《安徒生童话英文版》第61章

　　how she shivered with the cold. She came at last to the door of afield-mouse, who had a little den under the corn-stubble. Theredwelt the field-mouse in warmth and comfort, with a whole roomful ofcorn, a kitchen, and a beautiful dining room. Poor little Tiny stoodbefore the door just like a little beggar-girl, and begged for a smallpiece of barley-corn, for she had been without a morsel to eat for twodays.

　　"You poor little creature," said the field-mouse, who was really agood old field-mouse, "come into my warm room and dine with me." Shewas very pleased with Tiny, so she said, "You are quite welcome tostay with me all the winter, if you like; but you must keep my roomsclean and neat, and tell me stories, for I shall like to hear themvery much." And Tiny did all the field-mouse asked her, and foundherself very comfortable.

　　"We shall have a visitor soon," said the field-mouse one day;"my neighbor pays me a visit once a week. He is better off than Iam; he has large rooms, and wears a beautiful black velvet coat. Ifyou could only have him for a husband, you would be well providedfor indeed. But he is blind, so you must tell him some of yourprettiest stories.

　　But Tiny did not feel at all interested about this neighbor, forhe was a mole. However, he came and paid his visit dressed in hisblack velvet coat.

　　"He is very rich and learned, and his house is twenty times largerthan mine," said the field-mouse.

　　He was rich and learned, no doubt, but he always spoke slightinglyof the sun and the pretty flowers, because he had never seen them.Tiny was obliged to sing to him, "Lady-bird, lady-bird, fly awayhome," and many other pretty songs. And the mole fell in love with herbecause she had such a sweet voice; but he said nothing yet, for hewas very cautious. A short time before, the mole had dug a longpassage under the earth, which led from the dwelling of thefield-mouse to his own, and here she had permission to walk withTiny whenever she liked. But he warned them not to be alarmed at thesight of a dead bird which lay in the passage. It was a perfectbird, with a beak and feathers, and could not have been dead long, andwas lying just where the mole had made his passage. The mole took apiece of phosphorescent wood in his mouth, and it glittered likefire in the dark; then he went before them to light them through thelong, dark passage. When they came to the spot where lay the deadbird, the mole pushed his broad nose through the ceiling, the earthgave way, so that there was a large hole, and the daylight shoneinto the passage. In the middle of the floor lay a dead swallow, hisbeautiful wings pulled close to his sides, his feet and his head drawnup under his feathers; the poor bird had evidently died of the cold.It made little Tiny very sad to see it, she did so love the littlebirds; all the summer they had sung and twittered for her sobeautifully. But the mole pushed it aside with his crooked legs, andsaid, "He will sing no more now. How miserable it must be to be born alittle bird! I am thankful that none of my children will ever bebirds, for they can do nothing but cry, 'Tweet, tweet,' and always dieof hunger in the winter."

　　"Yes, you may well say that, as a clever man!" exclaimed thefield-mouse, "What is the use of his twittering, for when winter comeshe must either starve or be frozen to death. Still birds are very highbred."

　　Tiny said nothing; but when the two others had turned theirbacks on the bird, she stooped down and stroked aside the softfeathers which covered the head, and kissed the closed eyelids."Perhaps this was the one who sang to me so sweetly in the summer,"she said; "and how much pleasure it gave me, you dear, pretty bird."

　　The mole now stopped up the hole through which the daylight shone,and then accompanied the lady home. But during the night Tiny couldnot sleep; so she got out of bed and wove a large, beautiful carpet ofhay; then she carried it to the dead bird, and spread it over him;with some down from the flowers which she had found in thefield-mouse's room. It was as soft as wool, and she spread some ofit on each side of the bird, so that he might lie warmly in the coldearth. "Farewell, you pretty little bird," said she, "farewell;thank you for your delightful singing during the summer, when allthe trees were green, and the warm sun shone upon us. Then she laidher head on the bird's breast, but she was alarmed immediately, for itseemed as if something inside the bird went "thump, thump." It was thebird's heart; he was not really dead, only benumbed with the cold, andthe warmth had restored him to life. In autumn, all the swallows flyaway into warm countries, but if one happens to linger, the coldseizes it, it becomes frozen, and falls down as if dead; it remainswhere it fell, and the cold snow covers it. Tiny trembled very much;she was quite frightened, for the bird was large, a great deallarger than herself,- she was only an inch high. But she took courage,laid the wool more thickly over the poor swallow, and then took a leafwhich she had used for her own counterpane, and laid it over thehead of the poor bird. The next morning she again stole out to seehim. He was alive but very weak; he could only open his eyes for amoment to look at Tiny, who stood by holding a piece of decayed woodin her hand, for she had no other lantern. "Thank you, pretty littlemaiden," said the sick swallow; "I have been so nicely warmed, thatI shall soon regain my strength, and be able to fly about again in thewarm sunshine."

