There was once an old castle, that stood in the middle of a deep gloomy wood, and in the castle lived an old fairy. Now this fairy could take any shape she pleased. All the day long she flew about in the form of an owl, or crept about the country like a cat; but at night she always became an old woman again. When any young man came within a hundred paces of her castle, he became quite fixed, and could not move a step till she came and set him free; which she would not do till he had given her his word never to come there again: but when any pretty maiden came within that space she was changed into a bird, and the fairy put her into a cage, and hung her up in a chamber in the castle. There were seven hundred of these cages hanging in the castle, and all with beautiful birds in them.
从前有一座古老的城堡，矗立在一片幽深阴森的森林中央，城堡里住着一位老仙女。这位仙女可以随心所欲地变换形态。白天她化作猫头鹰四处飞翔，或像猫一样在乡间爬行；但到了夜晚，她总会变回一位老妇人的模样。任何年轻男子只要走到离她的城堡一百步以内，就会立刻动弹不得，直到她前来解救才能脱身；而她绝不会轻易释放他，除非他发誓永远不再踏足此地。然而，若有美丽的少女进入这个范围，她就会被变成一只鸟，被仙女关进笼中，悬挂在城堡的一间屋子里。城堡里挂着七百个这样的笼子，每个笼子里都关着美丽的鸟儿。
Now there was once a maiden whose name was Jorinda. She was prettier than all the pretty girls that ever were seen before, and a shepherd lad, whose name was Jorindel, was very fond of her, and they were soon to be married. One day they went to walk in the wood, that they might be alone; and Jorindel said, ‘We must take care that we don’t go too near to the fairy’s castle.’ It was a beautiful evening; the last rays of the setting sun shone bright through the long stems of the trees upon the green underwood beneath, and the turtle-doves sang from the tall birches.
从前有一位名叫乔林达的少女，她比所有见过的姑娘都要美丽动人；一位名叫乔林德尔的牧羊少年非常爱慕她，两人很快就要结婚了。有一天，他们去森林里散步，希望能独处片刻；乔林德尔说：‘我们必须小心，千万别太靠近那位仙女的城堡。’那是一个美丽的傍晚，夕阳的余晖透过修长的树干，明亮地洒在下方翠绿的灌木丛上，斑鸠在高高的白桦树上鸣叫。
Jorinda sat down to gaze upon the sun; Jorindel sat by her side; and both felt sad, they knew not why; but it seemed as if they were to be parted from one another for ever. They had wandered a long way; and when they looked to see which way they should go home, they found themselves at a loss to know what path to take.
乔林达坐下凝望落日，乔林德尔坐在她身旁；两人都感到莫名的悲伤，却不知为何；仿佛他们即将永远分离。他们已走了很远，当想要辨认回家的方向时，却发现完全迷失了路径，不知该走哪条路。
The sun was setting fast, and already half of its circle had sunk behind the hill: Jorindel on a sudden looked behind him, and saw through the bushes that they had, without knowing it, sat down close under the old walls of the castle. Then he shrank for fear, turned pale, and trembled. Jorinda was just singing,
太阳正迅速西沉，半个圆轮已隐没在山后；乔林德尔忽然回头，透过灌木丛看见他们不知不觉间竟坐在了古老城堡的墙根下。他顿时吓得退缩，脸色苍白，浑身颤抖。乔林达正在歌唱，
‘The ring-dove sang from the willow spray, Well-a-day! Well-a-day! He mourn’d for the fate of his darling mate, Well-a-day!’
柳枝上，斑鸠在歌唱：'唉呀！唉呀！他为心爱伴侣的命运哀悼，唉呀！'
when her song stopped suddenly. Jorindel turned to see the reason, and beheld his Jorinda changed into a nightingale, so that her song ended with a mournful _jug, jug_. An owl with fiery eyes flew three times round them, and three times screamed:
她的歌声突然停歇。约林德尔转身查看缘由，只见乔琳达已变成一只夜莺，她的歌声以悲凉的'咕咕'声戛然而止。一只目光灼灼的猫头鹰在他们周围飞了三圈，又尖叫了三声：
‘Tu whu! Tu whu! Tu whu!’
'图呼！图呼！图呼！'
Jorindel could not move; he stood fixed as a stone, and could neither weep, nor speak, nor stir hand or foot. And now the sun went quite down; the gloomy night came; the owl flew into a bush; and a moment after the old fairy came forth pale and meagre, with staring eyes, and a nose and chin that almost met one another.
约林德尔动弹不得，他像石头般僵立在那里，既不能哭泣，也不能言语，连手脚都无法移动。此刻太阳完全落下，阴郁的夜幕降临；猫头鹰飞进灌木丛；片刻之后，那位老仙女面色苍白、身形消瘦地走了出来，双眼圆睁，鼻子和下巴几乎快要碰在一起。
She mumbled something to herself, seized the nightingale, and went away with it in her hand. Poor Jorindel saw the nightingale was gone--but what could he do? He could not speak, he could not move from the spot where he stood. At last the fairy came back and sang with a hoarse voice:
她低声嘟囔着，一把抓住夜莺，便拿着它离开了。可怜的约林德尔发现夜莺不见了——可他又能怎么办呢？他无法说话，也无法从站立的地方挪动分毫。最后，仙女回来了，用沙哑的嗓音唱道：
‘Till the prisoner is fast, And her doom is cast, There stay! Oh, stay! When the charm is around her, And the spell has bound her, Hie away! away!’
