格林童话故事：本领高强的四兄弟

格林童话产生于十九世纪初，是由德国著名语言学家，雅可布·格林和威廉·格林兄弟收集、整理、加工完成的德国民间文学。它是世界童话的经典之作，自问世以来，在世界各地影响十分广泛。格林兄弟以其丰富的想象、优美的语言给孩子们讲述了一个个神奇而又浪漫的童话故事。下面本站小编为大家带来经典格林童话故事：本领高强的四兄弟，欢迎大家阅读!

There was once a poor man who had four sons, and when they were

grown up, he said to them, "My dear children, you must now go out

into the world, for I have nothing to give you, so set out, and go to

some distance and learn a trade, and see how you can make your way."

So the four brothers took their sticks, bade their father farewell, and

went through the town-gate together. When they had travelled about

for some time, they came to a cross-way which branched off in four

different directions. Then said the eldest, "Here we must separate, but

on this day four years, we will meet each other again at this spot, and in

the meantime we will seek our fortunes."

Then each of them went his way, and the eldest met a man who asked

him where he was going, and what he was intending to do? "I want to

learn a trade," he replied. Then the other said, "Come with me, and be

a thief." "No," he answered, "that is no longer regarded as a reputable

trade, and the end of it is that one has to swing on the gallows." "Oh,"

said the man, "you need not be afraid of the gallows; I will only teach you

to get such things as no other man could ever lay hold of, and no one will

ever detect you." So he allowed himself to be talked into it, and while with

the man became an accomplished thief, and so dexterous that nothing was

safe from him, if he once desired to have it. The second brother met a man

who put the same question to him what he wanted to learn in the world.

"I don't know yet," he replied. "Then come with me, and be an astronomer;

there is nothing better than that, for nothing is hid from you." He liked the

idea, and became such a skillful astronomer that when he had learnt everything,

and was about to travel onwards, his master gave him a telescope and said to

him, "With that you canst thou see whatsoever takes place either on earth or

in heaven, and nothing can remain concealed from thee." A huntsman took

the third brother into training, and gave him such excellent instruction in

everything which related to huntsmanship, that he became an experienced

hunter. When he went away, his master gave him a gun and said, "It will

never fail you; whatsoever you aim at, you are certain to hit." The youngest

brother also met a man who spoke to him, and inquired what his intentions

were. "Would you not like to be a tailor?" said he. "Not that I know of,"

said the youth; "sitting doubled up from morning till night, driving the needle

and the goose backwards and forwards, is not to my taste." "Oh, but you are

speaking in ignorance," answered the man; "with me you would learn a very

different kind of tailoring, which is respectable and proper, and for the most

part very honorable." So he let himself be persuaded, and went with the man,

and learnt his art from the very beginning. When they parted, the man gave the

youth a needle, and said, "With this you can sew together whatever is given you,

whether it is as soft as an egg or as hard as steel; and it will all become one piece

of stuff, so that no seam will be visible."

When the appointed four years were over, the four brothers arrived at

the same time at the cross-roads, embraced and kissed each other, and

returned home to their father. "So now," said he, quite delighted,

"the wind has blown you back again to me." They told him of all that

had happened to them, and that each had learnt his own trade. Now

they were sitting just in front of the house under a large tree, and

the father said, "I will put you all to the test, and see what you can do."

Then he looked up and said to his second son, "Between two branches up

at the top of this tree, there is a chaffinch's nest, tell me how many eggs

there are in it?" The astronomer took his glass, looked up, and said, "There

are five." Then the father said to the eldest, "Fetch the eggs down without

disturbing the bird which is sitting hatching them." The skillful thief climbed

up, and took the five eggs from beneath the bird, which never observed what

he was doing, and remained quietly sitting where she was, and brought them

down to his father. The father took them, and put one of them on each corner

of the table, and the fifth in the middle, and said to the huntsman, "With

one shot thou shalt shoot me the five eggs in two, through the middle."

