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第153章

安徒生童话-第153章

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it was beyondmy prehension; but it led me to think that if we men can acquire somuch; we must surely be intended to last longer than the little spanwhich extends only to the time when we are hidden away under theearth。 His experiments were quite miracles on a small scale; and yetthe explanations flowed as naturally as water from his lips。 At thetime of Moses and the prophets; such a man would have been placedamong the sages of the land; in the middle ages they would haveburnt him at the stake。

〃All night long I could not sleep; and the next evening when Igave another performance and the lecturer was present; I was in one ofmy best moods。

〃I once heard of an actor; who; when he had to act the part of alover; always thought of one particular lady in the audience; heonly played for her; and forgot all the rest of the house; and now thePolytechnic lecturer was my she; my only auditor; for whom alone Iplayed。

〃When the performance was over; and the puppets removed behind thecurtain; the Polytechnic lecturer invited me into his room to take aglass of wine。 He talked of my edies; and I of his science; and Ibelieve we were both equally pleased。 But I had the best of it; forthere was much in what he did that he could not always explain tome。 For instance; why a piece of iron which is rubbed on a cylinder;should bee magic。 How does this happen? The magic sparks eto it;… but how? It is the same with people in the world; they arerubbed about on this spherical globe till the electric spark esupon them; and then we have a Napoleon; or a Luther; or some one ofthe kind。

〃'The whole world is but a series of miracles;' said the lecturer;'but we are so accustomed to them that we call them everyday matters。'And he went on explaining things to me till my skull seemed liftedfrom my brain; and I declared that were I not such an old fellow; Iwould at once bee a member of the Polytechnic Institution; that Imight learn to look at the bright side of everything; although I wasone of the happiest of men。

〃'One of the happiest!' said the lecturer; as if the ideapleased him; 'are you really happy?'

〃'Yes;' I replied; 'for I am weled in every town; when I arrivewith my pany; but I certainly have one wish which sometimesweighs upon my cheerful temper like a mountain of lead。 I shouldlike to bee the manager of a real theatre; and the director of areal troupe of men and women。'

〃'I understand;' he said; 'you would like to have life breathedinto your puppets; so that they might be living actors; and youtheir director。 And would you then be quite happy?'

〃I said I believed so。 But he did not; and we talked it over inall manner of ways; yet could not agree on the subject。 However; thewine was excellent; and we clanked our glasses together as we drank。There must have been magic in it; or I should most certainly beetipsy; but that did not happen; for my mind seemed quite clear; and;indeed; a kind of sunshine filled the room; and beamed from the eyesof the Polytechnic lecturer。 It made me think of the old storieswhen the gods; in their immortal youth; wandered upon this earth;and paid visits to mankind。 I said so to him; and he smiled; and Icould have sworn that he was one of these ancient deities in disguise;or; at all events; that he belonged to the race of the gods。 Theresult seemed to prove I was right in my suspicions; for it wasarranged that my highest wish should be granted; that my puppetswere to be gifted with life; and that I was to be the manager of areal pany。 We drank to my success; and clanked our glasses。 Then hepacked all my dolls into the box; and fastened it on my back; and Ifelt as if I were spinning round in a circle; and presently foundmyself lying on the floor。 I remember that quite well。 And then thewhole pany sprang from the box。 The spirit had e upon us all;the puppets had bee distinguished actors… at least; so they saidthemselves… and I was their director。

