The Story of King Frost 霜王

安德魯·朗格丁占罡文 宋倩倩譯

There was once upon a time a peasant-woman who had a daughter and a step-daughter. The daughter had her own way1 in everything， and whatever she did was right in her mothers eyes; but the poor step-daughter had a hard time. Let her do what she would， she was always blamed， and got small thanks for all the trouble she took; nothing was right， everything wrong; and yet， if the truth were known， the girl was worth her weight in gold2—she was so unselfish and good-hearted. But her step-mother did not like her， and the poor girls days were spent in weeping; for it was impossible to live peacefully with the woman. The wicked shrew was determined to get rid of the girl by fair means or foul3， and kept saying to her father： ‘Send her away， old man; send her away—anywhere so that my eyes shant be plagued4 any longer by the sight of her， or my ears tormented5 by the sound of her voice. Send her out into the fields， and let the cutting frost do for6 her.

In vain did the poor old father weep and implore her pity; she was firm， and he dared not gainsay7 her. So he placed his daughter in a sledge， not even daring to give her a horse-cloth8 to keep herself warm with， and drove her out on to the bare， open fields， where he kissed her and left her， driving home as fast as he could， that he might not witness her miserable death.

Deserted by her father， the poor girl sat down under a fir-tree at the edge of the forest and began to weep silently. Suddenly she heard a faint sound： it was King Frost springing from tree to tree， and cracking his fingers as he went. At length he reached the fir-tree beneath which she was sitting， and with a crisp9 crackling10 sound he alighted11 beside her， and looked at her lovely face.

‘Well， maiden， he snapped out， ‘do you know who I am？ I am King Frost， king of the red-noses.

‘All hail to you， great King！ answered the girl， in a gentle， trembling voice. ‘Have you come to take me？

‘Are you warm， maiden？ he replied.

‘Quite warm， King Frost， she answered， though she shivered as she spoke.

Then King Frost stooped down， and bent over the girl， and the crackling sound grew louder， and the air seemed to be full of knives and darts; and again he asked：

‘Maiden， are you warm？ Are you warm， you beautiful girl？

And though her breath was almost frozen on her lips， she whispered gently， ‘Quite warm， King Frost.

Then King Frost gnashed12 his teeth， and cracked his fingers， and his eyes sparkled， and the crackling， crisp sound was louder than ever， and for the last time he asked her：

‘Maiden， are you still warm？ Are you still warm， little love？

And the poor girl was so stiff and numb13 that she could just gasp， ‘Still warm， O King！

Now her gentle， courteous14 words and her uncomplaining ways touched King Frost， and he had pity on her， and he wrapped her up in furs， and covered her with blankets， and he fetched a great box， in which were beautiful jewels and a rich robe embroidered in gold and silver. And she put it on， and looked more lovely than ever， and King Frost stepped with her into his sledge， with six white horses.

In the meantime the wicked step-mother was waiting at home for news of the girls death， and preparing pancakes for the funeral feast. And she said to her husband： ‘Old man， you had better go out into the fields and find your daughters body and bury her. Just as the old man was leaving the house the little dog under the table began to bark， saying：

‘YOUR daughter shall live to be your delight; HER daughter shall die this very night.

‘Hold your tongue， you foolish beast！ scolded the woman. ‘Theres a pancake for you， but you must say：

“HER daughter shall have much silver and gold; HIS daughter is frozen quite stiff and cold.”

But the doggie ate up the pancake and barked， saying：

‘His daughter shall wear a crown on her head; Her daughter shall die unwooed， unwed.

