The Princess Who Could Not Cry
不会哭的公主
If you wanted to make someone cry without hurting him, how would you do it? A little girl in this story thought of a very funny way.
如果你想要一个人哭而又不想伤害他,那你应该怎么做呢?这则故事里的小姑娘想到了一个十分有趣的方法。
What The Wise Men Did
智者的做法
There was once a young princess who could not cry.
从前,有位年轻的公主不知道怎么哭。
That would have been all right if she had not laughed at everything.
却遇到任何事情都会笑,遇到什么事都笑。
And this was not a nice thing for any young girl to do.
这对于任何一个年轻的女孩来说肯定不是件好事。
The mother and father of the princess were so unhappy about her laughing that they asked a wise fairy to help them.
公主的妈妈和爸爸对她的笑很是苦恼,于是,请求一个聪明的小仙女来帮助他们。
The fairy thought and thought and thought.
小仙女想啊想、想啊想。
At last she said, "If the princess can only be made to cry once, she will be just like other people."
最后她说,“如果公主能哭一次的话,她就会和其他人一样了”。
Soon everyone in the king's palace was trying to think of some way to make the princess cry.
于是,皇宫里的每个人都想尽办法想让公主哭出来。
This was a very hard thing to do.
但这是一件非常难办的事。
No one wanted the young girl to be really unhappy, but she must be a little sad or she would not cry.
没人想让这个小姑娘真的不开心,但是她必须得伤心才能哭出来。
At last the king said that he would give a bag of gold to anyone who could make the princess cry without hurting her.
最后国王说,谁能让公主哭而又不伤害到她,他就给谁一袋金子。
From all over the country wise men came, to see what they could do.
于是,全国的智者都来了,他们都想看看自己能做些什么。
They were all sure that they could make the princess cry.
他们都确信自己能让公主哭出来。
The first wise man said, "The princess must be shut up in a room by herself for a week.
第一个智者说,“必须把公主自己一人关在屋里,关她一周的时间。
While she is in this room, she must be given nothing to eat but bread and water."
她在屋里的期间除了面包和水,别的什么也不要给她吃”。
To the queen this seemed very unkind, but she said that it would be all right if the princess could have bread and milk instead of just bread and water.
在王后看来这有些不近人情,但她说,要是公主能吃到面包、喝到牛奶而不只是只有面包和水的话,这应该没有什么问题。