小学英语英语故事童话故事AndSeven!七

1、And Seven!七And Seven!A woman had a daughter who was big and fat and so gluttonous that when her mother brought the soup to the table she would eat one bowl, then a second, then a third, and keep on calling for more Her mother filled her bowl, saying, “That makes three! And four! And five!，z When the

2、 daughter asked for a seventh bowl of soup, her mother, instead of filling the bowl, whacked her over the head, shouting, “And seven!zz A well-dressed young man was passing by just then and saw the mother through the window hitting the girl and crying, “And seven!”As the big fat young lady captured

3、his fancy immediately, he went in and asked, “Seven of what?Ashamed of her daughters gluttony, the mother replied, “Seven spindles of hemp! I have a daughter so crazy about work that she，d even spin the wool on the sheep，s back! Can you imagine that shes already spunseven spindles ofhempthismorninga

4、nd still wants to spin? To make her stop, Ihave to beat her”If she，s that hard-working, give her to me, said the young manI 11tryheroutto see if youre telling the truth and thenIll marry herHe took her to his house and shut her up in a room full of hemp waiting to be spun Im a sea captain, and Im le

5、aving on a voyage,“ he said If youve spun all this hemp by the time I return, r 11 marry you”The room also contained exquisite clothes and jewels, for the captain happened to be very rich When you become my wife,，z he explained, “these things will all be yours” Then he left herThe girl spent her day

6、s trying on dresses and jewels and admiring herself in the mirror She also devoted much time to planning meals, which the household servants prepared for her None of the hemp was spun yet, and in one more day the captain would be back The girl gave up all hope of ever marrying him and burst into tea

7、rs She was still crying when through the window flew a bundle of rags and came to rest on its feet: it was an old woman with long eyelashes Dont be afraid, she told the girl z，r ve come to help you Ill spin while you make the skein”You never saw anyone spin with the speed of that old woman In just a

8、 quarter of an hour she had spun every bit of hemp And the more she spun, the longer her lashes became; longer than her nose, longer than her chin, they came down more than a foot; and her eyelids also grew much longerWhen the work was finished, the girl said, How can I repay you, my good lady?” I d

9、on，t want to be repaid Just invite me to your wedding banquet when you marry the captain”“How do I go about inviting you?”“Just call Columbina and I 11 come But heaven help you if you forget my name It would be as though Id never helped you, and you，d be undone”The next day the captain arrived and f

10、ound the hemp all spun Excellent!” he said I believe youre just the bride I was seeking Here are the clothes and jewels I bought for you But now I have to go on another voyage Let，s have a second test Here，s twice the amount of hemp I gave you before If you spin it all by the time I return, r 11 mar

11、ry you”As she had done before, the girl spent her time trying on gowns and jewels, eating soup and lasagna, and got to the last day with all the hemp still waiting to be spun She was weeping over it when, lo and behold, something dropped down the chimney, and into the room rolled a bundle of rags It

12、 came to rest on its feet, and there stood an old woman with sagging lips This one too promised to help, began spinning, and worked even faster than the other old woman The more she spun, the more her lips sagged When the hemp was all spun in a half-hour, the old woman asked only to be invited to th

13、e wedding banquet Just call Columbara But don，t forget my name, or my help will have been in vain and you will suffer”The captain returned and asked before he even got into the house, “Did you spin it all?I just now finished!”“Take these clothes and jewels Now, if I come back from my third voyage an

14、d find you，ve spun this third load of hemp, which is much bigger than the other two, I promise we 11 get married at once”As usual, the girl waited until the last day without touching the hemp Down from the roof，s gutter fell a bundle of rags, and out came an old woman with buckteeth She began spinni

15、ng, spinning even faster, and the more she spun, the longer grew her teethTo invite me to your wedding banquet,，z said the old woman, “you must call Columbun， But if you forget my name, it would be better if youd never seen me”When the captain came home and found the hemp all spun, he was completely

