There are certain places where the very earth itself is charged with that fiery, unpredictable energy, known as magic. One of those centres of enchantment is in Lanarkshire, Scotland. You have to tramp for miles and miles across a bleak, soggy moorland to reach it – but eventually you will see a mound of jagged rocks rising out of the peat bog. That will be Merlin’s Crag.
有些地方，土地本身就蕴含着那种炽热、难以捉摸的能量，也就是人们所说的魔法。其中一处充满魔力的地方位于苏格兰的拉纳克郡。你得在荒凉潮湿的荒野上跋涉数英里才能到达—— 但最终你会看到一堆嶙峋的岩石从泥炭沼中突兀地冒出来。那就是梅林岩。
The folk who live thereabouts say that over a thousand years ago, the famous wizard, Merlin, lived and practiced his magic among those rocks. No doubt he made use of his spells of the black peat that was all around him. You see peat is like no other earth - for it burns, and gives warmth and life to the people who seek out a living on the moorlands.
住在附近的人们说，一千多年前，著名的巫师梅林曾在那些岩石间生活并施展魔法。毫无疑问，他利用了周围黑色的泥炭施展法术。要知道，泥炭和其他泥土不同—— 它可以燃烧，为在荒野上讨生活的人们带来温暖和生机。
A few hundred years ago, a poor but honest man worked on a farm near Merlin’s Crag. One day his master sent him to the Crag to dig up slabs of peat and fetch them back for fuel. The man did as he was told, and he had just begun to slice the ground with his shovel and lift up the peat when all at once the smallest wee woman that he had ever seen in his life appeared before him. She was certainly a dainty little creature – perhaps no more than two feet high. She was clad in a green gown and red stockings, and her long yellow hair tumbled down to her waist.
几百年前，在梅林岩附近的一个农场里，有个贫穷却诚实的人。一天，主人派他去梅林岩挖掘泥炭块，带回来做燃料。这人照做了，他刚用铲子切开地面，掀起泥炭，突然，一个他这辈子见过的最矮小的女人出现在他面前。她确实是个娇小可爱的人儿—— 可能还不到两英尺高。她身着绿色长袍，穿着红色长袜，长长的金发垂至腰间。
The man was dumbfounded. He stuck his spade into the ground and gaped at her. She wagged her finger at him and said angrily, “What do you mortals think you are doing when you dig up our roof? How would you like it if I came along with a giant spade and took the lid off your house?”
这人惊呆了。他把铲子插进地里，目瞪口呆地看着她。她冲他摇晃着手指，生气地说：“你们这些凡人，挖我们的屋顶，到底在想什么？要是我拿着一把巨大的铲子来，把你家的屋顶掀了，你会作何感想？”
She stamped her wee foot and demanded, “You put that turf back at once, or you will rue the day that you ever lifted it!”
她跺着小脚，要求道：“你马上把那块草皮放回去，否则你会后悔把它挖起来的！”
Now the poor man’s teeth began to chatter with fright, for he had heard stories of how when a mortal offends the fairy-folk, the fairies wreak a terrible revenge. He swiftly shovelled the peat back into its place, patted it down nicely, and returned to his master to tell him what had happened.
可怜的男人吓得牙齿开始打战，因为他听过不少凡人冒犯小精灵后，小精灵如何实施可怕报复的故事。他赶忙用铲子把泥炭填回原处，仔细拍平，然后回去向主人讲述发生的事。
The master only jeered at him. “A fairy you say? Taking the roof off her house were you? Drinking whisky more like it… No, go back at once and fetch me some peat or there will be no wages for you this very week!”
主人却嘲笑他：“你说看到个小精灵？还掀了她家屋顶？我看你是威士忌喝多了吧…… 不行，马上回去给我挖些泥炭来，不然这周别想拿到工钱！”
The poor man had little choice but to do as he was told – for he had to feed his wife and two wee bairns – those were his children.
可怜的男人别无选择，只能照做，因为他得养活妻子和两个年幼的孩子。
So he spent the next few days working hard, digging peat and fetching it back to the farm. During this time no fairies appeared to him – not a single one.
于是，接下来的几天他努力干活，挖泥炭并运回农场。这段时间，没有小精灵出现，一个都没有。
A year went by and the man still had not caught sight of another fairy – and he began to think that his master might have been right – perhaps he had only seen the fairy in a dream.
一年过去了，男人再没见过小精灵，他开始觉得主人或许是对的，也许他看到小精灵只是一场梦。
Autumn went by, and then winter and spring, until once again it was summer. It was the very same day that he had lifted the peat the year before. The man had been working hard on the farm, and his master was pleased with him and gave him a present of some milk to take home to his family. He set off on his journey home with a spring in his step, and was humming a happy tune. As it was such a nice evening, he went home the long way over the moor, by a path that led past Merlin’s Crag. When he reached the crag his legs felt strangely tired, and he sat down on the ground, and soon fell into a deep sleep.
