天方夜谭英文故事：The Dead Father and His Wish

Long ago in the land of Persia there ruled a Sultan called Mustafa in the kingdom of Nasra. He ruled the kingdom wisely and just. The people in the kingdom were in peace and prosperity. The Sultan had a very beautiful wife but had no child. 

 

The Sultan and his wife prayed to god. "Oh God! I have enough wealth. My people are in peace. But I have no heir to my kingdom". He prayed to God again and again. After long years, his wife had a child of beauty. The king was in joy. They called the child as Zakir. The child grew in to an intelligent young man. He loved his father and mother most. He learned war fare also. Mustafa considered that he was suitable to be a King. 

 

So he conducted a ceremony and declared him as his prince. Some days later Mustafa tell ill and died suddenly. Zakir burled his father in a grave and he came to the throne as a Sultan. He also ruled the kingdom peacefully. One day in his dream his father asked him to dig his grave. Zakir told his mother about it. His mother thought that it would disagree his father. But her son insisted on digging up the grave of his father. 

 

He thought that his father's orders must be obeyed. So he decided¹ to dig the grave. The next morning he went to the grave and dug it with the spade. He was praying to god and his father. Suddenly he heard a different sound from the space. There he found some steps in the grave. He was surprised a while and stepped down slowly. There he saw a big room below the grave. He moved inside the room with watchful² eyes in the darkness. To his surprise he saw some statues in the corner of the room. They were eight in number. All of them were made of gold, their dress glittering with diamonds and other precious stones. They were arranged in a straight line. He counted them. They were eight. 

 

Zakir never had heard of the statues he had seen there. When he went near the eighth statue, it said. "There is a ninth one out side the cave in the kingdom. You go and get it!" He thought that the ninth one would be more precious and beautiful than those. So he came out of the grave. When he came out, he met an old man on the way. The old man told Zakir. 'Are you the king? If it is right I am waiting for you majesty³". 

 

When Zakir said "yes", the old man asked him to hurry and find the ninth statue saying that it was his father's wish. He also gave him a magical mirror. He said "It will reflect only one girl in the kingdom and that is your ninth statue." 

 

Zakir took the mirror from the old man. Soon the old man disappeared from there. Zakir took the mirror and entered each and every house to find his ninth statue. He showed the mirror to all the maidens⁴ one by one. But no one was figured in the mirror. Days passed he continued his searching. Finally one day he passed by a house. He heard a melodious⁵ song that made him to stay there for a while. He wanted to see the girl for a while. So he entered the house. There he saw her father and asked him permission to meet his daughter. He said, “Your majesty" It is my luck that you are in my house. You can see her now". 

 

The old noble man asked his daughter to come out. When she came out Zakir showed the mirror in front of her. There he saw a wonderful figure of beauty in the mirror. 

 

“Yes! Yes! I have found the ninth statue here! No! No, my princess" he shouted in joy. He was amazed at her beauty and fell in love with her. 

 

Then Zakir asked her father to give her away in marriage. The old noble man readily agreed. Zakir went to the palace and met his mother and told all that happened in the old man’s house. She also asked him to marry the old man’s daughter. So Zakir married her with the blessings⁶ of all in the kingdom and fulfilled the wish of his father in the dream. He and his princess ruled their kingdom with justice for long.  

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 watchful   

adj.注意的，警惕的

参考例句：

• The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
• It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。

3 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

4 maidens   

处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• Transplantation is not always successful in the matter of flowers or maidens. 花儿移栽往往并不成功，少女们换了环境也是如此。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 melodious   

adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的

参考例句：

• She spoke in a quietly melodious voice.她说话轻声细语，嗓音甜美。
• Everybody was attracted by her melodious voice.大家都被她悦耳的声音吸引住了。

6 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》