The mayor was standing at his open window; he was wearing a dress shirt with a dainty breastpin in its frill. He was very well shaven, self-done, though he had cut himself slightly and had stuck a small bit of newspaper over the cut.
市长站在他家的窗户旁，他穿着礼服衬衫，衬衫上别着一枚胸针，他自己剃的胡子，所以他划伤了一道口子，然后自己贴上了一小片报纸。
"Listen, youngster!" he boomed.The youngster was none other than the washerwoman's son, who respectfully took off his cap as he passed. This cap was broken at the rim, so that he could put it into his pocket. In his poor but clean and very neatly mended clothes, and his heavy wooden shoes, the boy stood as respectfully as if he were before the king.
“听着，年轻人！”他大声叫到，年轻人不是别人正是那个洗衣妇的儿子，当他经过的时候，敬重的脱下自己的帽子。这个帽子的帽檐已经坏了，所以他把帽子塞到他的口袋里。尽管他贫穷，但是他穿着干净整洁的修补过的衣服，男孩穿着他的笨重的木头鞋，非常谦卑的站着，就好像他站在国王面前一样。
"You're a good boy, a well-behaved lad!" said the Mayor. "I suppose your mother is washing down at the river, and no doubt you are going to bring her what you have in your pocket. That's an awful thing with your mother! How much have you there?""A half pint," said the boy in a low, trembling voice."And this morning she had the same?" continued the Mayor."No, it was yesterday!" answered the boy."Two halves make a whole! She is no good! It is sad there are such people. Tell your mother she ought to be ashamed of herself. Don't you become a drunkard-but I suppose you will! Poor child! Run along now."
“你是个好男孩，非常有礼貌的小家伙！”市长说道。“我想你的母亲正在河边洗衣服吧，毫无疑问你正准备把你口袋的东西带给她。这对你母亲来说真是件糟糕的事情！你带了多少？”“半斤，”男孩颤抖着低声说道。“今天早上她已经喝这么多？”市长继续问道。“不，那是昨天的！”男孩回答道。““两个半斤就是一斤了！她就是个废物！有这样的人真令人伤心。告诉你母亲她应该为她自己感到羞耻。你不要成为一个醉鬼--但是我想你会成为这样的人！可怜的孩子，现在跑开吧。”
And the boy went, still holding his cap in his hand, while the wind rippled the waves of his yellow hair. He went down the street and through an alley to the river, where his mother stood at her washing stool in the water, beating the heavy linen with a wooden beater. The current was strong, for the mill's sluices were open; the bed sheet was dragged along by the stream and nearly swept away her washing stool, and the woman had all she could do to stand up against it.
然后男孩走开了，当风吹起他的黄色卷发，他一直抓着他的帽子。他走到街上然后穿过一条小道到达河边，他的母亲站在水里的洗衣盆旁边，正在用木棒槌捶打着厚重的亚麻布。水流非常湍急，因为工厂的水闸开着；床单一直被水流冲着，快要从她的洗衣盆里冲走了，洗衣妇站起来尽她所能的抓着床单防止它被冲走。
"I was almost carried away," she said. "It's a good thing you've come, for I need something to strengthen me. It's so cold in the water; I've been standing here for six hours. Have you brought me anything?"
“我都快要被冲走了。”她说。“你来了真是太好了，因为我需要一些东西来增强我的力量。水里真是太冷了，我站在这已经6个小时。你给我带了什么东西吗？”
The boy drew forth a flask, and his mother put it to her lips and drank a little.
男孩往外掏出了一个瓶子，然后他的母亲把它举到嘴边喝了一点。
"Oh, that does me good! How it warms me! It's just as good as hot food, and it isn't as expensive! Drink, my boy! You look so pale, and you're freezing in your thin clothes. Remember it is autumn. Ooh, the water is cold! If only I don't get ill! But I won't. Give me a little more, and drink some yourself, but only a little drop, for you mustn't get used to it, my poor dear child!"