Then the old woman tried to coax the doggie with more pancakes and to terrify it with blows， but he barked on， always repeating the same words. And suddenly the door creaked15 and flew16 open， and a great heavy chest was pushed in， and behind it came the step-daughter， radiant and beautiful， in a dress all glittering with silver and gold. For a moment the step-mothers eyes were dazzled. Then she called to her husband： ‘Old man， yoke the horses at once into the sledge， and take my daughter to the same field and leave her on the same spot exactly， and so the old man took the girl and left her beneath the same tree where he had parted from his daughter. In a few minutes King Frost came past， and， looking at the girl， he said：

‘Are you warm， maiden？

‘What a blind old fool you must be to ask such a question！ she answered angrily. ‘Cant you see that my hands and feet are nearly frozen？

Then King Frost sprang to and fro in front of her， questioning her， and getting only rude， rough words in reply， till at last he got very angry， and cracked his fingers， and gnashed his teeth， and froze her to death.

But in the hut her mother was waiting for her return， and as she grew impatient she said to her husband： ‘Get out the horses， old man， to go and fetch her home; but see that you are careful not to upset the sledge and lose the chest.

But the doggie beneath the table began to bark， saying：

‘Your daughter is frozen quite stiff and cold， and shall never have a chest full of gold.

‘Dont tell such wicked lies！ scolded the woman. ‘Theres a cake for you; now say：

“HER daughter shall marry a mighty King.”

At that moment the door flew open， and she rushed out to meet her daughter， and as she took her frozen body in her arms she too was chilled to death.

很久以前，有一位農婦。她有一個親生女兒和一個繼女。她的親生女兒一向為所欲為，不管干什么在母親眼里都是對的。而這個可憐的繼女可就遭殃了，無論她做什么，總是遭到訓斥，她所有的辛苦付出也換不來半點兒謝意。她干什么都不對，都是錯的。事實上，這個姑娘像金子般寶貴——她是那樣無私，那樣善良！可繼母不喜歡她。可憐的姑娘整日以淚洗面;與這個女人生活在一起，不可能過上安穩的日子。這個惡毒的悍婦決意不擇手段地除掉繼女，于是不停地對她父親嘮叨：“把她趕走，老頭子，把她趕走，隨便她去哪兒，省得我一看見她就眼煩，一聽見她說話就耳膩。把她趕到野地里，讓刺骨的冰霜要了她的命吧。”

可憐的老父親流著淚乞求她發發善心，但無濟于事。繼母已鐵了心，老父親怎敢忤逆她。于是，他讓女兒坐進雪橇，連一塊苫馬布都不敢給她御寒，就駕著雪橇把她拉到了空曠的野地里。他吻過女兒，以最快速度驅橇離她而去，如此，他可能就不用眼睜睜看著女兒悲慘地死去。

可憐的姑娘被父親遺棄了。她坐在林邊的一棵杉樹下，默默地抽泣起來。突然，她聽見一陣輕微的響動。原來是霜王正從樹木間跳躍而過，行進時手指啪啪作響。最后，霜王跳躍到這棵杉樹上，樹下坐著這位姑娘。隨著一陣清脆的咔嚓聲，霜王降落在她身旁。他注視著姑娘迷人的面龐。

“喂，姑娘。”他厲聲問道，“知道我是誰嗎？我是霜王，世上的紅鼻頭們都是我的臣民。”

“向您致敬，偉大的霜王！”姑娘柔聲答道，她的聲音在顫抖，“您是要把我帶走嗎？”

“你暖和嗎，姑娘？”他回問道。

“很暖和，霜王陛下。”她答道，可是邊說邊打寒戰。

接著，霜王俯下身，彎腰面對著姑娘，咔嚓、咔嚓的爆裂聲更大了，空氣中像是布滿了利刃和飛鏢。他再次問道：

“姑娘，你暖和嗎？你暖和嗎，美麗的姑娘？”

盡管呼出的氣息幾乎在雙唇上凝結成了冰霜，她還是溫柔地低聲答道：“很暖和，霜王陛下。”

接著，霜王牙齒咯咯磨，手指啪啪響，兩眼放寒光，咔嚓、咔嚓的爆裂聲比剛才更響了。他最后一次問姑娘：

“姑娘，你還暖和嗎？還暖和嗎，可愛的小姑娘？”

可憐的姑娘快凍僵了，幾乎沒了知覺。她艱難地喘著氣，“暖和，哦，霜王！”

