There was great joy in the castle when the king"s daughter came home， and the old king fell on her neck and kissed her. She， however， was sorely（sorely adv.强烈地， 疼痛地， 非常） troubled， and said， “Dear father， what I have suffered. I should never have got home again from the great wild forest， if I had not come to an iron stovestove n.炉， but I have been forced to give my word that I will go back to it， set it free， and marry it.” Then the old king was so terrified that he all but fainted（faint vi.昏晕， 昏倒， 变得微弱， 变得没气力）， for he had but this one daughter. They therefore resolved they would send， in her place， the miller"s daughter， who was very beautiful. They took her there， gave her a knife， and said she was to scrape at the iron stove. So she scraped at it for fourandtwenty hours， but could not bring off the least morsel（morsel n.(食物)一口， 少量） of it. When the day dawned， a voice in the stove said， “It seems to me it is day outside.” Then she answered， “It seems so to me too， I fancy I hear the noise of my father"s mill.” “So you are a miller"s daughter. Then go your way at once， and let the king’s daughter come here.” Then she went away at once， and told the old king that the man outside there would have none of her—he wanted the king’s daughter. Then the old king grew frightened， and the daughter wept. But there was a swineherd"s daughter， who was even prettier than the miller"s daughter， and they determined to give her a piece of gold to go to the iron stove instead of the king"s daughter. So she was taken thither and she also had to scrape for fourandtwenty hours. She， however， was no better at it. When the day broke， a voice inside the stove cried， “It seems to me it is day outside.” Then answered she， “So it seems to me also， I fancy I hear my father’s horn blowing.” “Then you are a swineherd"s daughter. Go away at once， and tell the king"s daughter to come， and tell her all must be done as promised， and if she does not come， everything in the kingdom shall be ruined and destroyed， and not one stone be left standing on another.” When the king"s daughter heard that she began to weep， but now there was nothing for it but to keep her promise. So she took leave of her father， put a knife in her pocket， and went forth to the iron stove in the forest. When she got there， she began to scrape， and the iron gave way， and when two hours were over， she had already scraped a small hole. Then she peeped（peep vi.窥视， 偷看） in， and saw a youth so handsome， and so brilliant（brilliant adj.灿烂的， 闪耀的， 有才气的） with gold and with precious jewels， that her very soul was delighted. So she went on scraping， and made the hole so large that he was able to get out. Then said he， “You are mine， and I am yours， you are my bride， and have released me.” He wanted to take her away with him to his kingdom， but she entreat（edentreat v.恳求， 乞求， <古>对待， 对付） him to let her go once again to her father， and the king"s son allowed her to do so， but she was not to say more to her father than three words， and then she was to come back again. So she went home， but she spoke more than three words， and instantly（instantly adv.立即地， 即刻地） the iron stove disappeared， and was taken far away over glass mountains and piercing（piercing adj.刺骨的， 刺穿的） swords， but the king"s son was set free， and no longer shut up in it. After this she bade goodbye to her father， took some money with her， but not much， and went back to the great forest， and looked for the iron stove， but it was nowhere to be found. For nine days she sought it， and then her hunger grew so great that she did not know what to do， for she had nothing to live on. When it was evening， she seated herself in a small tree， and made up her mind to spend the night there， as she was afraid of wild beasts. When midnight drew near she saw in the distance a small light， and thought， “Ah， there I should be saved.” She got down from the tree， and went towards the light， but on the way she prayed. Then she came to a little old house， and much grass had grown all about it， and a small heap of wood lay in front of it. She thought， “Ah， whither have I come？” and peeped in through the window， but she saw nothing inside but toads（toad n.［动］蟾蜍， 癞蛤蟆， 讨厌的家伙）， big and little， except a table covered with wine and roast meat， and the plates and glasses were of silver. Then she took courage， and knocked at the door， and immediately the fat toad cried， “Little green waitingmaid， Waitingmaid with the limping leg， Little dog of the limping leg， Hop hither and thither， And quickly see who is without.”
老国王又是拥抱她，又是来吻她，她反倒愁眉苦脸，说：“亲爱的爸爸，我好害怕，要不是走到一个大铁炉旁，我从密密的大森林中就再也回不来啦。可是我为此答应再回到它那儿去，搭救他，并嫁给他。”老国王一听，吓得几乎晕倒过去，要知道，他只有这一个独生女呀！他们经过商量，决定拿漂亮的磨坊主的女儿代替公主，把她领进森林中，并给她一把刀子，叫她在铁炉子壁上戳个洞。她戳了整整一天，却连一点铁屑也没戳下来。第二天天亮了，忽听炉子里说：“我觉得，外边是白天了。”姑娘回答：“我也觉得天亮了，好像已听见父亲的水磨在响。”“原来你是磨房主的女儿。快出森林去，叫公主自己来！”姑娘立刻回去报告国王，森林里那家伙不要她，而要他的女儿。国王吓坏了，公主又哭起来。不过，他们还有一个牧猪人的女儿，比磨房主的女儿更加漂亮，他们想给她一些钱，让她代替公主去铁炉子那儿。于是她被带到森林里，在那儿用刀子也整整刮了一天，可是一点儿没刮掉。第二天天亮了，铁炉子里又叫起来：“我觉得外边亮了。”姑娘回答：“我也一样，我好像听到父亲正在吹牧猪的号角啦。”“原来你是牧猪人的女儿！快回去叫公主自己来，告诉她必须遵守自己的诺言。她不来，整个王国将倒塌掉，一切建筑会变为平地！”公主听了这个情况，又开始哭起来，可她没有别的办法，只有兑现自己的诺言。她告别父亲，带上刀子，到森林里的大铁炉那儿去。她一走到就动手戳，铁屑开始往下掉，过了两小时，炉壁上已刮出一个小小的洞。她凑着小洞往里瞧，看见一个异常英俊的小伙子，浑身上下珠光宝气，一下子就高兴起来。于是她更卖力地戳，直到王子能钻出来。王子一出来便对他说：“你是我的，我是你的。你是我的未婚妻，你从铁炉里搭救出了我。”他想带公主回他的王国，公主却求他允许她再去看看自己的父亲，和父亲说三句话，然后马上回来，他也同意了。公主回到了家，可她说的话超过了三句，那炉子立刻不见了，远远地飞到了玻璃山和锋利的宝剑，这时王子已得救。随后，公主与自己父亲告了别，带上一些钱，但不多，重新走进大森林中找铁炉子，可已经找不到了。她一连找了九天，饿得实在不行，却一点办法也没有，因为再也没有吃的东西了。天黑了，她坐在一棵小树上，打算在上边过夜由于在下边害怕野兽。到了半夜，她发现远远地有一点儿亮光，心想：“啊，我这下有救啦！”便从树上爬下来，朝那亮光走去，一边走一边还在祈祷。她终于走到一幢古老的小屋前。屋周围长满野草，只在门外堆着一小堆木柴。她想：“唉，叫我怎么进去呢？”她从窗口往里瞅，看见屋里只有大大小小的一群蛤蟆，可是却有一张餐桌，桌上已摆满美酒佳肴，杯子盘子全银亮银亮的。公主鼓起勇气去敲了敲门，只听一只肥大的蛤蟆叫道：
“绿色的小闺女，
盘腿儿小闺女，
盘腿的小狗狗，
蹦过来又蹦过去，
快看啊，门外是谁呢。”