“哦，这对我太好了！我现在真暖和！这个热的食物一样好，况且这个也不是很贵！喝吧，我的孩子！你看起来太苍白了，你单薄的衣服让你太冷了。现在才是秋天，哦，河水真是寒冷！我是否不会生病！我不会的，再给我一点，你也喝一点吧，但是只能喝一点点，因为你一定不能对它上瘾，我可怜的孩子。”
And she walked out of the water and up onto the bridge where the boy stood. The water dripped from the straw mat that she had tied around her waist and from her petticoat.
然后她走出水面，来到男孩站的桥上。水珠从她绑在腰上的稻草垫子上滴下来。
"I work and slave till the blood runs out at my fingernails, but I do it gladly if I can bring you up honestly, my sweet child!"
“我拼命工作直到血液从我的手指上留下来，但是如果我能给你带来实在的生活我也是乐意的，我亲爱的孩子。”
Just then came an elderly woman, poorly clad, lame in one leg, and with an enormously large, false curl hanging down over one of her eyes, which was blind. This curl was supposed to hide the eye, but it only made the defect the more conspicuous. The neighbors called her " Maren with the curl," and she was an old friend of the washerwoman's.
这个时候来了一位年长的妇女，她穿着破旧的衣服，一条腿瘸了，非常大的假卷发垂在他的一只瞎掉的眼睛上。这个卷发好像是为了隐藏这这只瞎掉的眼睛，但是它只能让人生成更多的怀疑。邻居们都叫她”卷发坡脚玛仁“，她是洗衣服的一个老朋友。
"You poor thing," she cried, "slaving and toiling in the cold water! You certainly need something to warm you a little, and yet the gossips cry about the few drops you take!" And soon all that the Mayor had said to the boy was repeated to his mother, for Maren had overheard it, and it had angered her to hear him talk so to the child about his own mother and the few drops she took, because on that same day the Mayor was having a big dinner party with many bottles of wine.
”你真可怜，在这么寒冷的水里拼命工作！你确实需要一些东西来让自己暖和一点，然而还有关于你喝这点东西的闲言碎语！”然后很快，她把市长对小男孩说的所有的话都给他的母亲重复了一遍，因为玛伦偷听到了。她对听到市长对小孩说的那些关于她母亲喝酒的话非常生气。因为就在那天，市长举办了一场盛大的晚宴，晚宴上喝了非常多桶装酒。
"Good wine, strong wine! Many will drink more than they should, but they don't call that drinking. They are all right, but you are good for nothing!"
“好酒，烈酒！很多人都会喝醉，但是她们不认为那是喝醉，他们总是对的，所以你就是个废物！”
"What! Did the Mayor really say that, child?" asked the laundress, her lips quivering. "So you have a mother who is good for nothing! Perhaps he's right, though he shouldn't say so to a child. But I mustn't complain; good things have come to me from that house."
“什么！市长真的说了这些，孩子？”洗衣妇问道，她的嘴唇颤抖着。“所以他说你的母亲是个废物！可能他是对的，尽管他不应该跟一个孩子说这些。但是我不能抱怨，一些好事曾经在那个房间里发生在我身上。”
"Why, yes, you were in service there, when the Mayor's parents were alive. That was many years ago. Many bushels of salt have been eaten since then, so people may well be thirsty! laughed Maren. "The big dinner today at the Mayor's would have been postponed if everything hadn't been prepared. I heard the news from the porter. A letter came, an hour ago, telling them that the Mayor's younger brother, in Copenhagen, is dead.""Dead!" cried the laundress, turning as white as a ghost.
“为什么？是的，当市长的父母还活着的是，你曾经在那里工作，那是很多年前的事情了。从那时起人们不知道吃了多少斗盐，所以人脉可能开始口渴了！”玛伦笑道。“如果所有的事情还没有准备的话，今天市长家的盛大晚宴可能会被延迟。我从邮差那里听到一些消息。一个小时前寄来了一封信，告诉他们，住在哥本哈根的市长的年轻弟弟死了。”“死了？！”洗衣妇大叫到，脸变得像鬼一样白。
"What does it matter to you" said Maren. "Of course, you must have known him, since you worked in the house."
“这对你很重要。”玛伦说道。“当然，你一定知道他，你曾在那间屋子工作过。”
"Is he really dead? He was the best and kindest of men-indeed, there aren't many like him!" Tears were rolling down her cheeks. "Oh, my God! Everything is going around! That's because I emptied the bottle. I couldn't stand so much. I feel so ill!" And she leaned against the fence for support.
