
突然一声巨吼,灌木丛中扑出一只大个的东北虎,张着利牙,竖着尾巴,猛地向马扑去。
雄狮体魄雄伟,大脑袋,阔嘴巴,脸上长着白色的长须,颈肩披着金色的鬣毛,后身呈金黄色,长尾巴上还配着毛球,真是仪表非凡威风凛凛,一副“王者”的雄姿。
大象有影壁似的身体,柱子似的腿,蒲扇似的耳朵,玉石似的大牙,什么都给人一种大得出奇的.感觉。
老猴子一身褐色的长毛,拖着一条长短合适的尾巴,走起路来显得很稳重,好像是一位
大熊猫那竖起的圆圆的黑耳朵,像戴一顶“风雪帽”;四肢穿着黑绒的大“皮靴”,肩上披着匀称联结的黑“披肩”,真是神气十足,令人瞩目。
"This Beast may be ugly, but he is certainly kind," she thought. "He gives me all the things I like and allows me to know how my family is without me."
“野兽或许很丑陋,但他真的很善良,”她想,“他给我许多我喜欢的东西,还允许我知道家里的情况。”
That night at supper the Beast joined her at the candle-lit table.
那晚晚餐时,野兽与美女一同在点着蜡烛的餐桌上用餐。
He sat and stared at her. At the end of the meal he asked: "Will you marry me?"
他坐下来,看着她。晚餐结束时,他问道:“你愿意嫁给我吗?”
Beauty was startled by the question but said as gently as she could, "No, Beast, you are kind but I cannot marry you."
美女被这个问题吓了一跳,但是她还是尽量温柔地说道:“不,野兽,你很好,但是我不能嫁给你。”
Each day it was the same.
日复一日。
Beauty had everything she wanted during the day and each evening the Beast asked her to marry him, and she always said no.
美女拥有任何她想要的东西,每天晚上野兽都求她嫁给他,但是美女一直都没答应。
One night Beauty dreamt that her father lay sick.
一天晚上美女梦见她的父亲生病了。
She asked the Beast if she could go to him, and he refused saying that if she left him he would die of loneliness.
她向野兽请求是否可以看望父亲,但是野兽拒绝了,他说如果美女离开他,他会寂寞地死去。
But when he saw how unhappy Beauty was, he said:
"If you go to your family, will you return within a week?"
但是当他看到美女很难过时,他说道:“ 如果你回家的话,你会在一周内回来吗?”
"Of course," Beauty replied.
“当然,”美女回答道。
"Very well, just place this ring on your dressing table the night you wish to return, and you shall come back here.
“那好,如果哪天晚上你想回来,戴上梳妆台上的戒指,你就会回来了。”
But do not stay away longer than a week, or I shall die."
“但是不要停留超过一周,否则我会死的。”
The next morning Beauty awoke to find herself in her own home.
第二天早晨,美女醒来发现她在自己家里。
Her father was indeed sick, but Beauty nursed him lovingly.
父亲的确生病了,但是美女很耐心地照顾他。
Beauty's sisters were jealous once more.
美女的姐姐又一次嫉妒她了。
They thought that if she stayed at home longer than a week the Beast would kill her.
她们认为,如果她在家里停留超过一个礼拜,野兽就会杀了她。
So they pretended to love her and told her how much they had missed her.
所以她们假装很爱她,告诉她说她们是多么地想念她。
Before Beauty knew what had happened ten days had passed.
不知不觉,十天过去了。
Then she had a dream that the Beast was lying still as though he were dead by the lake near his castle.
后来她梦见野兽躺在城堡的湖边,似乎要死了。
"I must return at once," she cried and she placed her ring on the dressing table.
“我必须立刻回去,”她哭了起来,然后戴上了梳妆台山的戒指。
The next morning she found herself once more in the Beast's castle.
第二天早晨,她发现自己又回到了城堡。
All that day she expected to see him, but he never came. "I have killed the Beast," she cried, "I have killed him."
整整一天美女期望见到野兽,但是他没有来。“我杀死了野兽,”她哭着说道,“我杀了他。”
Then she remembered that in her dream he had been by the lake and quickly she ran there.
忽然她忆起在梦里野兽躺在湖边,于是她跑向那里。
He lay still as death, down by the water's edge.
他一丝不动地在湖边躺着,像是死去一样。
"Oh, Beast!" she wept, "Oh, Beast! I did not mean to stay away so long. Please do not die. Please come back to me. You are so good and kind." She knelt and kissed his ugly head.
“噢,野兽!”她抽泣起来,“噢,野兽!我并没想停留这么久,请不要死,回来吧,你这样善良,这样和蔼。”她跪下来,吻了他丑陋的脸。
Suddenly no Beast was there, but a handsome prince stood before her.
突然野兽不见了,一个英俊的王子站在她面前。
"Beauty, my dear one," he said. "I was bewitched by a sell that could only be broken when a beautiful girl loved me and wanted me in spite of my ugliness. When you kissed me just now you broke the enchantment."
“美女,亲爱的,”他说道。“只有一个美丽的女孩爱上我,不嫌我丑,那个诅咒才会被打破。刚才你亲了我,就打破了这个魔咒。”
Beauty rode with the prince to her father's house and then they all went together to the prince's kingdom.
