儿童英语小故事：玫瑰公主(4)

　　"Good day, old woman," said the princess. "What are you doing there?" 公主见了说道：「喂！老妈妈，您好！您这是在干甚么呀？」

　　"I am spinning," said the old woman, nodding her head.

　　「纺纱。」老太婆回答说，接着又点了点头。

　　"What is that thing that is so merrily bouncing about?" asked the girl, taking hold of the spindle, for she too wanted to spin.「这小东西转起来真有意思！」说着，公主上前也想拿起纺锤纺纱。

　　She had no sooner touched the spindle when the magic curse was fulfilled, and she pricked herself in the finger. The instant that she felt the prick she fell onto a bed that was standing there, and she lay there in a deep sleep.但她刚一碰到它，立即就倒在地上失去了知觉，以前的咒语真的应验了。

　　And this sleep spread throughout the entire castle. The king and queen, who had just returned home, walked into the hall and began falling asleep, and all of their attendants as well. The horses fell asleep in their stalls, the dogs in the courtyard, the pigeons on the roof, the flies on the walls, and even the fire on the hearth flickered, stopped moving, and fell asleep. The roast stopped sizzling. The cook, who was about to pull kitchen boy's hair for having done something wrong, let him loose and fell asleep. The wind stopped blowing, and outside the castle not a leaf was stirring in the trees.然而，她并没有死，只是倒在那里沉沉地睡去了。国王和王后正在这时回来了，他们刚走进大厅也跟着睡着了；马厩里的马，院子里的狗，屋顶上的鸽子，墙上的苍蝇，也都跟着睡着了；甚至连火炉里的火也停止燃烧入睡了；烧烤的肉不炸响了；厨师此刻正抓住一个做错了事的童工的头发，要给他一耳光，让他滚出去，他们两个也定在那儿睡过去了。所有的一切都不动了，全都沉沉地睡去。