小鬼和小商人

小鬼和小商人

从前，在一栋楼上住着一个学生和一个小商人。小商人很有钱，他住在第一层楼上，整栋楼都是他的呢。学生呢，很穷，只好住在顶楼的杂货间里。

除了学生和小商人，还有一个小鬼也住在这栋楼上。小鬼跟小商人住在一起，因为每个圣诞节前夕，小商人都会给他一盘麦片粥，还有一大块黄油。小鬼认为小商人是他最好的主人。

一天晚上，学生来买蜡烛和干奶酪。他买完了东西刚要走，忽然读起包奶酪的纸来。那是从一本很旧的诗集上扯下来的。

“这本诗还在吗？”学生问。

The Goblin and the Grocer

Once upon a time, there was a student who lived in the same building as a grocer. The grocer was very rich. He lived on the first floor, but the whole building was his. The student, however, was very poor, and he lived in a storage room in the attic.

Apart from the student and the grocer, a goblin also lived in this building. The goblin lived with the grocer, because every Christmas Eve the grocer would give him a bowl of wheat porridge and a large slab of butter. The goblin thought that the grocer was a most wonderful master.

One evening, the student came to buy candles and cheese. Having bought them, he was just turning to leave when he suddenly started to read from the paper wrapping the cheese. The paper had been torn from an old poetry book.

"Do you still have this book of poetry?" asked the student.

“在啊。剩下的都在这里呢。”小商人拿出剩余的书给学生看。

“哎呀，这么优美的诗集被糟蹋成这样，真是可惜啊。”学生摇头叹息，他想买下那本书。可找了半天，也没有钱，于是，他只好把奶酪退了回去，用原本想买奶酪的钱买下了剩余的那本书。

晚上，大家都睡觉了，小鬼偷偷去找那位学生了。他对学生买那本破书非常好奇。“那本书里到底有什么呢？他宁愿饿着肚子也要买？”

学生的房间里还点着蜡烛，小鬼就趴在门上的锁孔向里张望。他看到学生正在灯光下看那本书。书里冒出一根光柱，慢慢变成了一棵大树。大树枝枝丫丫地伸展开了满屋子。树上的每一片叶子都那么新鲜，每一朵花儿都绽放出一个美女的笑脸。

"I do. The rest of it is here." The grocer took out the remainder of the book to show the student.

"Ah! It's a real shame that such a beautiful book of poetry should be reduced to this," sighed the student as he shook his head. He wanted to buy the book. He searched for a long time, but couldn't find any money, so he had no option but to return the cheese and use the cheese money to buy the remainder of the book.

That evening, when everyone had gone to sleep, the goblin secretly went to see the student. He was very curious as to why the student had bought the tattered volume. "What does that book have that he is willing to go hungry in order to buy it?"

The candles were still lit in the student's room. The goblin bent down to the keyhole and peered through. He saw the student reading the book under the light of the lantern. The book gave off a beam of light, and slowly turned into a tree. The branches of the tree slowly stretched out to fill the room. The leaves on the tree were very green, and every flower blossomed into the smile of a beautiful maiden.

小鬼看得入迷了，他恨不得自己也能坐在大树下，和美女们一起听学生读诗。他又靠近点，仔细一听，呦，房间里还有美妙的音乐和歌声呢。喔，这可真是太美丽，太神奇了。

“啊，我真想和这个学生住在一起啊。”小鬼感慨地说。可是很快他就清醒了，学生太穷，不可能会给他粥和黄油的。

于是，小鬼只好又沮丧地跑下楼，回到小商人身边去了。

从那天开始，小鬼开始留意这个学生了。每天晚上，他都要朝阁楼上望一望，只要那里灯光一亮，他就感觉有绳子拉着他一样，想到阁楼上去看学生读书。

慢慢成了习惯，小鬼天天去陪学生读书，哪怕是站在锁眼前，忍受风雨的吹打。小鬼心里依然是欢喜的。

The goblin was entranced. He was longing to sit under the tree and listen to the student read poetry with the beautiful maidens. He shuffled a little closer, and listened intently. Ah! There was also the most wonderful music and singing coming from within the room. Oh, it was so beautiful, so magical.

"Ah, how I wish to be with that student," said the goblin with a sigh of emotion. But very soon, he woke up to reality. The student was very poor, and could not possibly give him porridge and butter.

And so, the goblin had no choice but to run downstairs and return to the grocer's side.

From that day on, the goblin started to pay close attention to the student. Each evening, he would gaze upstairs and, as soon as the lamp was lit, he would feel himself being pulled as if by a rope to watch the student reading.

Eventually, this became a habit, and the little goblin would accompany the student in his reading every day. Even if he had to stand in front of the keyhole, beaten by the wind and rain, the goblin still enjoyed it.

小鬼很矛盾，他一会儿觉得小商人才是他真正的主人，一会儿又觉得学生才算是他真正的主人。他一直徘徊不定，犹豫不决。

圣诞节到了，小商人照例给小鬼送来了粥和黄油。小鬼吃着，点点头，他觉得小商人才应该是他真正的主人。

这天半夜里，突然发生了火灾。整条街都陷入了一片火光之中。人们都吓坏了，也不管火到底是从哪里着起来的，个个都慌着逃命，挑最值钱的东西带在自己身上。

小商人的太太急得把她的金耳环带上了，小商人忙着找他的股票，女用人慌着找她最贵的那件衣服。

小鬼也不例外，他赶紧跑上楼，闯进学生的房子里。学生正镇静地站在窗户前向外张望呢。

The goblin was most confused. One moment he thought that the grocer was his real owner and the next moment he felt that the student was his real owner. He wavered between the two and could not make up his mind.

When Christmas arrived, the grocer, as before, gave the goblin some porridge and butter. Nodding his head, he felt the grocer to be his true master.

Late that night, a fire suddenly burst out. The whole street went up in a blaze. Everyone was scared out of their wits. They paid no attention to where the fire started but only ran for their lives, bringing their most valuable possessions with them.

The grocer's wife rushed to take her earrings and the grocer busily searched for his book of stocks. The maid hurriedly fetched her finest dress.

The little goblin was no exception. He dashed up the stairs and burst into the student's bedroom. The student was standing calmly in front of the window, gazing out.

小鬼跑过去，把桌上的那本书抢过来，塞进他的小红帽里，然后用双手捧着帽子，跑了出去。他感觉自己救了整栋楼上最重要的宝贝。

小鬼跑上屋顶，坐在烟囱上，呆呆地看着手中的那本破书。现在他终于弄清楚自己心中的主人是谁了。这让他很震惊，然后他的头脑开始清醒起来：“不，我不能这么做，要不然怎么对得起小商人给我的粥和黄油呢。”

“看来，我想我得把自己分成两份才好。”最后，小鬼这么决定了，后来也真的这么做了。他把小商人和学生都当成自己的主人来对待。

The goblin ran over and grabbed the book lying on the desk. He stuffed it into his cap and, holding the cap in both his hands, ran out of the room. He felt as if he had saved the most important treasure in the whole building.

The goblin ran up to the roof and sat down by the chimney. He stared dumbly at the book in his hands. Now, he finally knew for certain who his true master was. This was a real shock. However, he then began to think clearly, "No, I cannot do this. I would be betraying the grocer who gave me porridge and butter."

"It would seem that I have to divide myself in half." Finally, the goblin decided that he would do just that. He accepted both the grocer and the student as his masters.

in a blaze 一片火光