⑴ 英语童话故事汇总5篇
英语 故事 会出现学生认识或是不认识的单词，而这个单词的重复不断出现，会加深同学们对单词的记忆，这种记忆不同于一般的死记硬背，而是在潜移默化中，让学生记住单词，并且不枯燥。下面我给大家介绍关于英语 童话故事 ，方便大家学习。
英语童话故事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!
我非常需要帮助——或者我会疯的。我们生活在一个房间里——我的妻子，我的孩子和我的法律。我们整天神经兮兮，我们互相大喊大叫。房间是地狱。
你答应按我说的去做吗?大师一本正经地说。
我发誓我会做任何事。
好的，你有多少动物吗?
一头奶牛，一头山羊和六只鸡。
把它们全带到你的房间。一个星期之后再回来。
门徒大吃一惊。但他已经承诺服从!所以他把动物。一个星期后他回来了，可怜的人物，呻吟着，我很紧张。污垢!恶臭!噪声!我们就要发疯了!
回去吧，大师说，把动物放了。
这个男人跑回家。第二天回来时，他的眼里闪烁着喜悦的光芒。生活是多么美好!动物们都离开了。家是一个天堂，那么安静，干净和宽敞的!
英语童话故事2
拇指姑娘(选段)
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.
今天我要讲给大家听的是一个妇女的故事,她有自己的一间小屋和一个小花园,但她还是开心不起来。
她说,我要是有个一丁点小的孩子该多好啊,这样我会多么开心啊。
消息传到了一个女巫的耳朵里,她说,哦,这好办的很!这是一颗大麦粒,把它种到花盆里,然后你就等着看会发生什么吧。
女人赶紧跑回家种下麦粒,她没忘对巫婆说声谢谢,不仅如此,她还给了巫婆6个银币。
你猜发生了什么?麦粒刚种下去,一朵美丽的大花就破土而出。这是一朵没开放的花,它的叶子紧紧的包在一起,看起来像是一朵郁金香。它真的是一朵郁金香,而且是红中带黄的。
女人非常喜欢花。她弯腰在美丽的花蕾上亲了一下。她的嘴唇一碰到花瓣,花儿立刻绽放了!噢,太美妙了!就在花的中央,坐着一个小小孩儿!多么小,多么可爱的一个少女啊!
大家叫她拇指姑娘。因为她只有一个人的拇指那么点大。
你们知道她睡在哪里吗?
小小拇指姑娘睡觉时躺在用紫罗兰花瓣垫着的胡桃壳里,盖的是粉色玫瑰花瓣。
你知道她又是在怎么玩耍吗?一张桌子就是她玩耍的天地,女人在桌上放了一盘子水,拇指姑娘把它叫做她的湖
盘子上摆了一圈芳香的花儿,花朵沿着边儿排开,而嫩绿的枝干贪婪地伸向水中。
英语童话故事3
THE TITMOUSE'S REWARD
山雀的报答
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.
两千年前的汉代，华阴山北面，住着一姓杨的农户。他们全家都是农民，他们非常珍爱他们的独子，并给他起名叫做宝——财宝的意思。
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.
杨宝不仅聪明、善良、机敏，而且眉清目秀，一表人材。他的父母剃光他的头， 只留下头顶的两撮头发，扎成两个发髻 .每个人都 承认他很聪明 .
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.
杨宝热爱自然。他时常在华阴山的森林里玩。九岁的时候，一天他跟往常一样在外边玩。忽然他听到上方传来一阵惊叫声。他抬头一看，见一只猫头鹰刚在空中抓住了一只山雀 .发现有人在看见它捕猎，猫头鹰受到惊吓，丢下了山雀。那只山雀被摔昏了，躺在地上一动不动。
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.
蚂蚁们想搬走山雀当食物。山雀先被猫头鹰的利爪所伤，又从空中跌下，因此已经动弹不得。杨宝跑过去，拾起山雀，掸去蚂蚁。他把山雀带回家，放在一个竹笼里 饲养 。
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.
他很珍爱这只小鸟。他用菊花的花瓣来喂它，还照料它的伤口， 直到它康复能够飞翔 .之后他把它带到树林里放生了。
"You're free now! Watch out for owls! Goodbye!!"