“他真的死了？他确实是最好最善良的人，没有像他那样的人了！”眼泪从她的脸颊上流淌下来。“哦，上帝！所有的东西都在转圈！一定是我喝光了酒。我站不住了，我好像病了！”她倚着篱笆寻求支撑。
"Good heavens, you are ill, indeed!" said Maren. "Try to get over it! No, you really are sick! I'd better get you home!""But the washing there!""I'll take care of that. Here, give me your arm. The boy can stay here and watch it till I come back and wash what's left. It's only a few pieces."
“上帝啊，你确实生病了！”玛伦说道。努力克服它吧！不，你真的病了！我最好带你回家！”“但是待洗的衣服还在这儿！”“我会处理好的，来这儿，把你的胳膊给我，孩子可以待在这里看着这些直到我回来洗好剩下的这些，也就只剩几件了。”
The poor laundress' legs were trembling under her. "I've stood too long in the cold water, with no food since yesterday! I have a burning fever. Oh, dear Lord Jesus, help me to get home! Oh, my poor child!" And she wept.
可怜的洗衣妇的腿在颤抖。“我在冷水里站的太久了，从昨天到现在都没有吃东西！我发烧了。哦！天哪，帮助我让我回家吧！哦，我可年的孩子！”她开始哭泣。
The boy cried too, as he sat alone beside the river, guarding the wet linen. The two women made their way slowly, the washerwoman dragging her shaky limbs up the little alley and through the street where the Mayor lived. Just as she reached the front of his house, she sank down on the cobblestones. A crowd gathered around her.Limping Maren ran into his yard for help. The Mayor and his guests came to the windows.
男孩也开始哭了，他一个人坐在河边，守着这些湿的亚麻布。两个妇女慢慢的走着，洗衣妇在小道上艰难的挪动着颤抖的四肢，穿过街道，朝着市长住的地方走着。当她刚到市长房子的面前，她摔倒在鹅卵石上。一群人聚集到她周围，跛脚玛伦冲进他的院子寻求帮助。市长和他的客人们走到窗户前。
"It's the washerwoman!" he said. "She's had a bit too much to drink; she's no good! It's a pity for that handsome boy of hers, I really like that child, but his mother is good for nothing."
“是洗衣妇！”他说。“她一定是喝的太多了，她就是个废物！这对她那个可爱的孩子来说真是太可惜了。我真的很喜欢那个孩子，但是他的母亲就是个废物。”
And the washerwoman was brought to her own humble room, where she was put to bed. Kindly Maren hastened to prepare a cup of warm ale with butter and sugar-she could think of no better medicine in such a case-and then returned to the river, where, although she meant well, she did a very poor job with the washing; she only pulled the wet clothes out of the water and put them into a basket.
洗衣妇被带到她自己的简陋的屋子，被放到床上。善良的玛伦快速的准备了一杯加了黄油和糖的热麦酒。在这种情况下，这是她能想到的比没有药更好的东西了。然后她回到河边，尽管她很好，她也做着洗衣妇的可怜工作；她把湿衣服推到水里然后再把它们拿回篮子里。
That evening she appeared again in the washerwoman's miserable room. She had begged from the Mayor's cook a couple of roasted potatoes and a fine fat piece of ham for the sick woman. Maren and the boy feasted on these, but the patient was satisfied with the smell, "For that was very nourishing," she said.
那个晚上她再次出现在洗衣妇的凄惨的房间里。她为生病的妇女从市长的厨师那里祈求来一些烤土豆和一点碎的肥火腿。玛伦和男孩准备这些，病人对这些美味很满足，“因为这非常滋补。”她说道。
The boy was put to bed, in the same one in which his mother slept, lying crosswise at his mother's feet, with a blanket of old blue and red carpet ends sewed together.
男孩被抱上他母亲睡着的那张床，他横着躺在母亲的脚边，盖着一条破旧的蓝色和红色地毯缝在一起的毯子。
The laundress felt a little better now; the warm ale had given her strength, and the smell of the good food had been nourishing.
