這個故事寫的是母親對自己的孩子的愛。死神把母親的孩子搶走了，但她追到天邊也要找到他。她終于找到了死神。死神讓她看了看孩子的“整個未來，整個的人間生活?！比匀皇菫榱藧郏赣H最后只有放下自己的孩子，向死神祈求：“把他帶到上帝的國度里去！”

One an icy winter， a worried mother was sitting by her dying child. The boy looked pale with his eyes closed. Suddenly， with a knock on the door， a poor old man came in. 一個冰天雪地的冬天，一位母親坐在奄奄一息的孩子身旁。孩子面色蒼白，雙眼緊閉。突然有人敲門，進(jìn)來一位窮苦的老頭兒。

The mother gave some beer to the trembling old man. “God will not bring him away， will he?” asked the mother. The old man， the God of Death， nodded peculiarly. 母親給凍得發(fā)抖的老頭兒倒了一點(diǎn)啤酒。母親問道：“上帝不會把他從我手中奪去的，是不是？”她問。這個老頭兒——他就是死神——用一種奇怪的姿勢點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭。

Not having slept a second for three days， the mother fell asleep. But she woke up soon. “What’s up?” She looked around and found the man and her child gone. 三天三夜沒合過眼的母親睡著了，不過片刻后便打著寒顫驚醒了?！霸趺椿厥拢俊?，她環(huán)顧四周發(fā)現(xiàn)老頭兒和她的孩子都不見了。

The poor mother went outside， crying for her child. A woman in black robe， the God of Night， told her that the God of Death hurried away with a child. 可憐的母親跑到門外來，哭喊著她的孩子。雪地上一個穿黑長袍的女人——她就是夜之神——告訴她死神把她的孩子帶走了。

“Please tell me which direction they went，” said mother. The woman said， “I know， but you must sing to me the songs you have sung to your child.” Mother did so. Then the God of Night pointed right of the forest to the mother. 母親說：“請告訴我，他朝哪個方向走了？”夜之神說：“我知道！但是你必須把你對孩子唱過的歌都唱給我聽。”母親只好唱歌給她聽。然后，夜之神告訴她死神抱著孩子往森林的右邊去了。

Then she came to a crossing with nothing but a cluster of brambles. And she asked the brambles which way to go. It answered， “Yes， but I will not tell you his direction unless you would hug me on the chest.” 然后她來到一個只有荊棘的岔路口。母親問荊棘叢她該怎么走。荊棘叢說：“除非你把我抱在你的胸脯上溫暖一下，否則我不會告訴你他去的方向。”

Then she hugged it so tightly that it planted into her muscle and that her blood trickled out. And then it told her the direction. 于是她就把荊棘叢緊緊地抱在自己的胸脯上。荊棘刺進(jìn)她的肌肉，她的血一滴一滴地流了出來。于是荊棘叢告訴了她朝哪個方向走。

She arrived at a big lake. There was neither a ship nor a boat on the lake. And the ice was not thick enough to bear her weight， either. Nor could she wade through such a deep lake. So she began to drink the water. But nobody could drink up all the water. 她來到了一個大湖邊。湖上既沒有大船，也沒有小舟。湖上的薄冰也不足以支撐她，但是水又不夠淺，她又不能涉水過去。于是她就蹲下來喝這湖里的水，但是誰也無法喝完這水。

The lake said， “Your eyes are the brightest beads I have seen. If you could cry them out and give me， I will deliver you to the big greenhouse. There grow many trees and flowers， and each of them stands for a life.” 湖說：“你的眼睛是我見過的最明亮的珠子。如果你能夠把它們哭出來交給我，我就把你送到那個大的溫室里去。那兒有樹和花，它們都代表一個生命！”

“I can give up everything for my child，” cried the mother. Then she cried louder and louder so that her eyes dropped into the lake and turned into the most precious pearls. Then she was delivered to the other side of the lake. 母親哭著說道：“為了我的孩子我什么都可以犧牲！”于是她哭得更厲害，結(jié)果她的眼睛墜到湖里去了，成了兩顆最貴重的珍珠。湖把她送到對面的岸上去了。

“The God of Death is not here yet，” said an old woman keeping the greenhouse， “Everybody has a life tree or life flower with a beating heart. Maybe you can tell the heartbeat of your child. But I will not tell you what to do next unless you give me your long black hair.” 一個專門看守死神溫室的老太婆說：“死神還沒有到這兒來！每個人都有自己的生命之樹或花，它們都有一顆跳動的心，或許你可以聽出你孩子的心跳。把你又長又黑的頭發(fā)給我，我就告訴你下一步該怎么做！”

The mother obeyed. Then they entered the greenhouse. She bent down towards the smallest plants to hear their heartbeat. “That’s it!” cried she. It leaned towards one side， somewhat ill. 母親答應(yīng)了。這樣，她們就走進(jìn)了死神的大溫室。母親在那些最小的植物上彎下腰來，靜聽它們的心跳。“我找到了！”她叫著。這朵花正在把頭垂向一邊，有些病了。

Suddenly， after a cold wind came the God of Death. He stretched out his long hand for that tender flower. However， the mother would not let it go. Then， the God of Death blew to her hands， and she lost all the strength. 忽然一陣?yán)滹L(fēng)吹來，死神來了。他向這朵嬌柔的小花伸出長手來，可是母親用雙手緊緊抱著它不放。死神朝她的手吹氣，她一點(diǎn)氣力也沒有了。

The God of Death took out two eyeballs and said， “These are yours， please take them and look into the well. Then you will see the two flowers’ future and their whole human life. And you will know what you are destroying.” 死神掏出兩顆眼珠說：“這是你的眼珠，拿回去吧，朝你旁邊的井底看一下。我要讓你看看這兩棵花的整個未來，整個人生。這樣你就會知道，你要摧毀的究竟是什么?！?/p>

She looked into the well. How pleased she was when she saw one of them in great happiness. On the contrary， the other was a combination of sadness and hardship. 她朝井底望去。她看見一個生命那么幸福，她無比欣慰。她又看見另一個生命那么悲傷，她無比擔(dān)憂。

The God of Death said， “It is the will of the God. One of them stands for your child’s future life.” Mother asked， “Please free my child from the hardship， and take him to the God. ” 死神說道：“這都是上帝的旨意。不過我可以告訴你，這兩朵花中有一朵是你自己的孩子。你剛才所看到的就是你親生孩子的未來。”母親懇求道：“請把我的孩子從苦難中救出來吧！請您把他帶到上帝的國度里去！”

Then she drooped her head. And the God of Death flew away with her child to an unknown place. 于是她把頭低低地垂下來。死神帶著她的孩子飛到那個不知名的國度里去了。