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安徒生童話故事第65篇：小鬼和小商人The Goblin and the Huckste
引導語：小鬼與小商人這兩位道不同不相為謀的人在一起會發生什么樣的故事呢?歡迎大家閱讀下文的安徒生故事了解吧，還有英文版的。
從前有一個名副其實的學生：他住在一間頂樓①里，什么也沒有;同時有一個名副其實的小商人，住在第一層樓上，擁有整幢房子。一個小鬼就跟這個小商人住在一起，因為在這兒，在每個圣誕節的前夕，他總能得到一盤麥片粥吃，里面還有一大塊黃油!這個小商人能夠供給這點東西，所以小鬼就住在他的店里，而這件事是富有教育意義的。
有一天晚上，學生從后門走進來，給自己買點蠟燭和干奶酪。他沒有人為他跑腿，因此才親自來買。他買到了他所需要的東西，也付了錢。小商人和他的太太對他點點頭，表示祝他晚安。這位太太能做的事情并不止點頭這一項——她還有會講話的天才!
學生也點了點頭。接著他忽然站著不動，讀起包干奶酪的那張紙上的字來了。這是從一本舊書上撕下的一頁紙。這頁紙本來是不應該撕掉的，因為這是一部很舊的詩集。
“這樣的書多得是!"小商人說。"我用幾粒咖啡豆從一個老太婆那兒換來的。你只要給我三個銅板，就可以把剩下的全部拿去。”
“謝謝，"學生說，"請你給我這本書，把干奶酪收回去吧;我只吃黃油面包就夠了。把一整本書撕得亂七八糟，真是一樁罪過。你是一個能干的人，一個講究實際的人，不過就詩說來，你不會比那個盆子懂得更多。”
這句話說得很沒有禮貌，特別是用那個盆子作比喻;但是小商人大笑起來，學生也大笑起來，因為這句話不過是開開玩笑罷了。但是那個小鬼卻生了氣：居然有人敢對一個賣最好的黃油的商人兼房東說出這樣的話來。
黑夜到來了，店鋪關上了門;除了學生以外，所有的人都上床去睡了。這時小鬼就走進來，拿起小商人的太太的舌頭，因為她在睡覺的時候并不需要它。只要他把這舌頭放在屋子里的任何物件上，這物件就能發出聲音，講起話來，而且還可以像太太一樣，表示出它的思想和感情。不過一次只能有一件東西利用這舌頭，而這倒也是一樁幸事，否則它們就要彼此打斷話頭了。
小鬼把舌頭放在那個裝報紙的盆里。"有人說你不懂得詩是什么東西，"他問，"這話是真的嗎?”
“我當然懂得，"盆子說，"詩是一種印在報紙上補白的東西，可以隨便剪掉不要。我相信，我身體里的詩要比那個學生多得多;但是對小商人說來，我不過是一個沒有價值的盆子罷了。”
于是小鬼再把舌頭放在一個咖啡磨上。哎唷!咖啡磨簡直成了一個話匣子了!于是他又把舌頭放在一個黃油桶上，然后又放到錢匣子上——它們的意見都跟盆子的意見一樣，而多數人的意見是必須尊重的。
“好吧，我要把這意見告訴那個學生!”
于是小鬼就靜悄悄地從一個后樓梯走上學生所住的那間頂樓。房里還點著蠟燭。小鬼從門鎖孔里朝里面偷看。他瞧見學生正在讀他從樓下拿去的那本破書。
但是這房間里是多么亮啊!那本書里冒出一根亮晶晶的光柱。它擴大成為一根樹干，變成了一株大樹。它長得非常高，而且它的枝丫還在學生的頭上向四面伸展開來。每片葉子都很新鮮，每朵花兒都是一個美女的面孔：臉上的眼睛有的烏黑發亮，有的藍得分外晶瑩。每一個果子都是一顆明亮的星;此外，房里還有美妙的歌聲和音樂。
嗨!這樣華麗的景象是小鬼從沒有想到過的，更談不上看見過或聽到過了。他踮著腳尖站在那兒，望了又望，直到房里的光滅掉為止。學生把燈吹熄，上床睡覺去了。但是小鬼仍舊站在那兒，因為音樂還沒有停止，聲音既柔和，又美麗;對于躺著休息的學生說來，它真算得是一支美妙的催眠曲。
“這真是美麗極了!"小鬼說。"這真是出乎我的想象之外!
