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At last she saw that she couldn’t make him use the ring and gave up speaking about it.[15] Though the farmer often looked at his ring and even turned it on his finger, he never said a wish. Thirty, forty years went by. The farmer and his wife grew old, their hair was white as snow.
And so they lived happily on till one day, when they both died together, at the same time. Their children and grand-children stood around them and cried. The youngest son wanted to take the ring from the father’s finger as a remembrance; but the eldest son said,
“No, don’t take the ring. Let our dear Father keep it. He liked it so much. And Mother also often looked at it. Perhaps she once gave it to Father, when they were young.”
So they left the ring on the finger of the old farmer, who always thought it was a wishing ring, though it was not. And yet the ring had brought him as much happiness as a man could wish. Indeed, a bad thing in good hands is better than a good thing in bad hands.
Bi
Once upon a time[17] there were two king’s daughters. They lived in a bower near the bo
So one fine morning, fair and clear, she said to her sister, “Let us go[24] and see our father’s boats come in at the bo
“O sister, sister, reach me your hand!” she cried, as she floated away, “and you shall have half of all I’ve got or shall get.[25]”
“No, sister, I’ll reach you no hand of mine, for I am the heir to all your land. Shame on me if I touch the hand that has come ’twixt[26] me and my own heart’s love.[27]”
“O sister, O sister, then reach me your glove!” she cried, as she floated further away, “and you shall have your William again.”
“Sink on,” cried the cruel princess, “no hand or glove of mine you’ll touch. Sweet William will be all mine when you are sunk beneath the bo
And the princess floated down the mill-stream, sometimes swimming and sometimes sinking, till she came near the mill. Now the miller’s daughter was cooking that day, and needed water for her cooking. And as she went to draw it from the stream, she saw something floating towards the mill-dam, and she called out, “Father! father! draw your dam.[28] There’s something white – a merrymaid[29] or a milk-white swan – coming down the stream.” So the miller hastened to the dam and stopped the heavy cruel mill-wheels. And then they took out the princess and laid her on the bank.
Fair and beautiful she looked as she lay there. In her golden hair were pearls and precious stones; you could not see her waist for her golden girdle; and the golden fringe of her white dress came down over her lily feet. But she was drowned, drowned!
And as she lay there in her beauty a famous harper passed by the mill-dam of Bi
That night they were all gathered in the castle hall to hear the great harper – king and queen, their daughter and son, Sir William and all their Court. And first the harper sang to his old harp, making them joy[31] and be glad or sorrow and weep just as he liked.[32] But while he sang he put the harp he had made that day on a stone in the hall. And presently it began to sing by itself, low and clear, and the harper stopped and all were hushed.[33]
And this was what the harp sung:
Then they all wondered, and the harper told them how he had seen the princess lying drowned on the bank near the bo
And the harp snapped and broke, and never sang more. But later this story became a ballad called “The Twa Sisters[36]”. It goes like this:
15
and gave up speaking about it – и прекратила всякие разговоры о нём
16
Bi
17
once upon a time – однажды; как-то раз
18
Sir William – сэр Уильям
19
plighted troth – поклялся в верности
20
after a time – спустя некоторое время
21
he cared no longer for the eldest one – он перестал обращать внимание на старшую сестру
22
day by day – день ото дня
23
get rid of her – избавиться от неё
24
Let us go. – Давай пойдём.
25
half of all I’ve got or shall get – половина всего того, что есть у меня и что будет
26
’twixt = betwixt, between
27
that has come ’twixt me and my own heart’s love – которая разлучила меня с любимым
28
Draw your dam. – Опусти створки.
29
merrymaid – русалка
30
far away – далеко
31
making them joy – заставляя их радоваться
32
just as he liked – повинуясь его желанию
33
all were hushed – все затаили дыхание
34
o’ Bi
35
Hugh – Хью
36
The Twa Sisters – Две сестры
37
Lay the bent to the bo
38
threw her sister o’er – столкнула сестру вниз
39
thou shalt never come ashore = you’ll never come ashore – тебе никогда не выбраться на берег
40
And surely now her tears will flow. – И теперь наверняка прольются её слезы.