奧列.路卻埃(四)

THURSDAY

“I tell you what，”said Ole Luk-Oie，“you must not be frightened．Here you shall see a little Mouse，”and he held out his hand with the pretty little creature in it．“It has come to invite you to a wedding．There are two little Mice here who are going to enter into the marriage statetonight．They live under the floor of your mother’s storecloset：that is said to be a charming dwelling-place!”

“But how can I get through the little mouse-hole in the floor?”asked Hjalmar．

“Let me manage that，”said Ole Luk-Oie．“I will make you small．”

And he touched Hjalmar with his magic squirt，and the boy began to shrink and shrink，until he was not so long as a finger．

“Now you may borrow the uniform of a tin soldier. I think it would fit you，and it looks well to wear a uniform when one is in society．”

“Yes，certainly，”said Hjalmar．

And in a moment he was dressed like the smartest of tin soldiers．

“Will you not be kind enough to take a seat in your mamma’s thimble?”asked the Mouse．“Then I shall have the honour of drawing you．”

“Will the young lady really take so much trouble？”cried Hjalmar．

And thus they drove to the mouse's wedding． First they came into a long passage beneath the boards，which was only just so high that they could drive through it in the thimble；and the whole passage was lit up with rotten wood．

“Is there not a delicious smell here?”observed the Mouse．“The entire road has been greased with bacon rinds，and there can be nothing more exquisite．”

Now they came into the festive hall．On the right hand stood all the little lady mice；and they whispered and giggled as if they were making fun of each other；on the left stood all the gentlemen mice，stroking their whiskers with their fore paws；and in the centre of the hall the bridegroom and bride might be seen standing in a hollow cheese rind，and kissing each other terribly before all the guests；for of course they were engaged，and were just about to be married．

More and more strangers kept flocking in．One mouse was nearly treading another to death；and the happy couple had stationed themselves just in the doorway，so that one could neither come in nor go out．Like the passage，the room had been greased with bacon rinds，and that was the entire banquet；but for the dessert a pea was produced，in which a mouse belonging to the family had bitten the name of the betrothed pair—that is to say，the first letter of the name；that was something quite out of the common way．

All the mice said it was a beautiful wedding，and that the entertainment had been very agreeable．And then Hjalmar drove home again；he had really been in grand company；but he had been obliged to shrink in，to make himself little，and to put on a tin soldier’s uniform．

FRIDAY

“It is wonderful how many grown-up people there are who would be glad to have me!” said Ole Luk-Oie；“especially those who have done something wrong.‘Good little Ole，’they say to me，‘we cannot close our eyes，and so we lie all night and see our evil deeds，which sit on the bedstead like ugly little goblins，and throw hot water over us；will you not come and drive them away，so that we may have a good sleep?’—and then they sigh deeply—‘we would really be glad to pay for it． Good night，Ole；the money lies on the window sill．’But I do nothing for money，”says Ole Luk-Oie．

“What shall we do this evening?”asked Hjalmar．

“I don't know if you care to go to another wedding tonight． It is of a different kind from that of yesterday．Your sister’s great doll，that looks like a man，and is called Hermann，is going to marry the doll Bertha． Moreover，it is the doll's birthday，and therefore they will receive very many presents．”

“Yes，I know that，”replied Hjalmar．“Whenever the dolls want new clothes my sister lets them either keep their birthday or celebrate a wedding；that has certainly happened a hundred times already．”

“Yes，but tonight is the hundred and first wedding；and when number one hundred and one is past，it is all over；and that is why it will be so splendid． Only look!”（To be continued）

星期四

“我告訴你，”奧列·路卻埃說，“你不必驚慌。你馬上會看見一只小老鼠。”他伸出手，手上有一只可愛的小老鼠。“它是來請你參加婚禮的。今晚，有兩只小老鼠要結為夫妻。它們住在你媽媽儲藏室的地下。那可是個舒適的住處呀!”

“但我怎么能鉆進地下的小鼠洞呢？”哈爾馬問。

“讓我來想辦法，”奧列·路卻埃說，“我來把你變小。”

他噴了一口魔奶在哈爾馬身上，小家伙一點點縮了下去，最后變得只有手指那么大。

“現在，你得借錫兵的制服穿了。我想你穿上會很合身。在社交場合，穿制服是很漂亮的。”

“對，肯定的啦。”哈爾馬說。

轉眼之間，他就穿戴得像個最精神的錫兵了。

“您能賞光，坐在我媽媽的頂針上嗎？”那只老鼠說，“那樣，我就能榮幸地拉您走了。”

“這位年輕的女士真的不怕麻煩嗎?”哈爾馬叫了起來，

于是，老鼠就拉著他一起去參加婚禮。他們先來到柜子下一條長長的通道。通道的高度，正好能拉著頂針通過。整個通道里都用柴禾照亮了。

“這兒的味道不是很好聞嗎?”小老鼠說，“整條路都用烤肉皮擦過了，沒有比這更好的啦。”

現在他們來到了婚禮大廳。右邊站的全是老鼠女士，它們嘰嘰喳喳的，好像是互相逗樂；左邊站的全是老鼠先生，它們用前爪撓著自己的胡子；大廳中央是新郎新娘，它們站在一個掏空了的奶酪外殼上，在所有的客人面前瘋狂地親吻。當然，它們是訂了婚的，正要舉行婚禮。

越來越多的客人涌進來。一只老鼠差點把另一只踩死。快樂的夫妻站在門口，搞得人們進出不得。像通道一樣，房間里也是用烤肉皮擦過的，這些肉皮就是它們晚宴的所有吃食了。不過還有一粒豌豆做的甜點，這個家庭的一只老鼠在上面咬出了這對夫妻的名字——當然，就是它們名字的頭一個字母。這可算是出了個新招兒。

所有的老鼠都說，這是個美麗的婚禮，招待晚宴也很合口味。然后，哈爾馬就坐著頂針回家了。他確實參加了一個盛大的宴會，但他不得不縮小，讓自己變成一點點，再穿上錫兵的制服。

星期五

“真是奇怪，多少成年人也想得到我呀!”奧列·路卻埃說，“特別是那些做了錯事的人，‘好心的奧列’，他們對我說，‘我們不能閉上眼睛睡覺，只好整夜躺著，看自己做的壞事。它們像小鬼一樣，坐在我們的床頭，還朝我們身上潑開水。您能來把它們趕走嗎？好讓我們也睡個好覺呀。’——然后他們深深地嘆口氣——‘我們愿意報答你。晚安，奧列。錢都放在窗欞上了。’但我做事可不是為了要錢。”奧列·路卻埃說。

“今晚我們干什么呀?”哈爾馬問。

“不知道你是不是還想參加一個婚禮。這個婚禮和昨天的可不一樣。你妹妹的大玩具娃娃，看上去像個男的，名字叫赫曼。他要和另一個玩具娃娃貝爾達結婚。而且，今天是這個玩具娃娃的生日，所以他們會收到很多禮物。”

“是的，我知道，”哈爾馬說，“只要這些玩具娃娃想要新衣服，我妹妹就讓它們過生日，或者舉行婚禮。這種事已經發生過上百次了。”

“是的，但今晚是一百零一次婚禮。當這一百零一次過后，就不會再有了。這就是為什么這次婚禮特別豪華的原因。你瞧瞧吧!

(未完待續)