There was once upon a time a woman who was a real witch and had two daughters, one ugly and wicked, and this one she loved because she was her own daughter, and one beautiful and good, and this one she hated, because she was her stepdaughter. The stepdaughter once had a pretty apron, which the other fancied so much that she became envious, and told her mother that she must and would have that apron. ‘Be quiet, my child,’ said the old woman, ‘and you shall have it. Your stepsister has long deserved death; tonight when she is asleep I will come and cut her head off. Only be careful that you are at the far side of the bed, and push her well to the front.’ It would have been all over with the poor girl if she had not just then been standing in a corner, and heard everything. All day long she dared not go out of doors, and when bedtime had come, the witch’s daughter got into bed first, so as to lie at the far side, but when she was asleep, the other pushed her gently to the front, and took for herself the place at the back, close by the wall. In the night, the old woman came creeping in, she held an axe in her right hand, and felt with her left to see if anyone were lying at the outside, and then she grasped the axe with both hands, and cut her own child’s head off.
从前有个女人是个真正的巫婆，她有两个女儿，一个丑陋又邪恶，她爱这个女儿，因为那是她的亲生骨肉；另一个美丽又善良，她却恨这个女儿，因为那是她的继女。有一次，继女有一条漂亮的围裙，另一个女儿非常眼红，便告诉母亲一定要得到那条围裙。老巫婆说：‘安静点，孩子，你会得到的。你的继姐早就该死了；今晚等她睡着，我就去把她头砍掉。你只要小心站在床的另一头，把她往前面推一推就好。’可怜的女孩幸好当时正站在角落里，把一切都听进了耳里。一整天她都不敢出门，到了睡觉的时候，巫婆的女儿先上床，躺在远离墙的那一头；等她睡着后，继女轻轻把她推到前面，自己则睡在靠近墙壁的后面。半夜里，老巫婆悄悄进来，右手拿着一把斧头，左手摸索着看外面是否有人躺着，随后她用双手握住斧头，砍下了自己亲生孩子的头颅。
When she had gone away, the girl got up and went to her sweetheart, who was called Roland, and knocked at his door. When he came out, she said to him: ‘Listen, dearest Roland, we must fly in all haste; my stepmother wanted to kill me, but has struck her own child. When daylight comes, and she sees what she has done, we shall be lost.’ ‘But,’ said Roland, ‘I counsel you first to take away her magic wand, or we cannot escape if she pursues us.’ The maiden fetched the magic wand, and she took the dead girl’s head and dropped three drops of blood on the ground, one in front of the bed, one in the kitchen, and one on the stairs. Then she hurried away with her lover.
她走后，女孩起身走向她的恋人罗兰，敲了敲他的门。他出来时，她对他说：‘听我说，亲爱的罗兰，我们必须立刻逃走；我的继母本想杀我，却误杀了自己的孩子。天亮后，她看到自己做了什么，我们就完了。’罗兰说：‘但我劝你先把她的魔杖拿走，否则如果她追来，我们逃不掉。’少女取来了魔杖，又拿起那死去女孩的脑袋，在地上滴了三滴血：一滴在床前，一滴在厨房，一滴在楼梯上。随后，她便与恋人匆匆离去。
When the old witch got up next morning, she called her daughter, and wanted to give her the apron, but she did not come. Then the witch cried: ‘Where are you?’ ‘Here, on the stairs, I am sweeping,’ answered the first drop of blood. The old woman went out, but saw no one on the stairs, and cried again: ‘Where are you?’ ‘Here in the kitchen, I am warming myself,’ cried the second drop of blood. She went into the kitchen, but found no one. Then she cried again: ‘Where are you?’ ‘Ah, here in the bed, I am sleeping,’ cried the third drop of blood. She went into the room to the bed. What did she see there? Her own child, whose head she had cut off, bathed in her blood. The witch fell into a passion, sprang to the window, and as she could look forth quite far into the world, she perceived her stepdaughter hurrying away with her sweetheart Roland. ‘That shall not help you,’ cried she, ‘even if you have got a long way off, you shall still not escape me.’ She put on her many-league boots, in which she covered an hour’s walk at every step, and it was not long before she overtook them. The girl, however, when she saw the old woman striding towards her, changed, with her magic wand, her sweetheart Roland into a lake, and herself into a duck swimming in the middle of it. The witch placed herself on the shore, threw breadcrumbs in, and went to endless trouble to entice the duck; but the duck did not let herself be enticed, and the old woman had to go home at night as she had come. At this the girl and her sweetheart Roland resumed their natural shapes again, and they walked on the whole night until daybreak. Then the maiden changed herself into a beautiful flower which stood in the midst of a briar hedge, and her sweetheart Roland into a fiddler. It was not long before the witch came striding up towards them, and said to the musician: ‘Dear musician, may I pluck that beautiful flower for myself?’ ‘Oh, yes,’ he replied, ‘I will play to you while you do it.’ As she was hastily creeping into the hedge and was just going to pluck the flower, knowing perfectly well who the flower was, he began to play, and whether she would or not, she was forced to dance, for it was a magical dance. The faster he played, the more violent springs was she forced to make, and the thorns tore her clothes from her body, and pricked her and wounded her till she bled, and as he did not stop, she had to dance till she lay dead on the ground.
