THE SPANISH BOOTBLACK
CAROLINE MABRY
When you studied the history of America, you read a great deal about Spain and the Spaniards. You remember those great explorers—De Soto, de Leon, and Coronado. Perhaps you remember also that when we won our freedom, Spain owned nearly all the land from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Even today there are thousands of Spanish-speaking people in our country.
The story you will now read tells something of life in Spain today. In the company of Pepin, the bootblack, you will travel to Seville and Granada, two of the most famous cities in the world.
西班牙鞋童
卡罗琳·麦宝瑞
如果你研究美国史的话，你会读到很多关于西班牙以及西班牙人的材料。你会记起那些伟大的开拓者——迪索托、德里昂和科罗拉多。也许你还记得当我们美国刚独立的时候，西班牙拥有着从密西西比河到太平洋几乎全部的领土。而直至今日，美国还有着成千上万说西班牙语的人。
你现在读的这个故事是有关西班牙当下生活的。鞋童裴平将会带着你游览西班牙著名的两大城市：塞维利亚和格拉纳达。
NO WORK IN RONDA
Pepin was a bootblack in Spain. He lived in Ronda near the great bridge which stretches across a chasm so deep that on one side four hundred steps are carved in the rock leading down to the valley. They are old steps, cut in an early day when the Romans had besieged Ronda, and they were made so that the water carriers could slip down them secretly and bring water from the stream to the thirsty town. Now Ronda lay peacefully in the sunshine, and boys played on the steps, hiding in the caves along the way.
Pepin, usually the jolliest of them all, had not joined the boys today. His heart was heavy. He stood leaning over the high bridge looking out across the valley where the river turned the wheels of the grist mills. In his pocket was only one “little dog,” which is a small coin with a lion on it. It was the last one Pepin had, for there had not been many boots to black lately in Ronda. They needed blacking just as they had before, for the paths of Spain are dusty and rough with pebbles. But the crops had not been good this summer, and everyone was poor—too poor even to pay Pepin a few pennies to shine dusty shoes.
He stood now with his work box set on the railing of the bridge, begging the passers-by to let him polish their shoes. But they shook their heads, and with a kind word went on their way. Up the steep road that led from the valley, Pepin could see his older brother coming from the grist mill where he worked. With lagging steps, Pepin went to meet him. As they stopped at the door of their house right at the edge of the bluff, Pepin sighed.
“Why are you so sad today?” his brother asked kindly.
“No work. I ask and ask, and there’s nothing to do,” Pepin answered. “If I could only go to some other town, to one of the cities, where there are more people and where they aren’t so poor!”
“Why can’t you?” his brother asked.
“No money, only one little dog, and it wouldn’t take me far on the train, hardly to the next station.”
“Pepin, could you go if I’d loan you my donkey?” his brother asked.
“Yes, but how would you get back and forth to the mill?”
“I’ll walk,” his brother offered.
隆达镇无事可做的鞋童
裴平是西班牙的一名擦鞋童。他住的隆达镇坐落在一座大桥的附近。这座大桥横跨峡谷，峡谷很深，其中一边的岩石上凿了四百级台阶通往谷底。石阶十分古旧，那还是当年罗马人包围隆达时镇里为方便运水人秘密从山谷下取水而凿的。眼下，隆达镇正静静地沐浴在阳光里，男孩们要么在石阶上玩耍，要么躲进沿途的石洞里嬉戏。
往常欢快的裴平这次却没有和其他孩子们在一起。他的心情很沉重，他倚在大桥边，眺望着峡谷，看着靠溪流推动磨坊的水车。他的口袋里只有一枚“小狗”币了。事实上，这是一枚印着一只狮子的硬币，也是裴平仅有的一枚硬币了，因为近隆达镇实在没有多少擦鞋的生意。西班牙的路大多铺着粗糙的鹅卵石，而且灰尘很大，人们都需要擦鞋。但是今年的庄稼收成不好，每个人都很穷，穷得连几个擦鞋的子儿都付不起了。
现在他就站在那里，擦鞋的工具箱就摆在桥的栏杆上。他祈求着每一个过往的人来擦鞋。路人们要么摇摇头，要么婉言谢绝。沿着峡谷陡峭的山路望去，裴平看见他的哥哥正从工作所在的谷坊走来。于是，他拖着蹒跚的步子，迎了上去。在断崖处的房门口相遇后，裴平叹了一口气。
“今天怎么这么难过啊？”哥哥和蔼地问道。
“没生意。我不停地问，可还是没人擦鞋，”裴平回答道，“要是能去外地，到城市里去该多好啊！那儿会有很多有钱人！”
“那为什么不去呢？”哥哥反问道。
“没钱，就剩一个子儿了，不够坐火车，一站都不够坐。”
“如果我把我的驴子借给你，你能去吗？”
“能的，但你怎么去磨坊呢？”
“我走路。”哥哥答道。
THE WONDERS OF GRANADA
A few days later Pepin set out toward the mountains, on the donkey. His mother had filled one of his saddle bags with food enough to last until he could earn more money, and in the other bag he carried an old quilt to cover him when he slept along the road at night. Behind him was strapped his boot-blacking box, ready for any work he might pick up along the way.
