A poor woodman sat in his cottage one night, smoking his pipe by the fireside, while his wife sat by his side spinning. ‘How lonely it is, wife,’ said he, as he puffed out a long curl of smoke, ‘for you and me to sit here by ourselves, without any children to play about and amuse us while other people seem so happy and merry with their children!’ ‘What you say is very true,’ said the wife, sighing, and turning round her wheel; ‘how happy should I be if I had but one child! If it were ever so small--nay, if it were no bigger than my thumb--I should be very happy, and love it dearly.’ Now--odd as you may think it--it came to pass that this good woman’s wish was fulfilled, just in the very way she had wished it; for, not long afterwards, she had a little boy, who was quite healthy and strong, but was not much bigger than my thumb. So they said, ‘Well, we cannot say we have not got what we wished for, and, little as he is, we will love him dearly.’ And they called him Thomas Thumb.
一个贫穷的樵夫在一个夜晚坐在自己的小屋里，在炉火旁抽着烟斗，他的妻子则坐在他身旁纺纱。‘妻子啊，’他吐出一缕长长的烟圈后说道，‘我们俩独自坐在这里，没有孩子在一旁玩耍逗乐，而别人家似乎都因有孩子而如此快乐幸福，这多么孤单啊！’‘你说得极是，’妻子叹了口气，一边转动纺车一边回应道，‘要是我有个孩子该多好！哪怕它再小——不，哪怕只有拇指那么大——我也会非常开心，并深深地爱着它。’如今——尽管你可能觉得奇怪——这位善良妇人的愿望竟真的以她所期盼的方式实现了：不久之后，她生了一个小男孩，健康强壮，但个头却只和我的拇指差不多大。于是他们说：‘好吧，我们确实得到了所求之物，虽然孩子很小，但我们仍会深深地爱他。’他们给他取名为拇指汤姆。
They gave him plenty of food, yet for all they could do he never grew bigger, but kept just the same size as he had been when he was born. Still, his eyes were sharp and sparkling, and he soon showed himself to be a clever little fellow, who always knew well what he was about.
他们给了他充足的食物，但无论他们如何努力，他始终没有长大，一直保持出生时的大小。不过，他的眼睛明亮而锐利，很快便展现出他是一个聪明的小家伙，总是清楚自己在做什么。
One day, as the woodman was getting ready to go into the wood to cut fuel, he said, ‘I wish I had someone to bring the cart after me, for I want to make haste.’ ‘Oh, father,’ cried Tom, ‘I will take care of that; the cart shall be in the wood by the time you want it.’ Then the woodman laughed, and said, ‘How can that be? you cannot reach up to the horse’s bridle.’ ‘Never mind that, father,’ said Tom; ‘if my mother will only harness the horse, I will get into his ear and tell him which way to go.’ ‘Well,’ said the father, ‘we will try for once.’
有一天，樵夫正准备进树林砍柴时说道：‘我真希望有人能帮我拉车，因为我想快点。’汤姆喊道：‘哦，父亲，我会照看的；等您需要时，车子就会在树林里了。’于是樵夫笑了，说：‘这怎么可能？你够不着马的缰绳啊。’‘没关系，父亲，’汤姆说，‘只要母亲把马套好，我就钻进马耳朵里告诉它该往哪个方向走。’‘好吧，’父亲说，‘我们就试一次吧。’
When the time came the mother harnessed the horse to the cart, and put Tom into his ear; and as he sat there the little man told the beast how to go, crying out, ‘Go on!’ and ‘Stop!’ as he wanted: and thus the horse went on just as well as if the woodman had driven it himself into the wood. It happened that as the horse was going a little too fast, and Tom was calling out, ‘Gently! gently!’ two strangers came up. ‘What an odd thing that is!’ said one: ‘there is a cart going along, and I hear a carter talking to the horse, but yet I can see no one.’ ‘That is queer, indeed,’ said the other; ‘let us follow the cart, and see where it goes.’ So they went on into the wood, till at last they came to the place where the woodman was. Then Tom Thumb, seeing his father, cried out, ‘See, father, here I am with the cart, all right and safe! now take me down!’ So his father took hold of the horse with one hand, and with the other took his son out of the horse’s ear, and put him down upon a straw, where he sat as merry as you please.
