⑴ 英語童話故事匯總5篇
英語 故事 會出現學生認識或是不認識的單詞，而這個單詞的重復不斷出現，會加深同學們對單詞的記憶，這種記憶不同於一般的死記硬背，而是在潛移默化中，讓學生記住單詞，並且不枯燥。下面我給大家介紹關於英語 童話故事 ，方便大家學習。
英語童話故事1
我的家
I am in desperate need of help -- or Ill go crazy. Were living in a single room -- my wife, my children and my in-laws. So our nerves are on edge, we yell and scream at one another. The room is a hell.
Do you promise to do whatever I tell you?; said the Master gravely.
I swear I shall do anything.
Very well. How many animals do you have?
A cow, a goat and six chickens.
Take them all into the room with you. Then come back after a week.
The disciple was appalled. But he had promised to obey! So he took the animals in. A week later he came back, a pitiable figure, moaning, Im a nervous wreck. The dirt! The stench! The noise! Were all on the verge of madness!
Go back,said the Master, and put the animals out.
The man ran all the way home. And came back the following day, his eyes sparkling with joy. How sweet life is! The animals are out. The home is a Paradise, so quiet and clean and roomy!
我非常需要幫助——或者我會瘋的。我們生活在一個房間里——我的妻子，我的孩子和我的法律。我們整天神經兮兮，我們互相大喊大叫。房間是地獄。
你答應按我說的去做嗎?大師一本正經地說。
我發誓我會做任何事。
好的，你有多少動物嗎?
一頭奶牛，一頭山羊和六隻雞。
把它們全帶到你的房間。一個星期之後再回來。
門徒大吃一驚。但他已經承諾服從!所以他把動物。一個星期後他回來了，可憐的人物，呻吟著，我很緊張。污垢!惡臭!雜訊!我們就要發瘋了!
回去吧，大師說，把動物放了。
這個男人跑回家。第二天回來時，他的眼裡閃爍著喜悅的光芒。生活是多麼美好!動物們都離開了。家是一個天堂，那麼安靜，干凈和寬敞的!
英語童話故事2
拇指姑娘(選段)
She had a little house of her own, a little garden too, this woman of whom I am going to tell you, but for all that she was not quite happy.
If only I had a little child of my own,she said, Then, indeed, I should be quite happy.
And an old witch heard what the woman had wished, and said, Oh, but that is easily managed. Here is a barley-corn. Plant it in a flower-pot and tend it carefully, and then you will see what will happen.
The woman was in a great hurry to go home and plant the barley-corn, but she did not forget to say ;thank you; to the old witch. She not only thanked her, she even stayed to give her six silver pennies.
And what do you think happened? Almost before the corn was planted, up shot a large and beautiful flower. It was still unopened. The petals were folded closely together, but it looked like a tulip. It really was a tulip, a red and yellow one, too.
The woman loved flowers. She stooped and kissed the beautiful bud. As her lips touched the petals, they burst open, and oh! wonder of wonders! there in the very middle of the flower, there sat a little child. Such a tiny, pretty little maiden she was.
They called her Thumbelina. That was because she was no bigger than the womans thumb.
And where do you think she slept?
When she slept little Thumbelina lay in her cradle on a tiny heap of violets, with the petal of a pale pink rose to cover her.
And where do you think she played? A table was her playground. On the table the woman placed a plate of water. Little Thumbelina called that her lake.
Round the plate were scented flowers, the blossoms laying on the edge, while the pale green stalks reached thirstily down to the water.
She peeped at her, this ugly toad.
How beautiful the little maiden is, she croaked. She will make a lovely bride for my handsome son. And she lifted the little cradle, with Thumbelina in it, and hopped out through the broken window-pane, down into the garden.
At the foot of the garden was a broad stream. Here, under the muddy banks lived the old toad with her son.
今天我要講給大家聽的是一個婦女的故事,她有自己的一間小屋和一個小花園,但她還是開心不起來。
她說,我要是有個一丁點小的孩子該多好啊,這樣我會多麼開心啊。
消息傳到了一個女巫的耳朵里,她說,哦,這好辦的很!這是一顆大麥粒,把它種到花盆裡,然後你就等著看會發生什麼吧。
女人趕緊跑回家種下麥粒,她沒忘對巫婆說聲謝謝,不僅如此,她還給了巫婆6個銀幣。
你猜發生了什麼?麥粒剛種下去,一朵美麗的大花就破土而出。這是一朵沒開放的花,它的葉子緊緊的包在一起,看起來像是一朵鬱金香。它真的是一朵鬱金香,而且是紅中帶黃的。
女人非常喜歡花。她彎腰在美麗的花蕾上親了一下。她的嘴唇一碰到花瓣,花兒立刻綻放了!噢,太美妙了!就在花的中央,坐著一個小小孩兒!多麼小,多麼可愛的一個少女啊!
大家叫她拇指姑娘。因為她只有一個人的拇指那麼點大。
你們知道她睡在哪裡嗎?
