本寓言的作者是丹麦的Henrik Pontoppidan。Henrik Pontoppidan(彭托皮丹)(1857-1943)是丹麦小说家、丹麦现实主义文学的代表作家。重要作品有:小说集《剪短的翅膀》(1881)、《农村景象》(1883)、《农舍》(1887)、《云》(1890)。长篇小说《乐土》三部曲(1891-1895)、《守夜》(1894)、《幸运的比尔》(1898-1904)、《男人的天堂》(1927)。三部曲《乐土》是他的代表作品。
彭托皮丹的小说多以丹麦农村为背景,以现实主义手法展现丹麦广阔的生活图画。作品风格清新,内容丰富,形象生动,充满了浓郁的生活气息。他于1917年获诺贝尔文学奖。而此篇是作家一改往日的现实主义手法写下的一篇寓言故事。本人曾进行翻译并发表于《英语世界》杂志。
This is the story of a young eagle that in its yellow-beaked infancy was found by some boys and taken to the old parsonage, where kind people cared for it and became so attached to it that they kept it there. Like the Ugly Duckling of the fairy tale, it grew up among quacking ducks and cackling hens and bleating sheep , and so well did it thrive in these surroundings that it grew large and broad and, as the minister said, “actually acquired a belly.”
这是一个鹰的故事。在它钩嘴嫩黄还是稚鹰时,被一些男孩发现,带到了一位牧师的老宅子里去。在那儿,善良的人们照顾它,非常喜欢它,并把它养了起来。像童话中的丑小鸭,鹰在嘎嘎叫的鸭子中,咯咯叫的母鸡中以及咩咩叫的羊群中成长。鹰在这种环境下发育得很魁伟,正像牧师所说:“实际上是大腹便便了。”
It was usually perched on an old fence near the pigsty, where it sat and waited for the maid to bring garbage from the kitchen. As soon as old Dorothy came in view, it would throw itself on the pavement and waddle toward the filled trough(饲料槽) with the burlesque(杂耍表演) sack-race(套袋赛跑) stride peculiar to the kings of the ether when moving on earth.
鹰通常栖息于猪圈旁边的旧栅栏上,一动不动地等着女仆端着残羹剩饭从厨房出来。老多萝西一露面,它便飞向路面,以苍天之王在地面上行走时所特有的、滑稽的套袋赛跑式的步子摇摇摆摆地走向满满的饲料槽。