Part IV McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader 第四部分《美國語文5》

It is told of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, that, as he was seated one day in his private room, a written petition was brought to him with the request that it should be immediately read. The King had just returned from hunting, and the glare of the sun, or some other cause, had so dazzled his eyes that he found it difficult to make out a single word of the writing.

His private secretary happened to be absent; and the soldier who brought the petition could not read. There was a page, or favorite boy servant, waiting in the hall, and upon him the King called. The page was a son of one of the noblemen of the court, but proved to be a very poor reader.

In the first place, he did not articulate distinctly. He huddled his words together in the utterance, as if they were syllables of one long word, which he must get through with as speedily as possible. His pronunciation was bad, and he did not modulate his voice so as to bring out the meaning of what he read. Every sentence was uttered with a dismal monotony of voice, as if it did not differ in any respect from that which preceded it.

"Stop!" said the King, impatiently. "Is it an auctioneer's list of goods to be sold that you are hurrying over? Send your companion to me." Another page who stood at the door now entered, and to him the King gave the petition. The second page began by hemming and clearing his throat in such an affected manner that the King jokingly asked him whether he had not slept in the public garden, with the gate open,the night before.

The second page had a good share of self-conceit, however, and so was not greatly confused by the King's jest. He determined that he would avoid the mistake which his comrade had made. So he commenced reading the petition slowly and with great formality, emphasizing every word, and prolonging the articulation of every syllable. But his manner was so tedious that the King cried out, "Stop! are you reciting a Lesson in the elementary sounds? Out of the room! But no: stay! Send me that little girl who is sitting there by the fountain."

The girl thus pointed out by the King was a daughter of one of the laborers employed by the royal gardener; and she had come to help her father weed the flower beds. It chanced that, like many of the poor people in Prussia, she had received a good education. She was somewhat alarmed when she found herself in the King's presence, but took courage when the King told her that he only wanted her to read for him, as his eyes were weak.

Now, Ernestine (for this was the name of the little girl) was fond of reading aloud, and often many of the neighbors would assemble at her father's house to hear her; those who could not read themselves would come to her, also, with their letters from distant friends or children, and she thus formed the habit of reading various sorts of handwriting promptly and well.

The King gave her the petition, and she rapidly glanced through the opening lines to get some idea of what it was about. As she read, her eyes began to glisten, and her breast to heave. "What is the matter?" asked the King; "don't you know how to read?" "Oh, yes! sire," she replied, addressing him with the title usually applied to him: "I will now read it, if you please."

The two pages wore about to leave the room. "Remain," said the King. The little girl began to read the petition. It was from a poor widow, whose only son had been drafted to serve in the army, although his health was delicate and his pursuits had been such as to unfit him for military life. His father had been killed in battle, and the son had a strong desire to become a portrait painter.

The writer told her story in a simple, concise manner, that carried to the heart a belief of its truth; and Ernestine read it with so much feeling, and with an articulation so just, in tones so pure and distinct, that when she had finished, the King, into whose eyes the tears had started, exclaimed, "Oh! now I understand what it is all about; but I might never have known, certainly I never should have felt, its meaning had I trusted to these young gentlemen, whom I now dismiss from my service for one year, advising them to occupy their time in learning to read."

"As for you, my young lady," continued the King, "I know you will ask no better reward for your trouble than the pleasure of carrying to this poor widow my order for her son's immediate discharge. Let me see whether you can write as well as you can read. Take this pen, and write as I dictate." He then dictated an order, which Ernestine wrote, and he signed. Calling one of his guards, he bade him go with the girl and see that the order was obeyed.

How much happiness was Ernestine the means of bestowing through her good elocution, united to the happy circumstance that brought it to the knowledge of the King! First, there were her poor neighbors, to whom she could give instruction and entertainment. Then, there was the poor widow who sent the petition, and who not only regained her son, but received through Ernestine an order for him to paint the King's likeness; so that the poor boy soon rose to great distinction, and had more orders than he could attend to. Words could not express his gratitude, and that of his mother, to the little girl.

And Ernestine had, moreover, the satisfaction of aiding her father to rise in the world, so that he became the King's chief gardener. The King did not forget her, but had her well educated at his own expense. As for the two pages, she was indirectly the means of doing them good, also; for, ashamed of their bad reading, they commenced studying in earnest, till they overcame the faults that had offended the King. Both finally rose to distinction, one as a lawyer, and the other as a statesman;and they owed their advancement in life chiefly to their good elocution.