小小拇指姑娘睡覺時躺在用紫羅蘭花瓣墊著的胡桃殼里,蓋的是粉色玫瑰花瓣。
你知道她又是在怎麼玩耍嗎?一張桌子就是她玩耍的天地,女人在桌上放了一盤子水,拇指姑娘把它叫做她的湖
盤子上擺了一圈芳香的花兒,花朵沿著邊兒排開,而嫩綠的枝幹貪婪地伸向水中。
英語童話故事3
THE TITMOUSE'S REWARD
山雀的報答
During the Han dynasty， about two thousand years ago， to the north of Huayin Mountain， there lived a family called Yang. They were farmers， and had only one child， who was so precious to him that they named him Treasure Pao.
兩千年前的漢代，華陰山北面，住著一姓楊的農戶。他們全家都是農民，他們非常珍愛他們的獨子，並給他起名叫做寶——財寶的意思。
Yang Pao was not only clever， kind， and quick-witted， but he was also very good looking with his clear eyebrows and bright eyes. His parent shaved all of his hair off except for two locks on the top， which they tied into two knots. Everybody agreed that he was very cute.
楊寶不僅聰明、善良、機敏，而且眉清目秀，一表人材。他的父母剃光他的頭， 只留下頭頂的兩撮頭發，紮成兩個發髻 .每個人都 承認他很聰明 .
Yang Pao loved nature. He spent a lot of time playing in the forests of Huayin Mountain. One day when he was nine years old， he was playing outdoors as usual. All of a sudden he heard a cry above him. He looked up and saw a hunting owl had just snatched a little bird， a titmouse， out of the air. The owl was so startled to discover someone watching it hunt that it dropped the titmouse， which fell to the ground. It was so dazed it just lay there without moving.
楊寶熱愛自然。他時常在華陰山的森林裡玩。九歲的時候，一天他跟往常一樣在外邊玩。忽然他聽到上方傳來一陣驚叫聲。他抬頭一看，見一隻貓頭鷹剛在空中抓住了一隻山雀 .發現有人在看見它捕獵，貓頭鷹受到驚嚇，丟下了山雀。那隻山雀被摔昏了，躺在地上一動不動。
Ants then came to take it away for food， but the titmouse had been hurt by the owl's claws and the fall to the ground， so it couldn't move. Yang Pao ran over and picked the titmouse up， brushing away the ants. He took the titmouse home and raised it in a bamboo cage.
螞蟻們想搬走山雀當食物。山雀先被貓頭鷹的利爪所傷，又從空中跌下，因此已經動彈不得。楊寶跑過去，拾起山雀，撣去螞蟻。他把山雀帶回家，放在一個竹籠里 飼養 。
He loved his little bird. He fed it chrysanthemum petals and tended to its wounds until it was strong enough to fly. Then he took it to the forest and let it go.
他很珍愛這只小鳥。他用菊花的花瓣來喂它，還照料它的傷口， 直到它康復能夠飛翔 .之後他把它帶到樹林里放生了。
"You're free now! Watch out for owls! Goodbye!!"
"你現在自由了! 小心貓頭鷹 !再見了!"
Not long afterwards， he had a strange dream. A child dressed in brown clothes came to thank him for saving his life. He presented Pao with four priceless white jade bracelets， saying， "Sir， I am an envoy of the Heavenly Queen. You have saved my life. I would like to show my gratitude by presenting these four immaculate jade bracelets to you， with my blessing that your children and grandchildren be as spotless as pure jade， and hold posts in the top ranks of the government."
之後不久，楊寶做了一個奇怪的夢。一個穿著褐色衣服的小孩過來感謝他的救命之恩。他送給楊寶四個貴重的玉鐲，說："你好，我是王母娘娘的使者。你救了我的命，我要把這四個無暇的玉鐲送給你來表達我的謝意。我還祝願你的子孫後代都像純潔的玉一樣無暇，官運亨通."
Yang Pao did not want to take the gift， but the little boy dressed in brown insisted， so he finally took the bracelets. As soon as he did， he woke up and found that it had just been a dream.
楊寶並不想接受這些禮物，但那個褐衣男孩一再堅持，他最後收下了鐲子。剛收下，他就醒了，發現剛才只是個夢。
"That sure was a strange dream，" he thought， shaking his head.
"這個夢真奇怪。"他邊想邊晃腦袋。
Yang Pao's sons， grandsons， great-grandsons， and great- grandsons were as spotless as pure jade. For four generations， his descendants all held posts in the top ranks of the government.
楊寶的兒子、孫子 、曾孫……，都像純潔的玉一樣無暇。他的四代子孫都是高官。
英語童話故事4
there was once a Prince who wished to marry aPrincess; but then she must be a real Princess. Hetravelled all over the world in hopes of finding such alady; but there was always something wrong.Princesses he found in plenty; but whether theywere real Princesses it was impossible for him todecide， for now one thing， now another， seemedto him not quite right about the ladies. At last hereturned to his palace quite cast down， because hewished so much to have a real Princess for his wife.
