry tune， the giants were so afraid that they ran away without their clothes！

一日清晨，一個小裁縫坐在他的店鋪里，彎腰縫著手里的活兒，就和平常每天這個時候一樣。突然，小裁縫想吃覆盆子果醬了。他拿出一長條面包，切了一大片下來。在吃之前他想再多縫幾針。等他縫完，只見一群蒼蠅正圍著他那美味的果醬嗡嗡直飛。小裁縫擺擺手，把蒼蠅趕走了。但它們馬上又飛了回來。

小裁縫抓起一塊布，大吼道：“現(xiàn)在我要讓你們嘗嘗我的厲害！”他掄起布就朝那些嗡嗡作響的蒼蠅打去，那塊布颼的一聲從空中劃過。

他把布拿開后，只見七只蒼蠅橫尸桌上。“全世界都應該知道我的本事！”小裁縫說。他按自己的尺寸裁了一條腰帶，并用最好的線在腰帶上繡了這幾個字：“一下打死七個！”

小裁縫把這條紅腰帶系在腰間。“我覺得有必要出去好好闖一闖啦！”他大喊。

小裁縫四下搜尋了一番，想找些有用的東西帶著，和他一起去闖蕩世界。結(jié)果他只找到了一塊放了很久的奶酪。他把奶酪放進了口袋里。就在他鎖門時，他聽到灌木叢中傳來一陣沙沙聲。

一只鳥被困在了灌木叢里。小裁縫輕輕地將那只鳥從灌木叢里拽了出來，把它放進了口袋里，然后就出發(fā)去闖蕩世界了。endprint

小裁縫穿過城鎮(zhèn)，爬上了一座大山。在山頂，他遇見了一個巨人。“你好，巨人，”小裁縫鞠了一躬說道，“我在闖蕩世界。你要加入嗎？”

“就你這么個小不點兒還去闖蕩世界？”巨人用低沉的聲音說。小裁縫把他的腰帶給巨人看，以此作為回答。巨人念道：“一下打死七個！”

這個巨人不是很聰明，他以為腰帶上說的是七個人，而不是七只蒼蠅。這個小裁縫竟然能一下殺死七個人，他覺得這簡直難以置信。因此，他決定要看看小裁縫的力氣有多大。“你一定非常有力。你能做到這個嗎？”巨人問道。他撿起一塊石頭，使勁捏它，直到有水從里面滴下來。

小裁縫顯然沒有巨人力氣大，但他要比巨人聰明得多。“看這個。”小裁縫邊說邊從口袋里掏出個東西。巨人以為那也是一塊石頭，但實際上是那塊奶酪。小裁縫把它放在手里使勁擠壓，直到有液體從他的手掌里滴下來。

巨人揚了揚眉毛，有些驚訝。“好吧，那你能做到這個嗎？”他問。他撿起另一塊石頭，向空中用力一拋，石頭飛得很高，幾乎消失在視線之外。

“瞧這個。”小裁縫邊說邊從口袋里掏出個東西。當然，就是那只鳥。他用手那么一扔，就把小鳥放飛了。很快，那只鳥就不見了蹤影。實際上，它永遠也不會落下來！

不過，這還是沒能讓巨人服氣。他是個輸不起的人。“如果你那么有力氣，那就幫我搬這棵樹吧。”巨人命令道。

和前兩次一樣，小裁縫知道他不如巨人有力氣。他很快就想到了一個主意。小裁縫走到那棵倒在地上的橡樹的樹冠那頭。“我來扛樹枝，”他說，“我可不想讓它們劃傷你。而且，這事兒對一個一下殺死七個的人來說就是小菜一碟。”

巨人舉起樹干，扛上肩頭。他看不見在橡樹另一頭的小裁縫。小裁縫知道他看不見自己，便跳進樹枝里，讓巨人把扛樹的活兒都干了。

當巨人停下來準備休息時，小裁縫就跳出來，假裝正扛著樹冠那頭。巨人回頭看小裁縫時，發(fā)現(xiàn)他竟然一點兒也不累！

“或許你愿意和我一起回家，見見我的朋友們。”巨人說著，眼里閃過一絲邪惡。

“當然。”聰明的小裁縫回答。

巨人帶著小裁縫來到了他的山洞。一群巨人圍坐在一個燒得很旺的火堆旁，看著他們的朋友領(lǐng)著一個小不點兒進了山洞。

“你可以睡在這兒，”巨人指著一張巨大的床說，“即使是一下殺死七個的人也需要休息！”

小裁縫不習慣睡在這么大的一張床上，所以就睡在了一個角落里。他這么做可真是幫了自己大忙了。夜里，巨人們用棍棒對著那張床一頓猛打，直到他們覺得已經(jīng)干掉了這個討厭的小裁縫。

第二天早上，巨人們?nèi)ズ永镉斡尽Ｋ麄兡眯〔每p這個陌生人和他那愚蠢的腰帶開著玩笑。當小裁縫吹著口哨、哼著快樂的小曲走過來時，巨人們都嚇壞了，衣服都來不及穿就跑掉了！

1. raspberry [?rɑ?zb?ri] n. 覆盆子，一種懸鉤子屬植物的漿果（常呈紅色或紫色）

2. growl [ɡra?l] vt. 粗暴（或氣沖沖）地說

3. rustle [?r?sl] n. 沙沙聲，簌簌聲

4. rumble [?r?mbl] vt. 聲音低沉地說出（或發(fā)出）

5. squeeze [skwi?z] vt. 擠取；用力擠壓

6. scratch [skr?t?] vt. 抓傷

7. hop [h?p] vi. <口>跳；彈跳

8. gleam [ɡli?m] n. 閃現(xiàn)；瞬息的一現(xiàn)

9. club [kl?b] n. 棍棒

10. take care of： <俚>毆打；殺死

11. pesky [?peski] adj. <美口>惱人的，討厭的endprint