To his horror, it was immediately changed from a well-fried brook trout into a gold fish. 令他惊恐的是，它立刻从一条炸得很好的溪鳟鱼变成了一条金子做的鱼。

Its little bones were now golden wires; 它的小骨头现在变成了金线；

its fins and tail were thin plates of gold; 它的鳍和尾巴是薄薄的金片；

and there were the marks of the fork in it. 上面还有叉子的痕迹。

A very pretty piece of work, as you may suppose; 你可以想象，这是一件非常漂亮的作品；

only King Midas just at that moment would much rather have had a real trout in his dish. 只是迈达斯国王此时更愿意在他的盘子里放一条真正的鳟鱼。

“I don’t quite see,” thought he to himself, “how I am to get any breakfast!” “我不太清楚，”他心里想，“我怎么才能吃到早餐呢！”

He took one of the smoking hot cakes, and had scarcely broken it, when it took on the yellow color of Indian cornmeal. 他拿起一块冒着热气的蛋糕，刚把它打破，它就变成了印度玉米粉的黄色。

Almost in despair, he helped himself to a boiled egg, which immediately underwent a change similar to that of the trout and the cake. 他几乎绝望地拿起一个煮鸡蛋，鸡蛋立刻发生了类似鳟鱼和蛋糕的变化。

The egg, indeed, might have been mistaken for one of those which the famous goose in the story-book was in the habit of laying, 的确，这只蛋可能被误认为是故事书中那只著名的鹅的蛋之一，

but King Midas was the only goose that had had anything to do with the matter. 但迈达斯国王是唯一与此事有关的鹅。

“Well, this is a puzzle!” thought he, leaning back in his chair, and looking with envy at little Marygold, who was now eating her bread and milk with great satisfaction. “嗯，这是个谜！”他想道，向后靠在椅子上，羡慕地看着小玛丽金，她现在正心满意足地吃着面包和牛奶。

“Such a costly breakfast, and nothing that can be eaten!” “这么贵的早餐，什么都不能吃！”