1.The King's son was going to be married. On the wedding day, at the gate of the castle, the Prince was waiting to receive her. When he saw her, he sank upon one knee, and kissed her hand. 'Your picture was beautiful,' he murmured, 'but you are more beautiful than your picture;' and the Princess blushed. The Marriage was going to be magnificent; there was a state Banquet planned, and after the banquet there was a ball organized, where the bride and bridegroom were to dance together. The little Princess had never seen fireworks in her life, so the King had given orders that the Royal Pyrotechnist should attend the day of her marriage. During the banquet, the Royal Pyrotechnist put all the fireworks in their proper place, so they could be let off right away at 12 o’ clock.
國王的兒子就要結婚了，婚禮當天，在城堡的門口王子正等著迎接她的到來。一看見她來了，他就單膝跪地，親吻她的手。 “你的照片好漂亮，”他輕聲地說，“不過你比照片更漂亮。”小公主的臉一下子就紅 了。 婚禮將會很盛大，接著又舉行了國宴，宴會之后舉辦了舞會，新郎和新娘將要一塊兒跳舞。小公主一生也 沒有看過放煙花，因此國王下令皇家煙花手要親自出席當天的婚禮以便施放煙花。在宴會上，皇家火藝師把所有的煙花放在適當的地方，這樣他們就可以在十二點的時候放完。
2.Soon, the fireworks began to talk to each other. A pensive Catharine Wheel, who prided herself on her broken heart exclaimed suddenly; 'How lovely! But love is not fashionable any more, the poets have killed it. They wrote so much about it that nobody believed them. True love suffers, and is silent. I remember myself once - But it is no matter now. Romance is a thing of the past.’
不一會兒，煙花們便自己交談起來，　“多么可愛呀，”一枚深思熟慮的轉輪煙火激動地喊道。她 以這段傷心的經歷而自豪。“不過愛情已不再時髦了， 詩人們把它給扼殺了。他們對愛情抒發得太多，使人們不再相信那么回事。對此，我一點也 不覺得吃驚。真正的愛情是痛苦的、是沉默的。我記得自己曾有過那么一回——可是現在已經結束了。浪漫只屬于過去。”
3.'Nonsense! said the Roman Candle, 'Romance never dies. It is like the moon, and lives for ever. 'But the Catharine Wheel shook her head and continued saying ‘romance is dead, romance is dead.’ Suddenly, a sharp, dry cough was heard, and they all turned around. It came from a tall Rocket. He always coughed to attract attention. 'Ahem! ahem!' he said, and everybody listened except the poor Catharine Wheel, who was still shaking her head, and murmuring, 'Romance is dead, quite dead’.
“胡說！”羅馬燭光彈說，“浪漫永遠不會消亡，它猶如月亮一樣，永遠活著。　可是只見轉輪煙火搖搖頭，喃喃地說，“浪漫已經消亡了，浪漫已經消亡了，已經消亡 了。”。突然，傳來一聲尖尖的干咳聲，他們都轉頭四下張望。 這聲音來自一個高大的火箭，它在發表言論 之前，總要先咳上幾聲，好引起人們的注意。 “啊咳！啊咳！”他咳嗽著。大家都認真地聽著，只有可憐的轉輪煙火仍舊搖著頭，喃 喃地說，“浪漫已經消亡了。”
4.As soon as there was perfect silence, the Rocket began. 'How fortunate it is for the King's son,' he remarked, 'that he is to be married on the very day on which I am to be let off. It could not have turned out better for him; but Princes are always lucky.' 'Dear me! said the little Squib, 'I thought that we were all to be let off in the Prince's honour.'
