The Priest with the Envious Eyes

There was once a priest who lived in the parish of St. Nicholas. He served St. Nicholas for some years, and all his earnings were that he had neither house nor home, nor a roof over his head. So our good priest got together all his keys, and seeing the icon of St. Nicholas, struck it down, and left his parish to go whithersoever his eyes should guide him. And he went roaming on his way.

从前有个神父，住在圣尼古拉教区里。他侍奉圣尼古拉多年，所得的报酬却是既没有房子，也没有家，连个遮风挡雨的屋顶都没有。于是这位好神父便收拾起自己所有的钥匙，望着圣尼古拉的圣像，把它击落在地，离开了自己的教区，任凭双眼指引他往哪儿去。于是他便一路流浪起来。

Suddenly an unknown man met him. “How do you do, good man?” he said to the pope. “Whither are you going? and whence do you come?” “Take me with you as a companion.” So they went off together. They went on some versts, and became tired. It was time to rest.

忽然，一个素不相识的人迎面走来。“你好啊，好人，”他对神父说道。“你要往哪儿去？又是从哪儿来的？”“带我一起同行吧。”于是两人便结伴同行了。他们走了几俄里路，都累了，是时候歇一歇了。

Now the pope had two biscuits, and his new friend had two wafers. The pope said to him: “We will first of all eat up your wafers, and we will then go on with the biscuits.”

这时神父身上带着两块饼干，他这位新朋友则带着两片薄饼。神父对他说：“咱们先把你的薄饼吃了，然后再吃我的饼干吧。”

“All right!” the unknown man said to him. “Let us first eat up my wafers, and leave your biscuits for a dessert.”

“好啊！”那陌生人对他说道。“咱们先把我的薄饼吃完，把你的饼干留着当点心吧。”

So they ate the wafers, ate them all up, and they were fully sated, and there were still wafers over.

于是他们便吃起薄饼来，把薄饼全都吃光了，两人都吃得饱饱的，可薄饼却还剩下一些。

So the pope became envious. “Why,” he thought, “I will steal them.” The old man lay down to sleep after dinner, and the pope was all agog to see how he could steal those wafers. The old man went to sleep; so the pope abstracted the wafers from his pocket and silently began eating them.

于是神父起了贪念。“哎呀，”他心想，“我把它偷了吧。”那老人吃过饭后便躺下睡觉了，神父则一心盘算着该怎样把那些薄饼偷到手。老人睡着了，神父便从他口袋里把薄饼掏了出来，悄悄地吃了起来。

The old man woke up and felt for his wafers, and could not find them anywhere. “Where are my wafers? Who has eaten them up? Have you, pope?”

老人醒来，摸了摸自己的薄饼，怎么也找不着了。“我的薄饼哪儿去了？谁把它吃了？是你吗，神父？”

“No, I did not,” answered the pope.

“不，不是我，”神父答道。

“Well, all right; I don’t mind.”

“好吧，那也没什么，我不介意。”

So they shook themselves up, and they went on their way and journey, went on and on, and the roads suddenly divided and they came to a carfax. So they both went on a single road and arrived at a kingdom. Now, in this kingdom the Tsar’s daughter was near her death, and the Tsar had promised any one who should cure her half of his reign and rule and realm; but any one who failed was to have his head cut off and placed on a pole.

于是两人抖擞精神，继续赶路，走啊走，忽然前面的路分岔了，来到了一个十字路口。两人便一同走上了其中一条路，来到了一个王国。这个王国里，沙皇的女儿命在旦夕，沙皇许下诺言，谁能治好她，便把自己国土的一半、王权与王国都分给他；可若是治不好，就要被砍下脑袋，插在木桩上示众。

When they arrived in front of the Tsar’s courtyard, they got themselves up finely, and they called themselves doctors. The henchmen sallied out of the Tsar’s courtyard, and asked them: “What sort of people are you? What is your race? What is your city? What do you require?”

他们来到沙皇的宫廷前，把自己打扮得体体面面，自称是医生。侍卫们从沙皇宫廷里走出来，问道：“你们是什么人？出身何处？来自哪座城？想要什么？”

“We,” they answered, “are doctors, and we can cure the Tsarévna.”

“我们，”他们答道，“是医生，能治好沙皇的女儿。”

“Well, if you are doctors, come into the palace.”

“好，既然你们是医生，那就进宫来吧。”

So they went into the palace, looked at the Tsarévna, asked for special huts from the Tsar, for a can of water, for a curved sabre, and a large table. The Tsar gave them all they required.