One evening a fearful tempest arose， it thundered and lightened， and the rain poureddown from the sky in torrents： besides， it was as dark as pitch. All at once there was heard aviolent knocking at the door， and the old King， the Prince's father， went out himself toopen it.
It was a Princess who was standing outside the door. What with the rain and the wind，she was in a sad condition; the water trickled down from her hair，and her clothes clung to herbody. She said she was a real Princess.
「Ah! we shall soon see that!」 thought the old Queen-mother; however， she said not aword of what she was going to do; but went quietly into the bedroom，took all the bed-clothes off the bed， and put three little peas on the bedstead. She then laid twenty mattressesone upon another over the three peas， and put twenty feather beds over the mattresses.
Upon this bed the Princess was to pass the night.
the next morning she was asked how she had slept. 「Oh， very badly indeed!」 she replied. 「I have scarcely closed my eyes the whole night through. I do not know what was in my bed，but I had something hard under me， and am all over black and blue. It has hurt me so much!」
Now it was plain that the lady must be a real Princess， since she had been able to feel thethree little peas through the twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds. None but a realPrincess could have had such a delicate sense of feeling.
the Prince accordingly made her his wife; being now convinced that he had found a realPrincess. The three peas were however put into the cabinet of curiosities， where they are stillto be seen， provided they are not lost.
Wasn't this a lady of real delicacy?
豌豆公主
從前有一位王子，他想找一位公主結婚，但她必須是一位真正的公主。
他走遍了全世界，想要尋到這樣的一位公主。可是無論他到什麼地方，他總是碰到一些障礙。公主倒有的是，不過他沒有辦法斷定她們究竟是不是真正的公主。她們總是有些地方不大對頭。
結果，他只好回家來，心中很不快活，因為他是那麼渴望著得到一位真正的公主。
有一天晚上，忽然起了一陣可怕的暴風雨。天空在掣電，在打雷，在下著大雨。這真有點使人害怕!
這時，有人在敲門，老國王就走過去開門。
站在城外的是一位公主。可是，天哪!經過了風吹雨打之後，她的樣子是多麼難看啊!水沿著她的頭發和衣服向下面流，流進鞋尖，又從腳跟流出來。
她說她是一個真正的公主。
「是的，這點我們馬上就可以考查出來。」老皇後心裡想，可是她什麼也沒說。她走進卧房，把所有的被褥都搬開，在床榻上放了一粒豌豆。於是她取出二十床墊子，把它們壓在豌豆上。隨後，她又在這些墊子上放了二十床鴨絨被。
這位公主夜裡就睡在這些東西上面。
早晨大家問她昨晚睡得怎樣。
「啊，不舒服極了!」公主說，「我差不多整夜沒合上眼!天曉得我床上有件什麼東西?我睡到一塊很硬的東西上面，弄得我全身發青發紫，這真怕人!」
現在大家就看出來了。她是一位真正的公主，因為壓在這二十床墊子和二十床鴨絨被下面的一粒豌豆，她居然還能感覺得出來。除了真正的公主以外，任何人都不會有這么嫩的皮膚的。
因此那位王子就選她為妻子了，因為現在他知道他得到了一位真正的公主。這粒豌豆因此也就被送進了博物館，如果沒有人把它拿走的話，人們現在還可以在那兒看到它呢。
請注意，這是一個真的故事。
(1835)
這個作品寫於1835年，收集在《講給孩子們聽的故事》里。它的情節雖然簡短，但意義卻很深刻。真正的王子只能與真正的公主結婚，即所謂的「門當戶對」。但真正的公主的特點是什麼呢?她的特點是皮膚嬌嫩，嫩的連「壓在這二十床墊子和二十床鴨絨被下面的一粒豌豆」都能感覺得出來。這粒豌豆證明出公主的真實，因此，它也成了具有重大歷史意義的東西，被「送進了博物館」。封建統治者就是這樣荒.唐。這個小故事是一莫大的諷刺，與《皇帝的新裝》也異曲同工之妙。
英語童話故事5
The Fox and the Horse
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
A peasant had a faithful horse which had grown old and could do no more work, so his master no longer wanted to give him anything to eat and said, "I can certainly make no more use of you, but still I mean well by you, and if you prove yourself still strong enough to bring me a lion here, I will maintain you. But for now get out of my stable." And with that he chased him into the open field.
The horse was sad, and went to the forest to seek a little protection there from the weather. There the fox met him and said, "Why do you hang your head so, and go about all alone?"
"Alas," replied the horse, "greed and loyalty do not dwell together in one house. My master has forgotten what services I have performed for him for so many years, and because I can no longer plow well, he will give me no more food, and has driven me out."
"Without giving you a chance?" asked the fox.
"The chance was a bad one. He said, if I were still strong enough to bring him a lion, he would keep me, but he well knows that I cannot do that."
The fox said, "I will help you. Just lie down, stretch out as if you were dead, and do not stir."
The horse did what the fox asked, and then the fox went to the lion, who had his den not far off, and said, "A dead horse is lying out there. Just come with me, and you can have a rich meal."
