SILLY JURA

Once there were two brothers. They were lazy fellows, and thieves into the bargain. They were expected to give a feast. They said to one another: “We haven’t got anything. Wherever shall we find food for the feast?”

So the first said: “I’ll go to our neighbour’s. He has some fine apples, and I’ll pluck some of them.”

The second said: “I’ll go to the shepherd’s. He has some fine rams². I’ll steal a ram¹ from him.”

These two brothers hated the third, and so they abused him: “Silly Jura! You won’t get anything yourself, but you’ll be ready enough to eat what we get.”

So Jura said: “I’ll go to the burgomaster’s and get some nuts.”

In the evening they went their ways. When he had finished plucking the nuts, [56]Jura went into the charnel-house at the back of the church and began to crack the nuts there. The watchmen heard the cracking in the charnel-house, and they thought the place was haunted. As there was no priest in the village (he lived in the next village), they went to the burgomaster and asked him to go with them to the charnel-house, saying that the place was haunted.

The burgomaster said: “I am so ill that I can’t stand on my feet; no doctor can help me.”

But the watchmen insisted, and so the burgomaster told his servant to take him on his back and carry him to the place. The servant carried him along, and the watchmen called at the churchwarden’s to ask for some holy water.

When they came near to the charnel-house, Jura thought it was his brother bringing the ram, so he called out: “Are you bringing him?”

The servant was frightened, and let the burgomaster fall and ran away. The burgomaster was terrified too. He jumped up and ran after the servant. He cleared a wooden fence with one leap in his flight, and it [57]wasn’t long till he reached home. His family wondered to see him cured so quickly without the help of a doctor.

Next day the burgomaster proclaimed that he would give a pound to the man who had stolen his nuts the day before, if he would only come to see him. So Jura went to him, and the burgomaster said: “I ought to punish you for stealing, but since you have cured my illness which nobody was able to cure, I’ll give you the pound I promised, but you mustn’t steal any more.” So Jura promised not to steal any more, and went home.

The brothers grew very fond of him now that he had money. They borrowed the money from him and bought themselves new clothes, and said: “We’ll go to see the world and to get wives for ourselves. As for you, Silly Jura, you must stay at home; you’d never get a good wife for yourself.”

So off they went. But Jura went too. He went to the forest and he was utterly³ dazzled. He had often heard that there was an enchanted⁴ castle in that forest. When he came to the place where the ruins of the castle were, night overtook him, and so he [58]could see nothing except what looked like a light in a cellar. So he went into the cellar to make his night’s lodging⁵ there. There was nobody in the cellar but a cat. The cat greeted him: “Welcome, dear Jura! How did you come here?”

Jura was frightened when he heard the cat speak, and was going to run away. But the cat told him not to go; there was no need to be frightened. He must come back, and no harm would be done to him. If he wanted to eat, he could go into the storeroom and take what he wanted. She would take him for her servant.

So he stayed there a year and had a good time. He never saw a cook, but he always found meals ready prepared in the storeroom. He had nothing to do but get firewood, and at the end of the year he was told to make a great pile of it. Then the cat said: “You must light the pile to-day, and throw me into the fire. You must not help me out, however I entreat⁶ you, but you must let me be consumed.”

Jura answered: “I can’t do that. I have had a good time with you. Why should I repay you in such an evil way?” [59]

The cat said: “If you don’t do as I have said, you will be very unhappy. If you do it, you will be happy.”

So Jura kindled⁷ the pile, and, when it was well alight, he picked up the cat and threw her into the fire. She wanted to escape from the fire, but he wouldn’t let her go. At last he was so weary that he was forced to lie down, and soon he fell asleep. When he awoke, he opened his eyes, and behold⁸! there was no ruin; he heard delightful⁹ music and saw a beautiful palace with crowds of servants. He was wondering at all this, when a splendidly dressed lady came up to him and asked him if he did not know her.

Jura said: “How should I know your ladyship? I never saw you before in my life.”

The lady said: “I am that cat. Witches had put me under enchantment¹⁰ in the shape of a cat. Now we will go after your brothers who hated you so much and see how they are getting on.”

She ordered her people to dress him in fine clothes, a fine carriage was prepared, and they drove off. As they were approaching the village, the lady said to her bridegroom: [60]“Put your old clothes on.” Then she called an old, ragged¹¹ beggarwoman and sent him with her. She herself remained outside of the village.

When the brothers saw Jura coming with the ragged beggarwoman, they shouted: “He is bringing home an old ragged bride, and he’s in rags too.” The other brothers were married too, and they were pretty badly off, so they turned him out and wouldn’t have him at home.

So Jura went out of the village; he changed his clothes and drove back with the lady to his brothers’ cottage. When the carriage stopped before the cottage, the brothers said: “What a fine carriage! Who is that noble lord and the beautiful lady who have come to our cottage?” They did not recognize their brother.

So she said: “Look here. You were always hard on your brother, always sneering¹² at him, and now you are badly off enough, while he is getting on splendidly. If you mend your ways, you will get on too.”

Afterwards she gave them some money and went away with Jura.

1 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

2 rams   

n.公羊( ram的名词复数 )；(R-)白羊（星）座；夯；攻城槌v.夯实（土等）( ram的第三人称单数 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• A couple of rams are butting at each other. 两只羊正在用角互相抵触。 来自辞典例句
• More than anything the rams helped to break what should have been on interminable marriage. 那些牡羊比任何东西都更严重地加速了他们那本该天长地久的婚姻的破裂。 来自辞典例句

3 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

4 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

5 lodging   

n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍

参考例句：

• The bill is inclusive of the food and lodging. 账单包括吃、住费用。
• Where can you find lodging for the night? 你今晚在哪里借宿?

6 entreat   

v.恳求，恳请

参考例句：

• Charles Darnay felt it hopeless entreat him further,and his pride was touched besides.查尔斯-达尔内感到再恳求他已是枉然，自尊心也受到了伤害。
• I entreat you to contribute generously to the building fund.我恳求您慷慨捐助建设基金。

7 kindled   

（使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光

参考例句：

• We watched as the fire slowly kindled. 我们看着火慢慢地燃烧起来。
• The teacher's praise kindled a spark of hope inside her. 老师的赞扬激起了她内心的希望。

8 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

9 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

10 enchantment   

n.迷惑，妖术，魅力

参考例句：

• The beauty of the scene filled us with enchantment.风景的秀丽令我们陶醉。
• The countryside lay as under some dread enchantment.乡村好像躺在某种可怖的魔法之下。

11 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

12 sneering   

嘲笑的，轻蔑的

参考例句：

• "What are you sneering at?" “你冷笑什么？” 来自子夜部分
• The old sorceress slunk in with a sneering smile. 老女巫鬼鬼崇崇地走进来，冷冷一笑。