"你现在自由了! 小心猫头鹰 !再见了!"
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."
之后不久，杨宝做了一个奇怪的梦。一个穿着褐色衣服的小孩过来感谢他的救命之恩。他送给杨宝四个贵重的玉镯，说："你好，我是王母娘娘的使者。你救了我的命，我要把这四个无暇的玉镯送给你来表达我的谢意。我还祝愿你的子孙后代都像纯洁的玉一样无暇，官运亨通."
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.
杨宝并不想接受这些礼物，但那个褐衣男孩一再坚持，他最后收下了镯子。刚收下，他就醒了，发现刚才只是个梦。
"That sure was a strange dream，" he thought， shaking his head.
"这个梦真奇怪。"他边想边晃脑袋。
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.
杨宝的儿子、孙子 、曾孙……，都像纯洁的玉一样无暇。他的四代子孙都是高官。
英语童话故事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
从前有一位王子，他想找一位公主结婚，但她必须是一位真正的公主。
他走遍了全世界，想要寻到这样的一位公主。可是无论他到什么地方，他总是碰到一些障碍。公主倒有的是，不过他没有办法断定她们究竟是不是真正的公主。她们总是有些地方不大对头。
结果，他只好回家来，心中很不快活，因为他是那么渴望着得到一位真正的公主。
有一天晚上，忽然起了一阵可怕的暴风雨。天空在掣电，在打雷，在下着大雨。这真有点使人害怕!
这时，有人在敲门，老国王就走过去开门。
站在城外的是一位公主。可是，天哪!经过了风吹雨打之后，她的样子是多么难看啊!水沿着她的头发和衣服向下面流，流进鞋尖，又从脚跟流出来。
她说她是一个真正的公主。
“是的，这点我们马上就可以考查出来。”老皇后心里想，可是她什么也没说。她走进卧房，把所有的被褥都搬开，在床榻上放了一粒豌豆。于是她取出二十床垫子，把它们压在豌豆上。随后，她又在这些垫子上放了二十床鸭绒被。
这位公主夜里就睡在这些东西上面。
早晨大家问她昨晚睡得怎样。
“啊，不舒服极了!”公主说，“我差不多整夜没合上眼!天晓得我床上有件什么东西?我睡到一块很硬的东西上面，弄得我全身发青发紫，这真怕人!”
现在大家就看出来了。她是一位真正的公主，因为压在这二十床垫子和二十床鸭绒被下面的一粒豌豆，她居然还能感觉得出来。除了真正的公主以外，任何人都不会有这么嫩的皮肤的。
因此那位王子就选她为妻子了，因为现在他知道他得到了一位真正的公主。这粒豌豆因此也就被送进了博物馆，如果没有人把它拿走的话，人们现在还可以在那儿看到它呢。
请注意，这是一个真的故事。
(1835)
这个作品写于1835年，收集在《讲给孩子们听的故事》里。它的情节虽然简短，但意义却很深刻。真正的王子只能与真正的公主结婚，即所谓的“门当户对”。但真正的公主的特点是什么呢?她的特点是皮肤娇嫩，嫩的连“压在这二十床垫子和二十床鸭绒被下面的一粒豌豆”都能感觉得出来。这粒豌豆证明出公主的真实，因此，它也成了具有重大历史意义的东西，被“送进了博物馆”。封建统治者就是这样荒.唐。这个小故事是一莫大的讽刺，与《皇帝的新装》也异曲同工之妙。
