The Little Old Man Made Young by Fire

　　Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

　　At the time when our Lord still walked on earth, he and Saint Peter stopped one evening at a smith's and were gladly given lodging1. Now it happened that a poor beggar, hard pressed by age and infirmity, came to this house and begged alms of the smith.

　　Peter had compassion2 and said, "Lord and master, if it please you, cure his ailments3, that he may earn his own bread."

　　The Lord said gently, "Smith, lend me your forge and put some coals on for me, and then I will make this sick old man young again."

　　The smith was quite willing. Saint Peter pumped the bellows4, and when the coal fire sparkled up large and high, our Lord took the little old man, pushed him into the forge in the middle of the red fire, so that he glowed like a rosebush, and praised God with a loud voice.

　　After that the Lord went to the quenching-tub, put the glowing little man into it so that the water closed over him, and after he had carefully cooled him, he gave him his blessing5, when, behold6, the little man sprang nimbly out, looking fresh, upright, healthy, and as if he were twenty years old.

　　The smith, who had watched everything closely and attentively7, invited them all to supper. Now he had an old half-blind, hunchbacked mother-in-law. She went to the youth and asked earnestly if the fire had burned him much.

　　He answered that he had never felt better, and that he had sat in the glowing coals as if he had been in cool dew.

　　The youth's words echoed in the the old woman's ears all night long, and early the next morning, after the Lord had gone on his way again and had heartily8 thanked the smith, the latter thought he might make his old mother-in-law young again in the same way, for he had watched everything very carefully, and it used the skills of his trade. Therefore he called to her, asking her if she, too, would like to go prancing9 about like an eighteen-year-old girl.

　　Because the youth had come out of it so well, she said, "With all my heart."

　　So the smith made a large fire, and pushed the old woman into it. She twisted about this way and that, uttering horrible cries of murder.

　　"Sit still. Why are you screaming and jumping about so? I still have to blow the fire hotter," he cried, then pumped the bellows again, until all her rags were all afire.

　　The old woman cried without ceasing, and the smith thought to himself, "It's not going exactly right." Then he took her out and threw her into the quenching-tub. She screamed so loudly that the smith's wife upstairs and her daughter-in-law heard it, and they both ran downstairs, and saw the old woman lying in a heap in the tub, howling and screaming, with her face wrinkled and shriveled and all out of shape.

　　The two, who were both with child, were so terrified with this that that very night they gave birth to two boys who were not shaped like humans but like apes. They ran into the woods, and from them came the race of apes. #p#副標(biāo)題#e#

　　當(dāng)我們的主還在地上巡視時(shí)，有一天晚上，他帶著圣彼得到一個(gè)鐵匠家投宿，鐵匠倒還樂意。這時(shí)碰巧來(lái)了位乞丐，年邁體弱，精神不振，樣子十分可憐，他求鐵匠施舍點(diǎn)東西給他，圣彼得很同情他，說(shuō)：“主呀，如果你愿意，請(qǐng)幫他治一下病吧，讓他能夠自己掙得食物。”

　　上帝非常和藹地說(shuō)：“師傅，請(qǐng)把你的鐵爐借我用一下，加些炭在里面，我要把這老乞丐煉得年輕些。”鐵匠非常樂意，圣彼得便拉起風(fēng)箱，上帝把乞丐推進(jìn)爐火中的最旺處，老人在里面燒得像玫瑰般通紅，口里還大聲讚美著上帝。過了一會(huì)兒，上帝踏到水槽前，把這燒紅的人放了進(jìn)去浸在水中，等他冷卻后，上帝就向他祝福。過了一會(huì)兒，那小個(gè)子老人一躍而出，面目一新了，他顯得那樣挺直、健康，就像一位二十歲的小伙子。

　　鐵匠在一旁仔細(xì)地瞧著，請(qǐng)他們一起吃了晚飯。鐵匠有位半瞎背駝的老岳母，她走到年輕人的跟前，仔細(xì)地瞧著，問他爐火可曾燒了他。那人告訴他從來(lái)沒有這般舒服過，立在爐火中，就像沐浴在清涼的露水中一樣。那年青人的話在老婦人的耳邊響了一整夜。第二天早上，上帝準(zhǔn)備上路了，他感謝了鐵匠，鐵匠認(rèn)為他也能把自己的老岳母變得年輕些，因?yàn)樽蛱斓囊磺兴伎丛谘劾?。於是他問岳母是否也想變成個(gè)十八歲的少女跳來(lái)跳去。

　　她說(shuō)：“我太想了。”於是鐵匠生起了一爐大火，把老婦人推了進(jìn)去。她在里面翻來(lái)覆去，叫得十分可怕。

　　“安靜地坐著，你又叫又跳干甚么？”鐵匠對(duì)她叫道。說(shuō)完他又重新拉風(fēng)箱，把老婦人的破衣服都燒了個(gè)精光。老婦人還是叫不絕口，鐵匠便懷疑道：“難到我手藝沒學(xué)到家？”於是把她拖了出來(lái)，扔進(jìn)水槽里。老人又是一陣尖叫，連住在樓上的鐵匠的妻子和老人的媳婦都聽見了，她們一齊跑下樓梯來(lái)。只見老婆子在水槽里卷成一團(tuán)，號(hào)啕大哭，她的臉已起皺，燒得不成樣子了。那兩個(gè)人正懷著孩子，由於受了驚嚇，那天晚上就生下了兩個(gè)小孩，不像人，而像猴子。后來(lái)他們跑進(jìn)了森林，從此地上就有了猴子。