泰西50軼事(四十二)說不完的故事  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(四十二)說不完的故事

原文及翻譯如下：

 

The Endless Tale

 

說不完的故事

 

 

 

IN the Far East there was a great king who had no work to do. Every day, and all day long, he sat on soft cushions and listened to stories. And no matter what the story was about, he never grew tired of hearing it, even though it was very long.

 

在遙遠的東方，有一個大國的國王，他無所事事。每天，從早到晚，他都坐在一張柔軟的墊子上聽講故事。不管什麼樣的故事，他都不知疲倦地聽著，即使那故事很長很長。

 

“There is only one fault that I find with your story,”he often said,“It is too short.”

All the storytellers in the world were invited to his palace; and some of them told tales that were very long indeed. But the king was always sad when a story was ended.

 

“我發現你的故事只有一個缺點，”他常說，“那就是太短了(圖1)。” 世界上所有會講故事的人都被請到宮殿裡。他們當中，有些人說的故事的確很長，可是每當一個故事說完時，國王總是很難過。

 

   

圖1：國王常說：“我發現你的故事只有一個缺點，那就是太短了。”

 

At last he sent word into every city and town and country place, offering a prize to any one who should tell him an endless tale. He said, “To the man that will tell me a story which shall last forever, I will give my fairest daughter for his wife; and I will make him my heir, and he shall be king after me.”

 

最後他派人傳話到每一個城市、小鎮和村莊，懸賞尋找一個能給他講一個永遠說不完故事的人。他說：“誰能給我講一個永遠繼續下去的故事，我就把漂亮的女兒嫁給他做妻子，並且讓他當我的繼承人，繼承我的王位。”

 

But this was not all. He added a very hard condition.“If any man shall try to tell such a story and then fail, he shall have his head cut off.”

 

但這還沒有完，他又附加了一條苛刻的條件：“如果有人所講的那個故事失敗了，那麼他的頭將會被砍掉。”

 

The king’s daughter was very pretty, and there were many young men in that country who were willing to do anything to win her. But none of them wanted to lose their heads, and so only a few tried for the prize.

 

國王的女兒非常美麗。在那個國家裡，有許多年輕人都願意為了贏得她而做任何事。但是沒有人願意丟掉自己的腦袋，所以只有很少的人去嘗試獲得這個獎賞。

 

One young man invented a story that lasted three months; but at the end of that time, he could think of nothing more. His fate was a warning to others, and it was a long time before another storyteller was so rash as to try the king’s patience.

 

有一個年輕人捏造了一個故事，可以講三個月。但是，到了三個月結束的時候，他再也想不出什麼東西了。他的命運就成為其他人的警戒，因此這件事過去很久之後，才有另一個講故事的人魯莽地來考驗國王的耐心。

 

But one day a stranger from the South came into the palace.

 “Great king,”he said,“is it true that you offer a prize to the man who can tell a story that has no end?”

“It is true,”said the king.

 

但是，一天，一個從南方來的陌生人進入了王宮。

“偉大的國王，”他說，“這是真的嗎？誰能夠說一個永遠講不完的故事，你就獎賞給他？”

“是真的，”國王說。

 

“And shall this man have your fairest daughter for his wife, and shall he be your heir?”

“Yes, if he succeeds,”said the king. “But if he fails, he shall lose his head.”

 

“這個人會得到你那最美麗的女兒做妻子，還會成為你的繼承人？”

“是的，如果他成功了的話，”國王說，“但是如果失敗了，他就失去他的頭。”

 

“Very well, then,”said the stranger,“I have a pleasant story about locusts which I would like to relate.”

“Tell it,”said the king.“I will listen to you.”

The storyteller began his tale.

 

 “很好，”陌生人說，“我想講一個關於蝗蟲的有趣故事。”

“說吧，”國王說，“我願意聽你說。”

這個講故事的人開始了他的故事：

 

“Once upon a time a certain king seized upon all the corn in his country, and stored it away in a strong granary. But a swarm o f locusts came over the land and saw where the grain had been put.

 

“從前，有一個國王斂取了他國家裡所有的穀子，把它們儲藏在一個堅固的穀倉裡。但是一大群蝗蟲來到這個地方，發現了糧食擺放的地方。

 

After searching for many days they found on the east side of the granary a crevice that was just large enough for one locust to pass through at a time. So one locust went in and carried away a grain of corn; then another locust went in and carried away a grain of corn; then another locust went in and carry away a grain of corn.”