我倒很想跟這學生住在一起哩。”
接著他很有理智地考慮了一下，嘆了一口氣："這學生可沒有粥給我吃!"所以他仍然走下樓來，回到那個小商人家里去了。他回來得正是時候，因為那個盆子幾乎把太太的舌頭用爛了：它已經把身子這一面所裝的東西全都講完了，現在它正打算翻轉身來把另一面再講一通。正在這時候，小鬼來到了，把這舌頭拿走，還給了太太。不過從這時候起，整個的店——從錢匣一直到木柴——都隨聲附和盆子了。它們尊敬它，五體投地地佩服它，弄得后來店老板晚間在報紙上讀到藝術和戲劇批評文章時，它們都相信這是盆子的意見。
但是小鬼再也沒有辦法安安靜靜地坐著，聽它們賣弄智慧和學問了。不成，只要頂樓上一有燈光射出來，他就覺得這些光線好像就是錨索，硬要把他拉上去。他不得不爬上去，把眼睛貼著那個小鑰匙孔朝里面望。他胸中起了一種豪邁的感覺，就像我們站在波濤洶涌的、正受暴風雨襲擊的大海旁邊一樣。他不禁凄然淚下!他自己也不知道他為什么要流眼淚，不過他在流淚的時候卻有一種幸福之感：跟學生一起坐在那株樹下該是多么幸福啊!然而這是做不到的事情——他能在小孔里看一下也就很滿足了。
他站在寒冷的樓梯上;秋風從閣樓的圓窗吹進來。天氣變得非常冷了。不過，只有當頂樓上的燈滅了和音樂停止了的時候，這個小矮子才開始感覺到冷。嗨!這時他就顫抖起來，爬下樓梯，回到他那個溫暖的角落里去了。那兒很舒服和安適!
圣誕節的粥和一大塊黃油來了——的確，這時他體會到小商人是他的主人。
不過半夜的時候，小鬼被窗扉上一陣可怕的敲擊聲驚醒了。外面有人在大喊大叫。守夜人在吹號角，因為發生了火災——整條街上都是一片火焰。火是在自己家里燒起來的呢，還是在隔壁房里燒起來的呢?究竟是在什么地方燒起來的呢?
大家都陷入恐怖中。
小商人的太太給弄糊涂了，連忙扯下耳朵上的金耳環，塞進衣袋，以為這樣總算救出了一點東西。小商人則忙著去找他的股票，女傭人跑去找她的黑綢披風——因為她沒有錢再買這樣一件衣服。每個人都想救出自己最好的東西。小鬼當然也是這樣。他幾步就跑到樓上，一直跑進學生的房里。學生正泰然自若地站在一個開著的窗子面前，眺望著對面那幢房子里的火焰。小鬼把放在桌上的那本奇書搶過來，塞進自己的小紅帽里，同時用雙手捧著帽子。現在這一家的最好的寶物總算救出來了!所以他就趕快逃跑，一直跑到屋頂上，跑到煙囪上去。他坐在那兒，對面那幢房子的火光照著他——他雙手抱著那頂藏有寶貝的帽子。現在他知道他心里的真正感情，知道他的心真正向著誰了。不過等到火被救熄以后，等到他的頭腦冷靜下來以后——嗨……"我得把我分給兩個人，"他說。"為了那碗粥，我不能舍棄那個小商人!”
這話說得很近人情!我們大家也到小商人那兒去——為了我們的粥。
①頂樓(Quist)即屋頂下的一層樓。在歐洲的建筑物中，它一般用來堆破爛的東西。只有窮人或窮學生才住在頂樓里。
小鬼和小商人英文版：
The Goblin and the Huckster
THERE was once a regular student, who lived in a garret, and had no possessions. And there was also a regular huckster, to whom the house belonged, and who occupied the ground floor. A goblin lived with the huckster, because at Christmas he always had a large dish full of jam, with a great piece of butter in the middle. The huckster could afford this; and therefore the goblin remained with the huckster, which was very cunning of him.
One evening the student came into the shop through the back door to buy candles and cheese for himself, he had no one to send, and therefore he came himself; he obtained what he wished, and then the huckster and his wife nodded good evening to him, and she was a woman who could do more than merely nod, for she had usually plenty to say for herself. The student nodded in return as he turned to leave, then suddenly stopped, and began reading the piece of paper in which the cheese was wrapped. It was a leaf torn out of an old book, a book that ought not to have been torn up, for it was full of poetry.
“Yonder lies some more of the same sort,” said the huckster: “I gave an old woman a few coffee berries for it; you shall have the rest for sixpence, if you will.”
“Indeed I will,” said the student; “give me the book instead of the cheese; I can eat my bread and butter without cheese. It would be a sin to tear up a book like this. You are a clever man; and a practical man; but you understand no more about poetry than that cask yonder.”
This was a very rude speech, especially against the cask; but the huckster and the student both laughed, for it was only said in fun. But the goblin felt very angry that any man should venture to say such things to a huckster who was a householder and sold the best butter. As soon as it was night, and the shop closed, and every one in bed except the student, the goblin stepped softly into the bedroom where the huckster’s wife slept, and took away her tongue, which of course, she did not then want. Whatever object in the room he placed his tongue upon immediately received voice and speech, and was able to express its thoughts and feelings as readily as the lady herself could do. It could only be used by one object at a time, which was a good thing, as a number speaking at once would have caused great confusion. The goblin laid the tongue upon the cask, in which lay a quantity of old newspapers.