洗衣妇现在觉得好点了；温暖的麦酒让她舒服点，美味的食物滋养了她。
"Thank you, my kind friend," she said to Maren, "I'll tell you all about it, while the boy is asleep. He's sleeping already; see how sweet he looks with his eyes closed. He doesn't think of his mother's sufferings; may our Lord never let him feel their equal! Well, I was in service at the Councilor's, the Mayor' parents, when their youngest son came home from his studies. I was a carefree young girl then, but honest-I must say that before heaven. And the student was so pleasant and jolly; every drop of blood in his veins was honest and true; a better young man never lived. He was a son of the house, and I was only a servant, but we became sweethearts-all honorably; a kiss is no sin, after all, if people really love each other. And he told his mother that he loved me. She was an angel in his eyes, wise and kind and loving. And when he went away again he put his gold ring on my finger.
“谢谢你，我善良了朋友。”她对玛伦说，“当孩子睡着时我会告诉你一切。他现在已经睡着了；看看他闭着眼睛睡觉多可爱啊。他不会想到他的母亲遭受的一切的。可能我们的主不会让他感到他们的平等！好吧，我曾在委员家工作，那是市长的父母，那时他们最小的儿子从他的学校回来。我当时是一个清闲的小女孩，但是说实话我一定要说在那之前过的像天堂的日子。他是最轻松欢乐的；他血管里的每一滴血都是诚实可信的，我只是一个女仆，但是我们相爱了；一个吻是没有罪过的，毕竟如果人们真的相爱的话。然后他告诉他的母亲他爱我，她在他眼里就像天使一样，聪慧善良充满爱心。然后当他再次离开的时候，他给我戴上了一枚金戒指。”
"After he had gone my mistress called me in to speak to me; she looked so grave and yet so kind, and spoke as wisely as an angel indeed. She pointed out to me the gulf of difference, both mentally and materially, that lay between her son and me. 'Now he is attracted by your good looks, but that will fade in time. You haven't received his education; intellectually you can never rise to his level. I honor the poor,' she continued, ' and I know that there is many a poor man who will sit in a higher seat in the kingdom of heaven than many a rich man; but that is no reason for crossing the barrier in this world. Left to yourselves, you two would drive your carriage full tilt against obstacles, until it toppled over with you both. Now I know that Erik, the glovemaker, a good, honest craftsman, wants to marry you; he is a well-to-do widower with no children. Think it over!'
他走了之后，我的女主人叫我进去和我谈话，她看起来非常严肃但是也很善良，确实说话像一位天使。她对我指出我和她儿子在精神和物质上的不同的隔阂，"现在他被你美丽的外表吸引着，但是它到时会消失的，你没有接受过他接受的教育；实际上你不会达到他那样的水平。我敬重贫穷，"她继续说道，“我知道在天堂的主面前很多贫穷的人坐着比富有的人还要高的座位；但是这并不是这个世界上越过障碍的理由。留下你自己，你们两个会驾着马车全面倾斜，挡住障碍物，直到马车翻倒你们两个。现在我知道那个手套制造者埃里克，一个善良诚实的匠人，他想要娶你；他是一个没有孩子的鳏夫，考虑一下吧。”
"Every word my mistress spoke went through my heart like a knife, but I knew she was right, and that weighed heavily upon me. I kissed her hand, and my bitter tears fell upon it. But still bitterer tears fell when I lay upon my bed in my own room. Oh, the long, dreary night that followed-our Lord alone knows how I suffered!
“我的女主人说的每一句话就像一把刀一样刺穿我的心，但是我知道她是对的，这些沉重的压在我身上。我亲吻着她的手臂，我痛苦的眼泪流在它上面，但是当我躺在我自己的房间的床上，我痛苦的眼泪一直流着。哦，那真是我度过的一个漫长痛苦的夜晚，我的主人知道我遭受的一切！”
"Not until I went to church on Sunday did peace of mind come after my pain. It seemed the working of Providence that as I left the church I met Erik himself. There were no doubts in my mind now; we were suited to each other, both in rank and in means; he was even a well-to-do man. So I went straight up to him, took his hand, and asked, 'Do you still think of me?'" 'Yes, always and forever,' he said." 'Do you want to marry a girl who likes and respects you, but does not love you?'" 'I believe love will come,' he said, and then we joined hands.
