格林童話:Fitcher's Bird費切爾的怪鳥

Fitcher's Bird

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Once upon a time there was a sorcerer who disguised himself as a poor man, went begging from house to house, and captured beautiful girls. No one knew where he took them, for none of them ever returned.

One day he came to the door of a man who had three beautiful daughters. He appeared to be a poor, weak beggar, and he carried a pack basket on his back, as though he wanted to collect some benevolent offerings in it. He asked for a bit to eat, and when the oldest daughter came out to give him a piece of bread, he simply touched her, and she was forced to jump into his pack basket. Then he hurried away with powerful strides and carried her to his house, which stood in the middle of a dark forest.

Everything was splendid in the house, and he gave her everything that she wanted. He said, "My dear, you will like it here with me. You will have everything that your heart desires."

So it went for a few days, and then he said to her, "I have to go away and leave you alone for a short time. Here are the house keys. You may go everywhere and look at everything except for the one room that this little key here unlocks. I forbid you to go there on the penalty of death."

He also gave her an egg, saying, "Take good care of this egg. You should carry it with you at all times, for if you should loose it GREat misfortune would follow."

She took the keys and the egg, and promised to take good care of everything.

As soon as he had gone she walked about in the house from top to bottom examining everything. The rooms glistened with silver and gold, and she thought that she had never seen such splendor.

Finally she came to the forbidden door. She wanted to pass it by, but curiosity gave her no rest. She examined the key. It looked like any other one. She put it into the lock and twisted it a little, and then the door sprang open.

What did she see when she stepped inside? A large bloody basin stood in the middle, inside which there lay the cut up parts of dead girls. Nearby there was a wooden block with a glistening ax lying on it.

She was so terrified that the egg, which she was holding in her hand, fell into the basin. She got it out again and wiped off the blood, but it was to no avail, for it always came back. She wiped and scrubbed, but she could not get rid of the stain.

Not long afterward the man returned from his journey, and he immediately asked for the key and the egg. She handed them to him, shaking all the while, for he saw from the red stain that she had been in the blood chamber.

"You went into that chamber against my will," he said, "and now against your will you shall go into it once again. Your life is finished."

He threw her down, dragged her by her hair into the chamber, cut off her head on the block, then cut her up into pieces, and her blood flowed out onto the floor. Then he threw her into the basin with the others.

"Now I will go get the second one," said the sorcerer, and, again disguised as a poor man, he went to their house begging.

the second sister brought him a piece of bread, and, as he had done to the first one, he captured her by merely touching her, and he carried her away. It went with her no better than it had gone with her sister. She let herself be led astray by her curiosity, opened the blood chamber and looked inside. When he returned she paid with her life.

then he went and captured the third sister, but she was clever and sly. After he had given her the keys and the egg, and had gone away, she carefully put the egg aside, and then examined the house, entering finally the forbidden chamber.

Oh, what she saw! He two dear sisters were lying there in the basin, miserably murdered and chopped to pieces. In spite of this she proceeded to gather their parts together, placing them back in order: head, body, arms, and legs. Then, when nothing else was missing, the parts began to move. They joined together, and the two girls opened their eyes and came back to life. Rejoicing, they kissed and hugged one another.

When the man returned home he immediately demanded the keys and the egg, and when he was unable to detect any trace of blood on them, he said, "You have passed the test. You shall be my bride."

He now had no more power over her and had to do whatever she demanded.

"Good," she answered, "but first you must take a basketful of gold to my father and mother. You yourself must carry it there on your back. In the meanwhile I shall make preparations for the wedding."

then she ran to her sisters, whom she had hidden in a closet, and said, "The moment is here when I can rescue you. The evildoer himself shall carry you home. As soon as you have arrived at home send help to me."

She put them both into a basket, then covered them entirely with gold, so that nothing could be seen of them.

then she called the sorcerer in and said, "Now carry this basket away, but you are not to stop and rest underway. Take care, for I shall be watching you through my little window."

the sorcerer lifted the basket onto his back and walked away with it. However, it pressed down so heavily on him that the sweat ran from his face. He sat down, wanting to rest, but immediately one of the girls in the basket called out, "I am looking through my little window, and I can see that you are resting. Walk on!"

