泰西50軼事(二十六之一)科妮莉婭的珠寶 江銘輝 五夢網
泰西50軼事(Fifty Famous Stories Retold)，是永恆的短篇故事，它收集的故事：包括浩瀚歷史的著名英雄和他們的羅曼史，故事內容有勇氣、毅力和情感。故事人物包括拿破崙、羅賓漢，喬治華盛頓、成吉思汗等人。這些故事都是老少咸宜的故事，我將它逐篇翻譯，並配合圖畫，供大家欣賞。
泰西50軼事(二十六之一)科妮莉婭的珠寶
原文及翻譯如下：
科妮莉婭的珠寶
CORNELIA’S JEWELS
IT was a bright morning in the old city of Rome many hundred years ago.
In a vine-covered summer-house in a beautiful garden, two boys were standing. They were looking at their mother and her friend, who were walking among the flowers and trees.
幾百年前，羅馬古城中一個陽光明媚的早晨。在一座美麗的花園裡，兩個男孩站在一座爬滿了葡萄藤的涼亭下，正望著母親和她的朋友正在花叢和樹木中散步。
“Did you ever see so handsome a lady as our mother’s friend?”asked the younger boy, holding his tall brother’s hand.“She looks like a queen.”
“你見過像母親的朋友那麼漂亮的女士嗎？”小的那個男孩抓著他高大哥哥的手問道，“她看上去真像個女王。”
“Yet she is not so beautiful as our mother,”said the elder boy.“She has a fine dress, it is true; but her face is not noble and kind. It is our mother who is like a queen.”
“她還沒有我們的母親漂亮呢，”哥哥說，“的確，她穿著很華麗，但她的面貌並不高貴溫和。我們的母親才像一個女王。”
“That is true,”said the other. “There is no woman in Rome so much like a queen as our own dear mother.”
“是啊，”另一個說，“在羅馬沒有一個女人比我們親愛的母親更像一個女王了。”
Soon Cornelia, their mother, came down the walk to speak with them.
She was simply dressed in a plain white robe. Her arms and feet were bare, as was the custom in those days; and no rings nor chains glittered about her hands and neck.
不一會兒，他們的母親科妮莉婭(圖1)走下來和他們說話了。她只簡單的穿著一件白色長袍，非常樸素。她的手臂和腳都露在外面，這是那時期的風俗。她既沒有戒指也沒有項鍊閃爍在手腕和脖子上。
圖1：科妮莉婭
For her only crown, long braids of soft brown hair were coiled about her head; and a tender smile lit up her noble face as she looked into her sons’proud eyes.
她僅有的皇冠，就是盤在頭上的、用那柔軟棕色的頭髮編成的長辮子。當她注視她的兒子們驕傲的眼神時，一種溫柔的微笑照亮了她高貴的臉上。
“Boys,”she said,“I have something to tell you.”
They bowed before her, as Roman lads were taught to do, and said,“What is it, mother?”
“孩子們，”她說，“我有一些事情要告訴你們。”
他們在她的面前向鞠躬，就像羅馬受教育的男孩們那樣，並且問道：“什麼事，母親？”
“You are to dine with us today, here in the garden; and then our friend is going to show us that wonderful casket of jewels of which you have heard so much.”
“今天和我們一起在花園裡吃飯吧。然後，我的朋友會把那只你們早就聽說多次的美妙珠寶箱展示給我們看。”
The brothers looked shyly at their mother’s friend. Was it possible that she had still other rings besides those on her fingers? Could she have other gems besides those which sparkled in the chains about her neck?
兄弟倆害羞地看著母親的朋友。這是真的嗎？除了手指上戴著的那些，她還有其他戒指？除了脖子上的項鍊，她還有其他的寶石嗎？
When the simple outdoor meal was over, a servant brought the casket from the house. The lady opened it. Ah, how those jewels dazzled the eyes of the wondering boys! There were ropes of pearls, white as milk, and smooth as satin; heaps of shining rubies, red as the glowing coals; sapphires as blue as the sky that summer day; and diamonds that flashed and sparkled like the sunlight.
當一頓簡單的室外餐會結束後，一個僕人從屋裡拿出一個珠寶箱。那個女士把它打開了。啊！那些珠寶是怎樣地讓吃驚的兄弟倆眼花繚亂啊！成串的珍珠像牛奶一樣潔白，像綢緞一樣光滑；成堆的紅寶石發著光，像燒紅的煤炭；藍寶石藍得像夏日的天空；還有那鑽石，閃爍著像日光一樣。(圖2)
圖2：女士把珠寶箱打開。那些珠寶讓二兄弟倆眼花繚亂。
The brothers looked long at the gems.
“Ah! ”whispered the younger; “if our mother could only have such beautiful things! ”
At last, however, the casket was closed and carried carefully away.
兄弟倆凝視著那些珠寶很久。
“啊！”弟弟低聲說，“如果我們的母親也有這麼多漂亮的東西就好了。”
最後，珠寶箱被合上，小心翼翼地拿走了。
“Is it true, Cornelia, that you have no jewels?”asked her friend.“Is it true, as I have heard it whispered, that you are poor?”
“科妮莉婭，你沒有珠寶，這是真的嗎？”她的朋友問，“因為我私下聽人說，妳很窮，這是確實嗎？”
“No, I am not poor,”answered Cornelia, and as she spoke she drew her two boys to her side;“for here are my jewels. They are worth more than all your gems.”
不，我並不窮，”科妮莉婭回答，她邊說邊把兩個孩子拉到身邊，“這就是我的珠寶。他們比你所有的那些寶石都更有價值。”
I am sure that the boys never forgot their mother’s pride and love and care; and in after years, when they had become great men in Rome, they often thought of this scene in the garden. And the world still likes to hear the story of Cornelia’s jewels.
我相信，那兩個孩子永遠也不會忘記母親的自豪、珍愛和關切。許多年之後，當他們成為羅馬的偉人時，還時常想起花園裡的這一幕。而世上的人們仍然很喜歡聽科妮莉婭珠寶的故事。