The lion went with him, and when they were both standing by the horse the fox said, "After all, it is not very comfortable for you here —— I tell you what —— I will fasten it to you by the tail, and then you can drag it into your cave and eat it in peace."
This advice pleased the lion. He positioned himself, and in order that the fox might tie the horse fast to him, he kept completely quiet. But the fox tied the lion's legs together with the horse's tail, and twisted and fastened everything so well and so strongly that no amount of strength could pull it loose. When he had finished his work, he tapped the horse on the shoulder and said, "Pull, white horse, pull!"
Then up sprang the horse at once, and pulled the lion away with him. The lion began to roar so that all the birds in the forest flew up in terror, but the horse let him roar, and drew him and dragged him across the field to his master's door. When the master saw the lion, he was of a better mind, and said to the horse, "You shall stay with me and fare well." And he gave him plenty to eat until he died. 一個農夫有一匹勤勤懇懇、任勞任怨為他幹活的馬,但這匹馬現在已經老了,幹活也不行了,所以,農夫不想再給馬吃東西。他對馬說:「我再也用不著你了,你自己離開馬廄走吧,到你比一頭獅子更強壯時,我自然會把你牽回來的。」
說完,他打開門,讓馬自己去謀生去了。
這匹可憐的馬非常悲哀,它在森林裡茫無目標地到處徘徊,寒風夾著細雨,更增加了它的痛楚,它想尋找一個小小的避雨處。不久,它遇到了一隻狐狸,狐狸問它:「我的好朋友,你怎麼了?為甚麼垂頭喪氣,一副孤苦伶仃、愁眉苦臉的樣子呢?」馬嘆了一口氣回答說:「哎——!公正和吝嗇不能住在一間房子里。我的主人完全忘了我這許多年為他辛辛苦苦所乾的一切,因為我不能再幹活了,他就把我趕了出來,說除非我變得比一頭獅子更強壯,他才會重新收留我。我有這樣的能力嗎?其實,主人是知道我沒有這樣的能力的,要不然,他也不會這樣說了。」
狐狸聽了之後,要它別愁了,只管放心,說道:「我來幫助你,你躺在那兒,把身子伸直,裝做死了的樣子,我自有辦法。」馬按狐狸的吩咐做了。狐狸跑到獅子住的洞口邊,對獅子說:「獅子大王,有條小路上躺著一匹死馬,我們一同去,你可以作一頓很不錯的午餐來享受哩。」獅子聽了非常高興,立即就動身了。
它們來到馬躺的地方,狐狸說:「在這兒你吃不完它,我告訴你怎麼辦:先讓我把它的尾巴牢牢地綁在你的身上,然後你就能夠將它拖回你的洞穴去慢慢地享用了。」獅子對這個建議很欣賞。於是它一動不動地躺下來,讓狐狸把它綁在馬背上。但狐狸卻設法將它的腿捆在一起,用的力氣把獅子牢牢地捆作一團,獅子沒法掙脫束縛了。
一切料理完畢,狐狸拍了拍馬的肩背說道:「起來吧!老馬頭,你可以走了!」那匹馬跳起來,把獅子拖在尾巴後面離開了。獅子知道上了狐狸的當,開始咆哮吼叫起來,巨大的吼聲把樹上所有的鳥兒都嚇得飛走了。但老馬隨便它怎麼叫,只管自己慢慢悠悠地走過田野,終於把獅子拖到了主人的屋裡。
它對主人說:「主人,獅子在這兒,我把它料理妥當了。」當主人看見它的這匹老馬後,對它產生了憐憫之心,說道:「你就住在馬廄里吧,我會好好待你的。」於是,這匹可憐的老馬又有了吃的東西,主人一直供養它到死去。
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⑵ 英語小故事(翻譯)越短越好(15篇)
The Necklace
About the author
Guy De Maupassant (莫泊桑) Maupassant was born in France in 1850. His parents separated when he was about six, and he went to live with his mother. At the age of thirteen , he was sent to school, but was forced(被迫) to leave there. He went to another school and there he was praised for an excellent poem he wrote. In this way he began his writing at an early age. During the Franco-Prussian War(普法戰爭), he had to give up writing. After the war, he went to Paris to look for a job which he hoped that would leave him free time to write. It was in Paris that he met one of the greatest writers, form whom he learned a great deal. Though he found material(素材) for many stories while working as a clerk, he found life in the office restricted( 受限制的) . After one of his stories was published, he left his office in order to spend full time writing. By the age of thirty-four, he became quite famous. During this time, he wrote some of his best-known works, including The Diamond Necklace, one of the most Famous short stories in the world.
Chapter I
She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans. She had no marriage portion, no expectations, no means of getting known, understood, loved, and wedded by a man of wealth and distinction; and she let herself be married off to a little clerk in the Ministry of Ecation.
