Picture Book 繪本故事

Words: Joe

Translator:趙 衡

Art: 靈繪童工作室

Once upon a time there lived a lonely prince. He was in want of a wife, but he could not find any princesses that he liked! Some were too boorish. Some were uncouth. Some were plain, and the rest were aloof.

從前，有一個孤獨的王子。他十分想娶一位妻子，但他始終無法找到一個自己真心喜歡的公主。那些公主有的太粗魯，有的太笨拙，有的太平庸，還有的太冷漠。

The prince was very sad. No matter how hard he tried, he could not find a real princess to be his wife. Real princesses wouldn’t talk with their mouths full. Real princesses wouldn’t burp at the table. Where were all the real princesses?

王子非常傷心。無論怎么努力，他都無法找到一個真正的公主來做自己的妻子。真正的公主不會嘴里含著食物說話，真正的公主也不會在飯桌上打嗝。但真正的公主都跑到哪里去了呢？

The Prince whined to his mother and said, “Where are all the real princesses, mum?” The queen rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulder before saying. “Don’t worry, my dear.Mark my words, one day your true love will be here.” The prince was about to retort, but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

王子向母親訴苦，說：“媽媽，真正的公主到底都去哪兒了？”王后眨了眨眼，然后聳了聳肩說：“別擔心，孩子。記住我的話，有一天你的真愛會來到你身邊的。”王子剛要反駁，一陣敲門聲打斷了他。

They opened the door and found a young girl standing there. She was drenched from head to toe, for there was a mighty storm that night. “I am a princess.” she said, “and I am in need of a rest. Could you please afford me a bed?” The prince thought she was beautiful, but he wasn’t sure if she was a real princess. The queen decided to put this young girl to a test.

他們打開門，發現門外站著一個年輕的女孩。天色已晚，外面風雨交加，女孩從頭到腳都濕透了。“我是一個公主，”她開口說道，“我需要休息，你們可以給我提供一張床嗎？”王子覺得女孩非常美麗，但他不能確定她是不是一個真正的公主。于是王后決定測試一下這個年輕的女孩。

They gave her a bed,but this bed had too many mattresses. So it was as high as a tower!And under all these mattresses, the queen put a shiny green pea.

She said to the prince, “If she feels that pea under all of these mattresses, then she must be a princess. As only a princess would be so sensitive.” The prince was up all night,biting his teeth, pacing his room, and hoping she was a real princess.

他們為她準備了一張床，上面鋪了許多床墊，多到幾乎和一座塔一樣高！在最下面的床墊下，王后放了一顆光滑的綠豌豆。她對王子說：“如果她隔著這么厚的床墊，還能感覺到這顆豌豆，那她一定是位真正的公主。因為只有真正的公主才會如此敏感。”整個夜晚，王子都緊張不已，咬著牙在房間里走來走去，內心祈禱這是一位真正的公主。

When he went down for breakfast in the morning, the girl was already sitting at the table. She looked at the prince and said,“Thank you for the bed! But I couldn’t sleep a wink! There was something hard digging into my back.” The Prince jumped for joy,and knocked over the jam jar. The girl looked confused, then smiled. She was a real princess! They were married soon after,and had a baby girl by the name of Pea.

第二天早晨，當他下樓吃早飯的時候，發現女孩已經坐在餐桌前了。她看著王子說：“謝謝你們的收留！但我幾乎整晚沒有合眼，因為有個東西一直硌著我的后背。”王子聽了高興得跳了起來，還打翻了果醬。女孩起初有些困惑，接著便笑了起來。她是個真正的公主！他們很快舉行了婚禮，不久之后，他們生了一個女兒，取名叫豆豆。

Key points

aloof 冷漠的

boorish 粗魯的

burp 打嗝

confuse 迷惑

drench 使濕透

interrupt 打斷

jam jar 果醬罐

mattress 床墊

mighty 巨大的

pace 踱步

plain 普通的

prince 王子

princess 公主

retort 反駁

sensitive 敏感的

shiny 光滑的

shrug 聳肩

uncouth 笨拙的

whine 抱怨