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An axe was brought at once, and the old tree was felled to loud cheers from the courtiers and the charlatan.
斧頭立刻就被拿來了，老樹被砍倒了，江湖騙子和朝臣們大聲歡呼。
However, as they were making ready to return to the palace, the sound of loud cackling stopped them in their tracks.
可是，就在他們準備返回宮殿時，突然傳來響亮的呱呱笑聲讓他們停住了腳步。
“Fools!” cried Babbitty's voice from the stump they had left behind.
“傻瓜！”剛才被砍掉的那棵樹的樹樁里傳出了巴比蒂的喊叫聲。
“No witch or wizard can be killed by being cut in half! Take the axe, if you do not believe me, and cut the Grand Sorcerer in two!”
“把巫師砍成兩半是弄不死他們的！如果不信，就拿起斧頭，把大魔法師砍成兩半吧！”
The Captain of the Brigade of Witch-Hunters was eager to make the experiment, but as he raised the axe the charlatan fell to his knees, screaming for mercy and confessing all his wickedness.
女巫追捕小分隊的隊長急于做這個實驗，但是他剛把斧頭舉起來，江湖騙子就跪倒在地，尖叫著懇求饒命，并坦白了自己的罪惡。
As he was dragged away to the dungeons, the tree stump cackled more loudly than ever.
正當他被拖向地牢時，樹樁又呱呱大笑起來，比以前笑得還要響亮。
“By cutting a witch in half, you have unleashed a dreadful curse upon your kingdom!” it told the petrified King.
“把一個女巫砍成兩半，你就給你的王國加了一道可怕的詛咒！”它對目瞪口呆的國王說，
“Henceforth, every stroke of harm that you inflict upon my fellow witches and wizards will feel like an axe stroke in your own side, until you will wish you could die of it!”
“從今往后，你加在我巫師同伴身上的每一絲傷害，都會像斧頭一樣砍在你自己的身上，直到讓你生不如死！”
At that, the King fell to his knees too, and told the stump that he would issue a proclamation at once, protecting all the witches and wizards of the kingdom, and allowing them to practise their magic in peace.
聽了這話，國王也跪了下去，對樹樁說他立刻就發布一則通告，保護王國里所有的男女巫師，允許他們平平安安地練習魔法。
“Very good,” said the stump, “but you have not yet made amends to Babbitty!”
“很好，”樹樁說，“但是你還沒有對巴比蒂做出補償呢！”
“Anything, anything at all!” cried the foolish King, wringing his hands before the stump.
“什么都行，什么都可以！”愚蠢的國王喊道，在樹樁前擰著兩只手。
“You will erect a statue of Babbitty upon me, in memory of your poor washerwoman, and to remind you for ever of your own foolishness!” said the stump.
“你要在我上面豎起一座巴比蒂的雕像，紀念你可憐的洗衣婦，從而讓你永遠不會忘記你的愚蠢行為！”樹樁說。
The King agreed to it at once, and promised to engage the foremost sculptor in the land, and have the statue made of pure gold.
國王立刻答應了，并保證請來全國著名的雕刻家，用純金打造那座雕像。
Then the shamed King and all the noblemen and women returned to the palace, leaving the tree stump cackling behind them.
然后，羞愧難當的國王和所有的王公貴族返回了宮殿，留下樹樁在他們身后呱呱大笑。
When the grounds were deserted once more, there wriggled from a hole between the roots of the tree stump a stout and whiskery old rabbit with a wand clamped between her teeth.
等庭院里空無一人時，從樹樁根部的一個洞里，鉆出了一只胖乎乎的、長著胡須的老兔子，它的牙齒間咬著一根魔杖。
Babbitty hopped out of the grounds and far away, and ever after a golden statue of the washerwoman stood upon the tree stump, and no witch or wizard was ever persecuted in the kingdom again.
巴比蒂蹦蹦跳跳地離開庭院遠去了，從那以后，一座洗衣婦的金雕像一直豎立在那個樹樁上，王國里也再沒有巫師遭到迫害。
