(原版)澳大利亞語(yǔ)文第二冊(cè) LESSON 72

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LESSON 72 THE HONEST WOODMAN

THE HONEST WOODMAN

mourn brought greed-i-ly

sur-face hun-gry neigh-bour

fai-ry be-neath pre-cious

1. Once upon a time an honest man lived with his wife and children in a little house in a wood. The man was very poor, and each morning he went out with his axe to chop down trees in the forest.

2. He worked all day until the night came, and he could see no longer. Then he went home to his wife and children. They, too, worked with all their might, but still they were very poor.

3. One day, as the woodman sat down at noon by the side of a river that ran through the wood, his axe slipped from his hands and fell into the water.

4. "Ah, me!" said the woodman, sadly, "it was hard to get my living with the axe, but without it I shall starve!" And the poor man hid his face in his hands, and groaned 〔1〕 aloud.

5. Then a soft light fell on his bowed head; he heard the ripple 〔2〕 of the water on the bank, and a sweet voice that said to him, "Look up, my friend, why do you mourn so bitterly?"

6. "Alas!" said the woodman, "I have lost my axe in the water. My axe I valued as a brother. Where can I get another?"

7. Now you must know that it was a water fairy who spoke to the woodman. In a moment she was gone, but in another moment he saw her again, rising from the water, and bearing in her hands an axe of gold.

8. "Is this your axe?" she asked; but the woodman shook his head.

Ah, no; my axe was never half so fine as that. That would buy mine a thousand times over, but it is not mine, it is not mine.

9. Then the fairy sank again beneath the water. In a moment she rose with a silver axe.

Is this your axe? she asked again.

No, it is not mine, said the woodman, "but it is worth much more than mine."

10. Then the fairy sank again beneath the water. When she came up for the third time, she brought the woodman's axe in her arms.

Ah, that is my axe, that is my axe! he cried gladly.

11. "Yes," said the fairy, "this is the very axe with which you earn the bread to feed your hungry children. Because you would not lie, the silver axe and the gold one shall both be yours."

12. The happy woodman thanked the good fairy, and bore his precious 〔3〕 load to the little hut, hardly able to believe in his good fortune.

HE SAW HER RISING FROM THE WATER.

13. On the way he met a neighbour, a man who did not like work, and who took care to do as little as he could.

O-ho! said the neighbour, "where did you get those fine axes?"

14. The woodman told him. Away hurried the lazy man to try his luck at the river. Down went his axe into the river, and loudly did he cry.

15. The water fairy came at the sound, and asked him why he mourned.

I have lost my axe! I have lost my axe! he cried.

The fairy sank beneath the water. She rose again shortly, bearing 〔4〕 an axe of gold.

16. "Is this your axe?" she asked.

Yes, he cried, greedily, "that is my axe."

No, said the fairy, "this is my axe, and I shall keep it, while you must dive for yours if you want it."

—————

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November.

February has twenty-eight alone,

And all the rest have thirty-one;

Except in leap-year, at which time

February's days are twenty-nine.

注釋

〔1〕 groaned: Cried in distress.

〔2〕 ripple: Soft sound.

〔3〕 precious: Worth a great price.

〔4〕 bearing: Carrying; bringing.