第二天清晨，老女巫起身后叫来女儿，想把围裙给她，但女儿没有回应。于是女巫喊道：‘你在哪儿？’第一滴血回答：‘我在楼梯上，正在扫地呢。’老妇人走到外面，却不见人影，便又喊道：‘你在哪儿？’第二滴血喊道：‘我在厨房里，正烤火呢。’她走进厨房，仍不见人。于是她再次喊道：‘你在哪儿？’第三滴血喊道：‘啊，我在床上，正在睡觉呢。’她走进房间来到床边，看到了什么？她看见自己的亲生女儿，头颅已被砍下，浑身浸在鲜血之中。女巫勃然大怒，冲到窗前，因为她能望见很远的地方，便看见继女正牵着未婚夫罗兰匆匆离去。‘这救不了你，’她喊道，‘就算你们已走远，也休想逃出我的手掌心。’她穿上那双一步可跨出数里路的靴子，每走一步便跨越一小时的行程，没过多久便追上了他们。然而，当那女孩看到老妇人朝她大步走来时，她用魔杖将她的恋人罗兰变成了一片湖泊，自己则化作一只在湖中央游弋的鸭子。女巫来到岸边，撒下面包屑，费尽心机引诱那只鸭子；但鸭子不为所动，老妇人只好像来时一样在夜晚回家。于是，女孩和恋人罗兰恢复了原本的模样，他们整夜赶路直到天亮。接着，少女将自己变成了一朵盛开在荆棘丛中的美丽花朵，而她的恋人罗兰则变成了一位小提琴手。没过多久，女巫便大步向他们走来，对那位乐手说：‘亲爱的乐手，我可以摘下那朵美丽的花吗？’‘哦，当然可以，’他回答道，‘您摘花时，我会为您演奏。’当她急匆匆地钻进荆棘丛，正要摘下那朵花——她心里清楚那朵花是谁——时，他开始演奏起来；无论她愿不愿意，都被迫跳起舞来，因为这是一支魔法之舞。他跳得越快，她被迫做出的跳跃就越剧烈，荆棘撕扯着她的衣服，刺伤并划破她的身体，直到鲜血淋漓；而他并未停歇，她只得继续跳舞，直至倒地身亡。
As they were now set free, Roland said: ‘Now I will go to my father and arrange for the wedding.’ ‘Then in the meantime I will stay here and wait for you,’ said the girl, ‘and that no one may recognize me, I will change myself into a red stone landmark.’ Then Roland went away, and the girl stood like a red landmark in the field and waited for her beloved. But when Roland got home, he fell into the snares of another, who so fascinated him that he forgot the maiden. The poor girl remained there a long time, but at length, as he did not return at all, she was sad, and changed herself into a flower, and thought: ‘Someone will surely come this way, and trample me down.’