到了时候，母亲把马套上马车，把汤姆放进马耳朵里。他坐在里面，像个小人儿一样指挥着马匹，喊着‘走！’和‘停！’，完全按照他的意愿行事。于是那匹马走得就像木匠亲自赶车进树林一样顺利。正巧，马走得稍快了些，汤姆便喊道：‘慢点！慢点！’这时来了两个陌生人。其中一人说：‘真奇怪！有一辆马车在走，我听见赶车的人在跟马说话，却看不见人。’另一人也说：‘这确实稀奇，我们跟着马车，看看它要去哪里。’于是他们一路走进树林，直到最后来到木匠所在的地方。汤姆看见父亲，便喊道：‘看，父亲，我在这里，马车一切安好！现在把我放下来吧！’父亲便用一只手拉住马，另一只手从马耳朵里把儿子拿出来，放在一堆稻草上。他坐在那里，快活极了。
The two strangers were all this time looking on, and did not know what to say for wonder. At last one took the other aside, and said, ‘That little urchin will make our fortune, if we can get him, and carry him about from town to town as a show; we must buy him.’ So they went up to the woodman, and asked him what he would take for the little man. ‘He will be better off,’ said they, ‘with us than with you.’ ‘I won’t sell him at all,’ said the father; ‘my own flesh and blood is dearer to me than all the silver and gold in the world.’ But Tom, hearing of the bargain they wanted to make, crept up his father’s coat to his shoulder and whispered in his ear, ‘Take the money, father, and let them have me; I’ll soon come back to you.’
这两位陌生人一直在一旁看着，惊讶得不知该说什么好。最后，其中一人把另一人拉到一旁说：‘这个小淘气如果能弄到手，带他到各个城镇去展览，准能让我们发财；我们必须买下他。’于是他们走到樵夫面前，问他愿意要多少钱才肯卖那小人儿。‘跟着我们，他会过得更好，’他们说。‘我绝不卖他，’父亲回答，‘我的亲生骨肉比世界上所有的金银都珍贵。’汤姆听到他们想做的交易，便顺着父亲的衣襟爬到他的肩膀上，在他耳边低语：‘收下钱吧，父亲，让他们带我走；我会很快回到您身边的。’
So the woodman at last said he would sell Tom to the strangers for a large piece of gold, and they paid the price. ‘Where would you like to sit?’ said one of them. ‘Oh, put me on the rim of your hat; that will be a nice gallery for me; I can walk about there and see the country as we go along.’ So they did as he wished; and when Tom had taken leave of his father they took him away with them.
于是樵夫最终决定把汤姆卖给那些陌生人，换取一大块金子，他们便付了钱。其中一人问：‘您想坐在哪儿？’汤姆答道：‘哦，把我放在你们的帽檐上吧；那对我将是个不错的观景台；我可以在那里走动，沿途欣赏风景。’于是他们照他所说做了；汤姆向父亲告别后，便被他们带走了。
They journeyed on till it began to be dusky, and then the little man said, ‘Let me get down, I’m tired.’ So the man took off his hat, and put him down on a clod of earth, in a ploughed field by the side of the road. But Tom ran about amongst the furrows, and at last slipped into an old mouse-hole. ‘Good night, my masters!’ said he, ‘I’m off! mind and look sharp after me the next time.’ Then they ran at once to the place, and poked the ends of their sticks into the mouse-hole, but all in vain; Tom only crawled farther and farther in; and at last it became quite dark, so that they were forced to go their way without their prize, as sulky as could be.
他们继续前行，直到天色渐暗，小个子男人便说：‘让我下来吧，我累了。’于是那人摘下帽子，将他放在路边一块翻耕过的田地里的一撮土上。但汤姆在犁沟间跑来跑去，最后滑进了一个旧鼠洞。‘晚安，我的主人！’他说，‘我要走了！下次记得快点抓我。’随后他们立刻跑到那个地方，把棍子伸进鼠洞里戳，却毫无结果；汤姆只是越爬越深。最后天完全黑了，他们只好带着满腹怨气空手离开，没能抓到那只小老鼠。
When Tom found they were gone, he came out of his hiding-place. ‘What dangerous walking it is,’ said he, ‘in this ploughed field! If I were to fall from one of these great clods, I should undoubtedly break my neck.’ At last, by good luck, he found a large empty snail-shell. ‘This is lucky,’ said he, ‘I can sleep here very well’; and in he crept.
