大小克勞斯

There lived two men in one village， and they had the same name--each was called Claus; but one had four horses， and the other only a single horse. To distinguish them from each other， folks called him who had four horses Great Claus， and the one who had only a single horse Little Claus. Now we shall hear what happened to each of them， for this is a true story.

The whole week through， Little Claus was obliged to plough for Great Claus， and to lend him his one horse; then Great Claus helped him out with all his four， but only once a week， and that was on Sunday. Hurrah! How Little Claus smacked his whip over all five horses， for they were as good as his own on that one day. The sun shone gaily， and all the bells in the steeples were ringing; the people were all dressed in their best， and were going to church， with their hymn-books under their arms， to hear the clergyman preach， and they saw Little Claus ploughing with five horses; but he was so merry that he smacked his whip again and again， and cried， \"Gee up， all my five!\"

\"You must not talk so，\" said Great Claus， \"for only one horse is yours.\"

But when any one passed Little Claus forgot that he was not to say this， and he cried， \"Gee up， all my horses!\"

\"Now， I must beg of you to stop that，\" cried Great Claus，\"for if you say it again， I shall hit your horse on the head， so that it will fall down dead， and then it will be all over with him.\"

\"I will certainly not say it any more，\" said Little Claus.

But when people came by soon afterwards， and nodded\"good day\" to him， he became very glad， and thought it looked very well， after all， that he had five horses to plough his field; and so he smacked his whip again， and cried， \"Gee up， all my horses!\"

\"I'll 'gee up' your horses!\" said Great Claus. And he took a mallet and hit the only horse of Little Claus on the head， so that it fell down， and was dead immediately.

\"Oh， now I haven' t any horse at all!\" said Little Claus， and began to cry.

Then he flayed the horse， and let the hide dry in the wind， and put it in a sack and hung it over his shoulder， and went to the town to sell his horse's skin.

He had a very long way to go， and was obliged to pass through a great dark wood， and the weather became dreadfully bad. He went quite astray， and before he got into the right way again it was evening， and it was too far to get home again or even to the town before nightfall.

Close by the road stood a large farm-house. The shutters were closed outside the windows， but the light could still be seen shining out over them.

\"I may be able to get leave to stop here through the night，\" thought Little Claus; and he went and knocked.

The farmer's wife opened the door; but when she heard what he wanted she told him to go away， declaring that her husband was not at home， and she would not receive strangers.

\"Then I shall have to lie outside，\" said Little Claus. And the farmer's wife shut the door in his face.

Close by stood a great haystack， and between this and the farm-house was a little outhouse thatched with straw.

\"Up there I can lie，\" said Little Claus， when he looked up at the roof， \"that is a capital bed. I suppose the stork won't fly down and bite me in the legs.\" For a living stork was standing on the roof， where he had his nest.

Now Little Claus climbed up to the roof of the shed， where he lay， and turned round to settle himself comfortably. The wooden shutters did not cover the windows at the top， and he could look straight into the room. There was a great table， with the cloth laid， and wine and roast meat and a glorious fish upon it. The farmer' s wife and the parish-clerk were seated at table， and nobody besides. She was filling his glass， and he was digging his fork into the fish， for that was his favourite dish.

\"If one could only get some too!\" thought Little Claus， as he stretched out his head towards the window. Heavens! What a glorious cake he saw standing there! Yes， certainly， that was a feast.

Now he heard some one riding along the high road. It was the woman's husband， who was coming home. He was a good man enough， but he had the strange peculiarity that he could never bear to see a clerk. If a clerk appeared before his eyes he became quite wild. And that was the reason why the clerk had gone to the wife to wish her good day， because he knew that her husband was not at home; and the good woman therefore put the best fare she had before him. But when they heard the man coming they were frightened， and the woman begged the clerk to creep into a great empty chest which stood in the corner; and he did so， for he knew the husband could not bear the sight of a clerk. The woman quickly hid all the excellent meat and wine in her baking-oven; for if the man had seen that， he would have been certain to ask what it meant.

\"Oh， dear!\" sighed Little Claus， up in his shed， when he saw all the good fare put away.

\"Is there any one up there?\" asked the farmer; and he looked up at Little Claus. \"Why are you lying there? Better come with me into the room.\"(to be continued)

一個村子里住著兩個人，他們同名，都叫克勞斯。不過其中一人有四匹馬，另一個只有一匹馬。為了把他倆區(qū)別開來，大家把那個有四匹馬的叫作大克勞斯，把那個有一匹馬的叫作小克勞斯。現(xiàn)在我們來聽聽他們每人都發(fā)生了什么事，這可是真事呀。

整整一星期，小克勞斯都得給大克勞斯干活，還把自己的那匹馬借給他用。然后大克勞斯用四匹馬幫小克勞斯干活，但一星期只干一天，而且是在星期天。哇!小克勞斯甩鞭子趕五匹馬多來勁呀!當(dāng)天他就把那些馬當(dāng)成自己的了。太陽暖洋洋地照著，教堂尖塔上所有的鐘都響了起來。人們穿上最好的衣服，去教堂聽牧師布道，腋下夾著贊美詩集。他們看見小克勞斯用五匹馬耕地。小克勞斯高興得不得了，他不停地在甩鞭子，吆喝道:“加油，我的五匹馬兒!”

