CHILDRENS PRATTLE故事

英语自学网

　　CHILDRENS PRATTLE故事
　　    AT a rich merchant's house there was a children's party,
　　    and the children of rich and great people were there. The
　　    merchant was a learned man, for his father had sent him to
　　    college, and he had passed his examination. His father had
　　    been at first only a cattle dealer, but always honest and
　　    industrious, so that he had made money, and his son, the
　　    merchant, had managed to increase his store. Clever as he was,
　　    he had also a heart; but there was less said of his heart than
　　    of his money. All descriptions of people visited at the
　　    merchant's house, well born, as well as intellectual, and some
　　    who possessed neither of these recommendations.
　　    Now it was a children's party, and there was children's
　　    prattle, which always is spoken freely from the heart. Among
　　    them was a beautiful little girl, who was terribly proud; but
　　    this had been taught her by the servants, and not by her
　　    parents, who were far too sensible people.
　　    Her father was groom of the Chambers, which is a high
　　    office at court, and she knew it. "I am a child of the court,"
　　    she said; now she might just as well have been a child of the
　　    cellar, for no one can help his birth; and then she told the
　　    other children that she was well-born, and said that no one
　　    who was not well-born could rise in the world. It was no use
　　    to read and be industrious, for if a person was not well-born,
　　    he could never achieve anything. "And those whose names end
　　    with 'sen,'" said she, "can never be anything at all. We must
　　    put our arms akimbo, and make the elbow quite pointed, so as
　　    to keep these 'sen' people at a great distance." And then she
　　    stuck out her pretty little arms, and made the elbows quite
　　    pointed, to show how it was to be done; and her little arms
　　    were very pretty, for she was a sweet-looking child.
　　    But the little daughter of the merchant became very angry
　　    at this speech, for her father's name was Petersen, and she
　　    knew that the name ended in "sen," and therefore she said as
            
            

enfive

分页标题#e#　　    proudly as she could, "But my papa can buy a hundred dollars'
　　    worth of bonbons, and give them away to children. Can your
　　    papa do that?"
　　    "Yes; and my papa," said the little daughter of the editor
　　    of a paper, "my papa can put your papa and everybody's papa
　　    into the newspaper. All sorts of people are afraid of him, my
　　    mamma says, for he can do as he likes with the paper." And the
　　    little maiden looked exceedingly proud, as if she had been a
　　    real princess, who may be expected to look proud.
　　    But outside the door, which stood ajar, was a poor boy,
　　    peeping through the crack of the door. He was of such a lowly
　　    station that he had not been allowed even to enter the room.
　　    He had been turning the spit for the cook, and she had given
　　    him permission to stand behind the door and peep in at the
　　    well-dressed children, who were having such a merry time
　　    within; and for him that was a great deal. "Oh, if I could be
　　    one of them," thought he, and then he heard what was said
　　    about names, which was quite enough to make him more unhappy.
　　    His parents at home had not even a penny to spare to buy a
　　    newspaper, much less could they write in one; and worse than
　　    all, his father's name, and of course his own, ended in "sen,"
　　    and therefore he could never turn out well, which was a very
　　    sad thought. But after all, he had been born into the world,
　　    and the station of life had been chosen for him, therefore he
　　    must be content.
　　    And this is what happened on that evening.
　　    Many years passed, and most of the children became
　　    grown-up persons.
　　    There stood a splendid house in the town, filled with all
　　    kinds of beautiful and valuable objects. Everybody wished to
　　    see it
　　, and people even came in from the country round to be
　　    permitted to view the treasures it contained.
　　    Which of the children whose prattle we have described,
　　    could call this house his own? One would suppose it very easy
　　    to guess. No, no; it is not so very easy. The house belonged
            
            

enthree

分页标题#e#
　　    to the poor little boy who had stood on that night behind the
　　    door. He had really become something great, although his name
　　    ended in "sen,"- for it was Thorwaldsen.
　　    And the three other children- the children of good birth,
　　    of money, and of intellectual pride,- well, they were
　　    respected and honored in the world, for they had been well
　　    provided for by birth and position, and they had no cause to
　　    reproach themselves with what they had thought and spoken on
　　    that evening long ago, for, after all, it was mere "children's
　　    prattle."
　　    THE END