格林童話：會(huì)唱歌的白骨(英)

　　Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

　　Once upon a time in a certain country there was great concern about a wild boar that was destroying the peasants' fields, killing the cattle, and ripping people apart with its tusks. The king promised a large reward to anyone who could free the land from this plague, but the beast was so large and strong that no one dared to go near the woods where it lived. Finally the king proclaimed that whoever could capture or kill the wild boar should have his only daughter in marriage.

　　Now in this country there lived two brothers, sons of a poor man. They declared that they dared to attempt the task. The older one, who was crafty and shrewd, did so out of pride. The younger one, who was innocent and simple, did so because of his kind heart.

　　The king said, "In order to be more sure of finding the beast, you should enter the woods from opposite sides."

　　Thus the older one entered the woods from the west, and the younger one from the east.

　　After the younger one had walked a little while, a little dwarf stepped up to him. He held a black spear in his hand and said, "I am giving you this spear because your heart is innocent and good. With it you can confidently attack the wild boar. It will do you no harm."

　　He thanked the dwarf, put the spear on his shoulder, and walked on fearlessly.

　　Before long he saw the beast. It attacked him, but he held the spear toward it, and in its blind fury it ran into the spear with such force that its heart was slashed in two.

　　Then he put the monster on his back and turned towards home, intending to take it to the king.

　　Emerging from the other side of the woods, he came to a house where people were making merry drinking wine and dancing. His older brother was there too. Thinking that the boar would not run away from him any time soon, he had decided to drink himself some real courage. When he saw his younger brother coming out of the woods with his booty, his envious and evil heart gave him no peace.

　　He called out to him, "Come in, dear brother. Rest and refresh yourself with a beaker of wine."

　　The younger brother, suspecting no evil, went in and told him about the good dwarf who had given him the spear with which he had killed the boar.

　　The older brother kept him there until evening, and then they set forth together. After dark they came to a bridge over a brook, and the older brother let the younger one go first. When the younger brother reached the middle above the water, the older one gave him such a blow from behind that he fell down dead.

　　He buried him beneath the bridge, took the boar, and delivered it to the king, pretending that he had killed it. With this he received the king's daughter in marriage.

　　When his younger brother did not return he said, "The boar must have ripped him apart," and every one believed it.

　　But as nothing remains hidden from God, this black deed was also to come to light.

　　After many long years a shepherd was driving his herd across the bridge and saw a little snow-white bone lying in the sand below. Thinking that it would make a good mouthpiece, he climbed down, picked it up, and then carved out of it a mouthpiece for his horn. When he blew into it for the first time, to his great astonishment the bone began to sing by itself:

　　Oh, my dear shepherd, You are blowing on my little bone. My brother killed me, And buried me beneath the bridge, To get the wild boor For the daughter of the king.

　　"What a wonderful horn," said the shepherd. "It sings by itself. I must take it to the king."

　　When he brought it before the king, the horn again began to sing its little song. The king understood it well, and had the earth beneath the bridge dug up. Then the whole skeleton of the murdered man came to light.

　　The wicked brother could not deny the deed. He was sewn into a sack and drowned alive. The murdered man's bones were laid to rest in a beautiful grave in the churchyard.

　　從前有個(gè)國(guó)家來(lái)了一頭野豬。它踐踏耕地、咬殺牲畜，還用尖利的獠牙咬人，人們?yōu)榇送纯嗖豢?。?guó)王宣佈只要有人能將王國(guó)從這一災(zāi)難中拯救出來(lái)，他就會(huì)大大地賞賜他。可是野豬太大了，而且強(qiáng)不可敵，因此誰(shuí)也不敢接近它藏身的那片森林。最后國(guó)王宣佈：誰(shuí)若能捕獲或者殺死那頭野豬，他就能娶國(guó)王的獨(dú)生女為妻。

　　在鄉(xiāng)下住著兩兄弟，是窮人家的孩子。老大狡猾精明卻缺乏勇氣;弟弟單純而心地善良。兩兄弟說(shuō)他們?cè)敢饨邮苓@個(gè)危及生命的使命。國(guó)王對(duì)他們說(shuō)：「為了讓你們能確實(shí)找到那頭野獸，你們兩人必須分頭從兩個(gè)方向進(jìn)森林?！轨妒牵绺鐝奈黝^走，弟弟從東邊進(jìn)。