英语童话故事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. 一个农夫有一匹勤勤恳恳、任劳任怨为他干活的马,但这匹马现在已经老了,干活也不行了,所以,农夫不想再给马吃东西。他对马说:“我再也用不着你了,你自己离开马厩走吧,到你比一头狮子更强壮时,我自然会把你牵回来的。”
说完,他打开门,让马自己去谋生去了。
这匹可怜的马非常悲哀,它在森林里茫无目标地到处徘徊,寒风夹着细雨,更增加了它的痛楚,它想寻找一个小小的避雨处。不久,它遇到了一只狐狸,狐狸问它:“我的好朋友,你怎么了?为甚么垂头丧气,一副孤苦伶仃、愁眉苦脸的样子呢?”马叹了一口气回答说:“哎——!公正和吝啬不能住在一间房子里。我的主人完全忘了我这许多年为他辛辛苦苦所干的一切,因为我不能再干活了,他就把我赶了出来,说除非我变得比一头狮子更强壮,他才会重新收留我。我有这样的能力吗?其实,主人是知道我没有这样的能力的,要不然,他也不会这样说了。”
狐狸听了之后,要它别愁了,只管放心,说道:“我来帮助你,你躺在那儿,把身子伸直,装做死了的样子,我自有办法。”马按狐狸的吩咐做了。狐狸跑到狮子住的洞口边,对狮子说:“狮子大王,有条小路上躺着一匹死马,我们一同去,你可以作一顿很不错的午餐来享受哩。”狮子听了非常高兴,立即就动身了。
它们来到马躺的地方,狐狸说:“在这儿你吃不完它,我告诉你怎么办:先让我把它的尾巴牢牢地绑在你的身上,然后你就能够将它拖回你的洞穴去慢慢地享用了。”狮子对这个建议很欣赏。于是它一动不动地躺下来,让狐狸把它绑在马背上。但狐狸却设法将它的腿捆在一起,用的力气把狮子牢牢地捆作一团,狮子没法挣脱束缚了。
一切料理完毕,狐狸拍了拍马的肩背说道:“起来吧!老马头,你可以走了!”那匹马跳起来,把狮子拖在尾巴后面离开了。狮子知道上了狐狸的当,开始咆哮吼叫起来,巨大的吼声把树上所有的鸟儿都吓得飞走了。但老马随便它怎么叫,只管自己慢慢悠悠地走过田野,终于把狮子拖到了主人的屋里。
它对主人说:“主人,狮子在这儿,我把它料理妥当了。”当主人看见它的这匹老马后,对它产生了怜悯之心,说道:“你就住在马厩里吧,我会好好待你的。”于是,这匹可怜的老马又有了吃的东西,主人一直供养它到死去。
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⑵ 英语小故事(翻译)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(普法战争), 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.
参考译文
项 链
世上有这样一些女子，面庞儿好，丰韵也好，但被造化安排错了，生长在一个小职员的家庭里。她便是其中的一个。她没有陪嫁财产，没有可以指望得到的遗产，没有任何方法可以使一个有钱有地位的男子来结识她，了解她，爱她，娶她；她只好任人把她嫁给了教育部的一个小科员。
她没钱打扮，因此很朴素；但是心里非常痛苦，犹如贵族下嫁的情形；这是因为女子原就没有什么一定的阶层或种族，她们的美丽、她们的娇艳、她们的丰韵就可以作为她们的出身和门第。她们中间所以有等级之分仅仅是靠了她们天生的聪明、审美的本能和脑筋的灵活，这些东西就可以使百姓的姑娘和最高贵的命妇并驾齐驱。