“Is it really true,” he asked, “that you do not know what poetry is?”
“Of course I know,” replied the cask: “poetry is something that always stand in the corner of a newspaper, and is sometimes cut out; and I may venture to affirm that I have more of it in me than the student has, and I am only a poor tub of the huckster’s.”
Then the goblin placed the tongue on the coffee mill; and how it did go to be sure! Then he put it on the butter tub and the cash box, and they all expressed the same opinion as the waste-paper tub; and a majority must always be respected.
“Now I shall go and tell the student,” said the goblin; and with these words he went quietly up the back stairs to the garret where the student lived. He had a candle burning still, and the goblin peeped through the keyhole and saw that he was reading in the torn book, which he had brought out of the shop. But how light the room was! From the book shot forth a ray of light which grew broad and full, like the stem of a tree, from which bright rays spread upward and over the student’s head. Each leaf was fresh, and each flower was like a beautiful female head; some with dark and sparkling eyes, and others with eyes that were wonderfully blue and clear. The fruit gleamed like stars, and the room was filled with sounds of beautiful music. The little goblin had never imagined, much less seen or heard of, any sight so glorious as this. He stood still on tiptoe, peeping in, till the light went out in the garret. The student no doubt had blown out his candle and gone to bed; but the little goblin remained standing there nevertheless, and listening to the music which still sounded on, soft and beautiful, a sweet cradle-song for the student, who had lain down to rest.
“This is a wonderful place,” said the goblin; “I never expected such a thing. I should like to stay here with the student;” and the little man thought it over, for he was a sensible little spirit. At last he sighed, “but the student has no jam!” So he went down stairs again into the huckster’s shop, and it was a good thing he got back when he did, for the cask had almost worn out the lady’s tongue; he had given a description of all that he contained on one side, and was just about to turn himself over to the other side to describe what was there, when the goblin entered and restored the tongue to the lady. But from that time forward, the whole shop, from the cash box down to the pinewood logs, formed their opinions from that of the cask; and they all had such confidence in him, and treated him with so much respect, that when the huckster read the criticisms on theatricals and art of an evening, they fancied it must all come from the cask.
But after what he had seen, the goblin could no longer sit and listen quietly to the wisdom and understanding down stairs; so, as soon as the evening light glimmered in the garret, he took courage, for it seemed to him as if the rays of light were strong cables, drawing him up, and obliging him to go and peep through the keyhole; and, while there, a feeling of vastness came over him such as we experience by the ever-moving sea, when the storm breaks forth; and it brought tears into his eyes. He did not himself know why he wept, yet a kind of pleasant feeling mingled with his tears. “How wonderfully glorious it would be to sit with the student under such a tree;” but that was out of the question, he must be content to look through the keyhole, and be thankful for even that.
There he stood on the old landing, with the autumn wind blowing down upon him through the trap-door. It was very cold; but the little creature did not really feel it, till the light in the garret went out, and the tones of music died away. Then how he shivered, and crept down stairs again to his warm corner, where it felt home-like and comfortable. And when Christmas came again, and brought the dish of jam and the great lump of butter, he liked the huckster best of all.
Soon after, in the middle of the night, the goblin was awoke by a terrible noise and knocking against the window shutters and the house doors, and by the sound of the watchman’s horn; for a great fire had broken out, and the whole street appeared full of flames. Was it in their house, or a neighbor’s? No one could tell, for terror had seized upon all. The huckster’s wife was so bewildered that she took her gold ear-rings out of her ears and put them in her pocket, that she might save something at least. The huckster ran to get his business papers, and the servant resolved to save her blue silk mantle, which she had managed to buy. Each wished to keep the best things they had. The goblin had the same wish; for, with one spring, he was up stairs and in the student’s room, whom he found standing by the open window, and looking quite calmly at the fire, which was raging at the house of a neighbor opposite. The goblin caught up the wonderful book which lay on the table, and popped it into his red cap, which he held tightly with both hands. The greatest treasure in the house was saved; and he ran away with it to the roof, and seated himself on the chimney. The flames of the burning house opposite illuminated him as he sat, both hands pressed tightly over his cap, in which the treasure lay; and then he found out what feelings really reigned in his heart, and knew exactly which way they tended. And yet, when the fire was extinguished, and the goblin again began to reflect, he hesitated, and said at last, “I must divide myself between the two; I cannot quite give up the huckster, because of the jam.”
And this is a representation of human nature. We are like the goblin; we all go to visit the huckster “because of the jam.”
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