"If only I had a little child of my own," she said, “Then, indeed, I should be quite happy."
今天我要講給大家聽的是壹個婦女的故事，她有自己的壹間小屋和壹個小花園，但她還是開心不起來。
她說，我要是有個壹丁點小的孩子該多好啊，這樣我會多麽開心啊。
And an old witch heard what the woman had wished, and said, "Oh, but that is easily managed. Here is a barley-corn. Plant it in a flower-pot and tend it carefully, and then you will see what will happen."
The woman was in a great hurry to go home and plant the barley-corn, but she did not forget to say "thank you" to the old witch. She not only thanked her, she even stayed to give her six silver pennies.
消息傳到了壹個女巫的耳朵裏，她說，哦，這好辦的很！這是壹顆大麥粒，把它種到花盆裏，然後妳就等著看會發生什麽吧。
女人趕緊跑回家種下麥粒，她沒忘對巫婆說聲謝謝，不僅如此，她還給了巫婆6個銀幣。
And what do you think happened? Almost before the corn was planted, up shot a large and beautiful flower. It was still unopened. The petals were folded closely together, but it looked like a tulip. It really was a tulip, a red and yellow one, too.
The woman loved flowers. She stooped and kissed the beautiful bud. As her lips touched the petals, they burst open, and oh! wonder of wonders! there in the very middle of the flower, there sat a little child. Such a tiny, pretty little maiden she was.
They called her Thumbelina. That was because she was no bigger than the woman?s thumb.
妳猜發生了什麽？麥粒剛種下去，壹朵美麗的大花就破土而出。這是壹朵沒開放的花，它的葉子緊緊的包在壹起，看起來像是壹朵郁金香。它真的是壹朵郁金香，而且是紅中帶黃的。
女人非常喜歡花。她彎腰在美麗的花蕾上親了壹下。她的嘴唇壹碰到花瓣，花兒立刻綻放了！噢，太美妙了！就在花的中央，坐著壹個小小孩兒！多麽小，多麽可愛的壹個少女啊！
大家叫她拇指姑娘。因為她只有壹個人的拇指那麽點大。
And where do you think she slept?
When she slept little Thumbelina lay in her cradle on a tiny heap of violets, with the petal of a pale pink rose to cover her.
And where do you think she played? A table was her playground. On the table the woman placed a plate of water. Little Thumbelina called that her lake.
Round the plate were scented flowers, the blossoms laying on the edge, while the pale green stalks reached thirstily down to the water.
妳們知道她睡在哪裏嗎？
小小拇指姑娘睡覺時躺在用紫羅蘭花瓣墊著的胡桃殼裏，蓋的是粉色玫瑰花瓣。
妳知道她又是在怎麽玩耍嗎？壹張桌子就是她玩耍的天地，女人在桌上放了壹盤子水，拇指姑娘把它叫做她的湖
盤子上擺了壹圈芳香的花兒，花朵沿著邊兒排開，而嫩綠的枝幹貪婪地伸向水中。
In the lake floated a large tulip leaf. This was Thumbelina?s little boat. Seated there she sailed from side to side of her little lake, rowing cleverly with two white horse hairs. As she rowed backwards and forwards she sang softly to herself. The woman listening hardly, and thought she had never known so sweet a song.
And now such a sad thing happened.
In through the broken window-pane hopped a big toad, oh! such an ugly big toad. She hopped right on to the table, where Thumbelina lay dreaming in her tiny cradle, under the pale pink rose leaf.
湖裏漂著壹片大郁金香葉子，這是拇指姑娘的小船。她靈巧的用兩根白馬尾做漿，把小船從湖的這頭劃到那頭。她來來回回劃船時輕輕地哼著歌兒，女人豎著耳朵聽著，她覺得從來沒聽過這麽壹首甜美的歌。
可是就在這時發生了壹件令人傷心的事。
壹只大癩蛤蟆從破窗格子裏跳了進來。天啊，多麽醜陋的壹只癩蛤蟆，她壹下子跳到桌上，拇指姑娘此刻正蓋著粉紅的玫瑰花瓣，躺在小搖籃裏做著美夢呢。
She peeped at her, this ugly toad.
"How beautiful the little maiden is," she croaked. "She will make a lovely bride for my handsome son." And she lifted the little cradle, with Thumbelina in it, and hopped out through the broken window-pane, down into the garden.
At the foot of the garden was a broad stream. Here, under the muddy banks lived the old toad with her son.
