THE FROG KING,
OR IRON HEINRICH
青蛙王子或鎖心鐵亨利
‘Wait, wait!’ called the frog. ‘Take me with you! I can’t hop as fast as you can run!’「等等，等一下！」青蛙大喊著。「帶我一起走啊！我用跳的沒辦法跟你用跑的一樣快！」
But she took no notice. She hurried home and forgot all about the poor frog, who had to go back down into his well.
但她沒注意到。她匆忙地回家，完全忘了那可憐的青蛙，青蛙只好回到他的井裡去。
Next day the princess was sitting at table with her father the king and all the people of court, and eating off her golden plate, when something came hopping up the marble steps: plip plop, plip plop. When it reached the top, it knocked at the door and called: ‘Princess! Youngest princess! Open the door for me!’
隔天，公主和她的爸爸--國王還有王室的所有人都坐在餐桌前，公主正吃著她金盤裡的食物，卻聽到有東西劈哩啪啦、劈哩啪啦，跳上大理石台階的聲音。當它抵達最上面最後一階時，它敲了敲門，並喊著；「公主！最年輕的公主！請為我開門！」
She ran to see who it was, and opened the door, and there was the frog.
公主跑去看是誰，並打開門一看，竟然是那隻青蛙。
Frightened, she slammed the door shut at once and ran back to the table.
公主驚恐至極，砰地馬上把門關上，跑回餐桌去。
The king saw that her heart was pounding, and said, ‘What are you afraid of, my child? Is there a giant there at the door?’
國王見她心神不寧的樣子，就問她說：「你在害怕什麼，我的孩子？難道門外有巨人？」
‘Oh, no,’ she said, ‘it’s not a giant, it’s a horrible frog.’
「噢，不是的。」她說：「那不是巨人，是一隻可怕的青蛙。」
‘What does the frog want with you?’
「那隻青蛙找你做什麼？」
‘Oh, papa, yesterday when I was playing in the forest near the well, my golden ball fell in the water. And I started to cry and because I was crying so much, the frog got it for me, and because he insisted, I had to promise that he could be my companion. But I didn’t think he’d ever leave the water, not really. But there he is outside the door and he wants to come in!’
「唉，爸比我跟你說，昨天我在森林裡的水井旁玩球的時候，我的金球掉進水裡了。我就開始哭，因為我哭得太傷心了，那隻青蛙就幫我撿球，可是它還堅持要我和它做朋友，我就只好答應了。但我根本沒想到它會離開水井，真的！結果現在它就在門外，還想要進來！」
And then there came a second knock at the door, and a voice called:
‘Princess, princess, youngest daughter,
Open up and let me in!
Or else your promise by the water
Isn’t worth a rusty pin.
Keep your promise, royal daughter,
Open up and let me in!’
接著，門外又傳來一陣敲門聲，還有叫喊聲：
「公主，公主，最年輕的公主，
快開門讓我進去！
否則你在井水旁的諾言
連一根鏽蝕的針還不如。
請信守承諾，王室的女兒，
快開門讓我進去！」
The king said, ’If you make a promise, you have to keep it. Go and let him in.’
國王開口說：「如果你做了承諾，你就該實現它。去開門讓它進來。」
She opened the door, and the frog hopped in. he hopped all the way to her chair.
公主只好去開門，青蛙跳了進來，並朝著公主的位子跳去。
‘Lift me up,’ he said. ‘I want to sit next to you.’
「抱我起來。」青蛙說。「我想坐在你旁邊。」
She didn’t want to, but the king said, ‘Go on. Do as he says.’
公主並不想，可是國王又說話了：「去吧！照著它說的做。」
So she lifted the frog up. Once he was on the chair, he wanted to be on the table, so she had to lift him up there as well, and then he said, ‘Push your golden plate a bit closer so I can eat with you.’
所以公主只好把青蛙放在椅子上。本來它在椅子上的，它現在又想在桌子上，於是公主又將它放在桌上，然後青蛙說：「把你的金盤推過來一點，這樣我才能跟你一起吃。」
She did, but everyone could see that she wasn’t enjoying it. The frog was, though; he ate her food with great pleasure, while every mouthful seemed to stick in the princess throat.
公主照做了，但大家都看得出來她很不爽。可是青蛙超享受的，他十分愉悅地吃著公主的食物，然而，公主所吃的每一口食物都像是在刺著喉嚨一樣。
Finally the frog said, ‘Well, I’ve had enough now, thank you, I’d like to go to bed. Carry me up to your room and get your silken bed ready so we can sleep in it.’
終於，青蛙開口說：「唔，我吃飽了，謝謝你，我想要睡覺了。帶我去你的房間吧！還要準備好你那絲綢般的床喔！這樣我們才可以好好地睡。」
待續
