雙語故事:傑克與豆莖

【英文原文】

There lived a poor woman who had been a widow for some years, and had an only child name Jack. Jack was a careless and extravagant boy. One day the poor woman found that they did not have enough money to buy even a bit of bread for another day. Nothing now remained to sell but a cow. So she told Jack to sell the cow in the market. But Jack exchanged the cow for a few beans. When his mother saw the beans, she got so angry that she threw them out of the window. Jack awoke early next morning, and discovered that some of the beans had taken root and grown up into the clouds. Jack climbed up the beanstalk and found himself in a strange country. A fairy directed him to the house of a giant who had killed his father. Jack stole from the giant a hen that laid golden eggs, two bags of gold and silver coins, and a beautiful harp that could play of its own accord, without being touched. But he was finally discovered by the giant, who ran after him down the beanstalk. The moment Jack got down the beanstalk he cut the beanstalk with an axe, and the giant fell and was killed.

【中文譯文】

從前有一個窮寡婦，與她的獨子傑克在一起艱難度日。傑克是個粗心大意、大手大腳的孩子。有一天，那可憐的女人發現家裏連買一片面包的錢也沒有了，只剩下一頭母牛。於是那女人叫傑克把母年牛拉到市場上賣掉。不料傑克用母牛僅僅換來幾顆豆子。他母親看到那幾顆豆子，氣得把它們扔出窗外。第二天一早，傑克發現豆子已發芽長大，豆莖高聳入雲。傑克爬上豆莖，到了一個陌生的世界。一個仙女告訴他，他的父親是被一個巨人殺害的，並向傑克指明那巨人的住所。傑克從巨人那裏偷了一隻會下金蛋的母雞、兩大口袋金幣和銀幣，還有一架會自動彈奏的豎琴。但是他最終還是被巨人發現了。傑克趕忙爬下豆莖，巨人在後面窮追不捨。傑克一落地，就用斧頭將豆莖齊根砍斷，巨人墮地摔死。

題外話：這個故事似乎暗示殖民者與土著人的關係。那巨人像是殖民者眼中的土著人，有財富，但殘酷粗野，無頭腦，易上當。傑克像個殖民者，有心眼兒，十分貪婪。有了下金蛋的母雞，足矣，還要金銀幣幹什麼？當然要。多多益善。光蒐羅金銀，不夠檔灰，還不能忘記豎琴——殖民地的藝術品。