“直到囚徒被牢牢锁住，命运已定，你须停留！哦，停留！当咒语将她环绕，魔咒将她束缚，快逃吧！快逃！”
On a sudden Jorindel found himself free. Then he fell on his knees before the fairy, and prayed her to give him back his dear Jorinda: but she laughed at him, and said he should never see her again; then she went her way.
突然，约林德尔发现自己重获自由。他随即跪在仙女面前，恳求她归还自己亲爱的约琳达；可仙女却嘲笑他，说他再也见不到她了，随后便离去。
He prayed, he wept, he sorrowed, but all in vain. ‘Alas!’ he said, ‘what will become of me?’ He could not go back to his own home, so he went to a strange village, and employed himself in keeping sheep. Many a time did he walk round and round as near to the hated castle as he dared go, but all in vain; he heard or saw nothing of Jorinda.
他祈祷，他哭泣，他悲痛，但一切徒劳无功。“唉！”他说，“我该怎么办？”他无法回到自己的家，于是来到一个陌生的村庄，靠放羊为生。他无数次鼓起勇气，在恨之入骨的城堡附近徘徊，却一无所获；既听不到也看不到约琳达的任何消息。
At last he dreamt one night that he found a beautiful purple flower, and that in the middle of it lay a costly pearl; and he dreamt that he plucked the flower, and went with it in his hand into the castle, and that everything he touched with it was disenchanted, and that there he found his Jorinda again.
终于，有一天夜里他梦见自己发现了一朵美丽的紫色花朵，花心处藏着一颗珍贵的珍珠；他梦见自己摘下那朵花，手持它走进城堡，凡是被它触碰到的东西都解除了魔法，并且在那里他再次找到了乔林达。
In the morning when he awoke, he began to search over hill and dale for this pretty flower; and eight long days he sought for it in vain: but on the ninth day, early in the morning, he found the beautiful purple flower; and in the middle of it was a large dewdrop, as big as a costly pearl. Then he plucked the flower, and set out and travelled day and night, till he came again to the castle.
第二天清晨醒来后，他便开始翻山越岭寻找这朵漂亮的花；整整八天他徒劳地搜寻无果；但到了第九天清晨，他终于发现了那朵美丽的紫色花朵，花心处有一颗硕大的露珠，大如珍贵的珍珠。于是他摘下花朵，日夜兼程，再次来到城堡前。
He walked nearer than a hundred paces to it, and yet he did not become fixed as before, but found that he could go quite close up to the door. Jorindel was very glad indeed to see this. Then he touched the door with the flower, and it sprang open; so that he went in through the court, and listened when he heard so many birds singing. At last he came to the chamber where the fairy sat, with the seven hundred birds singing in the seven hundred cages. When she saw Jorindel she was very angry, and screamed with rage; but she could not come within two yards of him, for the flower he held in his hand was his safeguard. He looked around at the birds, but alas! there were many, many nightingales, and how then should he find out which was his Jorinda? While he was thinking what to do, he saw the fairy had taken down one of the cages, and was making the best of her way off through the door. He ran or flew after her, touched the cage with the flower, and Jorinda stood before him, and threw her arms round his neck looking as beautiful as ever, as beautiful as when they walked together in the wood.
他走近到距城堡不足百步之处，却并未像从前那样被定住，反而发现可以一直走到门前。乔林德尔见状欣喜万分。随后他用那朵花触碰门扉，大门应声而开；他穿过庭院，听见无数鸟儿在歌唱。最终他来到一间屋子，那里坐着女巫，七百名鸟笼中关着七百只正在鸣唱的鸟儿。女巫见到乔林德尔勃然大怒，尖叫着狂躁不已，但她无法靠近他两码之内，因为他手中握着的花朵是他的护身符。他环顾四周的鸟儿，唉！其中有许多夜莺，他又该如何认出哪一只才是乔林达呢？正当他思索对策时，看见女巫已取下一只鸟笼，正匆匆从门口离去。他飞奔追赶，用花朵触碰鸟笼，乔林达便出现在他面前，双臂环住他的脖颈，依旧美丽动人，宛如昔日他们在林中漫步时的模样。
Then he touched all the other birds with the flower, so that they all took their old forms again; and he took Jorinda home, where they were married, and lived happily together many years: and so did a good many other lads, whose maidens had been forced to sing in the old fairy’s cages by themselves, much longer than they liked.
随后他用花朵触碰其余所有的鸟儿，它们都恢复了原本的模样；他将乔林达带回家，两人举行了婚礼，幸福地共同生活了许多年；许多其他青年也是如此，他们的未婚妻曾被女巫强行关在笼中歌唱，忍受的时间远比她们愿意的还要漫长。