向太陽揮揮手

"What is it?" she cried. But the Prince would not speak, and dashed from the hall. 

「怎麼了？！」公主大喊。但王子並沒有說話，轉身就快步離開了大廳。

For a long time the Princess studied her mirror that night, wondering ,what the Prince had seen.
 

公主一整晚都看著鏡子，不停地思索王子到底從她臉上看到了甚麼。

"If you could talk," she said to the dog, "you could tell me, I know it," for the animal's eyes were bright and intelligent.  
"What did I do wrong?" 

「如果你會說話的話，」她對獵狗說，「你就可以告訴我真相了。你一定知道的，因為動物的眼神比人們還要敏銳且充滿智慧。」

「我到底做錯了甚麼？」

The dog, in fact, could talk; it's just that nobody had ever asked him anything before. 

獵狗其實會說話；只是從來沒有人問他這個問題。

"You didn't do anything," he said. "It's your height." 

「妳沒有做錯任何事」獵狗說，「問題是妳的身高。」

"My height?" 

「我的身高？」

The Princess was more astonished by what the dog said than the fact that he said it. As an amateur wizard, she had heard of talking animals. 

跟聽到狗會說話比起來，公主更驚訝於它說的事。畢竟身為一個業餘的巫師，是有聽過會說話的動物存在的。

"But I am a Princess!" she wailed. "I'm supposed to be tall." For in her kingdom, all the royal family was tall, and the Princess the tallest of all, and she had thought that was the way things were supposed to be. 

「但我是個公主，」她哭喊，「公主本來就很高挑。」在她的王國，所有的皇室成員都是高大挺拔的身材，而公主在這點更是出類拔萃。她也認為事情本來就是這樣的。

The dog privately marveled at her naivete, and explained that in the world outside this kingdom, men liked to be taller than their wives. 

儘管獵狗對公主的認知感到不可思議，卻還是解釋了一番：在王國外的世界，男人比較傾向於找比自己矮的女性做為妻子。

"But why?" asked the Princess. 

The dog struggled to explain. "They think if they re not, they can't...train falcons as well. Or something." 

「這是為什麼？」

獵狗試著解釋，「他們認為如果比較矮的話，他們就不能…訓練出優良的獵鷹，或是其他的事。」

Now that he thought for a moment, he didn't know either. 

獵狗心想，其實我也不太清楚真正的原因。

It's my legs," she muttered. "When we were sitting down everything was fine. It's these darn long legs." 

「所以問題出在我的雙腳，」公主喃喃自語「只要我坐著，一切都很美好。就是這雙該死的腿害的！」

The dog cocked his head he thought she had nice legs, and he was in a position to know. The Princess strode to the bell-pull and summoned the Wizard. 

獵狗仰望著公主並想，「這雙腿真是漂亮。」的確，從它的角度來看是非常客觀的。公主跑到了大鐘旁並召喚巫師來見。

"Okay," she said when he arrived. "I know the truth." 

"Who told you?" the Wizard asked. Somebody was in stay in irons. 

「我知道真相了。」公主跟巫師說。

「是誰說的？」巫師問。

"The dog." 

The Wizard sighed. In fact, he had known the creature was enchanted. 

「是獵狗」

巫師嘆了口氣，果然這隻獵狗是被下咒的。

"It's my height." she continued bitterly. 

The Wizard nodded. 

「問題是我的身高」，公主急切的說。

巫師同意的點點頭。

"I want you to make me shorter." she said. "A foot shorter, at least. Now." 

「我要你把我變矮點」，公主說，「至少要矮30公分。馬上！」

Using all his persuasive powers, which were considerable, the Wizard explained to her that he could not possibly do that. 

"Fatter," he said "yes. Thinner, yes. Turn you into a raven, maybe. But shorter, no. I cannot make you even an inch shorter, my dear." 

用盡了三寸不爛之舌，但又同理的語氣，巫師費盡了一番功夫解釋他沒辦法這樣做。

「胖一點，」巫師說「可以。瘦一點，也可以。把妳變成烏鴉，或許。但矮一點，親愛的，我沒辦法把妳變矮，一點都沒辦法。」

The Princess was inconsolable. Seeing her sorrow, the King sent his emissary to the neighboring kingdom with some very attractive offers. Finally the neighboring King and Queen agreed to persuade the Prince to give the match another chance. 

公主一點也不覺得安慰。看著自己的女兒日漸消瘦，國王派遣他的使節帶著非常好的條件去鄰國協商。經過一番努力，鄰國國君決定說服王子再給彼此一個機會。

The Queen spoke to him grandly of chivalry and honor, and the King spoke to him privately of certain gambling debts. 

王后談論著榮譽跟俠義精神，而國王則私底下透漏了自己賭博的欠款。

In due course he arrived at the castle, where the Princess had taken to her canopied bed. They had a lovely romantic talk, with him bedside holding her hand, and the nobility, of course, standing respectfully at the foot of the bed, as such things are done. 

王子如期的抵達了城堡，公主現在躺在城堡裡的四柱大床裡。他們聊著風花雪月的事，王子的身體緊依著床沿、兩人的手牽著彼此的手。而獵狗則站在公主的腳旁，就一如往常。

In truth, the Princess quite lovely when she was sitting or lying down. 

"Come on," he said, "let's get some fresh air. We'll go riding." He had in mind a certain dragon in these parts, against whom he might display his talents. And so the Prince strode and the Princess slouched to the stables. 

王子心想，公主只要坐著或是躺著時，有如出水芙蓉般的可愛。

「來吧，」王子說，「我們騎馬去外面走走。」也許外面會碰到惡龍，如此一來，我就可以展現我的男子氣概。所以，王子英挺如紅鶴、而公主佝僂如老嫗的一同走向馬廄。

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