她总觉得自己生来是为享受各种讲究豪华生活的，因而无休止地感到痛苦。住室是那样简陋，壁上毫无装饰，椅凳是那么破旧，衣衫是那么丑陋，她看了都非常痛苦。这些情形，如果不是她而是她那个阶层的另一个妇人的话，可能连理会都没有理会到，但给她的痛苦即很大并且使她气愤填胸。她看了那个替她料理家务的布列塔尼省的小女人，心中便会产生许多忧伤的感慨和想入非非的幻想。她会想到四壁蒙着东方绸、青铜高灯照着、静悄悄的接待室；她会想到接待室里两个穿短裤长袜的高大男仆，如何被暖气管闷人的热度催起睡意，在宽大的靠背椅里昏然睡去。她会想到四壁蒙着古老丝绸的大客厅，上面陈设着珍贵古玩的精致家具和那些精致小巧、香气扑鼻的内客厅，那是专为午后五点钟跟最亲密的男友娓娓清谈的地方，那些朋友当然都是所有的妇人垂涎不已、渴盼青睐、多方拉拢的知名之士。
每逢她坐到那张三天末洗桌布的圆桌旁去吃饭，对面坐着的丈夫揭开盆盖，心满意足地表示?quot;啊！多么好吃的炖肉！世上哪有比这更好的东西……"的时候，她便想到那些精美的筵席、发亮的银餐具和挂在四壁的壁毯，上面织着古代人物和仙境森林中的异鸟珍禽；她也想到那些盛在名贵碟里的佳肴；她也想到一边吃着粉红色的鲈鱼肉或松鸡的翅膀，一边带着莫测高深的微笑听着男友低诉绵绵情话的情镜。
她没有漂亮的衣装，没有珠宝首饰，总之什么也没有。而她呢，爱的却偏偏就是这些；她觉得自己生来就是为享受这些东西的。她最希望的是能够讨男子们的喜欢，惹女人们的欣羡，风流动人，到处受欢迎。
她有一个有钱的女友，那是学校读书时的同学，现在呢，她再也不愿去看望她了，因为每次回来她总感到非常痛苦。她要伤心、懊悔、绝望、痛苦得哭好几天。
可是有一天晚上，她的丈夫回家的时候手里拿着一个大信封，满脸得意之色。
"拿去吧！"他说，"这是专为你预备的一样东西。"
她赶忙拆开了信封，从里面抽出一张请帖，上边印着：
兹订于一月十八日（星期一）在本部大厦举行晚会，敬请准时莅临，此致
罗瓦赛尔先生暨夫人
教育部部长乔治•朗蓬诺暨夫人谨订
她并没有像她丈夫所希望的那样欢天喜地，反而赌气把请帖往桌上一丢，咕哝着说：
"我要这个干什么？你替我想想。"
"可是，我的亲爱的，我原以为你会很高兴的。你从来也不出门作客，这可是一个机会，并且是一个千载难逢的机会！我好不容易才弄到这张请帖。大家都想要，很难得到，一般是不大肯给小职员的。在那儿你可以看见所有那些官方人士。"
她眼中冒着怒火瞪着他，最后不耐烦地说：
"你可叫我穿什么到那儿去呢?"
这个，他却从未想到；他于是吞吞吐吐地说：
"你上戏园穿的那件衣服呢?照我看，那件好像就很不错……"
他说不下去了，他看见妻子已经在哭了，他又是惊奇又是慌张。两大滴眼泪从他妻子的眼角慢慢地向嘴角流下来；他结结巴巴地问：
"你怎么啦?你怎么啦?"
她使了一个狠劲儿把苦痛压了下去，然后一面擦着被泪沾湿的两颊，一面用一种平静的语声说：
"什么事也没有。不过我既没有衣饰，当然不能去赴会。有哪位同事的太太能比我有更好的衣衫，你就把请帖送给他吧。"
他感到很窘，于是说道：
"玛蒂尔德，咱们来商量一下。一套过得去的衣服，一套在别的机会还可以穿的，十分简单的衣服得用多少钱?"
她想了几秒钟，心里盘算了一下钱数，同时也考虑到提出怎样一个数目才不致当场遭到这个俭朴的科员拒绝，也不会把他吓得叫出来。
她终于吞吞吐吐地说了：
"我也说不上到底要多少钱；不过有四百法郎，大概也就可以办下来了。"
他脸色有点发白，因为他正巧积攒下这样一笔款子打算买一支枪，夏天好和几个朋友一道打猎作乐，星期日到南泰尔平原去打云雀。
不过他还是这样说了："好吧。我就给你四百法郎。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!