“直到我在星期天去教堂的时候我痛苦的心才稍微平静一些。就好像在普罗维登斯的工作的时候，当我离开教堂我见到埃里克。我心里现在毫无疑问觉得我们不管是在阶级还是其他什么方面都是彼此适合的，他是一个好人。所以我直接走到他面前，牵起他的手，然后问他，‘你仍然喜欢我吗？’‘是的，一直到永远’他说道。‘你想娶一个喜欢喝尊敬你但是不爱你的女孩吗？‘我相信爱会来的’她说道，然后我们手牵手。”
"I went home to my mistress. The gold ring that her son had given me I had been wearing every day next to my heart, and every night on my finger in bed, but now I drew it out. I kissed it until my lips bled, then gave it to my mistress and told her that next week the banns would be read for me and the glovemaker.
“我回家见了我的女主人。她儿子给我的那枚金戒指我每天都戴在我的心脏旁边，每晚躺在床上我都戴在手指上，但是现在我把它取下来。我亲吻着它直到我的嘴唇流血，然后把它给了我的女主人然后告诉她下周准备我和手艺人的订婚。”
"My mistress took me in her arms and kissed me; she didn't say I was good for nothing, but at that time I was perhaps better than I am now, for I had not yet known the misfortunes of the world. The wedding was at Candlemas, and for our first year we were quite happy. My husband had a workman and an apprentice with him, and you, Maren, were our servant."
“我的女主人拥抱着我然后亲吻我，她没有说我是个废物，但是那是我可能比现在要好很多，因为那时我还不知道世界上的不幸。婚礼在圣烛节举行，我们的第一年非常的幸福。我的丈夫有一个尊敬他的学徒，还有你，玛伦，是我们的女仆。”
"Oh, and such a good mistress you were!" said Maren. "I shall never forget how kind you and your husband were to me!"
“哦，你真是一个善良的女主人！”玛伦说道。“我永远不会忘记你和你丈夫对我的恩情！”
"Ah, but you were with us during our good times! We had no children then. I never saw the student again. Oh, yes, I saw him once, but he didn't see me. He came to his mother's funeral, and I saw him standing by her grave, looking so sad and pale-but that was all for his mother's sake. When his father died later he was abroad and didn't come to that funeral. He didn't come here again; he became a lawyer, and he never married, I know. But he thought no more of me, and if he had seen me he would certainly have never recognized me, ugly as I am now. And it is all for the best!"
“啊，但是你和我们渡过了我们最好的时光！我们那是还没有孩子。我从来没再见过那个学生。哦，是的，我曾经见过他一次，但是他没有看到我。他去他母亲的葬礼，我看到他站在她的坟墓旁，看起来非常伤心，脸色苍白，但是都是为了他的母亲。后来当他的父亲去世，他去了国外没有来他的葬礼。他再没有回来过，他成为了一名律师，他没有结婚，我知道。但是他从来没想过我吧，他是否见过我但是从来没有认出我，我现在这么丑。现在这些情况是最好的了。”
Then she went on to tell of the bitter days of hardship, when misfortune had fallen upon them. They had saved five hundred dollars, and since in their neighborhood a house could be bought for two hundred, they considered it a good investment to buy one, tear it down, and build again. So the house was bought, and the bricklayers and carpenters estimated that the new house would cost a thousand and twenty dollars. Erik had credit and borrowed that sum in Copenhagen, but the captain who was to have brought the money was shipwrecked and the money lost.
然后她继续说那些痛苦的苦难日，当不幸来到他们身上。他们存了500美元，那个时候，在他们附近200美元可以买一个房子，他们考虑买一套房子是一个很好的投资方式，推倒它然后重新建造。所以房子被买下来了。砌砖工和木匠估计新房子需要花费1020美元。埃里克负债了然后在哥本哈根借了钱，但是那个带钱来的船长沉船了钱也没有了。
"It was just then that my darling boy, who lies sleeping there, was born. Then his father had a long and severe illness, and for nine months I even had to dress and undress him every day. We kept on going backward. We had to borrow more and more; one by one all our possessions were sold; and at last Erik died. Since then I have worked and slaved for the boy's sake, have gone out scrubbing floors and washing linen, done coarse work or fine, whatever I could get. But I was not to be better off; it is the Lord's will! He will take me away and find better provisions for my child." Then she fell asleep.
