同路人(三)

Travelling Companion

John had just come out of the wood, when a strong man's voice called out behind him, "Halloo, comrade? Whither are you journeying?"

"Into the wide world!" he replied. "I have neither father nor mother, and am but a poor lad; but Providence will help me."

"I am going out into the wide world, too," said the strange man: "shall we two keep one another company?"

"Yes, certainly," said John; and so they went on together. Soon they became very fond of each other, for they were both good souls. But John saw that the stranger was much more clever than himself. He had travelled through almost the whole world, and could tell of almost everything that existed.

The sun already stood high when they seated themselves under a great tree to eat their breakfast; and just then an old woman came up. Oh, she was very old, and walked quite bent, leaning upon a crutch; upon her back she carried a bundle of firewood which she had collected in the forest. Her apron was tucked up, and John saw that three great stalks of fern and some willow twigs stuck out of it. When she was close to them, her foot slipped; she fell and gave a loud scream, for she had broken her leg, the poor old woman!

John directly proposed that they should carry the old woman home to her dwelling; but the stranger opened his knapsack, took out a little jar, and said that he had a salve there which would immediately make her leg whole and strong, so that she could walk home herself, as if she had never broken her leg at all. But for that he required that she should give him the three rods which she carried in her apron.

"That would be paying well!" said the old woman, and she nodded her head in a strange way. She did not like to give away the rods, but then it was not agreeable to lie there with a broken leg. So she gave him the wands; and as soon as he had only rubbed the ointment on her leg, the old mother arose, and walked much better than before--such was the power of this ointment. But then it was not to be bought at the chemist's.

"What do you want with the rods?" John askedhistravelling companion.

"Theyarethree capital fern brooms," replied he. "I like those very much, for I am a whimsical fellow."

And they went on a good way.

"See how the sky is becoming overcast," said John, pointing straight before them. "Those are terribly thick clouds."

"No," replied his travelling companion, "those are not clouds, they are mountains--the great glorious mountains, on which one gets quite up over the clouds, and into the free air. Believe me, it is delicious! Tomorrow we shall certainly be far out into the world."

But that was not so near as it looked; they had to walk for a whole day before they came to the mountains, where the black woods grew straight up towards heaven, and there were stones almost as big as a whole town. It might certainly be hard work to get quite across them, and for that reason John and his comrade went into the inn to rest themselves well, and gather strength for the morrow's journey.

Down in the great common room in the inn many guests were assembled, for a man was there exhibiting a puppet-show. He had just put up his little theatre, and the people were sitting round to see the play. Quite in front a fat old butcher had taken his seat in the very best place; his great bulldog, who looked very much inclined to bite, sat at his side, and made big eyes, as all the rest were doing.

Now the play began; and it was a very nice play, with a king and a queen in it; they sat upon a velvet throne, and had gold crowns on their heads and long trains to their cloaks, for their means admitted of that. The prettiest of wooden dolls with glass eyes and great moustaches stood at all the doors, and opened and shut them so that fresh air might come into the room. It was a very pleasant play, and not at all mournful. But--goodness knows what the big bulldog can have been thinking of! --Just as the queen stood up and was walking across the boards, as the fat butcher did not hold him, he made a spring upon the stage, and seized the queen round her slender waist so that it cracked. It was quite terrible!

The poor man who managed the play was very much frightened and quite sorrowful about his queen, for she was the daintiest little doll he possessed, and now the ugly bulldog had bitten off her head. But afterwards, when the people went away, the stranger said that he would put her to rights again; and then he brought out his little jar and rubbed the doll with the ointment with which he had cured the old woman when she broke her leg. As soon as the doll had been rubbed, she was whole again; yes, she could even move all her limbs by herself; it was no longer necessary to pull her by her string. The doll was like a living person, only that she could not speak. The man who had the little puppet-show was very glad, now he had not to hold this doll any more. She could dance by herself, and none of the others could do that.(to be continued)

约翰刚从树林中走出来,就听见一个洪亮的声音在他身后喊道:“喂,兄弟,你到哪儿去呀?”