這只醜蛤蟆偷窺著她，
“呱呱，這姑娘真漂亮！正好做我那漂亮兒子的新娘！”於是她抓起拇指姑娘正睡著的小搖籃，從破窗格子跳了出去，跳進了花園。
花園底下有壹條寬寬的小溪，癩蛤蟆和她兒子就住在這泥濘的岸邊。
How handsome she thought him! But he was really very ugly. Indeed, he was exactly like his mother.
When he saw little Thumbelina in her tiny cradle, he croaked with delight.
"Do not make so much noise," said his mother, "or you will wake the tiny creature. We may lose her if we are not careful. The slightest breeze would waft her far away. She is as light as gossamer."
癩蛤蟆覺得她兒子長的好看極了，但事實上他非常醜。他和他媽簡直就是壹個模子裏鑄出來的！
當他看見小床裏的拇指姑娘時，興奮的呱呱大叫起來。
“別吵”！他媽說，“妳會把這小可愛吵醒的！我們不小心點的話會讓她跑掉的！微風都能把她吹走，她就像紗壹樣輕啊。”
Then the old toad carried Thumbelina out into the middle of the stream. "She will be safe here," she said, as she laid her gently on one of the leaves of a large water lily, and paddled back to her son.
"We will make ready the best rooms under the mud," she told him, "and then you and the little maiden will be married."
Poor little Thumbelina! She had not seen the ugly big toad yet, nor her ugly son.
When she woke up early in the morning, how she wept! Water all around her! How could she reach the shore? Poor little Thumbelina!
老蛤蟆把拇指姑娘背到河中央，“她在這裏會很安全”，她說，把她輕輕地放在壹片大睡蓮的葉子上，然後遊回到兒子身邊。
我們要在泥巴下建幾間最好的屋子，老蛤蟆說，這樣妳和她就可以結婚啦！
可憐的拇指姑娘！她還從沒見過這兩只醜癩蛤蟆啊。
拇指姑娘壹早醒來發現自己的處境後，傷心的哭泣起來，她的四周都是水！怎麽回到岸上呢？可憐的拇指姑娘啊！
Down under the mud the old toad was very busy, decking the best room with buttercups and buds of water-lilies to make it gay for her little daughter-in-law, Thumbelina.
"Now we will go to bring her little bed and place it ready," said the old toad, and together she and her son swam out to the leaf where little Thumbelina sat.
"Croak, croak," was all the young toad could say, as he looked at his pretty little bride.
地底下呢， 老癩蛤蟆正忙著用燈芯草和黃睡蓮把房間裝飾了壹番——新媳婦要住在裏面，當然應該收拾得漂亮壹點才對。
好了，現在我們要把她的小床搬來放到洞房裏，老蛤蟆說，隨後她就和她的兒子向那片托著拇指姑娘的葉子遊去。
“閣！閣！呱！呱！呱！”這位少爺看著他漂亮的小新娘所能講出的話，就只有這壹點。
Then they took away the tiny little bed, and Thumbelina was left alone.
How the tears stained her pretty little face! How fast they fell into the stream! Even the fish as they swam hither and thither thought, "How it rains to-day," as the tiny drops fell thick and fast.
They popped up their heads and saw the forlorn little maiden.
"She shall not marry the ugly toad," they said, as they looked with eager eyes at the pretty child. "No, she shall not marry the ugly toad."
But what could the little fish do to help Thumbelina?
Oh! they were such clever little fish!
They found the green stem which held the leaf on which Thumbelina sat. They bit it with their little sharp teeth, and they never stopped biting, till at last they bit the green stem through; and away, down the stream, floated the leaf, carrying with the little Thumbelina.
他們搬走了小床，把拇指姑娘壹個人留在那裏。
拇指姑娘哭花了她的小臉，眼淚滴進了小河裏。她哭得越來越傷心，眼淚滴得越來越快，遊來遊去的魚兒都在想，下大雨了呀？
他們探出小腦袋來，看見了這個可憐的小姑娘。
他們焦急的看著這麽個可人兒，大家壹致認為：她不能嫁給那個醜癩蛤蟆
但是小魚能幫上拇指姑娘什麽忙呢？
喔，他們真是聰明的小東西！
它們找到了托著那片綠葉的梗子——拇指姑娘就坐在那上面。它們用小尖牙咬那個梗子，不停地咬，直到把它咬斷為止，使得這片葉子順著水流走了，帶著拇指姑娘流走了.