　　弟弟走了沒(méi)多遠(yuǎn)就遇到一個(gè)小個(gè)子男人。他手里握著一支黑色長(zhǎng)矛，對(duì)弟弟說(shuō)：「我把這支長(zhǎng)矛給你，因?yàn)槟阈牡丶儩嵣屏?你拿著這長(zhǎng)矛，只管大膽去斗那野豬，長(zhǎng)矛會(huì)幫你的?！?/p>

　　弟弟謝過(guò)那小個(gè)男子，扛起長(zhǎng)矛，毫不畏懼地繼續(xù)趕路。

　　不久，他看到了那頭野豬，便用長(zhǎng)矛對(duì)準(zhǔn)了朝他撲來(lái)的野獸。野豬氣瘋了，它沖得太快太猛，結(jié)果長(zhǎng)矛把它的心臟劃成了兩半。弟弟扛起巨獸往回走。

　　森林另一端的入口處有座房子，人們?cè)谀抢镲嬀?、跳舞作?lè)。弟弟來(lái)到那兒時(shí)，哥哥早已坐在里面了，他以為野豬反正逃不出他的手心，於是先喝點(diǎn)酒壯膽。當(dāng)他看到弟弟帶著戰(zhàn)利品從森林里返回時(shí)，邪惡的心里充滿了嫉妒，無(wú)法平息。他對(duì)弟弟喊道：「進(jìn)來(lái)吧，親愛(ài)的弟弟，喝杯酒歇歇。」

　　從無(wú)戒心的弟弟走了進(jìn)去，把好心男人給他長(zhǎng)矛、自己又如何用長(zhǎng)矛制服野豬的經(jīng)過(guò)告訴了哥哥。

　　哥哥留弟弟一起喝酒直到天色將晚，然后一道離開(kāi)了小屋，在黑暗中趕路。他們來(lái)到小河上的一座橋跟前，哥哥讓弟弟走在前面，走到橋心時(shí)，哥哥對(duì)準(zhǔn)弟弟的后腦勺狠狠一擊，弟弟倒下死了。哥哥將弟弟埋在橋下，自己扛起野豬去向國(guó)王領(lǐng)賞，似乎野豬是他獵殺的。他娶了國(guó)王的獨(dú)生女為妻。當(dāng)有人問(wèn)他為甚么弟弟沒(méi)有回來(lái)時(shí)，他說(shuō)：「準(zhǔn)是野豬把他給吃了。」人們也就信以為真了。

　　可是甚么都瞞不過(guò)上帝的眼睛，這罪孽總有一天要真相大白的。

　　幾年以后，有個(gè)牧羊人趕著羊群過(guò)橋，一眼看到沙子下面有根雪白的骨頭。他覺(jué)得這是做口吹樂(lè)器的好材料，於是爬下橋，將骨頭撿了起來(lái)。他用骨頭給自己的號(hào)角做了個(gè)吹口。可他第一次用它吹響號(hào)角時(shí)大吃了一驚，因?yàn)楣穷^吹口自顧自唱起了小調(diào)：

　　「啊，朋友，你在用我的骨頭吹奏，我在這河邊沉睡已久。

　　哥哥殺我?jiàn)Z走了野豬，娶的妻子是國(guó)王之女?！?/p>

　　「多好的號(hào)角呀!」牧羊人說(shuō)，「竟然自己會(huì)唱小調(diào)!我一定要把它獻(xiàn)給國(guó)王陛下。」於是他將號(hào)角獻(xiàn)給國(guó)王，號(hào)角又唱起了同一支小調(diào)。

　　國(guó)王一聽(tīng)就明白了，於是派人到橋下挖出了被害人的屍骨。罪孽深重的哥哥無(wú)法抵賴他的所作所為，因此被縫進(jìn)一個(gè)麻袋，沉到河里去了。被害人的屍骨則被安葬在教堂墓地里一座漂亮的墓塚里了。