“到广阔的世界里去!”他答道,“我父母双亡,是个孤苦伶仃的人。但老天会帮我的。”

“我也想到广阔的世界去,”那个陌生人说,“我们两个做伴好吗?”

“好的,当然可以。”约翰说。于是他们就一起走。不久他们就喜欢上了对方,因为他们都有一付好心肠。不过约翰发现,这个陌生人要比自己聪明得多。他差不多周游了全世界,几乎对世上的一切事情都了如指掌。

他们坐在一棵大树下吃早饭的时候,太阳已经升得老高了。这时,一个老太婆走了过来。噢,她可真够老的,走路的时候腰躬得很厉害,拄着一根拐杖上。她背上背着一捆柴禾,那是她在森林里捡的。她的围裙朝上兜着,约翰发现有三根蕨草秆和一些柳树枝刺穿了出来。她走近他们的时候,脚下一打滑,倒在地上,大叫一声,因为她的腿摔断了。这个可怜的老太婆!

约翰马上提议,他们应该把老太婆送回她的住地。但陌生人打开了包裹,取出一个小瓶子,说里面是一种药膏,马上就能把她的腿治好,并且会强健起来。这样,她就可以自己回家了,好像腿根本就没有摔断过一样。但是作为报答,老太婆应该把她围裙里装的那三根蕨草秆给他。

“这对你可是个不错的买卖!”老太婆边说边奇怪地点点头。她不愿意把三根枝条给他,但她一条腿断了,躺在地上,那滋味也不是好受的。于是她就把枝条给了他。他把药膏朝老太婆腿上一抹,她就站立起来了,比原来走路还要利索得多。这正是那个药膏的效用。不过这种药膏在药店里可是买不到的。

“你要这蕨草秆儿有什么用?”约翰问他的同路人。

“这可是三根很好的蕨草扫帚呀!”他答道,“我特别喜欢这些东西,因为我是古怪的人。”

他们继续朝前,走了很远一段路。

“瞧,天阴得多厉害呀,”约翰指着正前方,说,“乌云是多么重啊。”

“不对,”他的旅伴答道,“那可不是什么乌云,那是大山――最雄伟的山脉。你上了山,就是站在了云端之上,进到清新的空气里了。相信我的话,那儿真是美不胜收!明天我们肯定就要钻进大山深处。”

但那山看着近,走起来却很远。他们走了一整天,才到山脚下。高高的黑森林直插云霄,巨石差不多有城市那么大,要想爬过去可不是件容易的事儿。于是约翰和他的同伴走进一家旅店,想好好歇一歇,养足力气,明天去爬山。

在旅馆的大厅里,聚集了好多客人,原来有个人在演木偶戏。他刚摆好自己的小舞台,人们都围着准备看戏。在最前面的是个胖屠夫,他坐到了最好的位置。他的那条大叭喇狗,看起来好像随时会咬人似的,就坐在他旁边,像其他的观众一样,瞪圆了大眼睛。

戏开始演了。那是个精彩的表演,戏里有一个国王和一个王后。他们坐在天鹅绒的王位上,头戴金王冠,王袍后面拖着长长的裾带,因为他们很富有。那些漂亮的木偶,玻璃眼,长胡须,站在门边负责看门和关门,好把新鲜空气放进来。这个戏很逗乐,一点都不伤感情。但是,天知道那条狗脑子里想的是什么!就在王后站起身,穿过舞台的时候,那个胖屠夫一时没勒住狗,它一下子就跃上舞台,抓住王后的细腰。只听得咔嚓一声,真是吓人一跳!

那个玩木偶戏的可怜艺人吓坏了,为他的王后伤心不已,因为这是他最好的小木偶,却被那条可恶的狗给咬掉了头。但在观众都走后,那个陌生的同路人说自己能把王后修好。于是他拿出自己的小药瓶,在木偶身上涂了一些药膏,就是给那摔断腿的老太婆涂的那种药。木偶刚涂上药膏,就恢复了原状。一点不假,她能够自己动胳膊了,不需要再去拉线。那个木偶除了不能说话,看来就像个活人。演木偶戏的人非常高兴,因为不用他自己拉木偶了。她能够自己跳舞,而别的木偶都不行。

(未完待续)