小学英语英语故事童话故事DauntlessLittleJohn无畏的小乔万尼.doc

1DauntlessDauntlessLittleLittleJohnJohn无畏的小乔万尼无畏的小乔万尼DauntlessDauntless LittleLittle JohnJohnThere was once a lad whom everyone called Dauntless Little John,since he was afraidof nothing Traveling about the world,he came to an inn,where he asked for lodgingsWe have no room here,said the innkeeper,but if youre not afraid,I will directyou to a certain palace where you can stayWhy should I be afraid?People shudder at the thought of that palace,since nobody whos gone in has comeout alive In the morning the friars go up with the bier for anyone brave enough tospend the night insideSo what did Little John do but pick up a lamp,a bottle,and a sausage,and marchstraight to the palaceAt midnight he was sitting at the table eating,when he heard a voice in the chimneyShall I throw it down?Go ahead!replied Little JohnDown the chimney into the fireplace fell a mans leg Little John drank a glass ofwineThen the voice spoke again Shall I throw it down?Go ahead!So another leg dropped into the fireplace Little John bit into the sausageShall I throw it down?Go ahead!So down came an arm Little John began whistling a tuneShall I throw it down?By all means!And there was another armShall I throw it down?Yes!Then came the trunk of a body,and the arms and legs stuck onto it,and there stooda man without a headShall I throw it down?Throw it down!Down came the head and sprang into place atop the trunk He was truly a giant,andLittle John raised his glass and said,To your health!The giant said,Take the lamp and come with meLittle John picked up the lamp,but didnt budgeYou go first!said the giantNo,after you,insisted Little JohnAfter you!thundered the giantYou lead the way!yelled Little JohnSo the giant went first,with Little John behind him lighting the way,and they wentthrough room after room until they had walked the whole length of the palace Beneathone of the staircases was a small doorOpen it!ordered the giantYou open it!replied Little JohnSo the giant shoved it open with his shoulder There was a spiral staircase2Go on down,directed the giantAfter you,answered Little JohnThey went down the steps into a cellar,and the giant pointed to a stone slab onthe ground Raise that!You raise it!replied Little John,and the giant lifted it as though it were amere pebbleBeneath the slab there were three pots of gold Carry those upstairs!ordered thegiantYou carry them up!answered Little John And the giant carried them up one by oneWhen they were back in the hall where the great fireplace was,the giant said,LittleJohn,the spell has been broken!At that,one of his leg came off and kicked itsway up the chimney One of these pots of gold is for you An arm came loose and climbedup the chimney The second pot of gold is for the friars who come to carry away yourbody,believing you perished The other arm came off and followed the first Thethird pot of gold is for the first poor man who comes by Then the other leg droppedoff,leaving the giant seated on the floor Keep the palace for yourself The trunkseparated from the head and vanished The owners of the palace and their childrenare now gone forever At that,the head disappeared up the chimneyAs soon as it was light,a dirge arose:Miserere mei,miserere mei The friars hadcome with the bier to carry off Little Johns body But there he stood,at the window,smoking his pipe!Dauntless Little John was a wealthy youth indeed with all those gold pieces,andhe lived happily in his palace Then one day what should he do but look behind himand see his shadow:he was so frightened he diedNOTES:Dauntless Little John(Giovannin senza paura)I begin with a folktale for which I do not indicate,in contrast to my procedurein all the other tales,the particular version I followed As the versions of it fromthe various regions of Italy are all quite similar,I let myself be freely guidedby common tradition Not only for that reason have I put this tale first,but alsobecause it is one of the simplest and,in my view,one of the most beautiful folktalesItalian tradition sharply diverges from the Grimms Tale of a Boy Who Set Out toLearn Fear(Grimm no4)which is no doubt closer to my no80 The type of tale is ofEuropean origin and not found in AsiaThe disappearance of the man limb by limb is not traditional,but a personal touchof my own,to balance his arrival piece by piece I took the finishing stroke of theshadow from a Sienese version(De Gubernatis,22),and it is merely a simplificationof the more common ending,where Little John is given a salve for fastening headsback on He cuts his head off and puts it on again-backward;the sight of his rearend so horrifies him that he drops deadCopyright:Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,translated by George Martin,Pantheon Books,New York 19803无畏的小乔万尼无畏的小乔万尼从前，有一个小伙子，天不怕地不怕，被人称作无畏的小乔万尼。他游历世界，有一次来到一家小店过夜。店主说：“这里没有空房了，不过，你要是不怕，我带你去一幢楼住。”“我为什么要怕，没有一个人能从哪里活着出来。每到早晨，修道士就带着棺材去给敢于在楼里过夜的人收尸。”好小子！带着一盏灯、一瓶酒和一根香肠就去了。半夜，他正坐在桌子旁吃着，从烟囱里传来了一个声音：“我下来？”小乔万尼回答：“下来吧！”从烟囱上掉下来一条人腿。小乔万尼喝了一杯酒。随后那个声音又说：“我下来？”小乔万尼说：“下来吧！”另一条腿也掉下来了。小乔万尼咬了一口香肠。“我下来？”“下来吧！”掉下来一只胳膊。小乔万尼吹起口哨。“我下来？”“下来吧！”掉下来另一只胳膊。“我下来？”“下来吧！”掉下来一个身子，与胳膊、腿接在一起，连成一个没有脑袋的人站立起来。“我下来？”“下来吧！”脑袋掉了下来，蹦到了身子上。这是一个巨人，小乔万尼举起酒杯说：“为你的健康干杯！”巨人道“拿着灯，来。”小乔万尼拿起灯，但没动。“你在前边走！”巨人说。“你先走。”小乔万尼说。“你先走！”巨人说。“你先走。”小乔万尼说。于是，巨人先动了，一间屋挨一间屋地穿过这幢楼，小乔万尼跟在后边照着亮。来到楼梯下的一间小屋，面前出现一扇小门。“打开！”巨人对小乔万尼说。小乔万尼说：“你去开！”巨人对肩膀撞开门。里边有一个盘旋式的小楼梯。“下去。”巨人说。“你先下。”小乔万尼说。来到地下室，巨人指着地上的一块石板：“搬起来！”“你搬！”小乔万尼说。巨人像捏小石子一样搬走了石板。下边是三罐金币。巨人说：“抬起来！”“你抬！”小乔万尼说。巨人一次一个地把它们抬了上来。他们回到那个有烟囱的客厅，巨人说：“小乔万尼，我的法力失灵了！”说着，一条腿卸了下来，踢上了烟囱。“这三罐金币中的一罐给你，”说着，卸下来一只胳膊，胳膊爬上了烟囱。“另一罐给那些来替你收尸的修道士，”另一只胳膊卸了下来，跟着前边那只爬上了烟囱。“第三罐金币送给从这里经过的第一个穷人，”另一条腿也卸了下来，巨人的身子坐在4了地上。“这幢楼就归你了，”巨人的身子也卸了下来，只剩下脑袋立在地上。“因为拥有这幢楼的那个家族的人永远地消失了。”说完，巨人的脑袋升了起来，升上烟囱里了。天刚亮，就听到有人在唱：上帝怜悯我们，上帝怜悯我们。正是那群教士带着棺材来收小乔万尼的尸首。他们看见小伙子正在窗口抽烟斗呢。无畏的小乔万尼有了那些金币成了富人，他快乐地住在那幢楼里。直到有一天，他仅仅因为一转身，看见了自己的影子，被吓死了。