等到周圍完全安靜下來時，火箭開始了發言。“國王的兒子真是幸運啊，”他說道，“他結婚的日子正好是我要升天燃放的時候。真 是的，就算是事先安排好的，對他來說也沒有比這更好的了；但話又說回來，王子們總是交 好運的。” “我的媽呀！”小爆竹說，“我的想法卻正好相反，我想我們是為了王子的榮譽而升天 燃放的。”
5.'Indeed’, said the rocket, but with me it is different. I am a very remarkable Rocket. First of all, my mother was the most celebrated Catharine Wheel of her day, and was renowned for her graceful dancing. My father was a Rocket like myself. He flew so high that the people were afraid that he would never come down again. He did, though, for he was of a kindly disposition, and he made a most brilliant shower of golden rain. The newspapers called him a triumph of Pylotechnic art.' 'Pyrotechnic! Pyrotechnic, you mean,' said a Bengal Light.
“事實上這一點是肯定無疑的。不過對我而 言事情就不一祥了。我是一枚非常神奇的火箭，出身于一個了不起的家庭。我母親是她那個 時代最出名的轉輪煙火，并以她優美的舞姿而著稱。我的父親像我一樣也是火箭，他飛得可真高，人們都擔心 他不會下來了。盡管如此，他還是下來了，因為他性格善良。他化作一陣金色的雨，非常耀眼地落了下來。報紙用足吹捧的詞句描述他的表演。的確，宮廷的報紙把他稱為煙花藝術的 一個偉大成就。” “煙花藝術，煙花藝術，你是說這個詞吧？”孟加拉火炮說。

6.'I was saying,' continued the Rocket in a severed tone of voice, 'I was saying - What was I saying?' 'You were talking about yourself,' replied the Roman Candle. 'Of course; I knew I was discussing some interesting subject when I was so rudely interrupted. I hate rudeness and bad manners of every kind, for I am extremely sensitive. No one in the whole world is so sensitive as I am, I am quite sure of that.' 'What is a sensitive person?' whispered the Cracker to the Roman Candle. 'A person who always treads on other people's toes,' answered the Roman Candle in a low whisper; and the Cracker nearly exploded with laughter.
“我是說，”火箭繼續說，“我是說——我說的是什么？” “你在說你自己，”羅馬燭光彈回答說。 　“的確，我知道我正在討論某個有趣的話題，卻被人給粗暴地打斷了。我討厭各種粗魯 的舉止和不良行為，因為我是個非常敏感的人。全世界沒有哪個人比我更敏感了，對此我深 信不疑。” “一個敏感的人是指什么？”爆竹對羅馬燭光彈問道。 “一個人總想著踩別人的腳趾頭，”羅馬燭光彈低聲耳語道。 爆竹差一點沒笑破肚皮。
7.'What are you laughing at?' inquired the Rocket. 'I am laughing because I am happy,' replied the Cracker. 'That is a very selfish reason,' said the Rocket angrily. 'What right have you to be happy? You should be thinking about others. In fact, you should be thinking about me. I am always thinking about myself, and I expect everybody else to do the same. That is what is called sympathy. It is a beautiful virtue, and I possess it in a high degree. Suppose, for instance, anything happened to me tonight, what a misfortune that would be for every one! The Prince and Princess would never be happy again, their whole married life would be spoiled; and as for the King, I know he would not get over it. Really, when I begin to reflect on the importance of my position, I am almost moved to tears.'
“請問你笑什么呀？”火箭開口問道，“我就一點沒有笑。” “我笑是因為我高興，”爆竹回答說。 “這理由太自私了，”火箭臉帶怒色地說，“你有什么權利高興？你應該為別人想想。 實際上，你應該為我想想。我總是想著我自己，我也希望別人都會這么做。這就是所謂的同 情。這是個可愛的美德，我這方面的德性就很高。例如，假定今天夜里我出了什么事，那么 對每一個人來說會是多么的不幸！王子和公主再也不會開心了，他們的婚后生活將會被毀 掉；至于國王，他或許經不住這場打擊。真的，我一想起自己所處的重要地位，我幾乎感動 得流下眼淚。”
8.He actually burst into real tears. Then the moon rose and the stars began to shine. 'Let the fireworks begin,' said the King, and it was certainly a magnificent display. Everyone was a great success, except for the Remarkable Rocket. The gunpowder inside him was so wet with tears that he was of no use, so nobody even approached him. 'I suppose they are reserving me for some grand occasion,' said the Rocket; 'no doubt that is what it means.'