于是他们进了宫，看了看沙皇的女儿，向沙皇要了几间专用的小屋、一罐水、一把弯刀，还有一张大桌子。沙皇便把他们要的东西全都给了。

They then locked themselves up in the huts, tied the princess down on the big table, cut her up with the curved sabre into little bits, put them all into the cauldron, washed them, and rinsed them out. Then they began to put them together—bit by bit, fragment by fragment. And the old man breathed on them. Piece clove to piece, and made one. Then he took all the pieces, breathed on them for the last time, and the princess trembled all over, and woke alive and well.

随后他们把自己锁在小屋里，把公主绑在大桌子上，用弯刀把她切成了一小块一小块，全都放进锅里，洗净，再冲洗干净。接着他们开始把这些碎块一块一块、一片一片地拼接起来。老人朝着这些碎块吹了一口气，碎块便一块块地粘合到了一起，合成了一个整体。随后他把所有的碎片都拼好，最后再吹了一口气，公主便浑身一颤，苏醒过来，活蹦乱跳，安然无恙。

The Tsar himself came into their hut. “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost!”

沙皇亲自来到了他们的小屋。“奉圣父、圣子、圣灵之名！”

“Amen!” they answered.

“阿门！”他们答道。

“Have you cured the Tsarévna?” asked the Tsar.

“你们把公主治好了吗？”沙皇问道。

“Yes,” the doctors answered—“there she is!” The Tsarévna came out with the Tsar alive and well.

“是的，”两位医生答道，“她在这儿呢！”公主便同沙皇一起走了出来，活蹦乱跳，安然无恙。

The Tsar said to the doctors: “What good thing do you desire—gold or silver? Ask and you shall have.” So they began to bring gold and silver. And the old man took as much as he could take with his thumb and two fingers, but the pope took it by handfuls, and he rammed it all into his wallet and hid it away, concealed it, lifted it up as much as ever his power could.

沙皇对两位医生说道：“你们想要什么好东西——金子还是银子？只管开口，我都给你们。”于是人们便开始搬来金银。老人只用拇指和两根手指捏起了他能拿的那么一点点，可神父却是一把一把地抓，把它们全都塞进自己的钱袋里，藏了起来，能拿多少就拿了多少，能藏多少就藏了多少。

The old man then said to the pope: “Let us bury all the money in the earth and again go a-healing.”

老人便对神父说：“咱们把这些钱都埋进地里，再去别处行医吧。”

So they went on and went on, and they arrived at another kingdom in which there also was a princess on the verge of death, and the Tsar promised any one who should cure her half of his realm and rule and reign; but any one who failed was to have his head cut off.

于是他们又继续赶路，来到了另一个王国，那里也有一位公主命在旦夕，沙皇许诺，谁能治好她，便把国土、王权与王国的一半分给他；可若是治不好，便要被砍下脑袋。

But the Evil One was tempting the envious pope—how he should manage to tell nothing to the old man, but to cure her by himself, and so get all the gold and silver for himself. So he dubbed himself a doctor, arrayed himself finely, and arrived at the Tsar’s courtyard, just as they had done before. In the same way he asked for the same implements from the Tsar, shut himself up in the special hut, tied the princess down on the table, took out the curved sabre; and however much the Tsarévna might cry out and wriggle, the pope disregarded all her shrieks, and all her yelpings, poor girl, and cut her to bits like mincemeat.

可魔鬼这时正在诱惑那贪心的神父——他盘算着该怎样瞒着老人，自己独自把公主治好，这样金银财宝便能全归自己一人所有。于是他自封为医生，打扮得体体面面，来到了沙皇的宫廷，跟先前一模一样。他也照样向沙皇要了同样的器具，把自己关进了那间专用的小屋，把公主绑在桌子上，抽出了那把弯刀；任凭公主如何哭喊挣扎，神父都全然不顾她的尖叫和哀求，可怜的姑娘，被他像剁肉馅一样切成了碎块。

He then cut it all up fine, threw it into the cauldron, washed it and rinsed it, took it out, put piece to piece exactly the same as the old man had done. And he then wanted to put them altogether, breathed on them—and nothing happened! He pumped his lungs out, but nothing happened. It was all to no purpose. So he put all the fragments back into the water, rinsed and scoured them through, fitting the pieces together, and breathed on them. It was all of no good.