Free, free!" she sang, and her voice tinkled as a chime of fairy bells. "Free, free! " she sang merrily as she floated down the stream, away, far way out of reach of the ugly old toad and her ugly son.
And as she floated on, the little wild birds sang round her, and on the banks the little wild harebells bowed to her.
Butterflies were flitting here and there in the sunshine. A pretty little white one fluttered on to the leaf on which sat Thumbelina. He loved the tiny maiden so well that he settled down beside her.
Now she was quite happy! Birds around here, flowers near her, and the water gleaming like gold in the summer sunshine. What besides could little Thumbelina wish?
自由啦，自由啦，拇指姑娘唱起歌來，歌聲像仙女的鈴鐺叮當響。自由啦，自由啦，她壹邊順著河漂流壹邊愉快地唱歌，越漂越遠，漂到癩蛤蟆夠不著她的地方。
小鳥圍繞著她唱歌，岸邊野地裏的藍鈴花也向她鞠躬。
蝴蝶在陽光下飛來飛去，壹只很可愛的白蝴蝶飛落到拇指姑娘坐著的葉子上來，它是那麽喜歡拇指姑娘於是它停在了她的身邊。
拇指姑娘真是太開心了！小鳥兒在旁邊飛，花兒也陪伴她左右，河水在夏日陽光的照耀下閃爍著金光。除此之外小小拇指姑娘還賒求什麽呢？
She took off her sash and threw one end of it round the butterfly. The other end she fastened firmly to the leaf. On and on floated the leaf, the little maiden and the butterfly.
Suddenly a great cockchafer buzzed along. Alas! he caught sight of little Thumbelina. He flew to her, put his claw round her tiny waist and carried her off, up on to a tree.
Poor little Thumbelina! How frightened she was! How grieved she was, too. Would he fly away, she wondered, or would her sash hold him fast?
她解下腰帶，把壹端系在蝴蝶身上，把另壹端緊緊地系在葉子上。葉子帶著拇指姑娘壹起很快地在水上流走了。
突然壹只很大的金龜子嗡嗡嗡飛過。哎呀，他看到了她。他飛向她，用爪子抓住她纖細的腰，把她帶到壹棵樹上去了。
可憐的拇指姑娘！她是多麽地害怕！她又是多麽地傷心！他飛走了沒有？腰帶會不會把他系的太緊了？
The cockchafer was charmed with the little maiden. He placed her tenderly on the largest leaf he could find. He gathered honey for her from the flowers, and as she sipped it, he sat near and told her how beautiful she looked.
But there were other chafers living in the tree, and when they came to see little Thumbelina, they said, "She is not pretty at all."
"She only has two legs," said one.
"She has no feelers," said another.
Some said she was too thin, others said she was too fat, and then they all buzzed and hummed together, "How ugly she is, how ugly she is!" But all the time little Thumbelina was the prettiest, daintiest little maiden that ever lived.
金龜子為這個小少女而傾倒，他溫柔地把她放在最大的壹片葉子上，還取出蜜糖給她吃，她吸吮著蜜糖，他坐在旁邊告訴她是多麽漂亮。
樹林裏還住著其它金龜子，他們都跑來看拇指姑娘，“呦，她長的壹點都不好看吶。”
有壹個說：“她不過只有兩條腿罷了！”
“她連觸須都沒有！”另壹個說。
他們七嘴八舌，有的說她太瘦了，有的說她太胖了， 然後所有的金龜子壹齊叫道，“她多麽醜啊！太醜了！”但不管怎麽說拇指姑娘確實是這個世界上最美麗，最嬌艷的姑娘。
And now the cockchafer who had flown off with little Thumbelina thought he had been rather foolish to admire her.
He looked at her again. "Pretty? No, after all she was not very pretty." He would have nothing to do with her, and away he and all the other chafers flew. Only first they carried little Thumbelina down from the tree and placed her on a daisy. She wept because she was so ugly - so ugly that the chafers could not live with her. But all the time, you know, she was the prettiest little maiden in the world.
於是現在呢，金龜子覺得自己崇拜她真是太傻了，他再仔細端詳她，真的很美嗎？不，並不是很美。他再也沒興趣為她做任何事情了，他和其他金龜子壹起飛走了。他們帶著她從樹上飛下來，把她放在壹朵雛菊上面。她在那上面哭得怪傷心的，因為她長得那麽醜，連金龜子也不要她了。可是她仍然是人們所想象不到的壹個最美麗的人兒。