For several days Pepin rode steadily westward through the mountain passes toward Granada. He was sure he could get work there; it was a larger city than Ronda, and many travelers came to see its fine old palace, the Alhambra. Snow covered peaks rose high above Pepin’s head, as the donkey with sure feet made its way over the stony paths. At last they came to Granada.
On a hill above the town, Pepin could see the palace walls. As he rode toward them, he stopped before a shop with embroidered shawls and brass candlesticks in the window. A man was coming out of the door, followed by two ladies, and from their talk Pepin knew that they were Americans, for he had heard other Americans talking, who had come to see the bridge in Ronda. In soft Spanish words Pepin asked to black their shoes. They did not understand what he said, but they saw his box and knew its meaning.
“Here’s a bootblack wanting a job,” the man said, turning to the others. “We may as well stop for a shine.”
Pepin tried to catch the word he had used, but he couldn’t quite say it. Still, he tried as he rubbed the dust from the man’s shoes.
“Bo——ot,” was as far as Pepin could go.
“Bootblack,” the man repeated.
“Bootblack,” Pepin said, his brushes flying.
He said it over and over again, for if he knew a word familiar to Americans, it would be easier to persuade them to let him shine their shoes. With the pennies from his work jingling in his pocket, Pepin rode up the hill and through the gate that leads to the mountain on which the palace stands. Trees arched over his head, and streams trickled down the hill, making soft music. It was easy to find the road, for many were going toward the Alhambra. As he came to the
outer wall, Pepin found a place to tie his donkey. He passed under the Gate of Justice, with its hand carved in stone, and mounted a flight of steps.
He faced a garden with a fountain playing in it. There were travelers resting on the stone benches. He polished some of their shoes. He saw people coming and going through the door that led into the palace, and he joined them. But there he found that he would have to pay to enter. He was out of food now, and he needed to save his money. Through the palace door he could see a long hall leading to an archway shaped like a horse shoe, and the walls gleamed with tiles of many colors. He wanted to enter, but he turned away. Some other time perhaps.
Pepin found a cottage near by facing an olive grove, and the owner of the cottage would let him stay there for a few cents a day. And so Pepin made it his home while he was in the city. It was a three-room plaster house, and his room opened on a balcony that looked over the town of Granada, far below. In the hillside between him and the town there were gypsy caves, and at evening the gypsies came out to dance. Graygreen olive trees stretched beyond the house, and flowers bloomed under his balcony. To the left he could see snow covered mountains, and he often watched the sunset turn them to pink and gold.
Every day he went to the palace gate to polish shoes. His pennies were growing, for the Americans liked the little bootblack who could ask for work in their own language. And then the day came when he felt he could spare the money to pay for a ticket at the palace door. Pepin had never seen anything so wonderful. Fountains splashed in the courtyards, and the walls gleamed with little tiles set with jewels. Their plaster was covered with delicate designs so that every inch of them was beautiful.
Pepin wandered from room to room, stopping beside the pools to look up at the latticed windows, from which princesses had peeped when the Moorish kings lived here. He found the Court of Lions, where twelve stone lions guard the fountain. They are very old, and have guarded it for many, many years. He looked through arched windows into the courtyards. Pepin’s heart was filled with beauty.
