4. Where Is She?

One fine summer day, a month after these herfirst adventures, during which time she had been very carefully watched, theprincess was lying on the bed in the queen's own chamber, fast asleep.

One of the windows was open, for it was noon,and the day was so sultry that the little girl was wrapped in nothing lessethereal than slumber itself.

The queen came into the room, and not observingthat the baby was on the bed, opened another window.

A frolicsome fairy wind, which had been watchingfor a chance of mischief, rushed in at the one window, and taking its way overthe bed where the child was lying, caught her up, and rolling and floating heralong like a piece of flue, or a dandelion seed, carried her with it throughthe opposite window, and away. The queen went down-stairs, quite ignorant ofthe loss she had herself occasioned.

When the nurse returned, she supposed that herMajesty had carried her off, and, dreading a scolding, delayed making inquiryabout her. But hearing nothing, she grew uneasy, and went at length to thequeen's boudoir, where she found her Majesty.

"Please, your Majesty, shall I takethe baby?" said she.

"Where is she?" asked the queen.

"Please forgive me. I know it waswrong."

"What do you mean?" said the queen,looking grave.

"Oh! don'tfrighten me, your Majesty!" exclaimed the nurse,clasping her hands.

The queen saw that something was amiss, and felldown in a faint. The nurse rushed about the palace, screaming, "My baby! my baby!"

Every one ran to the queen's room. But the queencould give no orders. They soon found out, however, that the princess wasmissing, and in a moment the palace was like a beehive in a garden; and in oneminute more the queen was brought to herself by a great shout and a clapping ofhands. They had found the princess fast asleep under a rose-bush, to which theelvish little wind-puff had carried her, finishing its mischief by shaking ashower of red rose-leaves all over the little white sleeper. Startled by thenoise the servants made, she woke, and, furious with glee, scattered therose-leaves in all directions, like a shower of spray in the sunset.

She was watched more carefully after this, nodoubt; yet it would be endless to relate all the odd incidents resulting fromthis peculiarity of the young princess. But there never was a baby in a house,not to say a palace, that kept the household in such constant good humour, atleast below-stairs. If it was not easy for her nurses to hold her, at least shemade neither their arms nor their hearts ache. And she was so nice to play atball with! There was positively no danger of letting her fall. They might throwher down, or knock her down, or push her down, but couldn't let her down. It istrue, they might let her fly into the fire or the coal-hole, or through thewindow; but none of these accidents had happened as yet. If you heard peals oflaughter resounding from some unknown region, you might be sure enough of thecause. Going down into the kitchen, or the room, you would find Jane andThomas, and Robert and Susan, all and sum, playing at ball with the littleprincess. She was the ball herself, and did not enjoy it the less for that.Away she went, flying from one to another, screeching with laughter. And theservants loved the ball itself better even than the game. But they had to takesome care how they threw her, for if she received an upward direction, shewould never come down again without being fetched.

4.她在哪儿？

这是一个晴朗的夏日，就在小公主第一次飘到半空的一个月之后——这段时间，她一直被小心翼翼地看护着。现在，她静静地躺在王后卧室的床上，甜甜地睡着。

一扇窗子打开着，因为正好是正午，天气又是如此闷热，所以小公主身上什么都没有盖，就进入了甜蜜的梦乡。

王后走进屋子，没有注意到宝宝躺在床上，就随手打开了另一扇窗子。

一个爱玩闹的风精灵一直都在等着恶作剧的机会，他立刻从一扇窗子冲了进来，飞向孩子的床，一下托起她，把她卷起来，就像一团绒毛或者是蒲公英种子那样，带着她穿过对面的窗子，消失不见。王后又去了楼下，对她刚才弄丢了什么一无所知。

保姆回来的时候，以为是王后陛下把孩子带走了，立刻开始担心自己会遭到一顿斥责，于是避而不问小公主的去向。但是由于没有听到任何责难传来，她又变得不安起来。最后，她还是赶到王后的化妆间，在那里见到了王后陛下。

“给您请安了，王后陛下，我可以把孩子抱回去吗？”她说道。

“她在哪儿？”王后问道。

“请原谅我，我知道我错了。”

“这话什么意思？”王后说道，脸色苍白。

“哦！不要吓我，王后陛下！”保姆大声叫了起来，十指紧扣。

王后一下明白出了什么事，立刻昏倒在地。保姆冲出宫殿，尖声喊道：“公主宝宝！公主宝宝！”

所有的人都跑进王后的房间。但是王后已经什么话也说不出来了。不管怎样，他们还是很快弄明白了，原来是公主不见了。一时间，整个宫殿就像是花园里的马蜂窝一般，乱成一团。过了约莫一分钟，昏厥的王后被一阵喊叫声和掌声惊醒过来。原来，人们发现公主正在玫瑰丛中熟睡着，是淘气的风精灵把她放在那里的，作为这个恶作剧的尾声，它在我们白白嫩嫩的“小瞌睡虫”身上撒满了红色的玫瑰花瓣。小公主被仆人们的嘈杂声惊醒后，开始快活地手舞足蹈起来，于是玫瑰花瓣四散飞舞，如同日落时分的一场夏日阵雨。

毫无疑问，这件事情发生以后，小公主被看护得更加精心了。然而谁也改变不了小公主具有的特性，那些奇怪的事情也就注定源源不断地发生在她身上。不过，还从来没有一个待在屋子里的宝宝能让一家子人这么开心，更不要说在宫殿里的了，至少楼下的情况是如此。虽然照顾她对于保姆们来说并不是件轻松的活儿，但她至少不会让她们的胳膊酸、心儿痛。她玩球的时候是如此可爱！绝对没有什么危险可以让她跌倒。保姆们可以把她向下扔，或者向下撞，或者向下推，都不能让她倒下来。千真万确，她们甚至可以让她飞进壁炉和烟囱，或者穿过窗户飞出去，所幸的是所有这些事情都未曾发生过。如果你听到不知打哪儿传来的一串串笑声，你肯定也能猜到是怎么回事。去厨房或者起居室吧，你会看到简和托马斯，还有罗伯特和苏珊，所有的人，都在和小公主一起玩球。她自己就是那个球，而且没有为此感到一点不开心。她从这里飞到那里，发出开心的尖叫和笑声。仆人们喜欢这个小毛球本身，远胜于喜欢这个游戏。不过他们在把小公主抛来抛去的时候必须特别地小心，因为要是她受到一个一个向上的力，除非被人拽住，否则就再也不会落下来了.

第04章 Where Is She? / 她在哪儿？