《豌豆花》，1853 年
the pea blossom, 1853
从前，一个豆荚里有五颗豌豆，它们是绿色的，豆荚也是绿色的，所以它们就认为整个世界肯定也都是绿色的，这是个很自然的结论。
there were once five peas in one shell, they were green, the shell was green, and so they believed that the whole world must be green also, which was a very natural conclusion.
豆荚长大了，豌豆也长大了，它们适应着各自的位置，整整齐齐地排成一排。
the shell grew, and the peas grew, they acmodated themselves to their position, and sat all in a row.
阳光从外面照进来，温暖着豆荚，雨水把它冲洗得清澈透明；白天阳光明媚，天气温和宜人，夜晚则漆黑一片，通常都是如此；而坐在里面的豌豆们长得越来越大，它们沉思的时候也变得越发有想法了，因为它们觉得肯定还有别的事情等着它们去做。
the sun shone without and warmed the shell, and the rain made it clear and transparent; it was mild and agreeable in broad daylight, and dark at night, as it generally is; and the peas as they sat there grew bigger and bigger, and more thoughtful as they mused, for they felt there must be something else for them to do.
“我们要永远坐在这儿吗？”
“Are we to sit here forever?”
其中一颗豌豆问道；“坐这么久，我们会不会变硬啊？在我看来，外面肯定有别的东西，我对此深信不疑。”
asked one; “shall we not bee hard by sitting so long? It seems to me there must be something outside, and I feel sure of it.”
随着几周时间过去，豌豆变黄了，豆荚也变黄了。
And as weeks passed by, the peas became yellow, and the shell became yellow.
“我猜整个世界都在变黄吧。” 它们说道 —— 也许它们说得没错。
“All the world is turning yellow, I suppose,” said they, — and perhaps they were right.
突然，它们感觉豆荚被拉了一下；豆荚被扯掉了，被人拿在手里，然后和其他装满豌豆的豆荚一起被塞进了一件夹克的口袋里。
Suddenly they felt a pull at the shell; it was torn off, and held in human hands, then slipped into the pocket of a jacket in pany with other full pods.
“现在我们很快就要被打开了。” 其中一颗豌豆说 —— 这正是它们全都盼望的事。
“Now we shall soon be opened,” said one, — just what they all wanted.
“我想知道我们当中谁会走得最远。” 五颗豌豆里最小的那颗说；“现在我们很快就能知道了。”
“I should like to know which of us will travel furthest,” said the smallest of the five; “we shall soon see now.”
“该发生的总会发生。” 最大的那颗豌豆说。
“what is to happen will happen,” said the largest pea.
“啪” 的一声，豆荚裂开了，五颗豌豆滚落到明媚的阳光下。
“crack” went the shell as it burst, and the five peas rolled out into the bright sunshine.
它们就躺在一个孩子的手里。
there they lay in a child’s hand.
一个小男孩紧紧地握着它们，说这些豌豆用来做他的豌豆枪再好不过了。
A little boy was holding them tightly, and said they were fine peas for his pea-shooter.
他立刻把一颗豌豆放进去，然后射了出去。
And immediately he put one in and shot it out.
“现在我要飞向广阔的世界了，” 它说；“有本事就来抓我呀；” 一转眼它就不见了。
“Now I am flying out into the wide world,” said he; “catch me if you can;” and he was gone in a moment.
“我呀，” 第二颗豌豆说，“打算直接飞到太阳那儿去，太阳可是个显眼的大家伙，正合我意；” 说完它就飞走了。
“I,” said the second, “intend to fly straight to the sun, that is a shell that lets itself be seen, and it will suit me exactly;” and away he went.
“不管落到哪儿，我们都要睡一觉，” 接下来的两颗豌豆说，“我们还是会继续往前滚的；” 它们确实先掉到了地上，在被放进豌豆枪之前还滚了一会儿；但最后还是被放进去了。
“we will go to sleep wherever we find ourselves,” said the two next, “we shall still be rolling onwards;” and they did certainly fall on the floor, and roll about before they got into the pea-shooter; but they were put in for all that.
“我们会比其他豌豆走得更远。” 它们说。
“we shall go farther than the others,” said they.