汤姆发现他们走后，便从藏身处走了出来。‘在这片翻耕过的田地里走路真危险啊，’他说，‘要是我从这些大土块上摔下来，肯定会摔断脖子的。’最后，幸好他找到了一只空的大蜗牛壳。‘这太幸运了，’他说，‘我可以在这里睡得很舒服。’于是他便爬了进去。
Just as he was falling asleep, he heard two men passing by, chatting together; and one said to the other, ‘How can we rob that rich parson’s house of his silver and gold?’ ‘I’ll tell you!’ cried Tom. ‘What noise was that?’ said the thief, frightened; ‘I’m sure I heard someone speak.’ They stood still listening, and Tom said, ‘Take me with you, and I’ll soon show you how to get the parson’s money.’ ‘But where are you?’ said they. ‘Look about on the ground,’ answered he, ‘and listen where the sound comes from.’ At last the thieves found him out, and lifted him up in their hands. ‘You little urchin!’ they said, ‘what can you do for us?’ ‘Why, I can get between the iron window-bars of the parson’s house, and throw you out whatever you want.’ ‘That’s a good thought,’ said the thieves; ‘come along, we shall see what you can do.’
就在他快要睡着的时候，他听到两个男人路过，正在交谈；其中一人对另一人说：‘我们怎么才能偷走那位富有的牧师家里的银器和金子呢？’汤姆喊道：‘我来告诉你们！’那贼吓了一跳，说：‘刚才是什么声音？我肯定听到有人说话了。’他们停下脚步仔细听，汤姆接着说：‘带我一起去，我很快就能教你们怎么拿到牧师的钱。’‘可是你在哪里？’他们问道。‘在地上找找看，’他回答说，‘听听声音是从哪儿传来的。’最后，那两个贼找到了他，把他捧在手里。‘你这小捣蛋鬼！’他们说，‘你能帮我们做什么呢？’‘哦，我可以钻进牧师家铁窗的栏杆之间，把你们想要的东西扔给你们。’‘这主意不错，’那贼说，‘走吧，我们看看你究竟能做什么。’
When they came to the parson’s house, Tom slipped through the window-bars into the room, and then called out as loud as he could bawl, ‘Will you have all that is here?’ At this the thieves were frightened, and said, ‘Softly, softly! Speak low, that you may not awaken anybody.’ But Tom seemed as if he did not understand them, and bawled out again, ‘How much will you have? Shall I throw it all out?’ Now the cook lay in the next room; and hearing a noise she raised herself up in her bed and listened. Meantime the thieves were frightened, and ran off a little way; but at last they plucked up their hearts, and said, ‘The little urchin is only trying to make fools of us.’ So they came back and whispered softly to him, saying, ‘Now let us have no more of your roguish jokes; but throw us out some of the money.’ Then Tom called out as loud as he could, ‘Very well! hold your hands! here it comes.’
当他们来到牧师家时，汤姆从窗栏间溜进房间，然后尽最大力气喊道：‘你们要把这里所有的东西都拿走吗？’小偷们被吓坏了，连忙说：‘小声点！小声点！别吵醒任何人。’但汤姆似乎听不懂他们的话，又大声喊道：‘你们要多少？我把全都扔出去吗？’这时，厨娘正睡在隔壁房间，听到动静便从床上坐起侧耳倾听。与此同时，小偷们吓得退后几步；但最终他们壮了胆，说：‘这小家伙只是在耍我们罢了。’于是他们又凑近，压低声音对他说：‘别再开这种恶作剧的玩笑了，把一些钱扔给我们吧。’汤姆便大声喊道：‘好！把手伸出来！钱来了！’
The cook heard this quite plain, so she sprang out of bed, and ran to open the door. The thieves ran off as if a wolf was at their tails: and the maid, having groped about and found nothing, went away for a light. By the time she came back, Tom had slipped off into the barn; and when she had looked about and searched every hole and corner, and found nobody, she went to bed, thinking she must have been dreaming with her eyes open.
厨师听得清清楚楚，便从床上跳起来跑去开门。小偷们像身后有狼在追一样逃跑了；女仆摸索一番后什么也没找到，便去取灯。等她回来时，汤姆已经溜进了谷仓；她四处查看、搜寻每个角落却一无所获，只好回床睡觉，心想自己一定是睁着眼睛在做梦。
The little man crawled about in the hay-loft, and at last found a snug place to finish his night’s rest in; so he laid himself down, meaning to sleep till daylight, and then find his way home to his father and mother. But alas! how woefully he was undone! what crosses and sorrows happen to us all in this world! The cook got up early, before daybreak, to feed the cows; and going straight to the hay-loft, carried away a large bundle of hay, with the little man in the middle of it, fast asleep. He still, however, slept on, and did not awake till he found himself in the mouth of the cow; for the cook had put the hay into the cow’s rick, and the cow had taken Tom up in a mouthful of it. ‘Good lack-a-day!’ said he, ‘how came I to tumble into the mill?’ But he soon found out where he really was; and was forced to have all his wits about him, that he might not get between the cow’s teeth, and so be crushed to death. At last down he went into her stomach. ‘It is rather dark,’ said he; ‘they forgot to build windows in this room to let the sun in; a candle would be no bad thing.’
