There was a man who had seven sons,but he had no daughter,greatly though he longed for one.At last his wife told him that they could again expect a child and,sure enough,when it was born it was a baby girl.There was great rejoicing,but the child was weak and puny,so weak that it had to be christened at once.The father told one of the boys to go quickly to the spring and fetch christening water; the other six ran along with him,and because each of them wanted to be the first to dip the jug into the well,it fell in and sank.So there they stood and didn‘t know what to do,and none of them dared go home.When they didn‘t come back their father got impatient and said:“ I‘ll wager they‘ve been playing some game again and forgotten all about it,the godless brats.“ He was afraid the little girl would have to die unbaptized,and in his rage he cried out:“ I wish those boys would all turn into ravens.“ He‘d scarcely spoken the words when he heard a whirring of wings in the air overhead,looked up and saw seven coal-black ravens flying away.
有個(gè)人,他有七個(gè)兒子,他很希望有個(gè)女兒,可是怎么盼也沒(méi)有.好不容易,妻子又懷孕了.生下來(lái)一看,果然是個(gè)女孩.他們非常高興.但是孩子太小,又非常虛弱,非得馬上急救洗禮不可.父親打發(fā)一個(gè)男孩立即到井臺(tái)去打洗禮水,其余六個(gè)也跟著去了.在井臺(tái)旁,他們都爭(zhēng)著先打水,結(jié)果罐子掉進(jìn)井里,沉了下去.他們不知道該怎么辦才好,都真楞楞地站在那兒,誰(shuí)也不敢回家了.父親在家里等得不耐煩了,就說(shuō)：“我敢說(shuō)這些無(wú)法無(wú)天的孩子一定是貪玩,把打水的事給忘了.”他擔(dān)心女孩子不經(jīng)洗禮會(huì)死,就生氣地大聲喊起來(lái)：“淘氣鬼,都變成烏鴉才好呢!”這話剛出口,就聽(tīng)到頭頂有“吧噠吧噠”鳥(niǎo)兒拍打翅膀的聲音.他抬頭一看,只見(jiàn)空中有七只漆黑漆黑的烏鴉飛過(guò)去了.
The parents were unable now to take back the curse,and yet,grief-stricken as they were at the loss of their seven sons,they look some comfort from their beloved little daughter,who soon got well and strong and became more beautiful with every day that passed.For a long time the little girl didn‘t even know that she had had brothers,for her parents took care not to mention them,but one day by chance she heard some peop