The Selfish Giant 自私的巨人 奥斯卡·王尔德 Oscar Wilde（1854–1900） 1888 年 冷冻图书馆 · 开架书库 · S-004107 · https://coldlibrary.com/s/004107 权利：1888 年出版；作者卒于 1900 年。已按澳大利亚、欧盟、英国、中国大陆和美国的规则核对（截至 2026 年 10 月 11 日）。仅供参考，不是法律意见。 来源：Project Gutenberg，https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/902/pg902.txt（取于 2026-10-11） 中文译文：Claude（AI），2026 · CC0 1.0 生成于 2026-10-14，来自 https://coldlibrary.com/open-stacks/wilde-the-selfish-giant ---- Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant’s garden. It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the spring-time broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them. “How happy we are here!” they cried to each other. One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. After the seven years were over he had said all that he had to say, for his conversation was limited, and he determined to return to his own castle. When he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden. “What are you doing here?” he cried in a very gruff voice, and the children ran away. “My own garden is my own garden,” said the Giant; “any one can understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself.” So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board. TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED He was a very selfish Giant. The poor children had now nowhere to play. They tried to play on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones, and they did not like it. They used to wander round the high wall when their lessons were over, and talk about the beautiful garden inside. “How happy we were there,” they said to each other. Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little blossoms and little birds. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it was still winter. The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Once a beautiful flower put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground again, and went off to sleep. The only people who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost. “Spring has forgotten this garden,” they cried, “so we will live here all the year round.” The Snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the trees silver. Then they invited the North Wind to stay with them, and he came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roared all day about the garden, and blew the chimney-pots down. “This is a delightful spot,” he said, “we must ask the Hail on a visit.” So the Hail came. Every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he broke most of the slates, and then he ran round and round the garden as fast as he could go. He was dressed in grey, and his breath was like ice. “I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming,” said the Selfish Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold white garden; “I hope there will be a change in the weather.” But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant’s garden she gave none. “He is too selfish,” she said. So it was always Winter there, and the North Wind, and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow danced about through the trees. One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the King’s musicians passing by. It was really only a little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since he had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be the most beautiful music in the world. Then the Hail stopped dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased roaring, and a delicious perfume came to him through the open casement. “I believe the Spring has come at last,” said the Giant; and he jumped out of bed and looked out. What did