他真的哭了。月亮升起，星星開始發光。“讓煙火開始吧,”國王說,“那的確是一場壯觀的表演.除了那非凡的火箭，每個人都獲得了巨大的成功。他體內的火藥被淚水淋濕了，他已經沒用了，所以甚至沒有人接近他。“我想他們是要把我留在某個重要的場合，”火箭說，“毫無疑問，這就是它的意思。”
9.The next day the workmen came to put everything tidy. 'Hallo!' one of them cried, 'what a bad rocket!' and he threw him over the wall into the ditch. 'BAD Rocket? BAD Rocket?' he said as he whirled through the air; 'impossible! GRAND Rocket, that is what the man said. BAD and GRAND sound very much the same, indeed they often are the same;' and he fell into the mud.
第二天工人們來打掃清理。“嘿！”他大喊了一聲，“這么破舊的一枚火箭！”說完他便把火箭丟到墻外的陰溝里去了。 “破舊火箭？破舊火箭？”他在空中一邊翻滾著一邊說，“不可能！大火箭，那個人就 是這么說的。破舊和大這兩個發音是非常接近的，的確它們常常是一樣的發音。”接著他就 掉進了陰溝里。
10.Then, a little Frog swam up to him. 'A new arrival, I see! said the Frog. 'Well, after all there is nothing like mud. Give me rainy weather and a ditch, and I am quite happy!' 'Ahem! ahem!' said the Rocket, and he began to cough. 'What a delightful voice you have!' cried the Frog. 'Really it is quite like a croak; the most musical sound in the world. You should hear our club this evening. As soon as the moon rises we begin. It is so entrancing that everybody lies awake to listen to us. In fact, it was only yesterday that I heard the farmer's wife say to her mother that she could not get a wink of sleep at night on account of us. It is most gratifying to find oneself so popular.'
這時一只小青蛙朝他游了過來， 　“看來，是個新到的！”青蛙說，“啊，畢竟跟稀泥巴不一樣。我只要能享受雨天和一 條陰溝，我便會十分幸福。” “啊咳！啊咳！”火箭說著便咳了起來。 “你的聲音多好聽啊！”青蛙大聲叫道．“真像是青蛙的呱呱叫聲，這種呱呱聲當然是 世界上最美好的音樂了。今天晚上你可以來聽聽我們合唱隊的演出。月亮一升起我們便開始表演。那可太迷人了，人人都睜著雙眼躺著聽我們唱。其 實，就在昨天我還聽農夫的妻子對她的母親說，就是因為我們的存在，使她整夜一點兒也睡 不著。能受到這么多人的歡迎，真是高興。”
11. 'Ahem! ahem!' said the Rocket angrily. He was very much annoyed that he could not get a word in. 'A delightful voice, certainly,' continued the Frog; 'I hope you will come over to the duck-pond tonight to join us. Well, good-bye: I have enjoyed our conversation very much!' ‘Conversation, indeed!' said the Rocket. 'You have talked the whole time yourself. That is not conversation.' 'Somebody must listen,' answered the Frog, 'and I like to do all the talking myself. It saves time, and prevents arguments.' 'But I like arguments,' said the Rocket. 'I hope not,' said the Frog complacently. 'Arguments are extremely vulgar. Good-bye a second time.' And the little Frog swam away.
“啊咳！啊咳！”火箭生氣地說。由于連一句話也插不進去，他感到非常惱火。 “真是美妙的音樂，”青蛙繼續說，“我希望你能到池塘來加入我們。好了，再見，我們的談話真讓我開心，我信得過你。” “談話，一點不假！”火箭說，“都是你一個人在說話，那不算談話。” “總得要人聽啊，”青蛙回答說，“我也喜歡一個人談話。這節省時間，且避免爭吵。” “可我卻喜歡爭吵，”火箭說。 “我不希望這樣，”青蛙得意地說，“爭吵太粗俗了，再一次告別了，”說完小青蛙就游走了。