there was life in this stick for the little ones, for as soon as they seated themselves upon it the polished knob turned into a neighing horse’s head, a long black mane was fluttering in the wind, and four strong slender legs grew out.

这匹马儿充满活力、精神抖擞；他们骑着它在草坪上疾驰。

the animal was fiery and spirited; they galloped round the lawn.

“万岁！现在我们要骑得远远的，好几英里呢！” 男孩说；“我们要骑到去年去过的那位贵族的庄园去。”

“hooray! now we shall ride far away, many miles!” said the boy; “we shall ride to the nobleman’s estate where we were last year.”

于是他们又在草坪上骑了一圈，而那个小女孩，我们知道，她正是接骨木树妈妈，不停地喊道：“现在我们到乡下去啦！你看到那边的农舍了吗，有个很大的烤炉，像个巨大的鸡蛋一样从墙上凸出来伸到路上？接骨木树的树枝伸展在它上方，公鸡大摇大摆地走着，为母鸡们刨土找食。看它多骄傲呀！现在我们到教堂附近了；它坐落在一座高山上，在枝繁叶茂的橡树下；其中一棵橡树已经半死了！现在我们到铁匠铺了，那里炉火熊熊，半裸着身子的工人们用锤子敲打着，火星四溅。”

And they rode round the lawn again, and the little girl, who, as we know, was no other than the little elder-tree mother, continually cried, “Now we are in the country! do you see the farmhouse there, with the large baking stove, which projects like a gigantic egg out of the wall into the road? the elder-tree spreads its branches over it, and the cock struts about and scratches for the hens. Look how proud he is! Now we are near the church; it stands on a high hill, under the spreading oak trees; one of them is half dead! Now we are at the smithy, where the fire roars and the half-naked men beat with their hammers so that the sparks fly far and wide.

“咱们出发去那个美丽的农场吧！” 他们经过了小女孩坐在手杖后面所描述的每一处地方，男孩也都看到了，然而他们只是围着草坪转。

Let’s be off to the beautiful farm!” And they passed by everything the little girl, who was sitting behind on the stick, described, and the boy saw it, and yet they only went round the lawn.

然后他们在一条人行道上玩耍，在地上划出一个小花园；她从头发上摘下接骨木花种了下去，它们长得就和我们之前听说的那对老人小时候种的一模一样。

then they played in a side-walk, and marked out a little garden on the ground; she took elder-blossoms out of her hair and planted them, and they grew exactly like those the old people planted when they were children, as we have heard before.

他们手拉手四处走着，就像那对老夫妇小时候那样，但他们没去那座圆塔，也没去腓特烈斯贝花园。

they walked about hand in hand, just as the old couple had done when they were little, but they did not go to the round tower nor to the Fredericksburg garden.

不；小女孩搂住男孩的腰，然后他们就飞到了遥远的乡下。

No; the little girl seized the boy round the waist, and then they flew far into the country.

春天过去是夏天，夏天过去是秋天，秋天过去是冬天，成千上万的画面在男孩的眼里和心里映现出来，小女孩总是又唱起来：“你永远也不会忘记这些的！” 在他们整个飞行过程中，接骨木树的香气是那么甜美；他注意到了玫瑰和鲜嫩的山毛榉树，但接骨木树的香气更浓烈，因为那些花就别在小女孩的胸前，飞行途中男孩常常把头靠在上面。

It was spring and it became summer, it was autumn and it became winter, and thousands of pictures reflected themselves in the boy’s eyes and heart, and the little girl always sang again, “You will never forget that!” And during their whole flight the elder-tree smelt so sweetly; he noticed the roses and the fresh beeches, but the elder-tree smelt much stronger, for the flowers were fixed on the little girl’s bosom, against which the boy often rested his head during the flight.

“春天这里真美呀。” 小女孩说，他们又来到了绿色的山毛榉树林里，那里百里香在他们脚下散发出甜美的香气，粉红色的银莲花在绿苔中显得格外可爱。

“It is beautiful here in spring,” said the little girl, and they were again in the green beechwood, where the thyme breathed forth sweet fragrance at their feet, and the 粉红 anemones looked lovely in the green moss.

“哦！真希望这芬芳的山毛榉树林里永远都是春天！”

“oh! that it were always spring in the fragrant beechwood!”

