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Tom Thumb
大拇指汤姆
A poor woodman sat in his cottage one night, smoking his pipe by the fireside, while his wife sat by his side spinning.
一天晚上，一个贫穷的樵夫坐在小屋里，在火炉边抽着烟斗，而他的妻子坐在旁边纺纱。
'How lonely it is, wife,' said he, as he puffed out a long curl of smoke,
“多么寂寞啊，亲爱的妻子，”他说道，同时吐出一缕烟，
'for you and me to sit here by ourselves,
“只有你和我坐在这里，
without any children to play about and amuse us while other people seem so happy and merry with their children!'
看看别人家有孩子，家庭显得多么幸福快乐啊，我们却没有孩子可以嬉闹、逗乐！”
'What you say is very true,' said the wife, sighing, and turning round her wheel，
“你说得非常对，”妻子说道，叹息着，转动着纺车继续说。
'how happy should I be if I had but one child!
“要是我们有自己的孩子，哪怕只有一个，那该多幸福啊!”
If it were ever so small—nay, if it were no bigger than my thumb—I should be very happy, and love it dearly.'
如果它只有这么小——不，甚至跟我的拇指一样大——我也将非常幸福，全心全意的爱着它。”
Now—odd as you may think it—it came to pass that this good woman's wish was fulfilled,
现在——也许你会觉得奇怪——后来这个善良的女人的愿望实现了，
just in the very way she had wished it; for, not long afterwards, she had a little boy,
正如她所希望的那样，不久之后，她生了一个小男孩，
who was quite healthy and strong, but was not much bigger than my thumb.
他相当地健康和强壮，但个头却比我的拇指大不了多少。
So they said, 'Well, we cannot say we have not got what we wished for, and,
所以他们说，“真棒，至少我们的愿望已经实现了，
little as he is, we will love him dearly.' And they called him Thomas Thumb.
尽管他很小，我们还是会深爱他。”他们给他取名为大拇指汤姆。
They gave him plenty of food, yet for all they could do he never grew bigger,
虽然他们让汤姆吃很多，可他还是长不高，
but kept just the same size as he had been when he was born.
始终和他出生时一样大。
Still, his eyes were sharp and sparkling,
不过他的眼睛里却透着一股灵气和活力，
and he soon showed himself to be a clever little fellow, who always knew well what he was about.
不久就显露出他是一个聪明的小家伙，做事总是令人满意。
One day, as the woodman was getting ready to go into the wood to cut fuel, he said,
有一天，当樵夫准备到森林里去砍柴时，他说:
'I wish I had someone to bring the cart after me, for I want to make haste.'
“我希望有人帮我把马车赶去，这样我就快多了。”
'Oh, father,' cried Tom, 'I will take care of that; the cart shall be in the wood by the time you want it.'
“噢，爸爸，”汤姆说道，“我来帮你。我会按你的要求及时把车赶到森林里的。”
Then the woodman laughed, and said, 'How can that be? you cannot reach up to the horse's bridle.'
于是樵夫笑了，说:“这怎么可能呢?你连马的缰绳都够不着。”
'Never mind that, father,' said Tom;
“没关系，爸爸，”汤姆说。
'if my mother will only harness the horse, I will get into his ear and tell him which way to go.'
“只要妈妈给马套上挽具，我就钻进他的耳朵给他指路。”
'Well,' said the father, 'we will try for once.'
“好吧，”他父亲说，“那就试一次看。”
When the time came the mother harnessed the horse to the cart, and put Tom into his ear;
出发的时间到了，他的母亲把马套在车上，把汤姆放进马的耳朵里。
and as he sat there the little man told the beast how to go, crying out,
当他坐好便开始指挥马上路，呼喊着，
'Go on!' and 'Stop!' as he wanted，
当他要走时就喊“喔驾！”要停时就叫“吁——！，
and thus the horse went on just as well as if the woodman had driven it himself into the wood.
马车有目的地向树林走去，就像樵夫自己在赶车一样。
It happened that as the horse was going a little too fast, and Tom was calling out, 'Gently! Gently!'
走了一会儿，车跑得快了一点，汤姆马上喊道：“喔，慢点！”
Two strangers came up. 'What an odd thing that is!' said one:
两个陌生人走了过来。“竟有这种怪事!”其中一个人说:
'There is a cart going along, and I hear a carter talking to the horse, but yet I can see no one.'
“一辆马车自己在走，又听见车夫在叫喊，却看不到人。”
'That is queer, indeed,' said the other，'let us follow the cart, and see where it goes.'
“这可真奇怪，”另一个人说，“我们跟着车子走，看看它要去哪儿。”
So they went on into the wood, till at last they came to the place where the woodman was.
所以他们跟着走进森林，直到最后他们来到了樵夫在的地方。
Then Tom Thumb, seeing his father, cried out,
大拇指汤姆一看见他的父亲就大声喊道:
'See, father, here I am with the cart, all right and safe! Now take me down!'
“看，爸爸，我在这里，我把马车平安无事地赶来了，现在把我拿下来吧!”
So his father took hold of the horse with one hand, and with the other took his son out of the horse's ear,
他爸爸一手挽住马，一手将儿子从马耳朵里拿出来，
and put him down upon a straw, where he sat as merry as you please.
把他放在麦秆上面，汤姆坐在上面高兴极了。