he see? He saw a most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall the children had crept in, and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. In every tree that he could see there was a little child. And the trees were so glad to have the children back again that they had covered themselves with blossoms, and were waving their arms gently above the children’s heads. The birds were flying about and twittering with delight, and the flowers were looking up through the green grass and laughing. It was a lovely scene, only in one corner it was still winter. It was the farthest corner of the garden, and in it was standing a little boy. He was so small that he could not reach up to the branches of the tree, and he was wandering all round it, crying bitterly. The poor tree was still quite covered with frost and snow, and the North Wind was blowing and roaring above it. “Climb up! little boy,” said the Tree, and it bent its branches down as low as it could; but the boy was too tiny. And the Giant’s heart melted as he looked out. “How selfish I have been!” he said; “now I know why the Spring would not come here. I will put that poor little boy on the top of the tree, and then I will knock down the wall, and my garden shall be the children’s playground for ever and ever.” He was really very sorry for what he had done. So he crept downstairs and opened the front door quite softly, and went out into the garden. But when the children saw him they were so frightened that they all ran away, and the garden became winter again. Only the little boy did not run, for his eyes were so full of tears that he did not see the Giant coming. And the Giant stole up behind him and took him gently in his hand, and put him up into the tree. And the tree broke at once into blossom, and the birds came and sang on it, and the little boy stretched out his two arms and flung them round the Giant’s neck, and kissed him. And the other children, when they saw that the Giant was not wicked any longer, came running back, and with them came the Spring. “It is your garden now, little children,” said the Giant, and he took a great axe and knocked down the wall. And when the people were going to market at twelve o’clock they found the Giant playing with the children in the most beautiful garden they had ever seen. All day long they played, and in the evening they came to the Giant to bid him good-bye. “But where is your little companion?” he said: “the boy I put into the tree.” The Giant loved him the best because he had kissed him. “We don’t know,” answered the children; “he has gone away.” “You must tell him to be sure and come here to-morrow,” said the Giant. But the children said that they did not know where he lived, and had never seen him before; and the Giant felt very sad. Every afternoon, when school was over, the children came and played with the Giant. But the little boy whom the Giant loved was never seen again. The Giant was very kind to all the children, yet he longed for his first little friend, and often spoke of him. “How I would like to see him!” he used to say. Years went over, and the Giant grew very old and feeble. He could not play about any more, so he sat in a huge armchair, and watched the children at their games, and admired his garden. “I have many beautiful flowers,” he said; “but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all.” One winter morning he looked out of his window as he was dressing. He did not hate the Winter now, for he knew that it was merely the Spring asleep, and that the flowers were resting. Suddenly he rubbed his eyes in wonder, and looked and looked. It certainly was a marvellous