Her tastes were simple because she had never been able to afford any other, but she was as unhappy as though she had married beneath her; for women have no caste or class, their beauty, grace, and charm serving them for birth or family. their natural delicacy, their instinctive elegance, their nimbleness of wit, are their only mark of rank, and put the slum girl on a level with the highest lady in the land.
She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury. She suffered from the poorness of her house, from its mean walls, worn chairs, and ugly curtains. All these things, of which other women of her class would not even have been aware, tormented and insulted her. The sight of the little Breton girl who came to do the work in her little house aroused heart-broken regrets and hopeless dreams in her mind. She imagined silent antechambers, heavy with Oriental tapestries, lit by torches in lofty bronze sockets, with two tall footmen in knee-breeches sleeping in large arm-chairs, overcome by the heavy warmth of the stove. She imagined vast saloons hung with antique silks, exquisite pieces of furniture supporting priceless ornaments, and small, charming, perfumed rooms, created just for little parties of intimate friends, men who were famous and sought after, whose homage roused every other woman's envious longings.
When she sat down for dinner at the round table covered with a three-days-old cloth, opposite her husband, who took the cover off the soup-tureen, exclaiming delightedly: "Aha! Scotch broth! What could be better?" she imagined delicate meals, gleaming silver, tapestries peopling the walls with folk of a past age and strange birds in faery forests; she imagined delicate food served in marvellous dishes, murmured gallantries, listened to with an inscrutable smile as one trifled with the rosy flesh of trout or wings of asparagus chicken.
She had no clothes, no jewels, nothing. And these were the only things she loved; she felt that she was made for them. She had longed so eagerly to charm, to be desired, to be wildly attractive and sought after.
She had a rich friend, an old school friend whom she refused to visit, because she suffered so keenly when she returned home. She would weep whole days, with grief, regret, despair, and misery.
One evening her husband came home with an exultant air, holding a large envelope in his hand.
"Here's something for you," he said.
Swiftly she tore the paper and drew out a printed card on which were these words:
"The Minister of Ecation and Madame Ramponneau request the pleasure of the company of Monsieur and Madame Loisel at the Ministry on the evening of Monday, January the 18th."
Instead of being delighted, as her husband hoped, she flung the invitation petulantly across the table, murmuring:
"What do you want me to do with this?"
"Why, darling, I thought you'd be pleased. You never go out, and this is a great occasion. I had tremendous trouble to get it. Every one wants one; it's very select, and very few go to the clerks. You'll see all the really big people there."
She looked at him out of furious eyes, and said impatiently: "And what do you suppose I am to wear at such an affair?"
He had not thought about it; he stammered:
"Why, the dress you go to the theatre in. It looks very nice, to me . . ."
He stopped, stupefied and utterly at a loss when he saw that his wife was beginning to cry. Two large tears ran slowly down from the corners of her eyes towards the corners of her mouth.
"What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you?" he faltered.
But with a violent effort she overcame her grief and replied in a calm voice, wiping her wet cheeks:
