the Golden Key金鑰匙

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

　　Once in the wintertime when the snow was very deep， a poor boy had to go out and fetch wood on a sled. After he had gathered it together and loaded it， he did not want to go straight home， because he was so frozen， but instead to make a fire and warm himself a little first. So he scraped the snow away， and while he was thus clearing the ground he found a small golden key. Now he believed that where there was a key， there must also be a lock， so he dug in the ground and found a little iron chest. “If only the key fits！” he thought. “Certainly there are valuable things in the chest.” He looked， but there was no keyhole. Finally he found one， but so small that it could scarcely be seen. He tried the key， and fortunately it fitted. Then he turned it once， and now we must wait until he has finished unlocking it and has opened the lid. Then we shall find out what kind of wonderful things there were in the little chest.

隆冬，積雪覆蓋大地，一個貧苦的小男孩不得不出門，滑著雪橇去拾柴。揀到柴，把它們捆起來后，小男孩多么希望他不必立刻回家，能就地升上一堆火暖暖身子啊，他快凍僵了。於是他把雪扒到一邊，清理出一塊地方來，這時他發現了一把小小的金鑰匙。他想，既然鑰匙在，鎖也一定就在附近，便往地里挖，挖出了個鐵盒子。“要是這鑰匙能配這鐵鎖就好了！”他想，“那小盒子里一定有許多珍寶。”他找了找，卻找不到鎖眼。最后他發現了一個小孔，小得幾乎看不見。他試了試，鑰匙正好能插進。他轉動了鑰匙，現在我們要等一等，待他把鐵盒子打開，揭開蓋子，就會知道盒子里有甚么好東西了。