参考译文
她终于吞吞吐吐地说了：
“我也说不上到底要多少钱；不过有四百法郎，大概也就可以办下来了。”
他脸色有点发白，因为他正巧积攒下这样一笔款子打算买一支枪，夏天好和几个朋友一道打猎作乐，星期日到南泰尔平原去打云雀。
不过他还是这样说了：“好吧。我就给你四百法郎。可是你得好好想法子做件漂漂亮亮的衣服。”
晚会的日子快到了，罗瓦赛尔太太却好像很伤心，很不安，很忧虑。她的衣服可是已经齐备了。有一天晚上她的丈夫问她：
“你怎么啦?三天以来你的脾气一直是这么古怪。”
“我心烦，我既没有首饰，也没有珠宝，身上任什么也戴不出来，实在是太寒伦了。我简直不想参加这次晚会了。”
他说：“你可以载几朵鲜花呀。在这个季节里，这是很漂亮的。花上十个法郎，你就可以有两三朵十分好看的玫瑰花。”
这个办法一点也没有把她说服。
“不行……在那些阔太太中间，显出一副穷酸相，再没有比这更丢脸的了。”
她的丈夫忽然喊了起来：“你可真算是糊涂!为什么不去找你的朋友福雷斯蒂埃太太，跟她借几样首饰呢?拿你跟她的交情来说，是可以开口的。”
她高兴地叫了起来：
“这倒是真的。我竟一点儿也没想到。”
第二天她就到她朋友家里，把自己的苦恼讲给她听。
福雷斯蒂埃太太立刻走到她的带镜子的大立柜跟前，取出一个大首饰箱，拿过来打开之后，便对罗瓦赛尔太大说：
“挑吧!亲爱的。”
她首先看见的是几只手镯，再便是一串珍珠项链，一个咸尼斯制的镶嵌珠宝的金十字架，做工极其精细。她戴了这些首饰对着镜子里左试右试，犹豫不定，合不得摘下来还主人。她嘴里还老是问：
“你再没有别的了?”
“有啊。你自己找吧。我不知道你都喜欢什么?”
忽然她在一个黑缎子的盒里发现一串非常美丽的钻石项链；一种过分强烈的欲望使她的心都跳了。她拿它的时候手也直哆嗦。她把它戴在颈子上，衣服的外面，对着镜中的自己看得出了神。
然后她心里十分焦急，犹豫不决地问道：
“你可以把这个借给我吗?我只借这一样。”
“当然可以啊。”
她一把搂住了她朋友的脖子，亲亲热热地吻了她一下，带着宝贝很快就跑了。
晚会的日子到了。罗瓦赛尔太太非常成功。她比所有的女人都美丽，又漂亮又抚媚，面上总带着微笑，快活得几乎发狂。所有的男子都盯着她，打听她的姓名，求人给介绍。部长办公室的人员全都要跟她合舞。部长也注意了她。
她已经陶醉在欢乐之中，什么也不想，只是兴奋地、发狂地跳舞。她的美丽战胜了一切，她的成功充满了光辉，所有这些人都对自己殷勤献媚、阿谀赞扬、垂涎欲滴，妇人心中认为最甜美的胜利已完完全全握在手中，她便在这一片幸福的云中舞着。
她在早晨四点钟才离开。她的丈夫从十二点起就在一间没有人的小客厅里睡着了。客厅里还躺着另外三位先生，他们的太太也正在尽情欢乐。他怕她出门受寒，把带来的衣服披在她的肩上，那是平日穿的家常衣服，那一种寒伦气和漂亮的舞装是非常不相称的。她马上感觉到这一点，为了不叫旁边的那些裹在豪华皮衣里的太太们注意，她就急着想要跑出大门。
罗瓦赛尔还拉住她不让走：
“你等一等啊。到外面你要着凉的。我去叫一辆马车吧。”
不过她并不听他这套话，很快地走下了楼梯。等他们到了街上，那里并没有出租马车；他们于是就找起来，远远看见马车走过，他们就追着向车夫大声喊叫。
他们向塞纳河一直走下去，浑身哆咳，非常失望。最后在河边找到了一辆夜里做生意的旧马车，这种马车在巴黎只有在天黑了以后才看得见，它们是那么寒伧，白天出来好像会害羞的。
这辆车一直把他们送到殉道者街，他们的家门口，他们凄凄凉凉地爬上楼回到自己家里。在她说来，一切已经结束。他呢，他想到的是十点钟就该到部里去办公。
她褪下了披在肩上的衣服，那是对着大镜子褪的，为的是再一次看看笼罩在光荣中的自己。但是她忽然大叫一声。原来颈子上的项链不见了。
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