"Nothing. Only I haven't a dress and so I can't go to this party. Give your invitation to some friend of yours whose wife will be turned out better than I shall."
He was heart-broken.
"Look here, Mathilde," he persisted. "What would be the cost of a suitable dress, which you could use on other occasions as well, something very simple?"
She thought for several seconds, reckoning up prices and also wondering for how large a sum she could ask without bringing upon herself an immediate refusal and an exclamation of horror from the careful-minded clerk.
參考譯文
項 鏈
世上有這樣一些女子，面龐兒好，豐韻也好，但被造化安排錯了，生長在一個小職員的家庭里。她便是其中的一個。她沒有陪嫁財產，沒有可以指望得到的遺產，沒有任何方法可以使一個有錢有地位的男子來結識她，了解她，愛她，娶她；她只好任人把她嫁給了教育部的一個小科員。
她沒錢打扮，因此很樸素；但是心裡非常痛苦，猶如貴族下嫁的情形；這是因為女子原就沒有什麼一定的階層或種族，她們的美麗、她們的嬌艷、她們的豐韻就可以作為她們的出身和門第。她們中間所以有等級之分僅僅是靠了她們天生的聰明、審美的本能和腦筋的靈活，這些東西就可以使百姓的姑娘和最高貴的命婦並駕齊驅。
她總覺得自己生來是為享受各種講究豪華生活的，因而無休止地感到痛苦。住室是那樣簡陋，壁上毫無裝飾，椅凳是那麼破舊，衣衫是那麼醜陋，她看了都非常痛苦。這些情形，如果不是她而是她那個階層的另一個婦人的話，可能連理會都沒有理會到，但給她的痛苦即很大並且使她氣憤填胸。她看了那個替她料理家務的布列塔尼省的小女人，心中便會產生許多憂傷的感慨和想入非非的幻想。她會想到四壁蒙著東方綢、青銅高燈照著、靜悄悄的接待室；她會想到接待室里兩個穿短褲長襪的高大男僕，如何被暖氣管悶人的熱度催起睡意，在寬大的靠背椅里昏然睡去。她會想到四壁蒙著古老絲綢的大客廳，上面陳設著珍貴古玩的精緻傢具和那些精緻小巧、香氣撲鼻的內客廳，那是專為午後五點鍾跟最親密的男友娓娓清談的地方，那些朋友當然都是所有的婦人垂涎不已、渴盼青睞、多方拉攏的知名之士。
每逢她坐到那張三天末洗桌布的圓桌旁去吃飯，對面坐著的丈夫揭開盆蓋，心滿意足地表示?quot;啊！多麼好吃的燉肉！世上哪有比這更好的東西……"的時候，她便想到那些精美的筵席、發亮的銀餐具和掛在四壁的壁毯，上面織著古代人物和仙境森林中的異鳥珍禽；她也想到那些盛在名貴碟里的佳餚；她也想到一邊吃著粉紅色的鱸魚肉或松雞的翅膀，一邊帶著莫測高深的微笑聽著男友低訴綿綿情話的情鏡。
她沒有漂亮的衣裝，沒有珠寶首飾，總之什麼也沒有。而她呢，愛的卻偏偏就是這些；她覺得自己生來就是為享受這些東西的。她最希望的是能夠討男子們的喜歡，惹女人們的欣羨，風流動人，到處受歡迎。
她有一個有錢的女友，那是學校讀書時的同學，現在呢，她再也不願去看望她了，因為每次回來她總感到非常痛苦。她要傷心、懊悔、絕望、痛苦得哭好幾天。
可是有一天晚上，她的丈夫回家的時候手裡拿著一個大信封，滿臉得意之色。
"拿去吧！"他說，"這是專為你預備的一樣東西。"
她趕忙拆開了信封，從裡面抽出一張請帖，上邊印著：
茲訂於一月十八日（星期一）在本部大廈舉行晚會，敬請准時蒞臨，此致
羅瓦賽爾先生暨夫人
教育部部長喬治•朗蓬諾暨夫人謹訂
她並沒有像她丈夫所希望的那樣歡天喜地，反而賭氣把請帖往桌上一丟，咕噥著說：
"我要這個干什麼？你替我想想。"
"可是，我的親愛的，我原以為你會很高興的。你從來也不出門作客，這可是一個機會，並且是一個千載難逢的機會！我好不容易才弄到這張請帖。大家都想要，很難得到，一般是不大肯給小職員的。在那兒你可以看見所有那些官方人士。"
她眼中冒著怒火瞪著他，最後不耐煩地說：
"你可叫我穿什麼到那兒去呢?"
這個，他卻從未想到；他於是吞吞吐吐地說：
"你上戲園穿的那件衣服呢?照我看，那件好像就很不錯……"
他說不下去了，他看見妻子已經在哭了，他又是驚奇又是慌張。兩大滴眼淚從他妻子的眼角慢慢地向嘴角流下來；他結結巴巴地問：
"你怎麼啦?你怎麼啦?"
她使了一個狠勁兒把苦痛壓了下去，然後一面擦著被淚沾濕的兩頰，一面用一種平靜的語聲說：
"什麼事也沒有。不過我既沒有衣飾，當然不能去赴會。有哪位同事的太太能比我有更好的衣衫，你就把請帖送給他吧。"
他感到很窘，於是說道：
"瑪蒂爾德，咱們來商量一下。一套過得去的衣服，一套在別的機會還可以穿的，十分簡單的衣服得用多少錢?"
她想了幾秒鍾，心裡盤算了一下錢數，同時也考慮到提出怎樣一個數目才不致當場遭到這個儉朴的科員拒絕，也不會把他嚇得叫出來。
她終於吞吞吐吐地說了：
"我也說不上到底要多少錢；不過有四百法郎，大概也就可以辦下來了。"
他臉色有點發白，因為他正巧積攢下這樣一筆款子打算買一支槍，夏天好和幾個朋友一道打獵作樂，星期日到南泰爾平原去打雲雀。
不過他還是這樣說了："好吧。我就給你四百法郎。可是你得好好想法子做件漂漂亮亮的衣服。"
Chapter II
At last she replied with some hesitation:
"I don't know exactly, but I think I could do it on four hundred francs."
He grew slightly pale, for this was exactly the amount he had been saving for a gun, intending to get a little shooting next summer on the plain of Nanterre with some friends who went lark-shooting there on Sundays.
Nevertheless he said: "Very well. I'll give you four hundred francs. But try and get a really nice dress with the money."
The day of the party drew near, and Madame Loisel seemed sad, uneasy and anxious. Her dress was ready, however. One evening her husband said to her:
"What's the matter with you? You've been very odd for the last three days."
"I'm utterly miserable at not having any jewels, not a single stone, to wear," she replied. "I shall look absolutely no one. I would almost rather not go to the party."
"Wear flowers," he said. "They're very smart at this time of the year. For ten francs you could get two or three gorgeous roses."
She was not convinced.
"No . . . there's nothing so humiliating as looking poor in the middle of a lot of rich women."
"How stupid you are!" exclaimed her husband. "Go and see Madame Forestier and ask her to lend you some jewels. You know her quite well enough for that."
