One night, while she lay in her pretty bed, a large, ugly, wet toad crept through a broken pane of glass in the window,
一天晚上,当她正在她漂亮的床上睡觉的时候,一只又丑又大、粘糊糊的癞蛤蟆从破了的窗子外面跳了进来。
and leaped right upon the table where Tiny lay sleeping under her rose-leaf quilt.
她一直跳到桌子上。拇指姑娘正睡在桌子上鲜红的玫瑰花瓣下面。
"What a pretty little wife this would make for my son," said the toad,
“这姑娘倒可以做我儿子的漂亮妻子哩,”癞蛤蟆说。
and she took up the walnut-shell in which little Tiny lay asleep, and jumped through the window with it into the garden.
于是她一把抓住拇指姑娘正睡着的那个胡桃壳,背着它跳出了窗子,一直跳到花园里去。
In the swampy margin of a broad stream in the garden lived the toad, with her son.
花园里有一条很宽的小溪在流着。但是它的两岸又低又潮湿。癞蛤蟆和她的儿子就住在这儿。
He was uglier even than his mother, and when he saw the pretty little maiden in her elegant bed, he could only cry,
他比他的妈妈还要丑。当他看到胡桃壳里的这位美丽小姑娘时,他只能大喊。
"Croak, croak, croak."
“呱呱,呱呱,呱呱。”
"Don't speak so loud, or she will wake," said the toad, "and then she might run away, for she is as light as swan's down.
“讲话不要那么大声,要不你就把她吵醒了,”老癞蛤蟆说。“她还可以从我们这儿逃走,因为她轻得像一片天鹅的羽毛!
We will place her on one of the water-lily leaves out in the stream; it will be like an island to her,
我们得把她放在溪水里睡莲的一片宽叶子上面。那片叶子对她来说可以算做是一个岛了。
she is so light and small, and then she cannot escape;
她既然是这么娇小和轻巧,她在那上面是没有办法逃走的。
and, while she is away, we will make haste and prepare the state-room under the marsh,
在这期间我们就可以把泥巴底下的那间好房子修理好,
in which you are to live when you are married."
你们俩以后就可以在那儿住下来过日子。”
Far out in the stream grew a number of water-lilies, with broad green leaves, which seemed to float on the top of the water.
小溪里长着许多叶子宽大的绿色睡莲。它们好像是浮在水面上似的。
The largest of these leaves appeared farther off than the rest,
浮得最远的那片叶子也就是最大的一片叶子。
and the old toad swam out to it with the walnut-shell, in which little Tiny lay still asleep.
老癞蛤蟆向它游过去,把胡桃壳和睡在里面的拇指姑娘放在它上面。
The tiny little creature woke very early in the morning, and began to cry bitterly when she found where she was,
这个可怜的、丁点小的姑娘大清早就醒来了。当她看见自己在什么地方的时候,就不禁伤心地哭起来,
for she could see nothing but water on every side of the large green leaf, and no way of reaching the land.
因为这片宽大的绿叶子的周围全都是水,她一点也没有办法回到陆地上去。
Meanwhile the old toad was very busy under the marsh,
与此同时,老癞蛤蟆在泥巴底下忙得不可开交,
decking her room with rushes and wild yellow flowers, to make it look pretty for her new daughter-in-law.
用灯芯草和黄睡莲把房间装饰了一番——有新媳妇住在里面,当然应该收拾得漂亮一点才对。