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Whose Child Is It?
这是谁的孩子？
Once, there was a king. One day, two women came to the king.
从前，有一位国王。一天，两个女人来见国王。
One of the women was holding a baby boy.
其中一名妇女抱着一个男婴。
‘O King,’ said the woman without the child.
“哦，国王，”没有孩子的女人说。
‘We come to you because we have a problem. That woman has taken my child, and I want him back.’
“我们来找你是因为我们遇到了纠纷。这个女人抢走了我的孩子，我要把他要回来。”
‘O King, it is not true!’ said the woman with the child. ‘This is my child, my baby boy.’
“哦，国王，不是这样的！”抱着孩子的女人说。“这是我的孩子，我的宝贝儿子。”
‘Explain,’ said the king. ‘Why do you think the baby is yours?’ he said to the woman without the child.
“解释一下，”国王说。“你为什么认为孩子是你的？”他对没有孩子的女人说。
‘Well,’ she said. ‘I live with this woman. We both gave birth on the same night, and nobody else was in the house.’
“嗯，”她说。“我和这个女人住在一起。我们俩在同一天晚上生了孩子，家里没有其他人。”
‘Did you have no midwives?’ the king said.
“你们没有助产士吗？”国王说。
‘We had no money for midwives,’ the woman said.
“我们没钱请助产士，”那个女人说。
‘And our husbands died. That is why we live together. So we gave birth, but her child died, and my child lived.
“我们的丈夫都死了。所以我们才一起生活。我们都生了孩子，但她的孩子死了，我的孩子活了下来。
But I went to sleep, and when I woke up, she had taken my child and was breastfeeding it.
但我睡着了，等我醒来的时候，她抢走了我的孩子，正在给他喂奶。
When I told her to give my baby back, she said that it was her child, and that I was lying.’
我让她把我的孩子还给我，她却说那是她的孩子，说我在撒谎。”
‘She is lying!’ said the other woman.
“她在撒谎！”另一个女人说。
‘My son lived, but she killed hers. She turned in her bed and smothered him.
“我的儿子活了下来，是她杀了她的儿子。她在床上翻身的时候把他闷死了。
And look, my son is breastfeeding now. If he wasn’t my son, would he breastfeed?’
看，我儿子现在正在吃母乳。如果他不是我儿子，他会吃我的母乳吗？”
And it was true—the baby boy was breastfeeding.
确实——这个男婴正在吃母乳。
‘Hmm,’ said the king. He looked at both women and at the baby.
“嗯，”国王说。他看了看两个女人，又看了看婴儿。
But he did not know whose child it was. Both of them could be lying.
但他不知道这是谁的孩子。她们俩可能都在说谎。
He could not believe that one of them had smothered her child, but he could also not believe that the other person had stolen a baby.
他不相信她们中的一个人把自己的孩子闷死了，但他也不相信另一个人偷走了婴儿。
‘I have an idea,’ said the king’s adviser. The adviser was a strange man, but he was very clever and always had good ideas.
“我有个主意，”国王的谋士说。顾问是个怪人，但他很聪明，总能想出好点子。
‘Yes?’
“请说?”
‘Because we do not know which woman is lying, and we do not know whose child it is, we should split the child in two.
“既然我们不知道哪个女人在说谎，也不知道这是谁的孩子，那我们干脆把孩子劈成两半。
We will give one half to each woman. They both gave birth, so they should both have a child.’
给每个女人分一半。她们都生了孩子，所以她们都应该有个孩子。”
The woman with the baby said, ‘What a great idea!
抱着孩子的女人说：“好主意！
Giving birth is so hard, so she should have half of the child as well. You are a very clever man, Mr. Adviser.’
生孩子太难了，所以她也应该得到半个孩子。你太聪明了，谋士。”
But the woman without the baby said, ‘No, you can’t do that! Split my child in two? Oh, the idea is horrible!
但是那个没有孩子的女人说：“不，你不能这么做！把我的孩子劈成两半？哦，这主意太可怕了！
If you want to do that, then I will go. I would prefer that my baby lives, and she becomes his mother.’