那个小个子在谷仓的干草堆里爬来爬去，最后找到一个舒适的地方过夜；于是他躺下，打算睡到天亮再回家找父母。可是唉！他多么不幸啊！这世上谁没有遭遇过坎坷和悲伤呢！女佣天还没亮就起床喂牛，径直走进谷仓，抱起一大捆干草，而小个子正躺在中间熟睡。他依旧睡着，直到发现自己被塞进牛的嘴里才醒来——因为女佣把干草放进牛槽，牛便一口吞下了汤姆。‘哎呀呀！’他说，‘我怎么掉进磨坊里了？’但他很快明白自己究竟在哪里，不得不打起十二分精神，以免被夹在牛的牙齿间压死。最后他滑进了牛的胃里。‘这里有点暗，’他说，‘他们忘了在这房间里装窗户让阳光照进来；要是有一支蜡烛就好了。’
Though he made the best of his bad luck, he did not like his quarters at all; and the worst of it was, that more and more hay was always coming down, and the space left for him became smaller and smaller. At last he cried out as loud as he could, ‘Don’t bring me any more hay! Don’t bring me any more hay!’
尽管他尽力应对自己的厄运，但他一点也不喜欢自己的住处；更糟糕的是，不断有干草被送下来，留给他的空间越来越小。最后，他大声喊道：‘别再给我送干草了！别再给我送干草了！’
The maid happened to be just then milking the cow; and hearing someone speak, but seeing nobody, and yet being quite sure it was the same voice that she had heard in the night, she was so frightened that she fell off her stool, and overset the milk-pail. As soon as she could pick herself up out of the dirt, she ran off as fast as she could to her master the parson, and said, ‘Sir, sir, the cow is talking!’ But the parson said, ‘Woman, thou art surely mad!’ However, he went with her into the cow-house, to try and see what was the matter.
女仆恰好正在挤牛奶；她听到有人说话，却看不见人，但又十分确定那声音就是夜里听到的那个，吓得从凳子上摔了下来，碰翻了奶桶。等她好不容易从泥地里爬起来后，便拼命跑去找她的主人牧师，说：‘先生，先生，牛在说话！’但牧师答道：‘女人，你一定是疯了！’不过，他还是随她去了牛棚，想看看究竟出了什么事。
Scarcely had they set foot on the threshold, when Tom called out, ‘Don’t bring me any more hay!’ Then the parson himself was frightened; and thinking the cow was surely bewitched, told his man to kill her on the spot. So the cow was killed, and cut up; and the stomach, in which Tom lay, was thrown out upon a dunghill.
他们刚踏上门槛，汤姆就喊道：‘别再给我送干草了！’牧师本人也吓坏了，以为这头牛肯定中了邪，便吩咐手下当场宰杀它。于是牛被宰杀并肢解，而藏有汤姆的胃则被扔到了粪堆上。
Tom soon set himself to work to get out, which was not a very easy task; but at last, just as he had made room to get his head out, fresh ill-luck befell him. A hungry wolf sprang out, and swallowed up the whole stomach, with Tom in it, at one gulp, and ran away.
汤姆很快便开始努力脱身，这并非易事；但就在最后他好不容易把头伸出来时，新的厄运又降临了。一只饥饿的狼突然扑出，一口吞下了整个肚子，连同里面的汤姆，随后便逃之夭夭。
Tom, however, was still not disheartened; and thinking the wolf would not dislike having some chat with him as he was going along, he called out, ‘My good friend, I can show you a famous treat.’ ‘Where’s that?’ said the wolf. ‘In such and such a house,’ said Tom, describing his own father’s house. ‘You can crawl through the drain into the kitchen and then into the pantry, and there you will find cakes, ham, beef, cold chicken, roast pig, apple-dumplings, and everything that your heart can wish.’
