英文文本

The Littlest Knight

Once upon a time long ago, even before the days of King Arthur, there lived a blacksmith only three feet tall. He was so short that he needed a stool to stand on to shoe the great steeds of the knights. This bothered him not a bit because although he was small he was very brave. In fact, in his heart he secretly longed to become a knight and win the hand of the Princess.

The Princess was the King and Queen's only child and it should come as no surprise that the little blacksmith loved her very much for she was both kind and beautiful. She was even smaller than he, and had dancing eyes and long silken hair which she wore in a coiled braid. But, alas, the little blacksmith could admire the Princess only from afar because she was, after all, a princess and he but a lowly blacksmith--not even that tall. One day a terrible dragon came to the kingdom. Breathing fire on anyone who crossed its path, it trampled houses and burned fields. Many knights battled the dragon but their swords could not cut its thick scales. Each night it flew home to its cave in the mountains surrounded by a deep ravine.

The dragon was enchanted and protected by a magic spell. It said,

He who would break my spell,
Must carry a thousand swords,
And do it well.
Then cross a bridge which isn't there,
If he wants to reach my lair.
And last, not least, my defeat
Will be an empty cup filled.

Many knights went to battle and many knights were hurt as the dragon moved closer and closer to the castle. The King declared whosoever killed the dragon would be granted half his kingdom. Now knights came from across the sea. They were the most fierce, the bravest and the biggest knights anyone had ever seen. A thousand of them gathered to attack the dragon.

But with his great wings the dragon took no time in knocking 50 knights from their horses and breathing fire on the rest. He said,

You must think I'm here to fiddle,
1,000 men--that's not the riddle.
One man alone, only one man,
With a thousand swords,
That's the plan.

In desperation the King proclaimed whosoever solved the riddles and killed the dragon would be granted their heart's desire.

Now the merchants got busy. Suddenly there were swords everywhere: fat swords, skinny swords, sharp swords, dull swords, fancy swords, but mostly tiny swords so that one man might carry many of them. But a tiny sword is more like a dagger and most knights were too proud to carry a sackful of daggers.

中文文本

小小骑士

很久很久以前，比亚瑟王的时代更早的时候，有位身高三英尺的小铁匠。因为他的个子实在太矮，铁匠必须站在凳子上才能给骑士的战马钉马掌。尽管如此，身材的问题从未困扰过小铁匠，他虽然矮小但非常勇敢。他暗暗许下心愿，要当一名骑士，还要赢得公主的芳心。

公主是国王和王后的独女。小铁匠会爱上她一点儿都不奇怪，因为她既善良又美丽。公主的身材比铁匠还要娇小，她有着一双美目明眸善睐，缎子般的长发盘成了一条大辫子。可是，哎，小铁匠只能远远地仰慕着公主，她毕竟是公主啊。而他呢，只不过是一个卑微的铁匠，而且连个子都不够高。

有一天，一条可怕的巨龙袭击了这个王国。它口吐火焰炙烤挡道的行人，它踏死了马匹，烧毁了农田。许多骑士和巨龙英勇奋战，但是他们的宝剑刺不穿厚厚的龙鳞。每天晚上巨龙又飞回它的巢穴中去，那是一个大洞穴，位于峡谷环绕的山峦之中。

其实巨龙被施了法术，由一条魔咒庇护着。咒文中说：
谁欲破我魔咒，
必携千柄利剑，
且需锻造精良。
越过不在之桥，
深入虎穴龙潭，
待将空杯斟满，
勇士方可凯旋。

骑士们前仆后继，许多人都负伤了，而巨龙却越来越逼近城堡。国王昭告天下，杀死巨龙之人可分得他的半壁江山。诏令一出，骑士们远渡重洋而来，个个骁勇善战、高大魁梧。千名骑士齐心向巨龙发起攻击。但是巨龙振翅一扇顷刻间就把五十名骑士刮下了马，喘息间熊熊火焰吞没了剩余的骑士。它开口说道：

尔等缘何视我儿戏？
千名骑士并非谜底，
一人佩得千柄宝剑，
方有可能解开咒语。

万般无奈之下，国王重颁诏令，能揭示谜底斩杀巨龙者，一切要求均可应允。商人们忙碌了起来，一时间到处都是卖剑的，剑身有宽有窄，剑刃或利或钝，亦有的宝剑花哨夺目，卖得最多的是袖珍的宝剑，唯有这样一个人才能佩戴很多把。但是短小的宝剑更有几分像匕首，大部分心高气傲的骑士根本不屑于背着一口袋匕首迎战。