sight. In the farthest corner of the garden was a tree quite covered with lovely white blossoms. Its branches were all golden, and silver fruit hung down from them, and underneath it stood the little boy he had loved. Downstairs ran the Giant in great joy, and out into the garden. He hastened across the grass, and came near to the child. And when he came quite close his face grew red with anger, and he said, “Who hath dared to wound thee?” For on the palms of the child’s hands were the prints of two nails, and the prints of two nails were on the little feet. “Who hath dared to wound thee?” cried the Giant; “tell me, that I may take my big sword and slay him.” “Nay!” answered the child; “but these are the wounds of Love.” “Who art thou?” said the Giant, and a strange awe fell on him, and he knelt before the little child. And the child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, “You let me play once in your garden, to-day you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise.” And when the children ran in that afternoon, they found the Giant lying dead under the tree, all covered with white blossoms. ---- 中文译文 · Claude（AI）译 每天下午，孩子们放学回家的路上，总要到巨人的花园里去玩。 那是一座又大又可爱的花园，长着柔软的青草。草地上这里那里开着美丽的花，像一颗颗星星；还有十二棵桃树，春天里开出粉红和珍珠白的娇嫩花朵，秋天里结出丰硕的果实。鸟儿们坐在树上，唱得那样甜美，孩子们常常停下游戏去听。“我们在这里多快乐啊！”他们互相喊着。 有一天，巨人回来了。他去拜访他的朋友，康沃尔的那个吃人妖怪，在他那里一住就是七年。七年过去，他把要说的话都说完了，因为他的话本来就不多，于是他决定回自己的城堡去。他一到家，就看见孩子们在花园里玩。 “你们在这里干什么？”他用非常粗暴的声音吼道，孩子们都跑开了。 “我自己的花园就是我自己的花园，”巨人说，“这谁都明白，除了我自己，我谁也不许在里面玩。”于是他在花园四周筑起一道高墙，还竖起一块告示牌。 擅入者必受追究 他是一个非常自私的巨人。 可怜的孩子们现在没有地方玩了。他们试着在路上玩，可是路上灰尘很大，到处是硬石头，他们不喜欢。功课做完以后，他们常常绕着高墙转来转去，谈论墙里那座美丽的花园。“我们在那里多快乐啊，”他们互相说。 后来春天来了，全国到处都是小小的花朵和小小的鸟儿。只有自私的巨人的花园里还是冬天。因为没有孩子，鸟儿们不愿在那里唱歌，树木也忘了开花。有一次，一朵美丽的花从草里探出头来，可它一看见那块告示牌，就替孩子们难过极了，又缩回地里，睡觉去了。唯一高兴的是雪和霜。“春天把这座花园忘了，”他们喊道，“那我们就一年到头住在这里吧。”雪用她宽大的白斗篷盖住了草地，霜把所有的树都涂成了银色。接着他们又请北风来同住，北风就来了。他裹着毛皮，整天在花园里呼啸，把烟囱帽都吹倒了。“这真是个好地方，”他说，“我们得请冰雹也来做客。”于是冰雹来了。他每天在城堡的屋顶上噼里啪啦地敲上三个钟头，把大部分瓦片都敲碎了，然后又绕着花园拼命地一圈一圈跑。他穿着一身灰衣服，呼出的气像冰一样。 “我真不明白，春天为什么来得这么晚，”自私的巨人坐在窗前，望着外面他那寒冷雪白的花园说，“但愿天气会变一变。” 可是春天始终没有来，夏天也没有来。秋天给每一座花园都送去金色的果实，却一个也不给巨人的花园。“他太自私了，”她说。所以那里永远是冬天，北风、冰雹、霜和雪，在树木之间跳来跳去。 一天早晨，巨人醒着躺在床上，忽然听见一阵动听的音乐。那音乐在他耳朵里那样甜美，他想一定是国王的乐师们从这里经过。其实那只是一只小红雀在他窗外唱歌，可他已经那么久没听见鸟儿在他的花园里唱歌了，所以在他听来，这就是世界上最美的音乐。接着，冰雹不再在他头顶上跳舞，北风也不再呼啸，一股醉人的芳香从敞开的窗扉飘了进来。“我相信春天终于来了，”巨人说着，跳下床，向外望去。 他看见了什么呢？ 他看见了一幅最奇妙的景象。孩子们从墙上的一个小洞里爬了进来，正坐在树枝上。他看得见的每一棵树上，都有一个小孩子。树木因为孩子们回来了，高兴得浑身开满了花，在孩子们的头顶上轻轻挥动着手臂。鸟儿们飞来飞去，快乐地啁啾着，花儿们从绿草中抬起头来，笑着。这是一幅可爱的景象，只有一个角落里仍是冬天。那是花园最远的一个角落，那里站着一个小男孩。他太小了，够不着树枝，只好绕着那棵树转来转去，哭得很伤心。那棵可怜的树仍然盖满了霜和雪，北风在它头顶上吹着、吼着。“爬上来吧！小男孩，”树说，尽量把树枝弯得低低的；可是男孩实在太小了。 巨人望着外面，心软了。“我多么自私啊！”他说，“现在我知道春天为什么不肯到这里来了。我要把那个可怜的小男孩放到树顶上去，然后我要把墙推倒，让我的花园永远永远做孩子们的游戏场。”他真的为自己做过的事感到非常难过。 于是他悄悄地走下楼，轻轻地打开前门，走进花园。可是孩子们一看见他，都吓得跑开了，花园又变成了冬天。只有那个小男孩没有跑，因为他眼里满是泪水，没看见巨人走过来。巨人悄悄走到他身后，轻轻地把他托在手里，放到了树上。那棵树立刻开满了花，鸟儿们飞来落在上面唱歌，小男孩伸出两条胳膊，搂住巨人的脖子，亲了亲他。别的孩子看见巨人不再凶恶了，都跑了回来，春天也跟着他们一起来了。“现在这是你们的花园了，小孩子们，”巨人说，他拿起一把大斧子，把墙推倒了。中午十二点钟，人们去赶集的时候，看见巨人正在一座他们见过的最美的花园里，和孩子们一起玩。 他们玩了一整天，到了傍晚，孩子们来向巨人道别。 “可是你们那个小伙伴在哪儿呢？”他问，“就是我放到树上的那个男孩。”巨人最爱他，因为他亲过他。 “我们不知道，”孩子们回答，“他走了。” “你们一定要告诉他，明天务必到这里来，”巨人说。可是孩子们说他们不知道他住在哪里，以前也从没见过他；巨人感到很难过。 每天下午放学以后，孩子们都来和巨人一起玩。可是巨人爱的那个小男孩，再也没有出现过。巨人对所有的孩子都很好，却仍想念他的第一个小朋友，常常说起他。“我多么想见到他啊！”他常常这样说。 许多年过去了，巨人变得很老、很衰弱。他再也不能到处玩了，就坐在一把巨大的扶手椅里，看着孩子们做游戏，欣赏着他的花园。“我有许多美丽的花，”他说，“可孩子们是所有的花里最美的。” 一个冬天的早晨，他一边穿衣服，一边望着窗外。现在他不再憎恨冬天了，因为他知道，冬天只是春天在睡觉，花儿们在休息。 忽然，他惊奇地揉了揉眼睛，看了又看。那确实是一幅奇妙的景象。在花园最远的角落里，有一棵树开满了可爱的白花。它的枝条全是金色的，上面垂挂着银色的果实，树下站着他爱过的那个小男孩。 巨人满心欢喜地跑下楼，跑进花园。他匆匆穿过草地，走近那个孩子。可是等他走到跟前，他的脸气得通红，说：“是谁胆敢伤害你？”因为孩子的两只手掌上有两个钉痕，两只小脚上也有两个钉痕。 “是谁胆敢伤害你？”巨人喊道，“告诉我，我好拿我的大剑去杀了他。” “不！”孩子回答，“这些是爱的伤痕。” “你是谁？”巨人问，一种奇异的敬畏落在他身上，他在小孩子面前跪了下来。 孩子对巨人微笑着，对他说：“你曾让我在你的花园里玩过一次，今天你要跟我到我的花园去，那就是天堂。” 那天下午，孩子们跑进来的时候，发现巨人躺在那棵树下，已经死了，身上盖满了白色的花。