Laura E. Richards

Some children were at play in their play-ground one day， when a herald rode through the town， blowing a trumpet， and crying aloud， “The King！ The King passes by this road to-day. Make ready for the King！”

The children stopped their play， and looked at one another.

一天，幾個孩子正在游樂場玩耍的時候，一個傳令官騎著馬穿城而過，鳴號吶喊：“國王！國王陛下今天打此路過，準(zhǔn)備迎駕！”

孩子們停止了游戲，你瞅瞅我，我瞅瞅你。

“Did you hear that？”they said.“The King is coming. He may look over the wall and see our playground; who knows？ We must put it in order.”

The playground was sadly dirty， and in the corners were scraps of paper and broken toys， for these were careless children. But now， one brought a hoe， and another a rake， and a third ran to fetch the wheelbarrow from behind the garden gate. They labored hard， till at length all was clean and tidy.

“Now it is clean！”they said，“but we must make it pretty， too， for kings are used to fine things; maybe he would not notice mere cleanness， for he may have it all the time.”

Then one brought sweet rushes and strewed them on the ground; and others made garlands of oak leaves and pine tassels and hung them on the walls; and the littlest one pulled marigold buds and threw them all about the playground，“to look like gold，”he said.

When all was done the playground was so beautiful that the children stood and looked at it， and clapped their hands with pleasure.

“Let us keep it always like this！”said the littlest one; and the others cried，“Yes！ yes！ that is what we will do.”

They waited all day for the coming of the King， but he never came; only， towards sunset， a man with travel- worn clothes， and a kind， tired face passed along the road， and stopped to look over the wall.

“What a pleasant place！”said the man. “May I come in and rest， dear children？”

The children brought him in gladly， and set him on the seat that they had made out of an old cask. They had covered it with the old red?cloak to make it look like a throne， and it madea very good one.

“It is our playground！”they said.“Wemade it pretty for the King， but he did notcome， and now we mean to keep it so for ourselves.”

“That is good！”said the man.

“Because we think pretty and clean is nicer than ugly and dirty！”said another.

“That is better！”said the man.

“And for tired people to rest in！”said thelittlest one.

“That is best of all！”said the man.

He sat and rested， and looked at the children with such kind eyes that they came about him， and told him all they knew; about the five puppies in the barn， and the thrushs nest with four blue eggs， and the shore where the gold shells grew; and the man nodded and understood all about it.

By and by he asked for a cup of water， and they brought it to him in the best cup， with the gold sprigs on it： then he thanked the children， and rose and went on his way; but before he went he laid his hand on their heads for a moment， and the touch went warm to their hearts.

The children stood by the wall and watched the man as he went slowly along. The sun was setting， and the light fell in long slanting rays across the road.

“He looks so tired！”said one of the children.

“But he was so kind！”said another.

“See！”said the littlest one.“How the sun shines on his hair！ It looks like a crown of gold.”

這些孩子平時馬虎慣了，游樂場臟得要 命，角落里堆滿了紙屑和破破爛爛的玩具。 好在此時，一個拿來鋤頭，一個拿來耙子，另 一個跑過去，推來了放在園子門后的手推 車。他們起勁地干著，直到把這里打掃得干 干凈凈。

“現(xiàn)在總算干凈啦！”他們說，“不過我們 還得弄得美觀才行，做國王的，好東西見得 多了；單靠干凈，大概國王是不會注意的，因 為他呆的地方都是干凈的?！?/p>

于是，一個孩子捧來清新怡人的燈芯 草，撒在地上；另外幾個用橡樹葉和松耳草 編成花環(huán)，裝點(diǎn)四面圍墻；那個最小的孩子 扯了許多金盞花花蕾，撒滿了游樂場，“這樣 看著金燦燦的”，他說。

做完這一切，游樂場變得美極了，孩子 們站在那里，朝著它打量一番，美滋滋地拍 手歡慶。

“咱們就讓它一直這樣保持下去吧！”最 小的孩子說。其他孩子歡呼：“好呀！好 呀！就這么干。”

整整一天，孩子們都在巴望著國王駕 到，可他始終沒有露面。只是在黃昏時分， 這條路上才走過一個男人，風(fēng)塵仆仆，面容 和善。他停下腳步，從圍墻上方朝里張望。

“多好的地方??！”男人說道，“我能進(jìn)去 休息一會兒嗎，可愛的孩子們？”

孩子們樂呵呵地把他迎進(jìn)來，讓他坐在 一個他們權(quán)當(dāng)座椅的舊木桶上。他們還用 一頂紅色的舊斗篷罩著木桶，使它好似國王的寶座?？粗_實(shí)挺像那么回事。

“這是我們的游樂場！”孩子們說道，“為了迎接國王，我們給它裝扮得漂漂亮亮。可他沒來?，F(xiàn)在我們打算一直這樣保持下去，留給我們自己?！?/p>

“不錯！”男人說。

“因為我們覺得，干凈漂亮招人喜，骯臟丑陋討人嫌。”一個孩子說。

男人答道：“很好！”

“好讓疲勞的人們歇歇腳！”最小的孩子說。

“太好了！”男人說。

他坐下休息，看著孩子們——他的目光如此和善，孩子們都圍攏到他身邊，把自個兒知道的所有事情說給他聽：谷倉里的五條小狗啦，畫眉鳥窩里的四枚藍(lán)色鳥蛋啦，還有冒出一個個金色貝殼的海岸。男人頻頻點(diǎn)頭，孩子們說的他都懂。

過了一會兒，男人要喝杯水，孩子們便端來了水，用他們最好的杯子盛著，杯子上印有金色枝條。他謝過孩子們，起身告辭，繼續(xù)趕路。但臨行之前，他挨個摸了摸孩子們的小腦袋，溫暖了孩子們的心。

孩子們站在墻邊，望著男人漸行漸遠(yuǎn)。太陽緩緩落山，一道道余暉斜斜鋪灑到路面上。

“他看上去可真疲憊啊！”一個孩子說。

“可他人真好??！”另一個孩子說。

“快瞧！”最小的孩子說，“夕陽照在他的頭發(fā)上，真像一頂金王冠?！?/p>

（選自《英語世界》2023年第8期）