《公主和豌豆》，1835 年
the princess and the pea, 1835
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安徒生声称小时候就听过这个故事，他很可能受到了类似于瑞典的《躺在七颗豌豆上的公主》这个版本的启发。
Andersen claimed to have heard this story as a child, and it is likely that he was inspired by a version akin to the Swedish “princess who Lay on Seven peas.”
那个故事的女主人公是个孤儿，她带着宠物猫或狗踏入社会，并且自称是公主。
the heroine of that tale is an orphaned child who sets out into the world acpanied by a pet cat or dog and who presents herself as a princess.
受到多疑的王后的质疑，女孩的王室血统在夜间接受考验，当时一个小物件（一粒豆子、一颗豌豆或者一根稻草）被悄悄塞到她的床垫下。
challenged by a suspicious queen, the girl’s royal ancestry is put to the test at night, when a small object (a bean, a pea, or a straw) is slipped under her mattress.
在猫或狗告知她这个物件后，女孩抱怨自己无法入睡，于是被宣告拥有王室血统。
Informed by the cat or the dog about the object, the girl plains about her inability to sleep and is declared to be of royal blood.
民间故事中的女主人公用欺骗手段来提升自己的社会地位，但安徒生笔下的公主是 “真正的” 公主，不必歪曲自己的敏感。
the folktale heroine uses deceit to raise her social rank, but Andersen’s princess is the “real” thing and does not have to misrepresent her sensitivity.
对安徒生来说，一个表明 “真正的” 高贵在于敏感而非出身的故事具有一定的吸引力。
For Andersen, a story demonstrating that “true” nobility resides in sensitivity rather than birth had a certain appeal.
他的许多恩人以及朋友和评论家不断提醒他低微的社会出身，安徒生通过创作故事来弥补这一点，这些故事表明那些出生在谷仓场院（丑小鸭）或者不知从哪里出现在王室门口（公主）的人可能是真正的贵族。
constantly reminded of his lowly social origins by his many benefactors as well as by friends and critics, Andersen pensated by developing narratives demonstrating that those who are born in barnyards (the ugly duckling) or those who appear out of nowhere at the doorstep of royals (the princess) may turn out to be the real thing.
作为一名诗人，他渴望成为丹麦在欧洲作家和思想家精英中的代表。
As a poet, he aspired to bee denmark’s representative among a European elite of writers and thinkers.
在《夜莺》中，安徒生再次提到了真品和拙劣模仿者之间的区别。
In “the Nightingale,” Andersen once again took up the distinction between the real thing and sorry imitators.
1959 年的音乐剧《豌豆公主》，由卡罗尔?伯内特饰演难以抑制的可怜公主温妮弗雷德，这部剧在百老汇多年来大获成功，1997 年又由莎拉?杰西卡?帕克主演复排。
the 1959 musical once Upon a mattress, starring carol burnett as the irrepressible princess winnifred the woebegone, enjoyed success on broadway for many years and was revived in 1997 with Sarah Jessica parker in the lead role.
有过无数的电影改编版本，这个故事还被乔恩?谢斯卡创造性地重写为《公主和保龄球》。
there have been numerous cinematic adaptations, and the story has been rewritten creatively by Jon Scieszka as “the princess and the bowling ball.”
《公主和豌豆》仍然是安徒生童话中最受欢迎的故事之一，公主本人也成为了极其细腻情感的象征。
“the princess and the pea” remains a favorite among Andersen tales, and the princess herself has bee an emblem of supremely delicate sensibilities.
那种随意、对话式的口吻和幽默的笔触起到了滑稽模仿的作用，弥补了许多可能冒犯现代情感的特征。
the casual, conversational tone and humorous touches, which operate to produce parody, redeem many features that might offend modern sensibilities.
王子坚持要找到一位 “真正的” 公主，并且将敏感视为贵族独有的特权，这挑战了我们自己关于品格和社会价值的文化价值观。
the prince’s insistence on finding a “true” princess and the characterization of sensitivity as the exclusive privilege of nobility challenge our own cultural values about character and social worth.
然而，公主的敏感也可以从隐喻层面解读为她情感和同情心深度的一种衡量。
And yet the sensitivity of the princess can also be read on a metaphorical level as a measure of the depth of her feeling and passion.
安徒生还为我们塑造了一位充满活力的女主人公，她不惧恶劣天气，出现在王子的家门口，而且是她自己成功找到王子的。
Andersen also gives us a feisty heroine, one who defies the elements and shows up on the doorstep of a prince, whom she has succeeded in tracking down on her own.
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从前有一位王子，他想娶一位公主；
once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess;
但她必须是一位真正的公主。
but she would have to be a real princess.
他走遍世界去寻找一位（真正的公主），但无论到哪里都找不到他想要的。
he travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted.
公主有很多，但很难弄清楚她们是否是真正的公主。
there were princesses enough, but it was difficult to find out whether they were real ones.
她们身上总是有一些不太对劲的地方。
there was always something about them that was not as it should be.
所以他又回家了，很伤心，因为他非常希望能有一位真正的公主。
So he came home again and was sad, for he would have liked very much to have a real princess.
一天晚上，一场可怕的暴风雨来临了；
one evening a terrible storm came on;
有雷电交加，大雨倾盆而下。
there was thunder and lightning, and the rain poured down in torrents.
突然，听到城门处传来敲门声，老国王去开门。
Suddenly a knocking was heard at the city gate, and the old king went to open it.
是一位公主站在城门外。
It was a princess standing out there in front of the gate.
但是，天哪！风雨把她弄成了什么样子啊。
but, good gracious! what a sight the rain and the wind had made her look.
雨水从她的头发和衣服上流淌下来；
the water ran down from her hair and clothes;
流进她鞋子的脚趾部分，又从鞋跟处流出来。
it ran down into the toes of her shoes and out again at the heels.
然而她说她是一位真正的公主。
And yet she said that she was a real princess.
“嗯，我们很快就会弄清楚的，” 老王后想。
“well, we’ll soon find that out,” thought the old queen.
但她什么也没说，走进卧室，把床架上的所有被褥都拿掉，在床板上放了一颗豌豆；
but she said nothing, went into the bed - room, took all the bedding off the bedstead, and laid a pea on the bottom;
然后她拿了二十个床垫放在豌豆上，又在床垫上放了二十床鸭绒被。
then she took twenty mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then twenty eider - down beds on top of the mattresses.
公主就得在这上面躺一整晚。
on this the princess had to lie all night.
早晨有人问她睡得怎么样。
In the morning she was asked how she had slept.
“哦，糟透了！” 她说。
“oh, very badly!” said she.
“我整晚几乎都没合眼。
“I have scarcely closed my eyes all night.
天知道床上有什么东西，但我正躺在一个硬东西上，弄得我浑身青一块紫一块的。
heaven only knows what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, so that I am black and blue all over my body.
太可怕了！”
It’s horrible!”
现在他们知道她是一位真正的公主了，因为她隔着二十个床垫和二十床鸭绒被还能感觉到豌豆。
Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider - down beds.
除了真正的公主，没有人会这么敏感。
Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.
于是王子娶她为妻，因为现在他知道自己有了一位真正的公主；
So the prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a real princess;
而那颗豌豆被放进了博物馆，如果没人偷走的话，现在还能看到它。
and the pea was put in the museum, where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen it.
瞧，这是一个真实的故事。
there, that is a true story.