提 要

英語俗諺說：「Beauty is only skin deep」（美貌只是表象），而表象非常短暫，真正可以持久的，是溫柔敦厚的內在與誠懇辛勤的付出，所以有人說：「娶妻娶德」。

On one fine morning a father was having breakfast with his two beloved sons. He told his sons, ''My dear children, now you both are old enough to get married, and according to our culture you should cut a tree and should go into the direction in which the tree falls to find your bride.''

"Alright father, As you wish." the two brothers agreed.

The elder brother already liked a girl and he made sure that the tree fell down in the direction of girl's home.

Younger brother Moris cut the tree and went the way the fallen tree pointed out. It was a lonely way which led him to the forest.

There was a small house in the middle of the woods. He went inside but the house was empty.

Moris became very disappointed, he sat down under a tree outside the house.

"I am not going to find my bride.....No one lives here", he murmured.

"I live in this house, please don't loose faith, I will be your bride." Moris heard a voice, but nobody was there.

"Hello, I am down here." Oh! the voice was coming from the ground.

The young man looked down and he saw a little mouse near his feet.

"I will be a very good wife, please marry me'', said the small one.

"How can I marry a mouse？" the amazed and surprised young man said.

''Stay with me for some time, I am sure you will like me and will select me as your wife'', said the little mouse.

Moris felt pity for her, so he smiled and said, ''Alright I will stay here for a while."

While they were together, she sang a beautiful song for him. Moris liked it a lot, she was so nice.

Moris went back to his home, he didn't tell his father that he had met a mouse.

''Dear sons, I want to take a little test of your to be brides, they have to weave a fine linen cloth for me.'' Moris's father said to his sons.

Next day, Moris went to the mouse and told her about the test.

"Don't worry, everything is going to be fine." said the little mouse.

Moris was tired he fell asleep. The mouse wove a beautiful linen cloth with the help of her mouse friends. She folded the cloth and and packed it in a nutshell.

Moris got up, the little mouse gave him the nutshell and said'' I have woven the cloth, I hope your father will like it.'' Moris took the shell and returned home.

When his father opened the shell he got amazed to see the yards of fine, beautiful fabric. ''Your bride is such a wonderful weaver, I am lucky to have her as my daughter-in-law.'' said the happy father.

Next morning Moris visited the mouse and told her that today is the day of their marriage.

The little mouse climbed into a carriage which was pulled and driven also by rats.

Everyone back home was astonished to see the mouse, ''Look! Moris's bride is a mouse.''

''How can you marry a mouse？'' his brother shouted with anger, then threw the carriage into the river.

Moris burst into tears, ''You killed my sweetheart, I can't live without her!"

In the mean time, a beautiful princess came out of the river along with a carriage of four horses.

''A witch cursed me and turned me into a mouse.'' she told everyone, ''The curse could only end if my lover's brother would hate me.''

Everybody got so happy that Moris's bride was actually a beautiful princess, and what about Moris？

Well.....he was the happiest man on the earth, and of couse, got married to the princess and they lived happily ever after.

解 說

一個晴朗的早晨，父親在吃早餐時，告訴他的兩個兒子：「我親愛的孩子，你們都已經長大成人，依據我們的文化，你們應該砍倒一棵樹，順著樹倒的方向，可以找到你的新娘。」

「好爸爸，如您所願。」兩兄弟同意照辦。

哥哥已經有一個喜歡的女孩，他想辦法讓樹朝那女孩家的方向倒下去。

接著，弟弟莫里斯砍倒一棵小樹，倒下的樹指出了道路，那條路導向森林。

樹林中有個小房子，他走進去，發現房子是空的。

莫里斯非常失望 ，他在屋外一棵大樹坐下。

「我找不到我的新娘……沒有人住在這裡。」他喃喃地說。

「我住在這房子裡，請不要動搖信心，我可以當你的新娘。」莫里斯聽到聲音，但四顧無人。

「你好，我在這裡。」哦，原來聲音是從地面發出的。

年輕人低頭，看見一隻小老鼠靠近他的腳邊。

「我會是一個好妻子，娶我吧」小傢伙說。

「我怎能娶一隻老鼠？」驚訝的莫里斯說。

「陪我一段時間，相信你會喜歡我，會選我作為你的妻子。」小老鼠說。

莫里斯可憐她，於是笑著說：「好吧，我會在這裡待上一段時間。」

當他們在一起時，她唱了首美麗的歌給他聽。莫里斯非常喜歡，覺得她真好。

莫里斯回到家，他沒有告訴父親，順著樹倒的方向，他找到的是一隻老鼠。

「親愛的孩子們，我要給未來的兒媳一個小的測試，請她們織一塊亞麻布給我。」莫里斯的父親說。

第二天，莫里斯去找小老鼠，並告訴她必須完成的考驗。

「別擔心，一切都會很好的。」小老鼠說。

擔心加上奔波，莫里斯累得睡著了。小老鼠則靠著其他老鼠朋友的幫助，巧手編織了一匹美麗的亞麻布。她把布疊好，裝在核桃殼裡。

莫里斯睡醒後，小老鼠說：「布織好了，希望你父親會喜歡。」莫里斯於是捧著布回家。

當他的父親打開核桃殼，驚豔地看到精緻、漂亮的布面：「你的新娘手工精巧，我很幸運能有她作兒媳。」說罷，父親流露快樂的神情。

第二天早上，莫里斯找到小老鼠並告訴她，「今天是我們結婚的日子了」。

小老鼠爬進了一輛馬車，是由其他老鼠拉的「馬車」。

回到家，每個人都驚呼：「看！莫里斯的新娘是一隻老鼠。」

「你怎麼能娶一隻老鼠？」他的哥哥大怒，然後把「馬車」扔進河裡。

莫里斯淚流滿面：「你殺了我的愛人，沒有她我不能活！」

同一時間，一位美麗的公主從河裡走上岸，背後是四匹馬拉著的馬車。

「我受到女巫的詛咒，被變成了一隻老鼠。」她告訴大家：「詛咒唯一的破解方法，就是我愛人的哥哥痛恨我……」。

大家都非常高興，畢竟莫里斯的新娘是個美麗的公主，那莫里斯是什麼感覺呢？

嗯……他覺得自己是世界上最幸福的人，與公主結婚，過著長久的幸福日子。

WOW!

原來如此

weave

「weave」是編織，就是「make it by crossing threads over and under each other.」將線繩橫豎交錯排列，紡成布匹。

「橫豎交錯」的敘述，也能用在其他情境，例如：

Those cars then weaved in and out of traffic at top speed. （那些車在車陣中高速蛇行。）

She weaves imaginative elements into her poems.（在詩中，她編織奇特想像。）

The director weaves together the histories of his main characters.

（導演把他電影中主要人物的身世都結合在一起。）

in the mean time

「in the mean time」也就是「meanwhile」（同時）。

例如：「The media, meanwhile, has blown hot and cold on the affair.」（事件發生的同一時間，媒體的態度表現得冷熱兩極。）

除了「同一時間」，還有時表示「與前面提到的完全相反」，例如：「

Tom had always found his mother-in-law a bit annoying. The mother-daughter relationship, meanwhile, was close. （湯姆總是覺得丈母娘有點煩人，然而她們母女卻非常親密。）