格拉纳达的奇迹
几天之后，裴平骑着小毛驴向大山进发了。他妈妈将他鞍囊的一只挂包里塞满了食物，足够他支撑到挣到钱的时候了。另一个挂包里是一床旧被子，以便他路上在夜晚露宿时用。裴平将他的擦鞋箱背在身后，路上有生意的话，随时都可以用。
裴平骑着小毛驴一连几天稳稳当当地穿过西面山峦，走向了格拉纳达。他确信在那里有活干。格拉纳达可是个大城市，许多旅行者都慕名去参观那古老而别致的阿尔罕布拉宫殿。小毛驴嗒嗒地踏着石头路，穿行在高耸的冰雪覆盖的山峰中。后，他们来到了格拉纳达。
裴平伫立在城镇不远的一座山上，望见了宫殿的墙。他继续向宫殿方向行进，在一个卖刺绣丝巾和铜烛台的商店前停了下来。这时一名男子走了出来，后面跟着两名女子。从他们的口音，裴平判断出他们是美国人，因为之前在大桥的时候，他曾听过美国人说话。裴平用轻柔的西班牙语询问他们是否要擦鞋。他们听不懂，但是从裴平的工具箱猜出了裴平的意思。
“这儿有个鞋童想做活，”男子对另外两个人说道，“要不我们擦个鞋吧。”
裴平试着学男子说话，可是却说不好。尽管如此，他还是一面去擦男子鞋上的灰，一面费力地复述男子的词句。
“鞋——子。”裴平只能说成这样了。
“擦鞋子。”男子重复道。
“擦鞋子。”裴平跟着说了一遍，刷子在鞋上刷得飞快。他反复重复着这个单词，因为学会这个英语单词，更方便他招揽生意。裴平揣着赚得的几便士，穿过宫殿所在的山门，骑着毛驴上了山。一路上，树木缠绕，枝叶遮顶，潺潺的溪水吟唱着欢快的歌曲。山路不难寻觅，因为很多人来这参观。不久，裴平来到了宫殿的外墙，找了个地方拴住驴子。随后，他穿过了石刻的正义之门，爬上了台阶。
随即展现在他面前的是一座带有喷泉的花园。有些旅行者正坐在石椅上休息。给他们擦完鞋之后，他看见了进进出出的人群，于是也加入了进去。不过发现想进殿门要交钱，但现在自己食物也已经吃完，得把钱攒下来才行。殿门朝里是一条通向马蹄形拱门的长廊。廊壁镶着五彩斑斓的瓦片。他很想进去看一看，不过终还是放弃了。兴许以后还有机会。
裴平找了间面朝一片橄榄树林的房子住了下来。房东只收他一天几分钱的房租。就这样，裴平把这里当作自己在城里的家。这是一座三间房的灰泥房，他的房间带着阳台，在阳台上可以俯眺格拉纳达城。城镇与住所之间的山坡上是吉卜赛山洞。每到晚上，吉卜赛人便从山洞出来载歌载舞。房子周围满是大片的橄榄树，阳台下花团锦簇。往左望去，是冰雪覆盖的山峦。裴平喜欢欣赏日落，看着夕阳将雪山染成粉色和金色。
裴平每天都会来到宫殿门口擦鞋。他挣的钱越来越多，因为美国人喜欢这个操着英语揽生意的小鞋童。终于有一天，裴平觉得自己可以买一张去宫殿的门票了。在那里，他见到了从未见过的神奇美景。院子里喷泉溅涌，墙壁上珠宝夺目。每一寸的墙面都精致地布满了各种漂亮的装饰。
裴平徘徊在不同屋子之间，随后驻足在水池旁，目光停在了上方的一扇格子窗上。摩尔王时期，公主们就是通过这个窗户向外窥望的。他还参观了狮院，那儿有12座石狮看护着喷泉。这些古老的石狮子在这里守护了很多很多年。裴平透过拱窗向院内望去，那里的美景让他感到窒息。
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GLOSSARY
难词表.......................................... ........................ .... 378