He thought that his bride was calling to him, so he got up again. then he again wanted to sit down, but someone immediately called out, "I am looking through my little window, and I can see that you are resting. Walk on!"

Every time that he stopped walking, someone called out, and he had to walk on until, groaning and out of breath, he brought the basket with the gold and the two girls to their parents' house.

At home the bride was making preparations for the wedding feast, to which she had had the sorcerer's friends invited. Then she took a skull with grinning teeth, adorned it with jewelry and with a wreath of flowers, carried it to the attic window, and let it look out.

When everything was ready she dipped herself into a barrel of honey, then cut open the bed and rolled around in it until she looked like a strange bird, and no one would have been able to recognize her. Then she walked out of the house.

Underway some of the wedding guests met her, and they asked, "You, Fitcher's bird, where are you coming from?"

"I am coming from Fitcher's house."

"What is his young bride doing there?"

"She has swept the house from bottom to top, and now she is looking out of the attic window."

Finally her bridegroom met her. He was slowly walking back home, and, like the others, he asked, "You, Fitcher's bird, where are you coming from?"

"I am coming from Fitcher's house."

"What is my young bride doing there?"

"She has swept the house from bottom to top, and now she is looking out of the attic window."

the bridegroom looked up. Seeing the decorated skull, he thought it was his bride, and he waved a friendly GREeting to her.

After he and all his guests had gone into the house, the bride's brothers and relatives arrived. They had been sent to rescue her. After closing up all the doors of the house so that no one could escape, they set it afire, and the sorcerer, together with his gang, all burned to death.

從前有個巫師，裝作窮人，挨家挨戶地乞討，而實際上他是碰到漂亮姑娘就抓。誰也說不上他把姑娘們抓到哪兒去了，因爲他帶走的姑娘沒有一個回來過。

有一天，他來到一家人門口，這家人有三個漂亮的姑娘。他揹着一個籃子，像是準備裝人們施捨的東西，樣子活像個身體虛弱、令人憐憫的乞丐。他求那家人給他點吃的，於是大女兒走了出來。巫師不用碰她，姑娘就會不自覺地跳進他的籃子，然後他就邁着大步朝密林深處自己的住所逃去。

他住處的一切擺設都是那麼富麗堂皇，還給姑娘準備了她可能想到的每一樣東西，他總是說：「親愛的，你跟着我會過得很幸福的，因爲你要甚麼有甚麼。」

過了幾天，巫師對姑娘說：「我得出門辦點事情，你得一個人在家呆兩天。這是所有房門的鑰匙。除了一間屋子外，其餘你都可以看。這是那間禁室的鑰匙，我不許任何人進去，否則就得死。」同時他還遞給姑娘一個雞蛋，說：「保管好雞蛋，走到哪兒帶到哪兒，要是丟了你就會倒大黴了。」

姑娘接過鑰匙和雞蛋，答應一切都照他的吩咐做。巫師走後，姑娘把屋子從樓下到樓上都看了個遍。所有房間都是金光閃閃的，姑娘從沒見過這麼多財富。最後她來到那間禁室，想走過去不看，可好奇心驅使她掏出了鑰匙，想看看和其他的有甚麼不同，於是將鑰匙插進了鎖孔。門「譁」地彈開了，她走了進去。你們想她看到了甚麼？房間中央擺着一個血淋淋的大盆，裏面全是砍成了碎片的人體；旁邊是一塊大木砧板，上面放着一把鋒利閃亮的大斧子。她嚇得連手裏的雞蛋都掉進盆裏去了，結果上面的血斑怎麼也擦不掉，她又是洗又是刮，還是沒法去掉。

巫師不久就回來了。他要的第一件東西就是鑰匙和雞蛋。姑娘戰戰兢兢地將鑰匙和雞蛋遞了過去，巫師從她那副表情和雞蛋上的紅點馬上就知道她進過那間血腥的房間。「既然你違背了我的意願進了那間屋子，現在我就要你違背自己的意願再回到那裏去，你死定了。」巫師說着就拽着姑娘的頭髮，一路拖着進了那間屠宰房，把她的頭摁在砧板上砍了，把她的四肢也砍了，讓血滿地流淌，接着就把屍體扔進盆裏和其他屍體放在一塊兒。