“你可不能這么說，”大克勞斯說:“因為只有一匹馬是屬于你的。”

但一有人路過的時候，小克勞斯就忘了自己不能說那種話，還是喊“加油，我的五匹馬兒!”

“現(xiàn)在，我必須命令你別這么喊，”大克勞斯說:“如果你再敢這么喊，我就要砸你的馬頭，它就會倒下死掉，那你可就完了?！?/p>

“我絕對不再說了?！毙】藙谒拐f。

但是不久，當(dāng)有人路過，對他點頭說“今兒好”的時候，他又大喜，感覺相當(dāng)不錯，因為自己畢竟有五匹馬耕地呀!他又揮起了自己的鞭子，大聲吆喝:“加油，我的五匹馬兒!”

“我這就給你的馬‘加油’!”大克勞斯說。他操起一個大木槌，正打在小克勞斯的那匹馬的頭上。馬兒應(yīng)聲倒地，馬上就死了。

小克勞斯說:“唉，我現(xiàn)在一匹馬也沒了?！庇谑撬怕暣罂奁饋?。

然后他剝掉馬皮，把馬皮在風(fēng)中晾干后，塞進(jìn)一個袋子，朝背上一甩，就進(jìn)城去賣馬皮了。

他得走很遠(yuǎn)的路，而且必須經(jīng)過一個黑森林。天氣變得很糟糕，他迷路了。他還沒有找到路，天就黑了下來。要想在天黑透以前再回到家，或是到附近的城鎮(zhèn)，都已經(jīng)太晚了。

好在路邊有一個農(nóng)家大院，掛在窗戶外面的百葉窗已經(jīng)垂了下來，但從百葉窗上方仍然可以看見里面的光亮。

小克勞斯想:“我大概可以在這兒過夜吧?！庇谑撬哌^去敲門。

農(nóng)民的妻子開了門。但當(dāng)她聽出他的意圖后，就讓他走開，說自己的丈夫不在家，所以不能接待陌生人。

“那我只能在外面露宿了。”小克勞斯說。農(nóng)民的妻子當(dāng)著他的面砰地把門關(guān)上了。

附近正好有個大草垛，草垛和農(nóng)家之間有一個蓋著稻草的小平房。

小克勞斯看到那個草屋頂，說:“我可以躺在那個頂上，那倒是個極好的床。我估計那只鸛不會飛過來啄我的腿吧?！痹瓉碛幸恢畸X站在屋頂上，它在那兒做了個窩。

于是小克勞斯爬到那個小屋頂上，躺了下來。他轉(zhuǎn)了轉(zhuǎn)身，想躺得更舒服點。那個木質(zhì)百葉窗沒有蓋住窗戶的最上邊兒，他一眼就可以看進(jìn)房間里。里面有一張大桌子，鋪著桌布，擺上了酒、烤肉和一條大魚。農(nóng)民的妻子和這個教區(qū)的牧師一起坐在桌邊，沒有其他人在場。農(nóng)民的妻子給牧師倒?jié)M一杯酒，牧師正用叉子叉魚吃，因為那是他喜愛的美食。

小克勞斯想:“我要能吃點就好了?！彼麤_著窗戶伸直了脖子。天哪，那塊蛋糕可真棒啊!確實，那是一桌豐盛的大餐。

這時他聽見有人騎馬順著公路過來了。原來這是那個婦女的丈夫，他正往家里趕呢。他是一個大好人，但他有個怪癖，就是看不得牧師。如果一個牧師出現(xiàn)在他面前，他就會勃然大怒。因此牧師晚上來見他妻子，向她問好，他知道她的丈夫不在家。這個好女人呢，把家里所有好吃的都端上來了。當(dāng)他們聽見農(nóng)民回來了，大驚失色，那個女人請求牧師爬進(jìn)一個大空箱子去，箱子就在墻角。牧師就照辦了，他知道那個丈夫受不了牧師。女人趕緊把所有的酒肉都藏進(jìn)自己的烤爐里，因為要是丈夫看見了，他肯定得問做這么多好吃的是什么意思。

“噢!太可惜了?！毙】藙谒箛@道。他在屋頂上看到的美味都被拿走了。

“那上面有人嗎?”農(nóng)民問。他抬起頭，看到了小克勞斯?！澳闾稍谀巧厦娓墒裁?最好還是跟我一起進(jìn)屋吧。”

(未完待續(xù))