16、 satisfied “Fine, he said, “now you wi11 be my wife He ordered preparations made for the wedding, to which he invited all the nobility in townCaught up in the preparations, the bride thought no more of the old women On the morning of the wedding she remembered that she was supposed to invite them, b

17、ut when she went to pronounce their names, she found they had slipped her mind She cudgeled her brains but, for the life of her, couldn，t recall a single nameFrom the cheerful girl she was, she sank into a state of bottomless gloom The captain noticed it and asked her what the matter was, but she wo

18、uld say nothing Unable to account for her sadness, the bridegroom thought, This is perhaps not the right day He therefore postponed the wedding until the day after But the next day was still worse, and the day following we won，t even mention With every day that passed, the bride became gloomier and

19、quieter, with her brows knit in concentration He told her jokes and stories in an effort to make her laugh, but nothing he said or did affected herSince he couldn，t cheer her up, he decided to go hunting and cheer himself up Right in the heart of the woods he was caught in a storm and took refuge in

20、 a hovel He was in there in the dark, when he heard voices:0 Columbina!0 Co lumbar a!0 Columbun!”“Put on the pot to make polenta! That confounded bride won，t be inviting us to her banquet after all!”The captain wheeled around and saw three crones One had eyelashes that dragged on the ground, another

21、 lips that hung down to her feet, and the third teeth that grazed her kneesWell, well, he thought to himself Now I can tell her something that will make her laugh If she doesn，t laugh over what Ive just seen, she 11 never laugh at anything! He went home and said to his bride, “Just listen to this To

22、day I was in the woods and went into a hovel to get out of the rain I go in and what should I see but three crones: one with eyelashes that dragged on the ground, another with lips that hung down to her feet, and the third with teeth that grazed her knees And they called each other: 0 Columbina,? 0

23、Co lumbar a,J 0 Columbun!The bride，s face brightened instantly, and she burst out laughing, and laughed and laughed，zOrder the wedding banquet right away But Im asking one favor of you: since those three crones made me laugh so hard, let me invite them to the banquet” Invite them she did For the thr

24、ee old women a separate round table was set up, but so small that what with the eyelashes of one, the lips of the other, and the teeth of the third, you no longer knew what was whatWhen dinner was over, the bridegroom asked Columbina, “Tell me, good lady, why are your lashes so long?”“Thats from str

25、aining my eyes to spin fine thread!z，said Columbina “And you, why are your lips so thick?”“That comes from always rubbing my finger on them to wet the thread!said Columbara “And you, how on earth did your teeth get so long?”“Thats from biting the knot of the thread!z，said ColumbunI see, said the bri

26、degroom, and he turned to his wife Go get the spindle When she brought it to him, he threw it into the fire You 11 spin no more for the rest of your life!”So the big, fat bride lived happily ever after (Riviera ligure di ponente) NOTES:“And Seven!” (E sette!) from Andrews, 4, 23, 47 (The first two w

27、ere collected in Menton, the third near Ventimiglia)Marriage anecdotes and fairy-tale initiation motifs (the secret name to remember) are blended in this old story widespread in Europe (of English, Swedish, or German origin, according to scholars), subjected to literary treatment in the seventeenth

28、century in Naples (Basile, IV, 4) and well known throughout Italy Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino, translated by George Martin, Pantheon Books, New York 1980 七！从前有一对母女，女儿又高又胖，吃得又多。妈妈端上的肉汁菜汤，她吃了一盘、两盘、三 盘，还不停地要。而妈妈边为她盛，边说：“三！四！五！”当女儿要第七盘 汤的时候，妈妈没有盛，而是用棍子敲了一下女儿的头，大喊：“七