”就在那个时候躺在那里睡觉的我亲爱的孩子出生了，然后她的父亲生了一个很长很严重的病，整个九个月我都必须每天照顾他起居。我们变得更艰难。我们必须借越来越多的债；我们的家产一件接一件的被卖了；最后埃里克死了。自那以后我为了孩子拼命的努力工作，出去擦地板洗床单，做杂活，只要是我能得到的工作我都做。但是我的生活还是没有变好，这是上帝的意愿！他要把我带走，然后为我的孩子找到更好的食物。“然后她睡着了。
In the morning she seemed better and decided she was strong enough to return to her work. But the moment she felt the cold water a shivering seized her; she grasped about convulsively with her hands, took one step forward, and fell. Her head lay on the dry bank, but her feet were in the water of the river; her wooden shoes, in each of which there was a handful of straw, were carried away by the current.
早上的时候她看起来好多了考虑到自己恢复好了足够回去工作。但是此时她感觉寒冷的水抓着她令她发抖；她的手开始痉挛，让她往前走了一步，然后摔倒了。她的头开在干的河堤旁，但她的脚还在河水里；她的木头鞋子被一些水草缠着，被河流冲走了。
And here she was found by Maren, when she came to bring her some coffee.
当玛伦给她带一些咖啡来的时候，她在这里发现了洗衣妇。
A message had come to her lodging that the Mayor wanted to see her, for he had something to say to her. It was too late. A doctor was summoned; the poor washerwoman was dead."She has drunk herself to death," said the Mayor.
一条消息被送到她的住处是市长想要见她，因为他有一些事情要跟她说。医生被召唤来已经太晚了，这个可怜的洗衣妇已经死了。“她把自己喝死了。”市长说道。
The letter that had brought the Mayor the news of his brother's death also gave a summary of his will, and among other bequests he had left six hundred dollars to the glovemaker's widow, who had formerly served his parents! The money was to be paid at discretion in large or small sums to her and her child.
市长带来一封信，消息是关于他弟弟的死还有他的遗嘱，其他的遗赠是留下了600美元给手艺人的寡妇，那个曾经侍奉过他父母的寡妇！那个钱或多或少必须给她和她的孩子。
"There was some nonsense about love between my brother and her," said the Mayor. "It's just as well she's out of the way. Now it will all come to the boy, and I'll place him with some honest people who will make him a good workman." And on these words our Lord laid his blessings.
“我弟弟和她曾经有一些乱七八糟的爱情。”市长说道。“这也是她的出路。现在这个出路是那个男孩的了，我会把他交给一些诚实的人手中，让他成为一个善良的工人。”这些话是我们的主给与的祝福。
And the Mayor sent for the boy, promised to take care of him, and told him it was a lucky thing his mother was dead; she was good for nothing.
市长告诉男孩，许诺会照顾好他，告诉他他母亲死了是一件幸事；她是个废物。
They carried her to the churchyard, to a pauper's grave. Maren planted a little rose tree on her grave, while the boy stood beside her.
他们把她带到教堂墓园里，弄了一个穷破的坟墓。当男孩站在她旁边的时候，玛伦在她的坟墓上种了一株小玫瑰花苗。
"My darling mother," he said as the tears started from his eyes. "Is it true that she was good for nothing?"
“我亲爱的母亲，”他说着然后眼泪从他的眼里开始流出来。“她是一个废物这是真的吗？”
"No, it is not true!" said the old woman, looking up to heaven. "I have known it for many years and especially since the night before she died. I tell you she was a good and fine woman, and our Lord in heaven will say so, too, so let the world say: 'She was good for nothing!' "
“不，这不是真的！”老妇人说道，抬头看天堂。“我知道这个已经很多年了，尤其是那晚之后到她死之前。我告诉你她是一个善良美好女人，在天堂里的我们的主也会这么说的。所以让世人说：‘’”
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