5. What Is to Be Done?

But above-stairs it was different. One day, forinstance, after breakfast, the king went into his counting-house, and countedout his money. The operation gave him no pleasure.

"To think," said he to himself,"that every one of these gold sovereigns weighs a quarter of an ounce, andmy real, live, flesh-and-blood princess weighs nothing at all!"

And he hated his gold sovereigns, as they laywith a broad smile of self-satisfaction all over their yellow faces.

The queen was in the parlour, eating bread andhoney. But at the second mouthful she burst out crying, and could not swallowit.

The king heard her sobbing. Glad of anybody, butespecially of his queen, to quarrel with, he clashed his gold sovereigns intohis money-box, clapped his crown on his head, and rushed into the parlour.

"What is all this about?" exclaimedhe. "What are you crying for, queen?"

"I can't eat it," said the queen,looking ruefully at the honey-pot.

"No wonder!" retorted the king."You've just eaten your breakfast—two turkey eggs, and threeanchovies."

"Oh, that's not it!" sobbed herMajesty. "It's my child, my child!"

"Well, what's the matter with your child?She's neither up the chimney nor down the draw-well. Just hear herlaughing."

Yet the king could not help a sigh, which hetried to turn into a cough, saying—

"It is a good thing to be light-hearted, Iam sure, whether she be ours or not."

"It is a bad thing to belight-headed," answered the queen, looking with prophetic soul far intothe future.

"'Tis a good thing to belight-handed," said the king.

"'Tis a bad thing to belight-fingered," answered the queen.

"'Tis a good thing to belight-footed," said the king.

"'Tis a bad thing—" began the queen;but the king interrupted her.

"In fact," said he, with the tone ofone who concludes an argument in which he has had only imaginary opponents, andin which, therefore, he has come off triumphant—"in fact, it is a goodthing altogether to be light-bodied."

"But it is a bad thing altogether to belight-minded," retorted the queen, who was beginning to lose her temper.

This last answer quite discomfited his Majesty,who turned on his heel, and betook himself to his counting-house again. But hewas not half-way towards it, when the voice of his queen overtook him.

"And it's a bad thing to belight-haired," screamed she, determined to have more last words, now thather spirit was roused.

5.该做什么？

但是，楼上的情况就大不一样了。例如，有一天吃过早餐，国王走进他的会计室，开始计算他的财产。这个工作让他有些闷闷不乐。

“想想看，”他自言自语道，“就连这些金沙弗林每一块都有四分之一盎司重，但是我活生生的、有血有肉的公主却一点分量都没有！”

他开始憎恨他的金沙弗林，因为它们静静地躺着，似乎每一张金黄色的面孔上，都带着自鸣得意的微笑。

王后正在客厅里吃着面包和蜂蜜。但在吃第二口的时候，她突然哭了出来，再也咽不下去了。

国王听到了她的抽泣声——谁都可以不开心，但是他的王后怎么可以不开心呢？他赶紧把那些金沙弗林都放到钱箱子里，把王冠扣到脑袋上，便冲进客厅。

“发生了什么事情？”他大声问道，“你为什么哭呢，我的王后？”

“我吃不下。”王后说道，伤感地望着蜜罐。

“这有什么大惊小怪的！”国王责备道，“你已经吃过早饭了——两个火鸡蛋，还有三份凤尾鱼。”

“哦，不是因为这个！”王后陛下啜泣道，“是因为我的孩子，我的孩子！”

“好吧，你的孩子又出什么事了？她既没有飞到烟囱上，也没有掉到水井里。听听她的笑声吧。”

可国王还是禁不住叹了一口气，他尽力让别人以为那是一声咳嗽而已，接着他说道：

“能够心情轻松是一件好事，我能肯定这一点，不管她是不是我们的孩子。”

“但是脑袋空空就是一件坏事！”王后答道，沉着面孔，望着远方。

“行动轻巧不是件好事吗？”

“但是行为轻佻就是件坏事。”

“脚步轻快不是件好事吗？”

“但是——”王后刚要说，国王打断了她的话。

“事实上，”他说道，带着一种与假想中的对手辩论时总结陈词的语调，或多或少还有些洋洋得意，“事实上，总而言之，身体轻盈就是一件好事。”

“但是总而言之思想轻浮就是一件坏事。”王后反驳道，她的脾气有些上来了。

最后这句话，一下子刺痛了国王陛下，他一转身又向会计室走去。他走到半路的时候，王后的声音从背后传过来。

“发丝浅浅也不是件好事情！”她喊道。因为确定他不会有其他的话来反驳她了，她的劲头倒上来了。

第05章01 What Is to Be Done? / 该做什么？