“该发生的总会发生。” 最后一颗豌豆被从豌豆枪里射出去的时候大声说道；它一边说一边飞起来，撞到了阁楼窗户下的一块旧木板上，然后掉进了一个小裂缝里，裂缝里几乎填满了苔藓和松软的泥土。
“what is to happen will happen,” exclaimed the last, as he was shot out of the pea-shooter; and as he spoke he flew up against an old board under a garret-window, and fell into a little crevice, which was almost filled up with moss and soft earth.
苔藓把它围了起来，它就躺在那儿，成了名副其实的俘虏，但上帝并没有忽略它。
the moss closed itself round him, and there he lay, a captive indeed, but not unnoticed by God.
“该发生的总会发生。” 它自言自语道。
“what is to happen will happen,” said he to himself.
在小阁楼里住着一个穷苦的女人，她出去打扫炉灶、把木头劈成小块，做着诸如此类的苦活儿，因为她身强力壮又勤劳能干。
within the little garret lived a poor woman, who went to clean stoves, chop wood into small pieces and perform such-like hard work, for she was strong and industrious.
然而她始终很穷，在阁楼的家里躺着她唯一的女儿，还没完全长大，而且身体非常虚弱。
Yet she remained always poor, and at home in the garret lay her only daughter, not quite grown up, and very delicate and weak.
她已经卧床整整一年了，看上去好像是既活不成也死不了。
For a whole year she had kept her bed, and it seemed as if she could neither live nor die.
“她要去找她的小妹妹了，” 那女人说，“我就只有这两个孩子，要养活她们俩可不容易；不过仁慈的上帝在我干活的时候帮了我，把其中一个带到了他身边，照顾着她。
“She is going to her little sister,” said the woman; “I had but the two children, and it was not an easy thing to support both of them; but the good God helped me in my work, and took one of them to himself and provided for her.
现在我很想留着剩下的这个孩子，可我想她们是不该分开的，我生病的女儿很快也要到天上去找她姐姐了。”
Now I would gladly keep the other that was left to me, but I suppose they are not to be separated, and my sick girl will very soon go to her sister above.”
但生病的女孩依旧待在原地，一整天她都静静地、耐心地躺着，而她母亲则外出干活去了。
but the sick girl still remained where she was, quietly and patiently she lay all the day long, while her mother was away from home at her work.
春天来了，一天清晨，阳光明媚地透过那扇小窗户照进来，把光线洒在房间的地板上。
Spring came, and one morning early the sun shone brightly through the little window, and threw its rays over the floor of the room.
就在母亲要去干活的时候，生病的女孩盯着窗户最下面的一块玻璃 ——“妈妈，” 她喊道，“从窗户往里偷看的那个绿色的小东西会是什么呀？它在风中晃动呢。”
Just as the mother was going to her work, the sick girl fixed her gaze on the lowest pane of the window— “mother,” she exclaimed, “what can that little green thing be that peeps in at the window? It is moving in the the wind.”
母亲走到窗户边，把窗户半开着。
the mother stepped to the window and half opened it.
“哦！” 她说，“居然有一颗小豌豆在这里生根发芽，长出绿叶来了。它怎么会掉进这个裂缝里的呢？嘿，现在这儿有个小花园能让你解解闷儿了。”
“oh!” she said, “there is actually a little pea which has taken root and is putting out its green leaves. how could it have got into this crack? well now, here is a little garden for you to amuse yourself with.”
于是，生病女孩的床被挪得离窗户更近了些，这样她就能看到那株正在发芽的植物了；然后母亲就出门干活去了。
So the bed of the sick girl was drawn nearer to the window, that she might see the budding plant; and the mother went out to her work.
“妈妈，我觉得我会好起来的。” 傍晚时分，生病的孩子说道，“今天太阳照在这里，又明亮又暖和，那颗小豌豆也长得那么好：我也会好起来的，还能再出去享受温暖的阳光。”
“mother, I believe I shall get well,” said the sick child in the evening, “the sun has shone in here so brightly and warmly to-day, and the little pea is thriving so well: I shall get on better, too, and go out into the warm sunshine again.”
“愿上帝保佑！” 母亲说道，但她并不相信真会如此。
“God grant it!” said the mother, but she does not believe it would be so.