She uttered a cry of delight.
"That's true. I never thought of it."
Next day she went to see her friend and told her trouble.
Madame Forestier went to her dressing-table, took up a large box, brought it to Madame Loisel, opened it, and said:
"Choose, my dear."
First she saw some bracelets, then a pearl necklace, then a Venetian cross in gold and gems, of exquisite workmanship. She tried the effect of the jewels before the mirror, hesitating, unable to make up her mind to leave them, to give them up. She kept on asking:
"Haven't you anything else?"
"Yes. Look for yourself. I don't know what you would like best."
Suddenly she discovered, in a black satin case, a superb diamond necklace; her heart began to beat covetously. Her hands trembled as she lifted it. She fastened it round her neck, upon her high dress, and remained in ecstasy at sight of herself.
Then, with hesitation, she asked in anguish:
"Could you lend me this, just this alone?"
"Yes, of course."
She flung herself on her friend's breast, embraced her frenziedly, and went away with her treasure. The day of the party arrived. Madame Loisel was a success. She was the prettiest woman present, elegant, graceful, smiling, and quite above herself with happiness. All the men stared at her, inquired her name, and asked to be introced to her. All the Under-Secretaries of State were eager to waltz with her. The Minister noticed her.
She danced madly, ecstatically, drunk with pleasure, with no thought for anything, in the triumph of her beauty, in the pride of her success, in a cloud of happiness made up of this universal homage and admiration, of the desires she had aroused, of the completeness of a victory so dear to her feminine heart.
She left about four o'clock in the morning. Since midnight her husband had been dozing in a deserted little room, in company with three other men whose wives were having a good time. He threw over her shoulders the garments he had brought for them to go home in, modest everyday clothes, whose poverty clashed with the beauty of the ball-dress. She was conscious of this and was anxious to hurry away, so that she should not be noticed by the other women putting on their costly furs.
Loisel restrained her.
"Wait a little. You'll catch cold in the open. I'm going to fetch a cab."
But she did not listen to him and rapidly descended-the staircase. When they were out in the street they could not find a cab; they began to look for one, shouting at the drivers whom they saw passing in the distance.
They walked down towards the Seine, desperate and shivering. At last they found on the quay one of those old nightprowling carriages which are only to be seen in Paris after dark, as though they were ashamed of their shabbiness in the daylight.
It brought them to their door in the Rue des Martyrs, and sadly they walked up to their own apartment. It was the end, for her. As for him, he was thinking that he must be at the office at ten.
She took off the garments in which she had wrapped her shoulders, so as to see herself in all her glory before the mirror. But suddenly she uttered a cry. The necklace was no longer round her neck!
參考譯文
她終於吞吞吐吐地說了：
「我也說不上到底要多少錢；不過有四百法郎，大概也就可以辦下來了。」
他臉色有點發白，因為他正巧積攢下這樣一筆款子打算買一支槍，夏天好和幾個朋友一道打獵作樂，星期日到南泰爾平原去打雲雀。
不過他還是這樣說了：「好吧。我就給你四百法郎。可是你得好好想法子做件漂漂亮亮的衣服。」
晚會的日子快到了，羅瓦賽爾太太卻好像很傷心，很不安，很憂慮。她的衣服可是已經齊備了。有一天晚上她的丈夫問她：
「你怎麼啦?三天以來你的脾氣一直是這么古怪。」
「我心煩，我既沒有首飾，也沒有珠寶，身上任什麼也戴不出來，實在是太寒倫了。我簡直不想參加這次晚會了。」
他說：「你可以載幾朵鮮花呀。在這個季節里，這是很漂亮的。花上十個法郎，你就可以有兩三朵十分好看的玫瑰花。」
這個辦法一點也沒有把她說服。
「不行……在那些闊太太中間，顯出一副窮酸相，再沒有比這更丟臉的了。」
她的丈夫忽然喊了起來：「你可真算是糊塗!為什麼不去找你的朋友福雷斯蒂埃太太，跟她借幾樣首飾呢?拿你跟她的交情來說，是可以開口的。」
她高興地叫了起來：
「這倒是真的。我竟一點兒也沒想到。」
第二天她就到她朋友家裡，把自己的苦惱講給她聽。
福雷斯蒂埃太太立刻走到她的帶鏡子的大立櫃跟前，取出一個大首飾箱，拿過來打開之後，便對羅瓦賽爾太大說：
「挑吧!親愛的。」
她首先看見的是幾只手鐲，再便是一串珍珠項鏈，一個咸尼斯制的鑲嵌珠寶的金十字架，做工極其精細。她戴了這些首飾對著鏡子里左試右試，猶豫不定，合不得摘下來還主人。她嘴裡還老是問：
「你再沒有別的了?」
「有啊。你自己找吧。我不知道你都喜歡什麼?」
