向太陽揮揮手

On a horse, as in a chair, the Princess was no taller than he, so they  cantered along happily. Seeing an attractive hedge ahead, the Prince urged his mount into a gallop and sailed the hedge proudly. 

在馬背上就跟在椅子上一樣，公主看起來並沒有比較高，所以他們一路都很開心。看到前方有一到籬笆，王子威武的喝斥坐騎並優雅地跳過了障礙。

He turned to see her appreciation, only to find the Princess doing the same and holding her seat quite gracefully. Truthfully, he felt like leaving again. 

王子轉頭希望能迎上公主欽羨的眼光，但卻發現公主做了同樣的事、同樣的優雅宜人。說實在的，這又讓王子興起了歸去的念頭。

"Didn't anyone ever tell you," he said coldly, "that ladies ride sidesaddle?" 

「沒有人告訴過你，」王子冷冷地說「淑女應該側坐嗎？」

Well, of course they had, but the Princess always thought that was a silly, unbalanced position that took all the fun out of riding. 

當然，大家都這樣子坐。但公主覺得這樣太可笑了，不僅僅無法平衡也失去了騎馬的樂趣。

Now she apologized prettily and swung her legs around. At length the Prince hurdled another fence, even more dashingly than before, and turned to see the Princess attempting to do the same thing. But riding sidesaddle, she did not have a sure seat, and tumbled to the ground. 

但公主還是依王子所願的換了姿勢。再一次的，王子迎向了籬笆，衝得更快、跳得更高、落地的更優雅，並回頭看看公主是否能做出一樣的動作。但側坐的結果，公主無法維持平衡而摔在了草地上。

"Girls shouldn't jump," the Prince told the air, as he helped her up.

「女孩不應該躍起她的坐騎」，王子扶起公主後悠悠的說。

But on her feet, she was again a head taller than he. She saw the dim displeasure in his eyes. Then with truly royal impulsiveness she made a decision to sacrifice for love. She crumpled to the ground. 

一旦站起來，公主又顯得她比王子高出一截。憂鬱的立馬充斥王子的眼神。憑著一股身為皇族的衝動，公主決定要為愛情而犧牲：雙腿一軟坐在了地上。

"My legs," she said, "I can't stand." The Prince swelled with pride, picked her up, and carried her back to the castle. 

「我的腿」公主唉著說，「我站不起來了」男子氣概又充滿著王子全身，隨即抱著公主走回城堡。

There the Royal Physician, the Wizard, and even the Witch examined her legs, with the nobility in attendance. She was given infusions and teas and herbs and packs, but nothing worked. She simply could not stand. 

御醫、巫師甚至是巫女都來檢查公主的病因，而獵犬也在場。儘管打了針、喝了茶、吃了藥草、浸了藥浴，一點都沒有效。公主還是站不起來。

"When there is nothing wrong but foolishness," the Witch muttered, ",you can't fix it."  
And she left. She had no patience with lovesickness. 

「愚蠢是無法醫治的。」巫女碎碎念並離開了公主，她對相思病是一點耐心都沒有的。

The prince lingered on day after day, as a guest of the King, while the Princess grew well and happy, although she did not stand. Carried to the window seat, she would sit happily and watch him stride around the room, describing his chivalric exploits, and she would sigh with contentment. The loss of the use of her legs seemed a small price to pay for such a man.  
The dog observed her without comment. 

身為國王的重要客人，王子一天天的住下來，而公主也愈來愈開心，儘管她站不起來。坐在窗邊的椅子裡，她開心的看著王子在房裡踱步、聽著他談論過往的英雄事蹟，偶爾也會稍加評論一番。跟擁有王子比起來，失去雙腳的代價明顯的微不足道。

獵犬默默地看著一切，一語不發

Since she was often idle now, the Princess practised witty and amusing sayings. She meant only to please the Prince, but he turned on her after one particularly subtle and clever remark and said sharply "Haven't you ever heard that women should be seen and not heard?" 

由於無所事事，為了讓王子開心，公主常常談論寓言和諺語。有次談論到某個議題時，王子丟了句話：「妳沒聽過女人只聽不語便是美嗎？」

The Princess sank into thought. She didn't quite understand the saying, but she sensed that it was somehow like her tallness. For just as he preferred her sitting, not standing, he seemed more pleased when she listened, and more remote when she talked. 

公主陷入了深思。她其實不太懂那句諺語的意思，但隱隱覺得這跟她的身高一樣；王子比較喜歡她坐著而不是站著，同樣的，王子也比較喜歡她聆聽，而不是高談闊論。

The next day when the Prince came to her chambers he found the royal entourage gathered around her bed. "What's the matter?" he asked. They told him the Princess could not speak, not for herbs or infusions or magic spells. And the Prince sat by the bed and held her hand and spoke to her gently, and she was given a slate to write her desires. All went well for several days. But the Prince was not a great reader, so she put the slate aside, and made conversation with only her eyes and her smile. 

隔天，王子走到公主的閨房時，發現隨扈也都在那兒。「發生甚麼事了？」王子問。他們七嘴八舌的說，「公主不能講話！」、「打針、吃藥、咒語都無效！」王子坐在床邊握著公主的手、輕柔的講話，而公主靠著在紙板上寫字回應。過了幾天一切都很好。但王子的閱讀能力並不好，所以公主就捨棄紙板，靠著熱切的眼神跟溫柔的微笑作為回應。

The Prince told her daily how lovely she was, and then he occupied himself with princely pastimes. Much of the time her only companion was the dog. 

One morning the Prince came to see her before he went hunting. His eyes fixed with disgust on the dog, who lay comfortably over her feet. 

王子告訴公主她有多麼的動人，而以前的生活都被王室娛樂所占滿。對公主而言，她唯一的同伴就是獵犬。

一天早上，王子打獵前去看了公主，他用帶著厭惡的眼神看著躺在公主腳邊的獵犬。

"Really," the Prince said, "sometimes you surprise me." 

「說實話，」王子說，「妳太讓我訝異了。」

He went to strike the dog from the bed, but the Princess stayed his hand. He looked at her in amazement. That night the Princess lay sleepless in the moonlight, and at last, hearing the castle fall silent, and knowing that nobody would catch her talking, she whispered to the dog. "I don't know what I would do without you." 

語畢，王子一巴掌要把獵犬呼下床，但公主制止了他。王子詫異地看著公主。那晚，公主在月光下遲遲無法入眠。最後，聽著城堡都默入寂靜且確定沒有人會聽到後，她小小聲的跟獵犬說：「沒有你的話我不知道該怎麼辦。」

"You'd better get used to the idea," said the dog. "The Prince doesn't like me." 

「妳最好要習慣這個情形，」獵犬說，「王子一點都不喜歡我。」

"He will never take you away." The Princess hugged the dog fiercely. The dog looked at her skeptically and gave a little doggy cough. 

「他不會把你趕走的。」公主熱切地擁抱著獵犬。獵犬真切地看著公主並咳了一聲。

"He took everything else away," he said. 

"No," she said. "I did that. I made myself...someone he could love." 

「他把所有東西都趕走了。」獵犬說。

「不，他沒有；是我趕走的。我想讓自己成為…他愛的那個人」

"I love you, too," the dog said. 

"Of course you do." She scratched his ears. 

「我也愛妳」獵犬說。

「我知道你愛我。」公主抓抓耳朵。

"And," said the dog, "I loved you then." 

「在妳還沒改變前我就愛妳了。」獵犬又強調。

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