不过，她用小木棍把那株给了孩子对生活如此美好希望的绿色植物支撑起来，以免它被风刮断；她把一根绳子系在窗台和窗框的上部，这样等豌豆苗往上长的时候，它的卷须就可以缠绕在绳子上了。
but she propped up with the little stick the green plant which had given her child such pleasant hopes of life, so that it might not be broken by the winds; she tied the piece of string to the window-sill and to the upper part of the frame, so that the pea-tendrils might twine round it when it shot up.
它确实在往上长，几乎能看得出它一天天地在长大。
And it did shoot up, indeed it might almost be seen to grow from day to day.
“哎呀，真的要有一朵花要开了。” 一天早晨，老妇人说道，到这时，她终于开始抱有希望，觉得生病的女儿或许真的能康复了。
“Now really here is a flower ing,” said the old woman one morning, and now at last she began to encourage the hope that her sick daughter might really recover.
她记得有一阵子孩子说话变得更欢快了，而且在过去的几天里，早上还会在床上坐起来，亮晶晶的眼睛望着她那只有一株豌豆苗的小花园。
She remembered that for some time the child had spoken more cheerfully, and during the last few days had raised herself in bed in the morning to look with sparkling eyes at her little garden which contained only a single pea-plant.
一周之后，病人第一次坐了整整一个小时，在温暖的阳光下，靠着敞开的窗户，感觉非常开心，而外面那株小植物正在生长，上面还开着一朵盛开的粉红色豌豆花。
A week after, the invalid sat up for the first time a whole hour, feeling quite happy by the open window in the warm sunshine, while outside grew the little plant, and on it a pink pea-blossom in full bloom.
小姑娘弯下腰，轻轻地亲吻了那娇嫩的叶子。
the little maiden bent down and gently kissed the delicate leaves.
对她来说，这一天就像是个节日。
this day was to her like a festival.
“是我们的天父亲自种下了那颗豌豆，让它生长、繁茂，给你带来欢乐，也给我带来希望，我亲爱的孩子。” 幸福的母亲说道，她对着那朵花微笑，仿佛它是上帝派来的天使。
“our heavenly Father himself has planted that pea, and made it grow and flourish, to bring joy to you and hope to me, my blessed child,” said the happy mother, and she smiled at the flower, as if it had been an angel from God.
但是其他豌豆怎么样了呢？
but what became of the other peas?
哎呀，那颗飞向广阔世界并且喊着 “有本事就来抓我呀” 的豌豆，掉进了一所房子屋顶的排水沟里，最后被一只鸽子吞进了肚子，结束了它的旅程。
why the one who flew out into the wide world, and said, “catch me if you can,” fell into a gutter on the roof of a house, and ended his travels in the crop of a pigeon.
那两颗懒惰的豌豆也被带得挺远，因为它们也被鸽子吃掉了，所以它们至少还有点用处；但是第四颗，就是想要飞到太阳那儿去的那颗，掉进了一个水槽里，在脏水里泡了好些天、好些星期，直到它膨胀得很大。
the two lazy ones were carried quite as far, for they also were eaten by pigeons, so they were at least of some use; but the fourth, who wanted to reach the sun, fell into a sink and lay there in the dirty water for days and weeks, till he had swelled to a great size.
“我长得可肥了，” 那颗豌豆说，“我估计最后我会胀破的；我觉得没有哪颗豌豆能比我做得更多了；我是豆荚里五颗豌豆中最了不起的。”
“I am getting beautifully fat,” said the pea, “I expect I shall burst at last; no pea could do more that that, I think; I am the most remarkable of all the five which were in the shell.”
水槽也证实了它的这种想法。
And the sink confirmed the opinion.
但是那个年轻的小姑娘站在敞开的阁楼窗户边，眼睛亮晶晶的，脸颊泛着健康的红晕，她把纤细的双手合在豌豆花上，感谢上帝所做的一切。
but the young maiden stood at the open garret window, with sparkling eyes and the rosy hue of health on her cheeks, she folded her thin hands over the pea-blossom, and thanked God for what he had been done.
“我，” 水槽说，“要为我的豌豆说话。”
“I,” said the sink, “shall stand up for my pea.”