皇帝的新裝

◎ 田 甜//譯

皇帝的新裝

◎ 田 甜//譯

The Emperor’s New Clothes

“We shall be much obliged to you.” said the impostors， and then they named the different colors and described the pattern of the pretended stuff．The old minister listened attentively to their words，in order that he might repeat them to the Emperor；and then the knaves asked for more silk and gold，saying that it was necessary to complete what they had begun．However，they put all that was given them into their knapsacks； and continued to work with as much apparent diligence as before at their empty looms．

The Emperor now sent another officer of his court to see how the men were getting on，and to ascertain whether the cloth would soon be ready．It was just the same with this gentleman as with the minister；he surveyed the looms on all sides，but could see nothing at all but the empty frames．

“Does not the stuff appear as beautiful to you，as it did to my lord the minister？”asked the impostors of the Emperor’s second ambassador；at the same time making the same gestures as before，and talking of the design and colors which were not there．

“I certainly am not stupid！”thought the messenger．“It must be，that I am not fit for my good，profitable office！That is very odd；however，no one shall know anything about it．”And accordingly he praised the stuff he could not see，and declared that he was delighted with both colors and patterns．

“Indeed，please your Imperial Majesty，”said he to his sovereign when he returned，“the cloth which the weavers are preparing is extraordinarily magnificent．”

The whole city was talking of the splendid cloth which the Emperor had ordered to be woven at his own expense．

（To be continued…）

譯文

“嗯，我們聽到您的話真高興。”兩個織工一起說。他們把這些稀有的色彩和花紋描述了一番，還加上些名詞。這位老大臣全神貫注地聽著，以便回到皇帝那里去時，可以照樣背得出來。事實上他也就這樣辦了。

這兩個騙子又要了更多的錢、絲和金子，他們說這是為了織布的需要。他們把這些東西全裝進自己的腰包里，連一根線也沒有放到織機上去。不過他們還是繼續在空空的機架上工作。

“您看這段布美不美？”兩個騙子問。他們指著一些美麗的花紋，并且作了一些解釋。事實上什么花紋也沒有。

過了不久，皇帝派了另一位誠實的官員去看看布是不是很快就可以織好。他的運氣并不比頭一位大臣的好——他看了又看，但是那兩架空空的織機上什么也沒有，他什么東西也看不出來。

“我并不愚蠢！”這位官員想，“這大概是因為我不配擔當現在這樣好的官職吧？這也真夠滑稽，但是我決不能讓人看出來！”因此他就把他完全沒有看見的布稱贊了一番，同時對他們說，他非常喜歡這些美麗的顏色和巧妙的花紋。“是的，那真是太美了。”他回去對皇帝說。

城里所有的人都在談論這美麗的布料。

（未完待續）

注釋

oblige迫使；強制

impostors騙子；冒充者

describe描述，描寫

pattern圖案

pretend假裝，偽裝

stuff東西；材料

minister部長；大臣

attentively注意地；聚精會神地

repeat重復

knaves無賴；流氓

silk絲綢

complete完成

knapsacks背包

apparent顯然的；表面上的

diligence勤奮，勤勉

court法院

ascertain確定；查明

survey調查；俯視

frames框架

ambassador大使；代表

gestures手勢，姿態

profitable有利可圖的；賺錢的

declare宣布，聲明

delight高興；快樂

sovereign君主

magnificent高尚的；壯麗的

splendid輝煌的

woven機織織物

expense損失，代價