英文故事剧 睡美人(Sleeping Beauty)

A long time ago there was a king and queen who said every day, "Ah, if only we had a child," but they never had one.

And finally the queen had a little girl who was so pretty that the king could not contain his joy, and ordered a great feast. When it came to an end, thirteen wise women came to bestow¹ magical gifts upon the baby.

When eleven of them had made their promises, suddenly the thirteenth came in. She wished to avenge² herself for not having been invited, and she cried with a loud voice, "The king's daughter shall, in her fifteenth year, prick³ herself with a spindle, and fall down dead."

They were all shocked, but the twelfth, whose good wish still remained unspoken, came forward, and as she could not undo⁴ the evil sentence, but only soften⁵ it, she said, "It shall not be death, but a deep sleep of a hundred years, into which the princess shall fall."

The king, who wanted to keep his dear child from the misfortune, gave orders that every spindle in the whole kingdom should be burnt.

It happened that on the very day when the princess was fifteen years old, she climbed up a narrow, winding⁶ staircase in the castle and reached a little door. In the room sat an old woman with a spindle, busily spinning her flax.

"Good day, old mother," said the king's daughter, "What sort of thing is that, that rattles⁷ round so merrily," said the girl, and she took the spindle and wanted to spin too. But scarcely had she touched the spindle, she pricked⁸ her finger with it. And, she fell down and lay in a deep sleep. And this sleep extended over the whole palace.

Around about the castle there began to grow a hedge of thorns, which every year became higher, and at last grew all over the castle.

The story went about, and from time to time kings' sons came and tried to get through the thorny⁹ hedge into the castle. But the youths were caught in the hedges and died a miserable¹⁰ death.

Then a hundred years had just passed, and the day had come when the princess was to awake again. When a king's son came near to the thorn hedge, it was nothing but large and beautiful flowers. He went on farther, and in the great hall he saw the whole of the court lying asleep. Then he went on still farther, and at last he opened the door into the little room where the king's daughter was sleeping.

There she lay, so beautiful that he could not turn his eyes away, and he stooped down and gave her a kiss. But as soon as he kissed her, she opened her eyes and awoke and looked at him quite sweetly.

1 bestow   

v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费

参考例句：

• He wished to bestow great honors upon the hero.他希望将那些伟大的荣誉授予这位英雄。
• What great inspiration wiII you bestow on me?你有什么伟大的灵感能馈赠给我？

2 avenge   

v.为...复仇，为...报仇

参考例句：

• He swore to avenge himself on the mafia.他发誓说要向黑手党报仇。
• He will avenge the people on their oppressor.他将为人民向压迫者报仇。

3 prick   

v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛

参考例句：

• He felt a sharp prick when he stepped on an upturned nail.当他踩在一个尖朝上的钉子上时，他感到剧烈的疼痛。
• He burst the balloon with a prick of the pin.他用针一戳，气球就爆了。

4 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

5 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

6 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

7 rattles   

（使）发出格格的响声， （使）作嘎嘎声( rattle的第三人称单数 )； 喋喋不休地说话； 迅速而嘎嘎作响地移动，堕下或走动； 使紧张，使恐惧

参考例句：

• It rattles the windowpane and sends the dog scratching to get under the bed. 它把窗玻璃震得格格作响，把狗吓得往床底下钻。
• How thin it is, and how dainty and frail; and how it rattles. 你看它够多么薄，多么精致，多么不结实；还老那么哗楞哗楞地响。

8 pricked   

刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry. 厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• He was pricked by his conscience. 他受到良心的谴责。

9 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

10 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。