獨眼兄妹

Origin: Canada Roza 譯

寓言·童話

獨眼兄妹

The Children with One Eye

Origin: Canada Roza 譯

T wo little children, a boy and a girl, lived long ago with their widowed mother in the Canadian forest. The woman was very poor. She often had to go far from home in search of fsh and1)game for her family. At times she was absent for many days and left her children behind, and thus they were allowed to grow up with very little2)oversight or3)discipline or care. They soon became very unruly. As they grew older they became more4)headstrong and5)disobedient, and their mother could do very little to control them. And she said, “Some day they will suffer for their 6)waywardness.”

很久以前，有一位寡婦和她一男一女兩個小孩住在加拿大的森林里。這位寡婦很貧窮。她經常需要到離家很遠的地方為一家人捉魚、尋找野味。有時候她一連幾天都不回來，把孩子們留在家里，任由孩子們在缺乏照管、紀律約束和關愛的環境下長大。很快，他們就變得非常任性。隨著年歲的增長，他們變得愈發頑固和忤逆，他們的媽媽基本上管不住他們。她說：“終有一天他們會嘗到任性的苦果。”

1) game [ge?m] n. 獵物，野味

2) oversight ['??v?sa?t] n. 監督，看管

3) discipline ['d?s?pl?n] n. 紀律，修養

4) headstrong ['hedstr??] adj. 任性的，頑固的，剛愎自用的

5) disobedient [d?s?'bi?d??nt] adj. 忤逆的，抗拒的，不順從的

One day the woman went to visit a neighbour. She left a large pot of bear-fat boiling on the fre. And she said to the children, “Do not7)meddle with the pot while I am gone, for the fat may harm you if it catches fre.” But she was not gone long when the boy said to the girl, “Let us see if the fat will burn.” So they took a burning stick of wood and dropped it into the fat, and stood looking into the large pot to see what would happen. The fat8)sputtered for an instant; then there was a sudden fash, and a tongue of fame shot upwards from the pot into the faces of the children. The fre had9)scorched their faces and blinded their eyes. They stumbled around in darkness, crying loudly for help. But no help came.

When their mother came home she tried every remedy she thought might restore their sight. But all her medicine was unavailing, and she said, “You will always be blind. That is the punishment for your disobedience.”

So the children lived in darkness for a long time. But they were no longer headstrong and unruly. They did not now refuse to do their mother’s bidding.

一天，寡婦出門拜訪一個鄰居。她留下一大鍋在火上燒得沸騰的熊脂。她對孩子們說：“我走了以后，別亂動這鍋，因為熊脂要是著火可能會燙傷你們。”但她還沒走遠，男孩就對女孩說：“讓我們看看油脂會不會燒起來吧。”于是他們拿來一根著火的樹枝，把它扔進熊脂里，站在一旁往鍋里瞧，好奇會發生什么。一瞬間，油花噼啪飛濺；隨后，突然閃現一束火光，一道火舌從鍋里朝兄妹倆的臉直沖而去。烈火燒焦了他們的臉，弄瞎了他們的眼睛。兄妹倆在黑暗中磕磕碰碰，大聲求助。但沒有人來幫忙。

他們的媽媽回到家以后，嘗試了各種有可能恢復他們視力的藥物。但都沒有效果。她說：“你們永遠都會是盲人了。這就是對你們忤逆的懲罰。”

因此，兄妹倆在黑暗中生活了很長一段時間。但他們不再頑固和任性了。現在他們不再違抗媽媽的吩咐了。

6) waywardness ['we?w?dn?s] n. 任性，固……