29、！ ” 一个穿着体面的小伙子从这里路过，从窗外看见妈妈打着女儿喊：“七！ ”看见这个高大饱满的姑娘挺漂亮，小伙子一下子就喜欢上了，他走进姑娘的家，问道：“七 个什么？ ”妈妈因为自己有这么个贪吃的女儿而羞愧，就说：“七个线槌啊！我的女儿是个工作狂，她 甚至能到羊身上去纺毛线！这不，今天早上她已经纺了七槌线了，可是还没完没了地干！为 了让她停手，我才打了她一下！”小伙子说：“要是这样，您把她交给我吧，我试试她，看她是不是真的这么能干，如果是真 的，我就娶她为妻。小伙子把她领回家，关进一间屋子，里面堆满了要纺的麻，他说：“我是一个船长，马上要 出海。如果我出海回来你已经纺好这些线，我就娶你。”房间

30、里还有很多漂亮的衣服和珠宝，因为船长非常有钱。“如果你成为我的妻子，这些东西 就是你的了。”说完，他就走了。姑娘每天对着镜子试那些衣服和珠宝，让家里的仆人为她做吃的。而麻还在那里没有纺。剩 下最后一天了，明天船长就回来了，姑娘想到永远不会成为船长的新娘了，就失望地哭了起 来。正当她失望哭泣的时候，一个破布口袋从窗口飞落进房间。破布口袋站立起来，原来是 一个长着长眉毛的老妇人。老妇人说：“你别怕，我是来帮你的。你把线分成缕，我来替你 纺。”从没见过比这老妇人更快的纺织女了，她只用了一刻钟，所有的麻都被纺好了。但是，越纺, 她的眉毛长得越长，长过了鼻子，长过了下巴，最后长得超过了一掌长，而且她的眼

31、皮也跟 着变长了。当活干完了，姑娘说：“好心的夫人，我怎么才能报答您呢？ ”“我不想要报答，你跟船长结婚的时候，能邀请我参加结婚宴会，我就很满足了。”“那我怎么邀请你呢？ ”“你只要念：哥隆比娜！我就会来。不过，我可提醒你，千万别忘记我的名字。如果忘 了，我就不会再帮助你了。你也就完了。”第二天船长回来了，看到所有的麻都纺好了，就说：“你真能干，我相信你就是我想娶的新 娘。这是我为你买回来的珠宝和衣服。但我还必须再出去一次。我们来试第二次。这里的麻 有上次的两倍，当我回来的时候，你能把它纺完，我就会跟你结婚。”像上次一样，姑娘每天试着不同的珠宝和衣服，吃着汤和面包，这样打发着时间。又到了最 后

32、一天，一根线也没纺。她又哭了起来，这时她听到从烟囱上掉下来一个东西，一看是一个 破布包滚到屋子里来了。破布包站了起来，原来是一个登拉着嘴唇的老妇人。这个老妇人也 愿意帮助她，开始帮她纺线，纺得比上次那个老妇人还快，但是越纺，她的嘴唇长得越长, 她只用了半小时就把所有的麻纺完了。老妇人同样不要回报，只要求姑娘邀请她参加婚宴。“你只要念：哥隆巴拉我就会出现。你千万别忘记我的名字。不然我给你的帮助就会失 效，你小心记着！”船长回来了，还没进门就问：“你全都纺完了吗？ ”姑娘说：“咳，早就完了！”“这是给你带回来的珠宝和衣服。这一次，如果我第三次出海回来的时候，你能纺完比上两 次都多的麻，我向你保证马上举行婚礼。”这一次也跟以前一样，姑娘一根线也没纺，当只剩最后一天的时候，从屋檐下掉下来一个破 布包，一个露着牙齿的老妇人从破布包里面走了出来。她开始替姑娘纺线，她纺得很快，而 且越纺越快，并且她的牙齿就长得越长。老妇人说：“你想邀请我参加你的婚宴，就必须喊：哥隆布恩！不过你要是忘了我的名 字，你会后悔今天遇见了我。”船长回来的时候，看到所有的麻又都纺好了，非常满意。他说：“好了，现