The huntsman aimed, and shot the eggs, all five as the father had desired,

and that at one shot. He certainly must have had some of the powder for

shooting round corners. "Now it's your turn," said the father to the fourth

son; "you shall sew the eggs together again, and the young birds that are inside

them as well, and you must do it so that they are not hurt by the shot." The

tailor brought his needle, and sewed them as his father wished. When he had

done this the thief had to climb up the tree again, and carry them to the nest,

and put them back again under the bird without her being aware of it. The bird

sat her full time, and after a few days the young ones crept out, and they had

a red line round their necks where they had been sewn together by the tailor.

"Well," said the old man to his sons, "I begin to think you are worth

more than breen clover; you have used your time well, and learnt something

good. I can't say which of you deserves the most praise. That will be proved

if you have but an early opportunity of using your talents." Not long after

this, there was a great uproar in the country, for the King's daughter was carried

off by a dragon. The King was full of trouble about it, both by day and night,

and caused it to be proclaimed that whosoever brought her back should have

her to wife. The four brothers said to each other, "This would be a fine opportunity

for us to show what we can do!" and resolved to go forth together and liberate

the King's daughter. "I will soon know where she is," said the astronomer, and

looked through his telescope and said, "I see her already, she is far away from

here on a rock in the sea, and the dragon is beside her watching her." Then he

went to the King, and asked for a ship for himself and his brothers, and sailed with

them over the sea until they came to the rock. There the King's daughter was

sitting, and the dragon was lying asleep on her lap. The huntsman said, "I dare

not fire, I should kill the beautiful maiden at the same time." "Then I will try my

art," said the thief, and he crept thither and stole her away from under the

dragon, so quietly and dexterously, that the monster never remarked it,

but went on snoring. Full of joy, they hurried off with her on board ship,

and steered out into the open sea; but the dragon, who when he awoke

had found no princess there, followed them, and came snorting angrily

through the air. Just as he was circling above the ship, and about to descend

on it, the huntsman shouldered his gun, and shot him to the heart. The

monster fell down dead, but was so large and powerful that his fall

shattered the whole ship. Fortunately, however, they laid hold of a

couple of planks, and swam about the wide sea. Then again they were in

great peril, but the tailor, who was not idle, took his wondrous needle, and

with a few stitches sewed the planks together, and they seated themselves upon

them, and collected together all the fragments of the vessel. Then he sewed

these so skilfully together, that in a very short time the ship was once more

seaworthy, and they could go home again in safety.

When the King once more saw his daughter, there were great rejoicings.

He said to the four brothers, "One of you shall have her to wife, but which

of you it is to be you must settle among yourselves." Then a warm contest

arose among them, for each of them preferred his own claim. The astronomer

said, "If I had not seen the princess, all your arts would have been useless, so

she is mine." The thief said, "What would have been the use of your seeing,

if I had not got her away from the dragon? so she is mine." The huntsman

said, "You and the princess, and all of you, would have been torn to pieces

by the dragon if my ball had not hit him, so she is mine." The tailor said, "And

if I, by my art, had not sewn the ship together again, you would all of you have

been miserably drowned, so she is mine." Then the King uttered this saying,

"Each of you has an equal right, and as all of you cannot have the maiden, none

of you shall have her, but I will give to each of you, as a reward, half a kingdom."

The brothers were pleased with this decision, and said, "It is better thus than that

we should be at variance with each other." Then each of them received half a

kingdom, and they lived with their father in the greatest happiness as long as it

pleased God.

　结束语：

格林童话带有浓厚的地域特色、民族特色，富于趣味性和娱乐性，对培养儿童养成真、善、美的良好品质有积极意义。这些内容丰富又饱含趣味性的童话故事扩展了儿童的思维世界，在轻松愉说的阅读中总结经验教训，唤起儿童对生活的热爱与期待，激发儿童善恶观的形成。以上的格林童话故事希望大家能够喜欢。