忽然她在一個黑緞子的盒裡發現一串非常美麗的鑽石項鏈；一種過分強烈的慾望使她的心都跳了。她拿它的時候手也直哆嗦。她把它戴在頸子上，衣服的外面，對著鏡中的自己看得出了神。
然後她心裡十分焦急，猶豫不決地問道：
「你可以把這個借給我嗎?我只借這一樣。」
「當然可以啊。」
她一把摟住了她朋友的脖子，親親熱熱地吻了她一下，帶著寶貝很快就跑了。
晚會的日子到了。羅瓦賽爾太太非常成功。她比所有的女人都美麗，又漂亮又撫媚，面上總帶著微笑，快活得幾乎發狂。所有的男子都盯著她，打聽她的姓名，求人給介紹。部長辦公室的人員全都要跟她合舞。部長也注意了她。
她已經陶醉在歡樂之中，什麼也不想，只是興奮地、發狂地跳舞。她的美麗戰勝了一切，她的成功充滿了光輝，所有這些人都對自己殷勤獻媚、阿諛贊揚、垂涎欲滴，婦人心中認為最甜美的勝利已完完全全握在手中，她便在這一片幸福的雲中舞著。
她在早晨四點鍾才離開。她的丈夫從十二點起就在一間沒有人的小客廳里睡著了。客廳里還躺著另外三位先生，他們的太太也正在盡情歡樂。他怕她出門受寒，把帶來的衣服披在她的肩上，那是平日穿的家常衣服，那一種寒倫氣和漂亮的舞裝是非常不相稱的。她馬上感覺到這一點，為了不叫旁邊的那些裹在豪華皮衣里的太太們注意，她就急著想要跑出大門。
羅瓦賽爾還拉住她不讓走：
「你等一等啊。到外面你要著涼的。我去叫一輛馬車吧。」
不過她並不聽他這套話，很快地走下了樓梯。等他們到了街上，那裡並沒有出租馬車；他們於是就找起來，遠遠看見馬車走過，他們就追著向車夫大聲喊叫。
他們向塞納河一直走下去，渾身哆咳，非常失望。最後在河邊找到了一輛夜裡做生意的舊馬車，這種馬車在巴黎只有在天黑了以後才看得見，它們是那麼寒傖，白天出來好像會害羞的。
這輛車一直把他們送到殉道者街，他們的家門口，他們凄凄涼涼地爬上樓回到自己家裡。在她說來，一切已經結束。他呢，他想到的是十點鍾就該到部里去辦公。
她褪下了披在肩上的衣服，那是對著大鏡子褪的，為的是再一次看看籠罩在光榮中的自己。但是她忽然大叫一聲。原來頸子上的項鏈不見了。
Chapter III
"What's the matter with you?" asked her husband, already half undressed.
She turned towards him in the utmost distress.
"I . . . I . . . I've no longer got Madame Forestier's necklace. . . ."
He started with astonishment.
"What! . . . Impossible!"
They searched in the folds of her dress, in the folds of the coat, in the pockets, everywhere. They could not find it.
"Are you sure that you still had it on when you came away from the ball?" he asked.
"Yes, I touched it in the hall at the Ministry."
"But if you had lost it in the street, we should have heard it fall."
"Yes. Probably we should. Did you take the number of the cab?"
"No. You didn't notice it, did you?"
"No."
They stared at one another, mbfounded. At last Loisel put on his clothes again.
"I'll go over all the ground we walked," he said, "and see if I can't find it."
And he went out. She remained in her evening clothes, lacking strength to get into bed, huddled on a chair, without volition or power of thought.
Her husband returned about seven. He had found nothing.
He went to the police station, to the newspapers, to offer a reward, to the cab companies, everywhere that a ray of hope impelled him.
She waited all day long, in the same state of bewilderment at this fearful catastrophe.
Loisel came home at night, his face lined and pale; he had discovered nothing.
"You must write to your friend," he said, "and tell her that you've broken the clasp of her necklace and are getting it mended. That will give us time to look about us."
She wrote at his dictation.
By the end of a week they had lost all hope.
Loisel, who had aged five years, declared:
"We must see about replacing the diamonds."
Next day they took the box which had held the necklace and went to the jewellers whose name was inside. He consulted his books.
"It was not I who sold this necklace, Madame; I must have merely supplied the clasp."
Then they went from jeweller to jeweller, searching for another necklace like the first, consulting their memories, both ill with remorse and anguish of mind.
In a shop at the Palais-Royal they found a string of diamonds which seemed to them exactly like the one they were looking for. It was worth forty thousand francs. They were allowed to have it for thirty-six thousand.
They begged the jeweller not to sell it for three days. And they arranged matters on the understanding that it would be taken back for thirty-four thousand francs, if the first one were found before the end of February.
Loisel possessed eighteen thousand francs left to him by his father. He intended to borrow the rest.
He did borrow it, getting a thousand from one man, five hundred from another, five louis here, three louis there. He gave notes of hand, entered into ruinous agreements, did business with usurers and the whole tribe of money-lenders. He mortgaged the whole remaining years of his existence, risked his signature without even knowing it he could honour it, and, appall