“夏天这里美极了！” 她说，接着他们经过了古老的骑士时代的城堡。

“here it is splendid in summer!” she said, and they passed by old castles of the age of chivalry.

高高的城墙和锯齿状的城垛倒映在护城河的水中，天鹅在水面上游弋，窥视着那些古老而阴凉的林阴道。

the high walls and indented battlements were reflected in the water of the ditches, on which swans were swimming and peering into the old shady avenues.

田野里的庄稼像一片黄色的海洋随风起伏。

the corn waved in the field like a yellow sea.

沟渠里生长着红黄相间的花朵，篱笆上野啤酒花和旋花正盛开着。

Red and yellow flowers grew in the ditches, wild hops and convolvuli in full bloom in the hedges.

傍晚，月亮升起，又大又圆，草地上的干草堆散发着甜美的香气。

In the evening the moon rose, large and round, and the hayricks in the meadows smelt sweetly.

“这一切让人永生难忘！”

“one can never forget it!”

“秋天这里很美！” 小女孩说，天空似乎显得格外高远湛蓝，而树林闪耀着深红、翠绿和金黄的色彩。

“here it is beautiful in autumn!” said the little girl, and the atmosphere seemed twice as high and blue, while the wood shone with crimson, green, and gold.

猎犬飞奔而去，成群的野禽尖叫着飞过古冢，而荆棘丛缠绕着古老的石块。

the hounds were running off, flocks of wild fowl flew screaming over the barrows, while the bramble bushes twined round the old stones.

深蓝色的大海上布满了白帆点点的船只，谷仓里坐着老妇人、姑娘和孩子们，他们把啤酒花采摘到一个大木桶里；年轻人唱歌，老人们讲着关于小妖精和巫师的童话故事。

the dark-blue sea was covered with white-sailed ships, and in the barns sat old women, girls, and children picking hops into a large tub; the young ones sang songs, and the old people told fairy tales about goblins and sorcerers.

再没有比这更惬意的地方了。

It could not be more pleasant anywhere.

“冬天这里很宜人！” 小女孩说，所有的树木都挂满了白霜，看上去就像白色的珊瑚。

“here it’s agreeable in winter!” said the little girl, and all the trees were covered with hoar-frost, so that they looked like white coral.

雪在脚下嘎吱作响，仿佛人穿了新靴子似的。

the snow creaked under one’s feet, as if one had new boots on.

一颗又一颗流星划过天空。

one shooting star after another traversed the sky.

屋里的圣诞树亮着，歌声和欢声笑语不断。

In the room the christmas tree was lit, and there were song and merriment.

农舍里小提琴声响起，人们玩着分苹果的游戏；就连最穷的孩子也说：“冬天真美啊！”

In the peasant’s cottage the violin sounded, and games were played for apple quarters; even the poorest child said, “It is beautiful in winter!”

的确很美！小女孩把一切都展示给男孩看，接骨木树继续散发着甜美的香气，而带有白十字的红旗在风中飘扬；那是老水手曾服役过的旗帜。

And indeed it was beautiful! And the little girl showed everything to the boy, and the elder-tree continued to breathe forth sweet perfume, while the red flag with the white cross was streaming in the wind; it was the flag under which the old sailor had served.

男孩长成了青年；他要去广阔的世界闯荡，要去遥远的种植咖啡的国度。

the boy became a youth; he was to go out into the wide world, far away to the countries where the coffee grows.

但分别时，小女孩从胸前摘下一朵接骨木花送给他作纪念。

but at parting the little girl took an elder-blossom from her breast and gave it to him as a keepsake.

他把它夹在祈祷书里，在异国他乡打开书时，它总是在那朵纪念之花所在的位置；他越看它，它就越鲜活，以至于他几乎能闻到家乡树林的芬芳。

he placed it in his prayer-book, and when he opened it in distant lands it was always at the place where the flower of remembrance was lying; and the more he looked at it the fresher it became, so that he could almost smell the fragrance of the woods at home.

他清晰地看见小女孩，她那双明亮的蓝眼睛从花瓣后探出来，还听到她低语道：“这里春天、夏天、秋天和冬天都很美。” 成百上千的画面在他脑海中闪过。

he distinctly saw the little girl, with her bright blue eyes, peeping out from behind the petals, and heard her whispering, “here it is beautiful in spring, in summer, in autumn, and in winter,” and hundreds of pictures passed through his mind.