〃When all was ready for the first representation; the wholepany requested permission to speak to me before appearing inpublic。 The dancing lady said the house could not be supportedunless she stood on one leg; for she was a great genius; and begged tobe treated as such。 The lady who acted the part of the queenexpected to be treated as a queen off the stage; as well as on it;or else she said she should get out of practice。 The man whose duty itwas to deliver a letter gave himself as many airs as he who took thepart of first lover in the piece; he declared that the inferiorparts were as important as the great ones; and deserving equalconsideration; as parts of an artistic whole。 The hero of the piecewould only play in a part containing points likely to bring down theapplause of the house。 The 'prima donna' would only act when thelights were red; for she declared that a blue light did not suit herplexion。 It was like a pany of flies in a bottle; and I was inthe bottle with them; for I was their director。 My breath was takenaway; my head whirled; and I was as miserable as a man could be。 Itwas quite a novel; strange set of beings among whom I now foundmyself。 I only wished I had them all in my box again; and that I hadnever been their director。 So I told them roundly that; after all;they were nothing but puppets; and then they killed me。 After awhile I found myself lying on my bed in my room; but how I gotthere; or how I got away at all from the Polytechnic professor; he mayperhaps know; I don't。 The moon shone upon the floor; the box layopen; and the dolls were all scattered about in great confusion; but Iwas not idle。 I jumped off the bed; and into the box they all had togo; some on their heads; some on their feet。 Then I shut down the lid;and seated myself upon the box。 'Now you'll have to stay;' said I;'and I shall be cautious how I wish you flesh and blood again。'

〃I felt quite light; my cheerfulness had returned; and I was thehappiest of mortals。 The Polytechnic professor had fully cured me。 Iwas as happy as a king; and went to sleep on the box。 Next morning…correctly speaking; it was noon; for I slept remarkably late that day…I found myself still sitting there; in happy consciousness that myformer wish had been a foolish one。 I inquired for the Polytechnicprofessor; but he had disappeared like the Greek and Roman gods;from that time I have been the happiest man in the world。 I am a happydirector; for none of my pany ever grumble; nor the publiceither; for I always make them merry。 I can arrange my pieces justas I please。 I choose out of every edy what I like best; and no oneis offended。 Plays that are neglected now…a…days by the great publicwere ran after thirty years ago; and listened to till the tears randown the cheeks of the audience。 These are the pieces I bring forward。I place them before the little ones; who cry over them as papa andmamma used to cry thirty years ago。 But I make them shorter; for theyoungsters don't like long speeches; and if they have anythingmournful; they like it to be over quickly。〃

THE END。

  1872

 FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN

   THE RACES

   by Hans Christian Andersen

A PRIZE; or rather two prizes; a great one and a small one; hadbeen awarded for the greatest swiftness in running;… not in a singlerace; but for the whole year。

〃I obtained the first prize;〃 said the hare。 〃Justice must stillbe carried out; even when one has relations and good friends among theprize mittee; but that the snail should have received the secondprize; I consider almost an insult to myself〃

〃No;〃 said the fence…rail; who had been a witness at thedistribution of prizes; 〃there should be some consideration forindustry and perseverance。 I have heard many respectable people sayso; and I can quite understand it。 The snail certainly took half ayear to get over the threshold of the door; but he injured himself;and broke his collar…bone by the haste he made。 He gave himself upentirely to the race; and ran with his house on his back; which wasall; of course; very praiseworthy; and therefore he obtained thesecond prize。〃

〃I think I ought to have had some consideration too;〃 said theswallow。 〃I should imagine no one can be swifter in soaring and flightthan I am; and how far I have been! far; far away。〃

〃Yes; that is your misfortune;〃 said the fence…rail; 〃you are sofickle; so unsettled; you must always be travelling about into foreignlands when the cold mences here。 You have no love of fatherlandin you。 There can be no consideration for you。〃

〃But now; if I have been lying the whole winter in the moor;〃 saidthe swallow; 〃and suppose I slept the whole time; would that betaken into account?〃

〃Bring a certificate from the old moor…hen;〃 said he; 〃that youhave slept away half your time in fatherland; then you will be treatedwith some consideration。〃

〃I deserved the first prize; and not the second;〃 said thesnail。 〃I know so much; at least; that the hare only ran fromcowardice; and because he thought there was danger in delay。 I; on theother hand; made running the business of my life; and have bee acripple in the service。 If any one had a first prize; it ought to havebeen myself。 But I do not understand chattering and boasting; on thecontrary; I despise it。〃 And the snail spat at them with contempt。

〃I am able to affirm with word

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