「現在我該去把二姑娘弄來了。」巫師自言自語地說。他又裝扮成可憐的乞丐，來到那家人家乞討。這次是二姑娘拿了一塊麵包給他，他只碰了姑娘一下就像抓大姑娘一樣把她給抓住了。二姑娘的結局也不比大姑娘好，她也在好奇心的驅使下打開了屠宰室的門，看到了一切；然後在巫師回來時被同樣殺害了。巫師又去抓第三個姑娘，她可比姐姐們聰明、狡猾多了。當巫師將鑰匙和雞蛋交給她，然後出門旅行時，她先是小心翼翼地把雞蛋放穩妥，然後纔開始檢查各個房間，最後來到那間禁室。天哪！她都看到些甚麼了？她的兩位好姐姐雙雙躺在盆裏，被殘酷地謀殺了、肢解了。她開始將她們的肢體按順序擺好：頭、身體、胳膊和腿。甚麼都不缺時，那些肢體開始移動，合到一起，兩位姑娘睜開了眼睛，又活過來了。她們興高采烈地互相親吻、互相安慰。

巫師回來第一件事照例是要鑰匙和雞蛋。他左瞧右看找不出上面有血痕，於是說：「你經受了考驗，你將是我的新娘。」這樣一來，他不僅對姑娘沒有任何魔力，而且不得不按照姑娘的吩咐去行事。「哦，真是太好了！」姑娘說，「你先得親自扛一籃子金子去送給我父母，我則在家準備婚事。」說着就跑到姐姐們藏身的小房間，對她們說：「現在我可以救你們了，這壞蛋會親自揹你們回家。你們一到家就要找人來幫我。」她將兩個姐姐放進籃子，上面蓋上厚厚一層金子。然後對巫師說：「把籃子扛去吧。不過我會從小窗口看你一路是不是站下來偷懶。」

巫師扛起籃子就走，可籃子重得壓彎了他的腰，汗水順着面頰直往下淌。他剛想坐下來歇一歇，籃子裏就有個姑娘在喊：「我從小窗口看到你在歇息了，馬上起身走。」巫師以爲是新娘子在說話，只好起身接着走。走了一會兒，他又想停下來歇息，立刻聽到有人說：「我從小窗口看着你呢。你又停下來休息了，你就不能一直走回去嗎？」每當他站在那裏不動時，這個聲音就會又喊起來，他又不得不繼續前進，最後終於扛着兩個姑娘和一大堆金子氣喘噓噓地來到姑娘父母家中。

再說三姑娘在巫師家裏一邊準備婚宴一邊給巫師的朋友們發請貼。她準備了一個咧嘴露牙的骷髏，給它戴上花環，裝飾了一下，然後將它放到閣樓上的小窗口前，讓它從那裏往外看着。等這些事情都做完了，姑娘跳進一桶蜂蜜，然後把羽毛牀劃開，自己在上面滾，直到渾身都粘滿了毛，人像只奇異的鳥，誰都認不出她了爲止。她走到外面，一路上都碰到來參加婚禮的客人。他們問她：

「費切爾怪鳥，你怎麼到的這裏？」

「從附近的費切爾的家走來的。」

「年輕的新娘在幹甚麼？」

「她把樓下樓上已打掃得整齊乾淨，我想，這會兒正從窗口向外張望。」

最後，她碰到了正慢慢向家走的新郎。他也一樣問道：

「費切爾怪鳥，你怎麼到的這裏？」

「從附近的費切爾家走來的。」

「年輕的新娘在幹甚麼？」

「她把樓下樓上已打掃得整齊乾淨，我想，這會兒正從窗口向外張望。」

新郎擡頭一望，看見了那個打扮起來的骷髏，以爲那就是他的新娘，便向它點頭，很親熱地和它打招呼。可當他和客人們走進屋子時，被派來救新娘的兄弟和親戚也趕到了，他們把屋子的門全部鎖上，不讓一個人逃出來，然後點起火來，把巫師和他的那幫人全部燒死了。