美女和王子一同前往她父亲的家,之后他们一起来到了王子的王国。
There he and Beauty were married. In time they became king and queen, and ruled for many happy years.
王子与美女结婚了,很快他们成了国王和王后,并且统治了好多年,过着幸福的日子。
“是的,”美妞说,“因为我不会说谎。但是我相信你有一颗善良的心。”
“你说得对。”怪兽说,“但是,除了丑陋以外,我还缺乏智慧。你知道,我只是一头野兽。”
“你说自己缺乏智慧,这说明你并不愚蠢,因为愚蠢的人是不会知道这一点的。”
“吃饭吧,美妞。”怪兽说,“这里就是你的家,在自己家里你不用烦恼。这里所有的一切都是属于你的。如果你不开心,我就感到很悲哀。”
“你真好。”美妞说,“我向你承认,你的善良使我感到欢喜。当我想到这一点时,我看着你就不觉得那么丑陋了。”
“我虽然有善良的心,但我只是一头怪兽。”
“有很多人比你更丑陋。”美妞说,“比起那些有着人的模样而藏着一颗虚伪,腐败和忘恩负义的心的人来,我宁愿喜欢像你这样外表的人。”
“如果我有智慧,”怪兽说,“我会说出一大套好话来谢谢你。但是,可惜我很笨拙,我要对你说的全部的话,就是我很感激你。”
美妞吃得很香,她差不多已经不怕怪兽了。可是当她听到怪兽向她提出以下的问题时,她几乎又吓得半死。
“美妞,你愿意做我的妻子吗?”
她沉默了好一会儿,没有回答。如果说不愿意呢,她害怕会触怒怪兽。但是她还是战战兢兢地对他说:“不,怪兽。”
可怜的巨兽听了这句话,长叹了一声,发出一声极为可怕的呼啸,把整个宫殿都震动了。不过,美妞很快就镇静下来,因为怪兽悲哀地对她说:“那么,再见吧,美妞。”他走出了房间,还不时地回头望望她。
美妞看到只有自己一个人了,便怜悯起这头可怜的怪兽来。“咳!”她说,“真遣憾,他长得那么难看,可他有多么好的心!”
美妞宁静地在宫殿里住了三个月。每天晚上怪兽都来看望她。她吃晚饭的时候,怪兽总是跟她聊天。他说话是那样朴实,丝毫没有上流社会的人的那种所谓机灵劲儿。
美妞每天从怪兽身上发现新的好品质。她因为经常看到他,而对他的丑陋也就习惯了。怪兽来看望她的时候,她一点也不觉得害怕了。她还常常看是不是到了九点钟,因为怪兽总是在这个时候到她的房间里来的。
只有一件事使美妞感到很难堪,那就是怪兽在睡觉之前,总要问她是不是愿意做他的妻子。当她回答说不愿意的时候,他总是显得很痛苦。有一天,美妞对他说:“你使我很发愁,怪兽。我很想能够嫁给你,但是我不得不坦率他说,这是永远办不到的。我以后将一直是你的朋友,你就满足于这一点吧。”
“是的,”怪兽说,“我应该克制自己。我知道自己面貌可憎,但是我非常爱你。你在这里使我感到很幸福,答应我,你将永远不离开我!”
美妞听了这些话脸红了。她从镜子里看到过她的爸爸因为失去她而愁闷得生了病,她多么希望再次见到他啊。
“也许我可以答应你永远不离开你,”她对怪兽说,“但是我渴望重新见到我的父亲。如果你拒绝我的这个愿望,我就会郁闷而死的。”
“我宁可自己死掉,也不愿使你感到烦恼。”怪兽说,“我将把你送到你父亲那里去,你可以留在他的身边,而你的可怜的怪兽将痛苦地死去。”
“不!”美妞说着哭了起来,“我是那样地喜欢你,绝对不能让你死去。过一星期我就会回来的。我从镜子里看到姐姐们已经出嫁,哥哥们也去参军了,家里只剩下爸爸一个人,你就让我回家去待一个星期吧!”
“明天早上你就动身吧,”怪兽说,“但是别忘了你的诺言。当你想回来的时候,你只要在睡觉前把你的戒指放在桌子上就行了。再见吧,美妞。”
怪兽说完话,像往常一样悲叹了一阵。美妞看到怪兽因她而伤心,感到很难过,郁郁不乐地睡下了。
第二天早上醒来,她发现自己已经在爸爸的屋子里了。她按了按床边的铃,女仆进来了。女仆一见美妞就叫嚷起来,商人应声跑来,能和亲爱的女儿重逢使他喜出望外。他俩互相拥抱了好长一个时候。
美妞在激动之余想起自己起床后还没有衣服。这时女仆却告诉她说,刚刚在隔壁房间发现了一只大箱子,里面有很多饰着珍珠宝石的连衣裙。美妞十分感谢好心的怪兽对她的关心。她挑了一件最朴素的穿上,叫女仆把其余的收藏起来,说是准备送给她的两个姐姐。她这么一说,箱子就不见了。她的爸爸说,想必怪兽要把这些衣服都留给美妞,这时箱子又立刻在原地出现了。
人们把美妞回家的消息通知了两个姐姐,她们就和自己的丈夫一道来了。