 

經過許多天的搜尋，它們發現穀倉的東面有一個小縫隙，大小剛好一次讓一隻蝗蟲通過。於是一隻蝗蟲進去了，搬  了一粒穀子出來；然後另一隻蝗蟲又進去銜了一粒穀子出來；然後另一隻蝗蟲又進去了，搬 了一粒穀子出來。(圖2)”

 

 圖2：一隻蝗蟲進去，搬 了一粒穀子出來；然後另一隻蝗蟲又進去銜了一粒穀子出來。

 

Day after day, week after week, the man kept on saying,“Then another locust went in and carried away a grain of corn.

”A month passed; a year passed. At the end of two years, the king said, “How much longer will the locusts be going in and carrying away corn?”

 

一天又一天，一週又一週，這個人還在繼續講著：“然後另一隻蝗蟲進去了，又搬 了一粒穀子出來。”

一個月過去了；一年過去了。到了第二年年終時，國王問：

“還要多長時間那些蝗蟲才能進去把穀子搬完啊？”

 

“O king! ”said the storyteller, “they have as yet cleared only one cubit; and there are many thousand cubits in the granary.”

 

“啊，國王！”講故事的人說，“它們僅僅只搬走了一腕尺〔一腕尺约18至22英寸〕，穀倉裡還有幾千腕尺呢。”

 

 

“Man, man!”cried the king,“you will drive me mad. I can listen to it no longer. Take my daughter; be my heir; rule my kingdom. But do not let me hear another word about those horrible locusts! ”

 

 “好傢伙！好傢伙！”國王叫起來，“你要把我弄瘋了。我再也聽不下去了。帶走我的女兒，做我的繼承人，統治我的國家吧。但是不要再讓我聽到關於那些可怕蝗蟲的一句話了！”(圖3)

 

     

圖3：我再也不聽了。帶走我的女兒，做我的繼承人吧。

 

And so the strange storyteller married the king’s daughter. And he lived happily in the land for many years.

 

於是這個說故事的陌生人娶了國王的女兒，快樂地在這個地方生住了許多年。

 

 

But his father-in-law, the king, did not care to listen to any more stories.

 

但是他的岳父“那個國王”，再也不想聽任何故事了。

 

 

說不完的故事的簡介

 

“沒有結束的故事”或“說不完的故事”由維吉尼亞州大桂冠(Big Laurel)詹姆斯·泰勒·亞當斯(James Taylor Adams)收集。是詹姆斯·泰勒的珍藏。他說：經過許多人失敗後，傑克說了一個冗長乏味重複的故事通，國王說他的“說不完的故事”挑戰成功，贏得了國王的女兒。這個故事是關於一隻老鼠搬空糧倉，或倉庫裡的米，在一個時間一次只能搬一粒的故事。

 

“說不完的故事”或“最長的故事”，“無法結束的故事”在查爾斯L珀杜，(Charles L. Perdue)的智取惡魔(Outwitting the Devil)：智者傑克的故事也有此故事。珀杜(Perdue)重印詹姆斯·泰勒的的故事集時，改說“玉米從穀倉每一被搬走一粒。

”在“最長的故事”，由亞當斯(Adams)從弗吉尼亞州聖保羅的約翰·愛德華茲(John Edwards)收集改篇，說：蝗蟲一次搬走穀物一粒。但說故事的人不是傑克，而是“來自鄉村的一個男孩。”

 

海利，蓋爾 E.( Haley, Gail E.) “最長的故事。”有一個簡短故事類似於上面，他說：一隻老鼠一次搬走一粒玉米，直到國王覺得索然無味，傑克和國王的女兒結婚和分國王一半的財產。

 

詹姆士‧鮑德溫(Baldwin, James)的泰西五十軼事“說不完的故事”故事的地點設定在遙遠的東方，那裡有一個國王聽了兩年有關蝗蟲帶走穀物的故事，聽厭了，將女兒嫁給說故事的人。”此後愛聽故事的國王，再也不聽故事了。

 

在珍妮‧優蘭 ( Yolen, Jane)有“說不完的故事”的編集，是來自世界各地最喜歡的民間故事。“說不完的故事”並沒有一定的框架。凡是一群小動物，一次只做准其中一隻作一個動作，都可以編成說不完的故事。

 

“說不完的故事”

在傑克捷克童話有一個小小有趣的故事”孩子們都一直在等待聽這個故事的其餘部分，孩子們一直聽一個牧羊人將他擁有的許多羊從一個狹窄的橋樑，一次從這邊趕到那邊。如果聽眾不耐煩，問結束沒有，聽眾就被告知，在早晨過橋的羊還在穿越著。趕羊的人正趕一隻羊過橋，現在正轉身回頭趕另外一隻。