第17章 魔鬼的三根金发(3)

As the evening came on，the devil returned home.No sooner had he entered than he noticed that the air was not pure.“I smell man"s flesh，”said he，“all is not right here.”Then he priedpry v.探查into every corner，and searched，but could not find anything.His grandmother scolded(scold v.责骂，申斥，斥责)him.“It has just been swept，”said she，“and everything put in order，and now you are upsetting(upsetting adj.令人心烦意乱的，令人苦恼的)it again，you have always got man"s flesh in your nose.Sit down and eat your supper.”When he had eaten and drunk he was tired，and laid his head in his grandmother"s lap，and told her she should louse him a little.It was not long before he was fast asleep，snoring and breathing heavily.Then the old woman took hold of a golden hair，pulled it out，and laid it down beside her.“Oh，”cried the devil，“what are you doing.”“I have had a bad dream，”answered the grandmother，“so I seized hold of your hair.”“What did you dream then.”said the devil.“I dreamt that a fountain in a marketplace from which wine once flowed was dried up，and not even water would flow out of it—what is the cause of it.”“Oh，ho，if they did but know it，”answered the devil，“there is a toad sitting under a stone in the well—if they killed it，the wine would flow again.”The grandmother loused(louse vt.在……上捉虱子，除虱子)him again until he went to sleep and snored so that the windows shook.Then she pulled the second hair out.“Ha，what are you doing.”cried the devil angrily.“Do not take it ill，”said she，“I did it in a dream.”“What have you dreamt this time.”asked he.“I dreamt that in a certain kingdom there stood an appletree which had once borne golden apples，but now would not even bear leaves.”“What，think you，was the reason.”“Oh，if they did but know.”answered the devil，“A mouse is gnawing at the root—if they killed it they would have golden apples again，but if it gnaws much longer the tree will wither altogether.But I have had enough of your dreams，if you disturb(disturb vt.弄乱，打乱，打扰，扰乱)me in my sleep again you will get a box on the ear.”The grandmother spoke gently to him and picked his lice(lice n.虱子，白虱)once more until he fell asleep and snored.Then she took hold of the third golden hair and pulled it out.The devil jumped up，roared out，and would have treated her ill if she had not quieted him again and said，“Who can help bad dreams.”“What was the dream，then.”asked he，and was quite curious(curious adj.好奇的，求知的，古怪的，爱挑剔的).“I dreamt of a ferryman who complained that he must always ferry from one side to the other，and was never released.What is the cause of it.”“Ah，the fool.”answered the devil，“When anyone comes and wants to go across he must put the oar in his hand，and the other man will have to ferry and he will be free.”As the grandmother had plucked(pluck v.拔去(鸡、鸭等)毛，采集) out the three golden hairs，and the three questions were answered，she let the old devil alone，and he slept until daybreak.