Our Lady's Child

 

　　圣母的孩子

 

　　Hard by a great forest dwelt a wood-cutter with his wife,who had an only child,a little girl three years old.They were so poor,however,that they no longer had daily bread,and did not know how to get food for her.One morning the wood-cutter went outsorrowfully to his work in the forest,and while he was cutting wood,suddenly there stood before him a tall and beautiful woman with a crown of shining stars on her head,who said to him,"I am the Virgin Mary,mother of the child Jesus.Thou art poor and needy,bring thy child to me,I will take her with me and be her mother,and care for her."The wood-cutter obeyed,brought his child,and gave her to the Virgin Mary,who took her up to heaven with her.There the child fared well,ate sugar-cakes,and drank sweet milk,and her clothes were of gold,and the little angels played with her.

 

　　大森林邊住著一位樵夫和他的妻子。他們只有一個孩子，是個三歲的女孩。可是他們非常窮，連每天要吃的面包都沒有，更不知道該拿什么東西喂孩子。一天早晨，樵夫愁眉苦臉地到森林里去砍柴，他的面前突然出現(xiàn)了一位高大、美麗的女人，她的頭上還戴著一頂飾滿了閃爍的星星的寶冠。她對樵夫說：“我是耶穌的母親，圣母瑪利亞。你很窮，需要幫助。把你的孩子給我吧。我愿意把她帶走，做她的母親，好好照料她。”樵夫聽從她的話，把孩子帶來，交給了圣母瑪利亞。圣母瑪利亞把孩子帶到了天堂。孩子在天堂里過得很舒服，吃的是糖餅，喝的是甜牛奶，穿的是金衣服，陪她玩的是小天使。

 

　　And when she was fourteen years of age,the Virgin Mary called her one day and said,"Dear child,I am about to make a long journey,so take into thy keeping the keys of the thirteen doors of heaven.Twelve of these thou mayest open,and behold the glory which is within them,but the thirteenth,to which this little key belongs,is forbidden thee.Beware of opening it,or thou wilt bring misery on thyself."The girl promised to beobedient,and when the Virgin Mary was gone,she began to examine the dwellings of the kingdom of heaven.Each day she opened one of them,until she had made the round of the twelve.In each of them sat one of the Apostles in the midst of a great light,and she rejoiced in all the magnificence and splendour,and the little angels who always accompanied her rejoiced with her.Then the forbidden door alone remained,and she felt a great desire to know what could be hidden behind it,and said to the angels,"I will not quite open it,and I will not go inside it,but I will unlock it so that we can just see a little through the opening.""Oh no,"said the little angels,"that would be a sin.The Virgin Mary has forbidden it,and it might easily cause thy unhappiness."Then she was silent,but the desire in her heart was not stilled,but gnawed there and tormented her,and let her have no rest.

 

　　她長到十四歲時，圣母瑪利亞有一天把她叫到面前，對她說：“親愛的孩子，我要出一趟遠門。這是天國十三座門的鑰匙，由你保管。你可以打開其中十二扇門，看看里面的美景。這把小鑰匙是開第十三扇門的，但是你千萬不要把那扇門打開，不然你會遭到不幸的。”小女孩答應(yīng)一定聽圣母瑪利亞的話。等圣母瑪利亞走了之后，她開始參觀天國的住房。她每天打開一扇門，直到十二扇門被她一一打開。她看到每一扇門里都坐著一位耶穌的門徒，周圍一片光輝燦爛。這輝煌的景象讓她萬分歡喜，也讓晝夜陪伴她的小天使們非常高興。現(xiàn)在只剩下那扇禁止被打開的門了。她非常想知道這扇門的后面藏的是什么，便對天使們說：“我不把門全打開，也不進去。我只想打開一條縫，好讓我們大家看看里面有什么。”“啊，不行，”小天使們說，“那樣做是罪過。圣母瑪利亞禁止你打開它，你要是不聽話，可能很容易遭到不幸。”她聽到這話便不吭聲了，可她心中的愿望并沒有就此消失，而是在不停地折磨著她，讓她得不到片刻的安寧。