"I have seen tears in the Emperor's eyes—there is no richer treasure for me." And then it sang again with its marvelously sweet voice. That night the Nightingale had a real success.
“我看见皇帝眼中的泪水,对我来说没有比这更珍贵的了。”然后,夜莺再次用甜美的声音唱了起来。那天晚上,夜莺获得了很大的成功。
It was now to remain at court, to have its own cage, with liberty to go out twice every day and once at night. Twelve servants came along when the Nightingale went out, each of whom had a silken string fastened to the bird's leg, which they held very tight.
夜莺便在宫里住下了,有它自己的笼子,并有白天外出两次、晚上外出一次的自由。当夜莺外出时,12个侍者相随,每个人的手中都紧攥着一条系在夜莺腿上的丝绳。
The whole city spoke of the remarkable bird, and eleven grocers' children were named after the bird, but not one of them could sing a note.
整个城市都在谈论着这只让人惊奇的鸟。11个杂货商的孩子都用这只鸟来命名,但是,他们中没有一个人会唱歌。
One day the Emperor received a large parcel, on which was written "The Nightingale".
有一天,皇帝收到一个上面写着“夜莺”的大包裹。
It was a little work of art, lying in a box, an artificial nightingale, which was decorated with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. When it was wound up, it could sing one of the pieces that the real bird sang, and then its tail moved up and down, and glittered with silver and gold.
这是一个放在盒子里的小艺术品:一只人造夜莺。它是用钻石、红宝石和蓝宝石装饰的。当它上了发条,就会唱夜莺所唱过的一首歌曲,它的尾巴上下摇动,金光灿烂。
"Isn't that lovely?" they all said. It made just as much of a hit as the real one, and it was much handsomer to look at.
人们都说:“难道不可爱吗?”它获得了和夜莺一样的成功,而且它比夜莺看上去更漂亮。
Three-and-thirty times over, it sang the same piece; still it was not tired. The people would gladly have heard it again, but the Emperor said that the living Nightingale ought to sing something now.
它33次唱着同一首歌曲,然而,它并不疲倦。人们很高兴听它一遍又一遍地唱歌。但是皇帝说现在该听一听真夜莺唱点儿什么了。