他随后把她切得细细碎碎的，扔进锅里，洗净冲洗，捞了出来，跟老人当初做的一样，把碎块一块一块地拼接起来。可等他想把它们全都拼在一起，朝着它们吹了口气——却什么动静也没有！他使出浑身力气拼命吹，却毫无用处。一切都是徒劳。于是他又把所有的碎片放回水里，反复冲洗擦拭，重新把碎块拼在一起，再吹口气。仍是无济于事。

“Oh, whatever shall I do?” the pope thought. “This is simply horrible!”

“哎呀，这可如何是好？”神父心想。“这简直太可怕了！”

In the morning the Tsar went to him and saw that the doctor had had no luck. He had mixed up the whole body on the floor. So the Tsar ordered the doctor to the gallows.

第二天早上，沙皇来到他跟前，见这位医生一点运气也没有。整具身体的碎块都乱七八糟地摊在地上。于是沙皇下令要把这医生送上绞架。

The pope then began to beg. “Tsar! Tsar! I am a free man. Give me a short space of time. I will go and look out for another old man who can really cure the Tsarévna.” So the pope went to look for the old man, found him, and said: “Old man, I am a depraved sinner. The fiends tempted me. I wanted to cure the Tsar’s daughter all by myself, and I was not able, and they are now going to hang me. Do come and help me!”

神父这才开始苦苦哀求。“沙皇陛下！沙皇陛下！我是个自由人。求您给我一点时间。我去找另一位老人来，他才真正能治好公主。”于是神父便去找那位老人，找到了他，说道：“老人家，我是个堕落的罪人。魔鬼诱惑了我。我想独自一人治好沙皇的女儿，却办不到，如今他们要绞死我了。求求您来帮帮我吧！”

So the old man went with the pope, and the noose was put round the pope’s neck. Then the old man said to the pope: “Pope, who ate up my wafers?”

于是老人便同神父一起去了，绳索已经套上了神父的脖子。这时老人对神父说：“神父，是谁吃了我的薄饼？”

“I really didn’t; I swear I didn’t!”

“真的不是我；我发誓不是我！”

So they made him mount one rung higher, and again the old man said to him: “Pope, who ate my wafers up?”

于是他们让他再往上爬了一级，老人又问他：“神父，是谁吃了我的薄饼？”

“I really didn’t; I swear I didn’t!”

“真的不是我；我发誓不是我！”

So he went up the third rung, and again said he didn’t. This time he had his head in the noose tight, and still he said: “I did nothing of the sort!”

于是他又爬上了第三级，还是说不是他。这时绳索已经死死套住了他的脖子，他仍旧说：“我没做过那种事！”

So the old man said to the Tsar: “I am a free man. Will you let me cure the Tsarévna, and if I do not succeed, have a second noose got ready for my neck: one for me and one for the pope.”

于是老人对沙皇说：“我是个自由人。您让我来治好公主吧，要是我治不好，就再准备一副绳索套在我脖子上：一副给我，一副给神父。”

Then the old man took the morsels of the Tsarévna’s body, bit by bit, breathed on them, and she arose alive and well.

于是老人拿起公主身体的碎块，一块一块地，朝它们吹了口气，公主便活蹦乱跳、安然无恙地站了起来。

Then the Tsar rewarded them both with gold and silver.

沙皇便用金银重重赏赐了他们二人。

“Now let us go and divide the money,” said the old man.

“现在咱们去分钱吧，”老人说道。

So they started. They put all the money into three little piles, and the pope looked on, and said: “What do you mean? There are only two of us. Who is to have the third?”

于是他们出发了。他们把所有的钱分成了三小堆，神父一看，说道：“这是什么意思？咱们明明只有两个人。第三份是给谁的？”

Said the old man: “That is for the thief who ate up my wafers.”

老人说道：“那是给那个偷吃了我薄饼的贼的。”

“Oh, it was I who ate them up!” the pope cried out. “I really did! I swear it!”

“哦，是我吃的！”神父喊道。“真的是我吃的！我发誓！”

“Then you may have all the money, and my own share as well. Henceforth serve your parish faithfully. Do not be a miser, and do not beat St. Nicholas on the shoulders with the keys!” the old man said, and vanished.

“那你就把所有的钱都拿去吧，连我的那一份也一并拿去。从今往后，要忠心侍奉你的教区。别再吝啬贪财了，也别再用钥匙敲打圣尼古拉的肩膀了！”老人说完，便消失不见了。