如果你想这么做，那我就走。我宁愿我的孩子活下来，让她做他的母亲。”
‘What do you think, O King?’ said the adviser.
“你怎么想，国王？”谋士说。
‘I can use magic to split the baby. It will not be hurt… Well, it probably won’t be hurt.’
“我可以用魔法把婴儿分开。他不会受伤的……嗯，他可能不会受伤。”
‘I think you must decide,’ said the king.
“我觉得你必须得做出决定，”国王说。
‘Very well,’ said the adviser. ‘It is clear who is the mother.
“很好，”谋士说。“谁是孩子的母亲很明显了。
A real mother would not want her baby to be hurt.
真正的母亲是不会希望她的孩子受到伤害的。
Because you think it is OK for the child to be split in two, you cannot be the real mother.’
而你认为把孩子一分为二是可以接受的，所以你不可能是他真正的母亲。”
The woman holding the baby said, ‘But I am a great mother! Look, he is breastfeeding.’
抱着孩子的女人说：“但我是个好妈妈！看，他在吃母乳。”
‘Children will breastfeed from cows if they need to,’ said the adviser. ‘Give him back to his mother.’
这位谋士说：“如果有必要，婴儿甚至会喝奶牛的乳汁。”“把他还给他母亲。”
‘Do as he says,’ said the king.
“照他说的做，”国王说。
So the woman gave the baby back to his real mother, and the baby was happy.
于是这个女人把孩子还给了他真正的母亲，孩子很高兴。
‘Thank you, O King!’ said the baby’s real mother.
“谢谢您，国王！”孩子的亲生母亲说。
The other woman looked angry, but she did not say anything.
另一个女人看起来很生气，但她什么也没说。
‘I think we might split you in two,’ said the adviser, ‘because you lied.
“我想我们可以把你劈成两半，”谋士说，“因为你撒了谎。
You said that she smothered her baby, when actually, you stole her baby.’
你说她闷死了她的孩子，但实际上，是你偷走了她的孩子。”
The other woman went white. ‘I, I am sorry, O King. I was just so sad…’
另一个女人脸色煞白。“我，我很抱歉，国王。我太伤心了……”
‘She will live,’ said the king. ‘One death is enough for today.’
“不要杀她，”国王说。“今天死了一个人已经够了。”
The two women said thank you and left, and the king and his adviser talked.
两个女人说了声谢谢就走了，国王和他的谋士谈了起来。
‘It is good that you decided,’ said the king. ‘I thought like a king, but not like a mother.
“你的决定很好，”国王说。“我有国王的思维，却没有母亲的思维。
It is clear that the woman could not have smothered her child, because she was so sad when you said you would split it.’
很明显，那个女人不可能闷死她的孩子，因为在你说要把孩子分成两半的时候，她是那么伤心。”
‘Do you think it matters which mother the child has?’
“你认为孩子的母亲是谁有关系吗？”
The king thought. ‘I think it matters that the mother loves her child.
国王想了想。“我认为母亲爱孩子才更重要。
But it is easier to love a child who you have given birth to yourself, I think.
但我想，爱一个你自己生下的孩子会更加容易。
And the woman who stole the baby would have to lie to him all his life.
而那个偷孩子的女人就得骗孩子一辈子了。
Nobody can live happily with such a big lie.
背负着这么大的谎言，没人能幸福的。
By the way, I think we should make sure that all women in the country have a midwife.’
顺便说一下，我觉得我们应该确保这个国家的所有妇女都有助产士。”
‘A very good idea, O King,’ said the adviser.
“好主意，国王陛下。”谋士说。
‘If all women have midwives, then we will have to split fewer babies in two.’
“如果所有妇女都有助产士，我们就不需要把那么多孩子一分为二了。”
‘Were you really going to split the child in two?’ said the king.
“你是真的打算把孩子劈成两半吗？”国王说。
‘Oh no,’ said the adviser. ‘I do not know magic like that. Words are the best magic, usually.’
“哦，当然不是了，”谋士说。“我可不懂那样的魔法。语言通常才是最好的魔法。”
The king thought about it, and he agreed.
国王想了想，对此表示认同。
THE END
完结
