作者: Charles Perrault

As soon as they were settled in their country house, the merchant and his sons began to till the ground.

他们一在乡下住下，商人和他的儿子们就开始耕地。

Beauty rose every morning at four o'clock, and made haste to clean the house and prepare the dinner.

Beauty每天早晨四点钟就起床，匆忙得打扫屋子，为一家人准备饭菜。

She found her duties very painful and fatiguing at first, for she had not been accustomed to do the work of a servant;

起初，她觉得这些工作令她精疲力尽，很是痛苦，因为她还没习惯做佣人一样的工作。

but in two months' time she had grown stronger, and the activity of her life gave her fresh health and colour.

但过了两个月，她变得很能干了。劳动也使她的身体更加健康了。

When her day's work was over, she amused herself with reading, or music; sometimes she sat down to her wheel, and sang to her spinning.

她做完一天的事情以后，就会通过看书、唱歌来愉悦自己，有时也会坐在纺织机前，一边纺纱一边唱歌。

Meanwhile her two sisters were wearied to death with the dulness of their life;

而两个姐姐却觉得生活很沉闷，一天无聊得要死。

they stayed in bed till ten o'clock, did nothing all day but saunter about, and for their only diversion talked with regret of their former fine clothes and friends.

她们上午十点钟才起床，整天去外面闲逛，唯一的消遣就是叹息她们以前精美的衣服和那些朋友。

"Look at our young sister," they said to one another; "she is so low-minded and stupid, that she is quitecontent with her miserable condition."

“瞧我们的小妹妹，” 她们说，“她是多么庸俗和愚蠢，她居然能心满意足地过这种可怜的生活。”

The good merchant thought differently: he knew that Beauty was better fitted to shine in society than they were;

好心的商人并不这么想，他知道小女儿是最能在社会上出人头地的。

he admired the good qualities of his youngest child,especially her patience, for her sisters, not content with allowing her to do all the work of thehouse, took every opportunity of insulting her.

他赞赏小女儿的美德，特别是她的忍耐精神，因为两个姐姐不仅把所有的家务都压在她的肩上，而且还时常辱骂她。

The family had lived in this solitude for a year, when a letter arrived for the merchant, telling him that a vessel, on which there was merchandise belonging to him, had arrived safely in port.

一家人在孤寂中生活了一年之后，商人收到了一封信。信上说他的一船货物已经顺利到港。

The two elder girls were nearly out of their minds with joy when they heard this good news, for now they hoped that they should be able to leave the country.

听到消息，两位姐姐高兴得差点儿晕过去。她们想，这下有机会离开这个讨厌的乡村了。

They begged their father, ere he departed, to bring them back dresses and capes, head-dresses, and all sorts of odds and ends of fancy attire.

她们看到父亲快要动身了，便要求他给她们带回连衣裙、披肩、帽子和各种各样漂亮的服饰。

Beauty asked for nothing; for, as she thought to herself, all the money that the merchandise would bring in, would not be sufficient to pay for everything that her sisters wished for.

Beauty什么要求也没有提，因为她想，卖掉货物所得的钱还不一定能够买姐姐们想要的东西。

"Is there nothing you wish me to buy for you?" her father said to her.

“你不想让我给你买点什么吗？” 父亲问小女儿。

"As you are so kind as to think of me," she replied, "I pray you to bring me a rose, for we have not one here."

“您能想着我就很好了，” 她对父亲说，“您就给我带一枝玫瑰花吧，因为这里没有这样的花。”

Now Beauty did not really care about the rose, but she had no wish to seem, by her example, to reprove her sisters, who would have said that she did not ask for anything, in order to make herself appear more considerate than they were.

其实她并不想要玫瑰花，她只是不愿意突出自己来谴责姐姐们的举动罢了，不然姐姐们会说她不要东西是为了让自己显得比她们更懂事。

The father left them, but on arriving at his destination, he had to go to law about his merchandise, and after a great deal of trouble, he turned back home as poor as he came.

父亲出发了。但是到达目的地以后，他为这宗货物跟别人打了一场官司，他费尽周折，以至于回家时还是像出发前一样穷。

He had not many more miles to go, and was alreadyenjoying, in anticipation, the pleasure of seeing his children again, when, passing on his journey through a large wood, he lost his way.

回家的路不远了，他想到马上就能和孩子们见面，心情格外高兴，但就在他穿过一片大森林时，他迷路了。