姑娘的回話既溫柔又禮貌，而且毫不抱怨，這讓霜王頗為感動。出于憐憫，他用毛皮把姑娘包裹起來，又給她披上毛毯，接著取來一個大箱子，里面盡是精美的珠寶，還有一件刺金繡銀的華麗禮袍。姑娘穿上禮袍，比任何時候都要迷人。隨后，霜王帶著姑娘一同坐進他那架六匹白馬拉的雪橇。

此時此刻，狠毒的繼母正在家里一邊等著繼女的死訊，一邊烙制喪宴面餅。她對老伴兒說道：“老頭子，你最好出去一趟，到野地里找到你女兒的尸體，把她埋了吧。”老人正要出門，桌子下面的小狗叫了起來：

“讓你欣，讓你喜，你的女兒不會死;今夜冷，今夜寒，她的女兒要玩兒完。”

“住嘴，你這個愚蠢的畜牲！”繼母罵道，“這個面餅給你，但是你必須說：

‘又有銀，又有金，她的女兒變千金;硬邦邦，冰涼涼，他的女兒要凍僵。”

小狗吃完了面餅，卻叫道：

“金燦燦，亮閃閃，他的女兒戴鳳冠;無人求，無人娶，她的女兒迎死期。”

這個老婦人又拿出幾張面餅哄誘小狗，還揮著拳頭嚇唬它，可小狗叫個不停，重復著同樣的話。突然，“吱嘎”一聲，門開了，一個又大又重的箱子被推進屋里，隨后進來的正是她的繼女，她身穿一襲璀璨閃耀的長裙，美麗無比、光彩照人。一時間，她的繼母被照得眼花繚亂。接著，她朝老伴兒叫道：“老頭子，趕緊把馬套到雪橇上，拉著我女兒去那塊野地，把她放在同一個地方，別搞錯了！”于是老人帶著繼母的女兒來到野外，把她放在與自己女兒分手的那棵樹下。幾分鐘后，霜王經過這里。他打量著眼前的姑娘，問道：

“你暖和嗎，姑娘？”

“你這個又老又瞎的傻瓜，竟然問這樣的問題！”繼母的女兒氣惱地答道，“沒看見我的手腳都快凍僵了嗎？”

霜王在繼母的女兒面前跳來跳去，向她發問，但得到的只是既粗魯又無禮的回答。最后，霜王大怒，他手指啪啪響，牙齒咯咯磨，凍死了繼母的女兒。

可她的母親還在家里等著她歸來。她等得不耐煩了，對老伴兒說道：“駕馬出去，老頭子，去把她接回來。不過，你要當心，別弄翻了雪橇，丟了那箱寶貝。”

然而，桌子下面的小狗又叫了起來：

“硬邦邦，冰涼涼，你的女兒已凍僵，滿箱黃金夢一場。”

“別胡說八道了！”繼母呵斥道，“給你張面餅，你要說：

‘她的女兒嫁君王。”

正在這時，大門突然打開了，繼母沖出去迎接女兒，可她剛一抱住女兒那凍僵的尸體，自己也即刻凍死了。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者;單位：中華女子學院）

1 have （get） ones own way隨心所欲;按自己意愿行事。 ?2 worth ones weight in gold非常有價值的。 ?3 by fair means or foul千方百計，不擇手段。 ?4 plague困擾，折磨。 ?5 torment折磨，使痛苦。

6 do for毀掉，殺死。 ?7 gainsay反駁，反對。 ?8 horse-cloth苫馬布，馬衣，馬鞍毯。 ?9 crisp（雪、樹葉等）發出脆響的。 ?10 crackling爆裂聲，噼啪聲。 ?11 alight降落，飛落。

12 gnash咬（牙），磨（牙）。 ?13 numb麻木的，失去知覺的。 ?14 courteous有禮貌的，謙恭的。

15 creak（門）嘎吱作響。 ?16 fly猛然移動。