就这样，许多年过去了。

thus many years rolled by.

他现在已经成了一位老人，正和他的老伴儿坐在一棵繁花盛开的接骨木树下。

he had now bee an old man, and was sitting, with his old wife, under an elder-tree in full bloom.

他们像曾祖母当年在外面那样手拉手，也像他们一样，谈论着过去的日子和他们的金婚纪念。

they held each other by the hand exactly as the great-grandfather and the great-grandmother had done outside, and, like them, they talked about bygone days and of their golden wedding.

那个蓝眼睛、头发上插着接骨木花的小女孩高高地坐在树上，向他们点头说道：“今天是金婚纪念日！” 然后她从花环上摘下两朵花，亲吻了它们。

the little girl with the blue eyes and elder-blossoms in her hair was sitting high up in the tree, and nodded to them, saying, “to-day is the golden wedding!” And then she took two flowers out of her wreath and kissed them.

它们起初像银子一样闪闪发光，接着又像金子一样发亮，当她把它们放在两位老人头上时，每朵花都变成了一顶金王冠。

they glittered at first like silver, then like gold, and when she placed them on the heads of the old people each flower became a golden crown.

他们俩就像国王和王后一样坐在这棵香气扑鼻的树下，这棵树看上去就和接骨木树一模一样，他把小时候听来的接骨木树妈妈的故事讲给妻子听。

there they both sat like a king and queen under the sweet-smelling tree, which looked exactly like an elder-tree, and he told his wife the story of the elder-tree mother as it had been told him when he was a little boy.

他们俩都觉得这个故事里有很多地方和他们自己的经历很相似，而这些相似之处正是他们最喜欢的。

they were both of opinion that the story contained many points like their own, and these similarities they liked best.

“是的，就是这样。” 树上的小女孩说。

“Yes, so it is,” said the little girl in the tree.

“有些人叫我接骨木树妈妈；有些人叫我德律阿得斯；但我的真名是‘回忆’。是我坐在这棵不断生长的树上。我能记住事情，还能讲故事！但让我们看看你们是否还留着那朵花。”

“Some call me Little Elder-tree mother; others a dryad; but my real name is ‘Remembrance.’ It is I who sit in the tree which grows and grows. I can remember things and tell stories! but let’s see if you have still got your flower.”

于是老人打开他的祈祷书；那朵接骨木花还在里面，而且鲜嫩得就好像刚刚才放进去似的。

And the old man opened his prayer-book; the elder-blossom was still in it, and as fresh as if it had only just been put in.

回忆点了点头，两位头戴金王冠的老人坐在灿烂的夕阳下。

Remembrance nodded, and the two old people, with the golden crowns on their heads, sat in the glowing evening sun.

他们闭上眼睛 —— 然后 ——

they closed their eyes and — and —

好了，现在故事讲完了！躺在床上的小男孩不知道自己是做了这个梦，还是听人讲了这个故事；茶壶还放在桌子上，但并没有接骨木树从里面长出来，讲故事的老人正要离开房间，而且他确实出去了。

well, now the story is ended! the little boy in bed did not know whether he had dreamt it or heard it told; the teapot stood on the table, but no elder-tree was growing out of it, and the old man who had told the story was on the point of leaving the room, and he did go out.

“真美好呀！” 小男孩说。

“how beautiful it was!” said the little boy.

“妈妈，我去过温暖的国度了！”

“mother, I have been to warm countries!”

“我相信你，” 妈妈说；“要是喝了两杯热乎乎的接骨木花茶，去到温暖的国度那是很自然的事呀！” 然后她把他盖得严严实实的，这样他就不会着凉了。

“I believe you,” said the mother; “if one takes two cups of hot elder-tea it is quite natural that one gets into warm countries!” And she covered him up well, so that he might not take cold.

“我和老人争论这是个故事还是个童话的时候，你睡得可香了！”

“You have slept soundly while I was arguing with the old man whether it was a story or a fairy tale!”

“那接骨木树妈妈怎么样了？” 小男孩问道。

“And what has bee of the little elder-tree mother?” asked the boy.

“她在茶壶里呢，” 妈妈说；“就让她待在那儿吧。”

“She is in the teapot,” said the mother; “and there she may remain.”