a written petition was brought to him with the request that it should be immediately read. 他的卫兵给他送来一份书面请愿书。书中注明，请求国王即刻阅读。

　　The King had just returned from hunting, and the glare of the sun, or some other cause,  当时，国王刚刚结束打猎回宫，因为阳光刺眼，或某些其他原因，

　　had so dazzled his eyes that he found it difficult to make out a single word of the writing. 他头昏眼花，一个字也很难看清。

　　His private secretary happened to be absent; and the soldier who brought the petition could not read. 国王的私人秘书碰巧不在宫内，送来请愿书的卫兵也不识字。

　　There was a page, or favorite boy servant, waiting in the hall, and upon him the King called. 当时有位男侍，或者不如说一位乖巧侍童正在大厅当班伺候，国王吩咐他过来。

　　The page was a son of one of the noblemen of the court, but proved to be a very poor reader. 那位侍童是宫廷某位贵族的儿子，可随后证实，他的阅读能力相当糟糕。

　　In the first place, he did not articulate distinctly. 一上来，那位侍童发音就不够清晰，

　　He huddled his words together in the utterance, as if they were syllables of one long word, which he must get through with as speedily as possible. 那些词语在他嘴里居然咕囔成串，杂乱无章地快速蹦出。听起来，有的词语音节应该很长，可他似乎总是急不可耐地含糊读完。

　　His pronunciation was bad, and he did not modulate his voice so as to bring out the meaning of what he read. 他的发音很糟，无法表现文字的准确含义。

　　Every sentence was uttered with a dismal monotony of voice, as if it did not differ in any respect from that which preceded it. 与此同时，他所表述的所有话语无不沉闷呆板，毫无抑扬顿挫之感或音调变化，似乎词语间不存在任何差异。

　　"Stop!" said the King, impatiently. “停下！”国王不耐心地说，

　　Is it an auctioneer's list of goods to be sold that you are hurrying over? 莫非你是公开清单、急于拍卖物品的拍卖师，那么草草念完？

　　Send your companion to me. 把你的同伴叫来！

　　Another page who stood at the door now entered, and to him the King gave the petition. 很快，大厅门口守候的另一位侍童来到国王身边，国王将请愿书交给了他。

　　The second page began by hemming and clearing his throat in such an affected manner, 那侍童装模作样地清了清嗓子，

　　that the King jokingly asked him whether he had not slept in the public garden, with the gate open, the night before. 国王诙谐地问他，是不是他昨晚没在公园里过夜，但睡觉时门却整晚没关。The second page had a good share of self-conceit, however, and so was not greatly confused by the King's jest. 第二位侍童颇为自负，对国王的俏皮话，似乎不太在意。

　　He determined that he would avoid the mistake which his comrade had made. 他有心避免前面那位同伴的类似失误，开始朗读起来。

　　So he commenced reading the petition slowly and with great formality, emphasizing every word, and prolonging the articulation of every syllable. 他的语速迟缓，太过一本正经，所有词语无不辅以重音，逐个音节拉长拼读，

　　But his manner was so tedious that the King cried out, Stop! are you reciting a lesson in the elementary sounds? 他的朗读那么乏味造作，国王不禁大声呵斥，停下！你难道是小学生背诵课文？

　　Out of the room! But no: stay! Send me that little girl who is sitting there by the fountain. 滚出去！不，站好！先把坐在喷泉那边的小姑娘给我叫过来！

　　The girl thus pointed out by the King was a daughter of one of the laborers employed by the royal gardener; 国王点名的那位姑娘是宫廷花师所雇佣人的女儿，

　　and she had come to help her father weed the flower beds. 那天，她过来帮着父亲给宫廷花圃除草。

　　It chanced that, like many of the poor people in Prussia, she had received a good education. 像普鲁士不少穷人那样，她碰巧接受过良好的教育。

　　She was somewhat alarmed when she found herself in the King's presence, 听到国王召见自己，她多少有点心存警觉。

　　but took courage when the King told her that he only wanted her to read for him, as his eyes were weak. 国王告诉她，由于他眼睛无法阅读，只是让她代劳，她才稍稍鼓起了勇气。

　　Now, Ernestine (for this was the name of the little girl) was fond of reading aloud,  欧内斯廷（小姑娘名字）喜欢高声朗读，

　　and often many of the neighbors would assemble at her father's house to hear her; 不少邻居经常聚集在她家门口听她读书。

　　those who could not read themselves would come to her, also, with their letters from distant friends or children, 那些不识字的人亦总乐意找她，他们带来远方朋友或孩子的来信。

　　and she thus formed the habit of reading various sorts of handwriting promptly and well. 因此，她便具有阅读不同手写文体、并能迅速准确朗读的能力。