有一天，偉大的普魯士國王獨自坐在自己的屋子里的時候，衛兵給他送來了一封請愿書，并且需要他立刻就看。國王剛剛打完獵回來，不知是太陽光的灼傷還是其它原因，令他感到頭暈目眩，以至于他完全看不清請愿書上面的字。

他的私人秘書恰好不在，那個給他送來請愿書的衛兵又不識字。還好，這里還有一個男侍從，也可以稱他為小男仆，他在大廳等候著國王。這個男侍從是法庭里一個貴族的兒子，但是他不怎么會閱讀。

起初，他并不能很清晰地讀出上面的字。他把看到的字胡亂地放在一起，然后讀出來，由于他的發音不好，不能通過調整腔調來表達請愿書的真正含義。每一句話都是用一種憂郁的單調語調讀出來的，就好像句子之間沒有任何差別。

“停下！”國王不耐煩地說道，“你讀的是拍賣清單嗎？那么著急干嘛？把你的同伴帶來。”于是從門口進來了另一個男侍從，國王便把請愿書遞給了他。第二個男侍從在讀請愿書之前，很不自然地清了清嗓子，國王開玩笑說，在傍晚之前，他為什么不睡在大門敞開的花園里呢！

但是，第二個男侍從十分自負，國王的嘲笑并沒有打亂他的思路，他下定決心，避免犯自己同伴之前犯過的錯誤。于是，他開始用一種十分正式的口吻，慢慢地讀起請愿書來。每一個字他都會著重強調，并且為了聽著更加清楚，他把所有的音節都延長了。但是，他的讀法太沉悶，以至于國王大吼道：“停下！你是在模仿小學生背課文嗎？給我滾出去！不，等等！你去把那個坐在噴泉邊上的小女孩給我帶來。”

那個國王所說的小女孩是在皇家園林一個勞工的女兒，她是來幫父親清除花壇里的雜草的，和許多來自普魯士貧苦家庭的孩子一樣，她有幸獲得了接受正規教育的機會。當她站在國王面前的時候，有點受寵若驚，但是，當她知道，國王由于眼睛還沒有恢復，只是想讓她給自己讀一封請愿書的時候，她便鼓起了勇氣。

歐內斯廷（這個小女孩的名字）喜歡大聲地朗讀，她的鄰居們經常聚集到自己家門前聽她朗讀；那些收到遠方朋友和小孩寄來信件卻又不識字的人會來找她，讓她把信件朗讀給他聽，因此她養成了看到任何筆跡的書信都能又快又好地讀出來的習慣。

國王把請愿書給了她，她快速地看了一下開頭，想弄明白這個請愿書是敘述什么事情的。在她看開頭的時候，她的眼睛閃爍了起來，心臟也開始更有節奏地起伏。“怎么了？”國王問道，“你不知道怎么讀嗎？”“不，我當然知道！陛下，”她答道，并且很有禮貌地對國王說道，“如果可以的話，我就開始讀了。”

那兩個男侍從想要離開房間。“你們兩個別走。”國王說道。那個女孩開始讀起了請愿書。這個請愿書是一個寡婦寫的，內容大概是她唯一的兒子被抓去參軍了，盡管他的身體很虛弱，并且他的追求和軍旅生活有點格格不入。他的父親在戰斗被殺害了，而他的兒子則強烈渴望成為一名肖像畫家。

作者用一種簡明扼要的方式講述了她的故事，事情的真相深入人心，歐內斯廷帶著很深的感情去讀這封請愿書，她吐字清晰、語調十分純凈且與眾不同。當她讀完的時候，國王的眼里流出了淚水，他驚呼道：“噢！我現在知道這封請愿書的內容了，但是，我或許從來都不知道，從來都沒有感受到，我信任這些年輕人的意義所在，現在，我要讓他們停職一年，好好利用時間去學習閱讀。”

“至于你，我的孩子，”國王繼續說道，“我知道你肯定想把寡婦的兒子調離戰場，讓她們母子團聚。那么現在讓我看看，你的書寫功底是否和你的朗誦一樣出色，拿起這支筆，寫下我所說的話。”然后，他說出了命令，歐內斯廷寫下之后，國王便簽了字。他叫來一個衛兵，并要求他帶著這封簽過字的信件和歐內斯廷去執行他下達的命令，歐內斯廷會親自監督任務的執行情況。

歐內斯廷通過極佳的朗讀技巧把情愿書里的消息傳達給了國王，因此產生了皆大歡喜的結局。首先，是她的鄰居們，她能夠給予他們幫助并且給他們帶來精彩的表演；然后是，那個發出情愿書的寡婦，她不但能和兒子團聚，還通過歐內斯廷得到了國王要求她兒子給自己畫肖像的命令。她的兒子也因此很快成為了家喻戶曉的畫家，還能獲得像畫肖像這樣的要求，因此，他無法用言語來表達自己對母親和歐內斯廷的感激之情。

而且，歐內斯廷也從幫助自己的父親一躍成為國王的御用園丁中得到了滿足。國王并沒有忘記她，而是自費資助她繼續深造。至于那兩個男侍從，歐內斯廷間接地幫助了他們，同時也為他們糟糕的閱讀感到羞恥，那兩個男侍從開始專心學習閱讀，直到他們克服出現上次冒犯國王的錯誤。后來，這兩個男侍從都成了名人，他們其中的一個成為了律師，另一個成為了政客，他們把自己取得的成就主要歸功于良好的閱讀能力。