既然如今已获自由，罗兰说道：‘我现在要去见我父亲，安排婚礼。’‘那在此期间我就留在这里等你，’女孩说，‘为了不让任何人认出我，我将把自己变成一座红色的路标。’随后罗兰离去，女孩化作田野中一座红色的路标，静静等待她的爱人。然而罗兰回到家后，却落入另一人的圈套，那人如此迷住了他，以至于他忘记了那位少女。可怜的女孩在那里等了很久，但既然他始终未归，她心中悲伤，便将自己变成了一朵花，心想：‘总有人会路过此地，将我踩在脚下。’
It befell, however, that a shepherd kept his sheep in the field and saw the flower, and as it was so pretty, plucked it, took it with him, and laid it away in his chest. From that time forth, strange things happened in the shepherd’s house. When he arose in the morning, all the work was already done, the room was swept, the table and benches cleaned, the fire in the hearth was lighted, and the water was fetched, and at noon, when he came home, the table was laid, and a good dinner served. He could not conceive how this came to pass, for he never saw a human being in his house, and no one could have concealed himself in it. He was certainly pleased with this good attendance, but still at last he was so afraid that he went to a wise woman and asked for her advice. The wise woman said: ‘There is some enchantment behind it, listen very early some morning if anything is moving in the room, and if you see anything, no matter what it is, throw a white cloth over it, and then the magic will be stopped.’
然而，有一天，一位牧羊人在田野里放羊时看到了那朵花。因为它如此美丽，他便将它摘下，带在身上，并收进了自己的箱子里。从那时起，牧羊人的家里发生了许多奇怪的事情。每当他清晨醒来，发现所有家务都已做完：房间被打扫干净，桌子和长凳擦得光亮，炉火已生好，水也挑来了；到了中午，当他回家时，桌上已摆好餐具，还有一顿丰盛的晚餐等着他。他百思不得其解，因为家里从未出现过任何人影，也不可能有谁藏身其中。他对这种神奇的照料感到十分高兴，但最终还是心生恐惧，便去请教一位智者，寻求建议。那位智者说：‘这背后一定有什么魔法。请在某个清晨早早起身，留意房间里是否有任何动静；如果你看到任何东西，无论是什么，立刻用一块白布将它盖住，这样魔法就会失效。’
The shepherd did as she bade him, and next morning just as day dawned, he saw the chest open, and the flower come out. Swiftly he sprang towards it, and threw a white cloth over it. Instantly the transformation came to an end, and a beautiful girl stood before him, who admitted to him that she had been the flower, and that up to this time she had attended to his house-keeping. She told him her story, and as she pleased him he asked her if she would marry him, but she answered: ‘No,’ for she wanted to remain faithful to her sweetheart Roland, although he had deserted her. Nevertheless, she promised not to go away, but to continue keeping house for the shepherd.
牧羊人照她吩咐的那样做了。第二天清晨，天刚蒙蒙亮，他就看见箱子开了，花儿从中钻了出来。他迅速扑上前去，用一块白布将它盖住。刹那间，魔法解除，一位美丽的姑娘站在他面前，她承认自己就是那朵花，并说直到此刻一直替他操持家务。她讲述了自己的故事，牧羊人见她合心意，便问她是否愿意嫁给他，她却回答说不行，因为她想忠于自己的恋人罗兰，尽管罗兰曾抛弃过她。不过，她答应不离开，继续为牧羊人管家。
And now the time drew near when Roland’s wedding was to be celebrated, and then, according to an old custom in the country, it was announced that all the girls were to be present at it, and sing in honour of the bridal pair. When the faithful maiden heard of this, she grew so sad that she thought her heart would break, and she would not go thither, but the other girls came and took her. When it came to her turn to sing, she stepped back, until at last she was the only one left, and then she could not refuse. But when she began her song, and it reached Roland’s ears, he sprang up and cried: ‘I know the voice, that is the true bride, I will have no other!’ Everything he had forgotten, and which had vanished from his mind, had suddenly come home again to his heart. Then the faithful maiden held her wedding with her sweetheart Roland, and grief came to an end and joy began.
如今，罗兰婚礼的日期日益临近。按照当地一项古老习俗，所有姑娘都须出席并为新人献唱祝福。忠贞的少女听闻此事，悲痛欲绝，心似将碎，本不愿前往，但其他姑娘仍将她一同带去。轮到她演唱时，她退至后方，直至最后只剩她一人，无法再推辞。然而当她开始歌唱，歌声传入罗兰耳中，他猛然起身喊道：‘我认得这声音，这才是我的真新娘，我绝不要别人！’他此前遗忘的一切、早已从脑海中消逝的往事，此刻忽然涌回心间。于是，忠贞的少女与挚爱罗兰举行了婚礼，悲伤终结，欢乐开启。