然而，汤姆并没有灰心；他想狼在赶路时或许乐意与他聊几句，便喊道：‘我的好朋友，我可以带你去一个著名的美食之地。’‘在哪儿呢？’狼问道。‘就在那座房子里，’汤姆说道，指着自己父亲的家。‘你可以从排水管爬进厨房，再进入食品储藏室，那里有蛋糕、火腿、牛肉、冷鸡肉、烤猪肉、苹果布丁，以及你心中所渴望的一切美食。'
The wolf did not want to be asked twice; so that very night he went to the house and crawled through the drain into the kitchen, and then into the pantry, and ate and drank there to his heart’s content. As soon as he had had enough he wanted to get away; but he had eaten so much that he could not go out by the same way he came in.
狼不想被问第二遍，于是当晚就去了那户人家，从排水管爬进厨房，又钻进食品储藏室，在那里尽情吃喝。吃饱喝足后，它想离开，但因吃得太多，无法原路返回了。
This was just what Tom had reckoned upon; and now he began to set up a great shout, making all the noise he could. ‘Will you be easy?’ said the wolf; ‘you’ll awaken everybody in the house if you make such a clatter.’ ‘What’s that to me?’ said the little man; ‘you have had your frolic, now I’ve a mind to be merry myself’; and he began, singing and shouting as loud as he could.
这正是汤姆所料到的；于是他开始大声呼喊，尽可能制造出最大的声响。‘你能不能安静点？’狼说，‘你这样吵闹会把屋里的人都吵醒的。’‘那又关我什么事？’小人儿说，‘你已经玩够了，现在我也想乐一乐。’于是他唱起歌来，喊声也尽可能大。
The woodman and his wife, being awakened by the noise, peeped through a crack in the door; but when they saw a wolf was there, you may well suppose that they were sadly frightened; and the woodman ran for his axe, and gave his wife a scythe. ‘Do you stay behind,’ said the woodman, ‘and when I have knocked him on the head you must rip him up with the scythe.’ Tom heard all this, and cried out, ‘Father, father! I am here, the wolf has swallowed me.’ And his father said, ‘Heaven be praised! we have found our dear child again’; and he told his wife not to use the scythe for fear she should hurt him. Then he aimed a great blow, and struck the wolf on the head, and killed him on the spot! and when he was dead they cut open his body, and set Tommy free. ‘Ah!’ said the father, ‘what fears we have had for you!’ ‘Yes, father,’ answered he; ‘I have travelled all over the world, I think, in one way or other, since we parted; and now I am very glad to come home and get fresh air again.’ ‘Why, where have you been?’ said his father. ‘I have been in a mouse-hole--and in a snail-shell--and down a cow’s throat--and in the wolf’s belly; and yet here I am again, safe and sound.’
樵夫和他的妻子被噪音惊醒，从门缝里往外瞧；当他们看到一只狼时，可想而知他们吓得够呛。樵夫跑去拿斧头，并递给妻子一把镰刀。他说：‘你留在后面，等我把狼打晕后，你用镰刀把它剖开。’汤姆听到了这一切，大喊：‘爸爸，爸爸！我在这里，狼把我吞下去了。’父亲说：‘感谢上天！我们终于找到了亲爱的孩子！’他告诉妻子不要使用镰刀，以免伤到孩子。接着，他用力挥斧，猛击狼的头部，当场将其打死。狼死后，他们剖开它的肚子，把汤姆救了出来。父亲说：‘啊！我们为你担了多少心啊！’汤姆回答：‘是的，爸爸，自从我们分别后，我想我已经以各种方式走遍了世界；现在我很高兴能回家，重新呼吸新鲜空气。’父亲问：‘你去了哪里？’汤姆说：‘我进过老鼠洞、蜗牛壳、牛的喉咙，还到过狼的肚子里；但你看，我现在又安然无恙地回来了。’
‘Well,’ said they, ‘you are come back, and we will not sell you again for all the riches in the world.’
“好吧，”他们说，“你回来了，就算用世界上所有的财富，我们也不会再卖你了。”
Then they hugged and kissed their dear little son, and gave him plenty to eat and drink, for he was very hungry; and then they fetched new clothes for him, for his old ones had been quite spoiled on his journey. So Master Thumb stayed at home with his father and mother, in peace; for though he had been so great a traveller, and had done and seen so many fine things, and was fond enough of telling the whole story, he always agreed that, after all, there’s no place like HOME!
于是，他们拥抱并亲吻了他们亲爱的儿子，让他吃个饱、喝个足，因为他非常饥饿；随后，他们为他准备了新衣服，因为他在旅途中把旧衣服都弄坏了。从此，拇指大师便与父母安居家中，过上了平静的生活；尽管他是一位阅历丰富的旅行者，见识过许多奇妙的事物，也乐于讲述自己的经历，但他始终认为：无论走多远，家才是最好的地方！