　　"Oh," said she, "it is cold out of doors now; it snows andfreezes. Stay in your warm bed; I will take care of you."

　　Then she brought the swallow some water in a flower-leaf, andafter he had drank, he told her that he had wounded one of his wingsin a thorn-bush, and could not fly as fast as the others, who weresoon far away on their journey to warm countries. Then at last hehad fallen to the earth, and could remember no more, nor how he cameto be where she had found him. The whole winter the swallow remainedunderground, and Tiny nursed him with care and love. Neither themole nor the field-mouse knew anything about it, for they did not likeswallows. Very soon the spring time came, and the sun warmed theearth. Then the swallow bade farewell to Tiny, and she opened the holein the ceiling which the mole had made. The sun shone in upon themso beautifully, that the swallow asked her if she would go with him;she could sit on his back, he said, and he would fly away with herinto the green woods. But Tiny knew it would make the field-mouse verygrieved if she left her in that manner, so she said, "No, I cannot."

　　"Farewell, then, farewell, you good, pretty little maiden," saidthe swallow; and he flew out into the sunshine.

　　Tiny looked after him, and the tears rose in her eyes. She wasvery fond of the poor swallow.

　　"Tweet, tweet," sang the bird, as he flew out into the greenwoods, and Tiny felt very sad. She was not allowed to go out intothe warm sunshine. The corn which had been sown in the field overthe house of the field-mouse had grown up high into the air, andformed a thick wood to Tiny, who was only an inch in height.

　　"You are going to be married, Tiny," said the field-mouse. "Myneighbor has asked for you. What good fortune for a poor child likeyou. Now we will prepare your wedding clothes. They must be bothwoollen and linen. Nothing must be wanting when you are the mole'swife."

　　Tiny had to turn the spindle, and the field-mouse hired fourspiders, who were to weave day and night. Every evening the molevisited her, and was continually speaking of the time when thesummer would be over. Then he would keep his wedding-day with Tiny;but now the heat of the sun was so great that it burned the earth, andmade it quite hard, like a stone. As soon, as the summer was over, thewedding should take place. But Tiny was not at all pleased; for shedid not like the tiresome mole. Every morning when the sun rose, andevery evening when it went down, she would creep out at the door,and as the wind blew aside the ears of corn, so that she could see theblue sky, she thought how beautiful and bright it seemed out there,and wished so much to see her dear swallow again. But he neverreturned; for by this time he had flown far away into the lovely greenforest.

　　When autumn arrived, Tiny had her outfit quite ready; and thefield-mouse said to her, "In four weeks the wedding must take place."

　　Then Tiny wept, and said she would not marry the disagreeablemole.

　　"Nonsense," replied the field-mouse. "Now don't be obstinate, or Ishall bite you with my white teeth. He is a very handsome mole; thequeen herself does not wear more beautiful velvets and furs. Hiskitchen and cellars are quite full. You ought to be very thankfulfor such good fortune."

　　So the wedding-day was fixed, on which the mole was to fetchTiny away to live with him, deep under the earth, and never again tosee the warm sun, because he did not like it. The poor child wasvery unhappy at the thought of saying farewell to the beautiful sun,and as the field-mouse had given her permission to stand at thedoor, she went to look at it once more.

　　"Farewell bright sun," she cried, stretching out her arm towardsit; and then she walked a short distance from the house; for thecorn had been cut, and only the dry stubble remained in the fields."Farewell, farewell," she repeated, twining her arm round a little redflower that grew just by her side. "Greet the little swallow fromme, if you should see him again."

　　"Tweet, tweet," sounded over her head suddenly. She looked up, andthere was the swallow himself flying close by. As soon as he spiedTiny, he was delighted; and then she told him how unwilling she feltto marry the ugly mole, and to live always beneath the earth, andnever to see the bright sun any more. And as she told him she wept.

　　"Cold winter is coming," said the swallow, "and I am going tofly away into warmer countries. Will you go with me?