Chinzaemon the Silent

Chinzaman the Silent, a Japanese folk tale retold by William Harriman, illustrated by David Cockroft.

沉默的金扎曼，日本民间故事，威廉·哈里曼改写，大卫·克罗夫特绘图。

A very long time ago, there lived an armorer named Chinzaman. His swords were very beautiful and perfectly balanced. He was famous throughout the land for the quality of his work. Even more famous than his swords, however, were his scabbards. Swords slipped into them so easily and silently that other

很久很久以前，有一位名叫金扎曼的铠甲铁匠。 他打造的剑精美漂亮，配重恰到好处。 他的作品工艺精湛，在全国都很有名。 不过，他做的剑鞘比剑还要出名。 剑能轻而易举悄无声息地滑入剑鞘，就连其他

A very powerful prince heard about Chinzaman. The prince summoned the armorer to his court. The prince admired the work of the famous silent armorer. He wanted Chinzaman to make weapons for his soldiers and guards. Chinzaman was not only a skillful armorer, he was also very funny and clever. He enjoyed playing practical jokes on people. He had been a very funny child in school, even while serving his time as an apprentice armorer, he continued to tell jokes and play pranks on people.

有一位权势很大的王子听说了金扎曼的名声。 王子把这位铁匠召进了王宫。 王子很欣赏这位著名沉默铁匠的作品。 他想让金扎曼给他的士兵和守卫打造兵器。 金扎曼不只是技艺精湛的铁匠，还既风趣又聪明。 他特别喜欢跟人恶作剧。 他读书时就是个爱逗乐的孩子，当铁匠学徒的时候，也一直讲笑话、跟人恶作剧。

Few people knew that Chinzaman was such a funny man. He only shared his jokes with people he trusted. So when he made the prince laugh and laugh for the whole three hours of his visit, Chinzaman was hired as the prince's new armorer. And no one was more surprised than Chinzaman. The prince must be a noble man, he thought to himself. I will trust him and be very loyal.

很少有人知道金扎曼这么爱开玩笑。 他只跟自己信任的人开玩笑。 所以，当他在拜访时逗得王子整整笑了三个小时后，王子雇他当了新任宫廷铁匠。 这件事连金扎曼自己都没想到，他最吃惊。 他心里想，王子一定是个胸襟开阔的好人。 我要信任他，对他忠心耿耿。

One night, Chinzaman decided he would play a joke on the guards. He knew that some of them fell asleep while they were on duty. He thought it would be humorous to catch them sleeping on the job. They would be very embarrassed. So Chinzaman waited until it was very late in the night, and then quietly left his room. He moved silently through the hallways until he was out on the palace grounds.

一天晚上，金扎曼决定跟守卫们开个玩笑。 他知道有些守卫站岗的时候会睡着。 他觉得抓他们个正着肯定很好玩。 他们肯定会特别不好意思。 于是金扎曼等到夜深人静，才悄悄走出了自己的房间。 他静悄悄地穿过走廊，来到了王宫的庭院里。

Chinzamon sneaked out to the gate where two guards were sleeping. Using very strong glue made from tree sap, he glued their sandals to the ground. He was very quiet so that he did not disturb them. He then did the same thing to four other guards who had fallen asleep.

金扎曼偷偷溜到大门口，那里有两个守卫正在睡觉。 他用树胶做的强力胶水把他们的凉鞋粘在了地上。 他动作特别轻，没有吵醒他们。 接着他给另外四个睡着的守卫也如法炮制。