秋去冬来，春去夏又至，又到了前一年他挖泥炭的那天。男人一直在农场辛勤劳作，主人对他很满意，给了他一些牛奶，让他带回家给家人。他步伐轻快地踏上归途，还哼着欢快的小曲。因为当晚天气宜人，他选择了那条穿过荒野、经过梅林岩的远路回家。到达梅林岩时，他突然觉得双腿异常疲惫，便坐在地上，很快就沉沉睡去。
It was near midnight when he was awoken by some strange but lively music. He rubbed his eyes and what a shock he had when he saw that a band of fairies were dancing around him, glowering at him, and pointing their wee fists in his face.
将近午夜时分，一阵奇怪却欢快的音乐声将他唤醒。他揉揉眼睛，看到一群小精灵围着他跳舞，怒目而视，还朝他挥舞着小拳头，他震惊不已。
He got up and tried to start on his way, but wherever he went, the fairies danced in a ring around him. Then out of the ring stepped the bonniest wee lady and the other fairies laughed and called out, “Dance man, dance!”
他站起身，试图继续赶路，但无论他往哪走，小精灵们都围成一圈在他周围跳舞。接着，从圈中走出一位极为美丽的小精灵，其他小精灵笑着叫嚷道：“跳舞啊，伙计，跳舞！”
When the lady reached up, she took him by the hands. Although he had never been much of a dancer in his youth, he found himself waltzing and reeling as if he had been a dancer all his life. His head felt happy and light and he forgot all about his home, his wife and his wee bairns. The whole night long they danced on until at last they heard the shrill sound of the farmyard cock greeting the morning with his loudest crowing.
小精灵走上前，牵起他的手。尽管他年轻时并不擅长跳舞，但此刻却不由自主地跳起舞来，旋转、摇摆，仿佛生来就是个舞者。他感觉脑袋轻飘飘的，满心欢喜，把家、妻子和孩子们都抛到了九霄云外。他们就这样跳了一整晚，直到最后听到农家公鸡那尖锐的打鸣声，它正扯着嗓子迎接清晨的到来。
All at once the merriment ceased. The fairies stampeded headlong towards the crag, and they dragged the man along with them. A door opened up in the rocks and in they all clattered. The door closed behind them and they led the man down below the ground into a dimly lit hall.
突然间，欢乐的氛围戛然而止。小精灵们一窝蜂地朝着梅林岩冲去，还拽着这个男人一起。岩石上出现了一扇门，他们全都一拥而入。门在他们身后关上，小精灵们带着男人下到地下，来到一个光线昏暗的大厅。
Here the fairies busied themselves with tasks: Some dipped quill pens in magic ink, and copied out spells and fairy laws on to scrolls of parchment. Others were making fairy honey out of flowers, and still others were distilling fairy whisky.
在这里，小精灵们各自忙着手里的活儿：有的将羽毛笔蘸进魔法墨水，把咒语和小精灵的律法抄写在羊皮卷轴上；有的用花朵制作小精灵蜂蜜；还有的在蒸馏小精灵威士忌。
The man could do nothing but sit down and watch and be amazed. Towards evening time, the wee woman in red stockings whom he had first seen a year ago came before him and led him back up to the door by which they had entered. She said, “The turf which you took from the roof of our house has reformed, and there is grass growing over it once again. Now you may go home, but you must swear never to tell any mortal of our secrets.”
男人只能坐下，惊奇地看着这一切。傍晚时分，一年前他最先见到的那个穿着红色长袜的小精灵来到他面前，领着他回到他们进来时的那扇门。她说：“你从我们屋顶拿走的草皮已经复原，上面又长出了青草。现在你可以回家了，但你必须发誓，绝不向任何凡人透露我们的秘密。”
The man swore never to tell the fairy secrets to a living soul – for he had seen some things which I have not been able to tell you about, and the door opened and he went back out onto the moor.
男人发誓绝不向任何人吐露小精灵的秘密—— 因为他看到了一些我无法向你讲述的事情。随后门打开了，他回到了荒野之上。
When he reached home, his wife stared at him in amazement. She seemed somehow to have aged. Then his children came into the hall of the house – but they were no longer wee infants, but lads and lasses, and they did not know him.
当他回到家，妻子惊讶地盯着他。不知为何，她似乎苍老了许多。接着，孩子们走进屋里的大厅—— 但他们已不再是小婴儿，而是长成了小伙子和大姑娘，并且都不认识他了。
“Where have you been for these long long years?” Demanded his wife. "How could you do such a thing as to run off and leave your wife and wee bairns to fend for ourselves?"
“这些年你究竟去了哪里？” 妻子质问道，“你怎么能做出这样的事，抛下妻子和年幼的孩子，让我们自生自灭？”
The man did not know what to say to this, but he soon learned that the one day he had spent underground had lasted seven years, while the turf grew back over their roof. From that day on, he never again dug peat from that part of the moor, or even dared to venture near to Merlin’s Crag.
男人不知该如何作答，很快他便得知，他在地下度过的一天，在地面上竟已过去了七年，这段时间里，他们屋顶的草皮重新长好了。从那天起，他再也没从荒野的那个地方挖过泥炭，甚至都不敢靠近梅林岩。
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