《新月王子(插图中文导读英文版)》编著者戴博诃利。

本书内容取材于充满了异域神秘色彩的地方——孟加拉的经典民间故事。这些美丽的传说故事之所以被选入本书，不仅因为它们具有内在美，具有鲜明的西方特色，而且是因为它们为世界传说与神话文学宝库增添了无限的生机。阅读本书，让我们不得不惊叹古人的美妙想象和活动。这些故事不仅在于内容的经典性和表达的完美性，而且要蕴含文化的理念和价值，让人们得到人文的熏陶，青少年读者可以从中得到有益的启示。

《新月王子（插图中文导读英文版）》编著者戴博诃利。

本故事集由印度著名作家戴博诃利收集、整理并创作，它是世界文学宝库中的瑰宝。书中的十三个故事皆由孟加拉民间故事改编而成，其中包括“红宝石”、“三王子”、“绿珍珠”和“新月王子”等世界公认的经典故事。故事的主人公多半是国王、王子、公主和婆罗门人，宣扬善恶因果，讲述悲欢离合，大部分都有着幸福、美满的结局。和阿拉伯民间故事、德国童话等一样，孟加拉民间故事充满了异域神秘色彩，于简朴的文字中蕴藏着深刻的道理和动人的力量。这些脍炙人口的故事，伴随了一代又一代人的美丽童年、少年直至成年。

该书问世100多年来，至今已被译成世界上多种文字。无论作为语言学习的课本，还是作为通俗的文学读本，《新月王子（插图中文导读英文版）》对当代中国的青少年都将产生积极的影响。为了使读者能够了解英文故事概况，进而提高阅读速度和阅读水平，在每章的开始部分增加了中文导读。同时，为了读者更好地理解故事内容，书中加入了大量插图。

序言 

Preface

一、三王子 

Strike But Hear

二、窃贼 

The Adventures of Two Thieves And Oftheir Sons

三、鬼丈夫 

The Ghost-Brahman

四、荒林乞丐 

The Man Who Wished to Be Perfect

五、鬼妻子 

A Ghostly Wife

六、鬼朋友 

The Story of A Brahmadaitya

七、绿珍珠 

The Story of A Hiraman

八、红宝石 

The Origin Of Rubies

九、豺媒人 

The Match-Making Jackal

十、新月王子 

The Boy With The Moon On His Forehead

十一、鬼仆役 

The Ghost Who Was Afraid Of Being Bagged

十二、复骨术 

The Field Of Bones

十三、秃发妻 

The Bald Wife

"Once on a time there reigned a king who had inhis palace a remarkable bird of the Suka species. Oneday as the Suka went out to the fields for an airing,he saw his dad and dam, who pressed him to comeand spend some days with them in their nest in somefar-off land. The Suka answered he would be veryhappy to come, but he could not go without theking's leave; he added that he would speak to theking that very day, and would be ready to go thefollowing morning if his dad and dam would come tothat very spot. The Suka spoke to the king, and theking gave leave with reluctance as he was very fondof the bird. So the next morning the Suka met his dadand dam at the place appointed, and went with themto his paternal nest on the top of some high tree in afar-off land. The three birds lived happily together fora fortnight, at the end of which period the Suka saidto his dad and dam, 'My beloved parents, the kinggranted me leave only for a fortnight, and today thefortnight is over, tomorrow I must start for the city ofthe king.' His dad and dam readily agreed to thereasonable proposal, and told him to take a present tothe king. After laying their heads together for sometime they agreed that the present should be a fruit ofthe tree of Immortality. So early next moming theSuka plucked a fruit off the tree of Immortality, andcarefully catching it in his beak, started on his aerialjourney. As he had a heavy weight to carry, the Sukawas not able to reach the city of the king that day,and was benighted on the road. He took shelter in atree, and was at a loss to know where to keep the fruit.If he kept it in his beak it was sure,he thought, to fallout when he fell asleep. Fortunately he saw a hole inthe trunk of the tree in which he had taken shelter,and accordingly put the fruit in it. It so happened thatin that hole there was a snake; in the course of thenight the snake darted its fangs on the fruit, and thusbesmeared it with its poison. Early beforecrow-cawing the Suka, suspecting nothing, took upthe fruit of Immortality in its beak, and began hisaerial voyage. The Suka reached the palace while theking was sitting with his ministers. The king wasdelighted to see his pet bird come again, and greatlyadmired the beautiful fruit which the Suka hadbrought as a present. The fruit was very fair to look at;it was the loveliest fruit in all the earth; and as itsname implies it makes the eater of it immortal. The king was going to eat it, but his courtiers said that itwas not advisable for the king to eat it, as it might bea poisonous fruit. He accordingly threw it to a crowwhich was perched on the wall; the crow ate a part ofit; but in a moment the crow fell down and died. Theking, imagining that the Suka had intended to takeaway his life, took hold of the bird and killed it. Theking ordered the stone of the deadly fruit, as it wasthought to be, to be planted in a garden outside thecity. The stone in course of time became a large treebearing lovely fruit. The king ordered a fence to beput round the tree, and placed a guard lest peopleshould eat of the fruit and die. There lived in that cityan old Brahman and his wife, who used to live uponcharity.

P28-P31

在远古时代，诗人们和编故事的人们构想了许多关于公主与王子、魔鬼与天使、国王与平民、动物与智者、美女与勇士等传说，这些故事由一代代人口述着流传下来。后来人们把它们变成了文字，这些奇妙的故事就被记录下来。这些被记录下来的故事一般是寓言故事、神话传说、历史故事和名人传奇等，它们传诵的主要对象是青少年，是每个民族文化记忆中的核心内容，它们可以统称为传说或童话。它们以口承和文字形式代代相传，既延续着一个个历久弥新的故事与文本，同时也传递着一种精神的力量。世界上几乎每一个国家都重视对本国青少年的童话教育，特别是源于世界各地的著名童话故事教育，如中国的“花木兰”、丹麦的“丑小鸭”、德国的“小红帽”、英国的“亚瑟王”、俄罗斯的“伊凡王子”、印度的“月亮里的兔子”、孟加拉的“罗刹国”、日本的“拇指太郎”、中世纪古希腊的“农夫和蛇”等。

基于以上原因，我们认为编写源于世界各地的美丽传说故事读本，对加强当代中国青少年学生的素质教育和人文修养是非常有帮助的。作为世界童话宝库的一部分，本书内容取材于充满了异域神秘色彩的地方——孟加拉的经典民间故事。这些美丽的传说故事之所以被选入本书，不仅因为它们具有内在美，具有鲜明的西方特色，而且是因为它们为世界传说与神话文学宝库增添了无限的生机。阅读本书，让我们不得不惊叹古人的美妙想象和活动。这些故事不仅在于内容的经典性和表达的完美性，而且要蕴含文化的理念和价值，让人们得到人文的熏陶，青少年读者可以从中得到有益的启示。

国内也曾有此类书出版，但主要集中在两个方面：一种是中文翻译版，另一种是中英文对照版。其中的中英文对照读本比较受青少年读者的欢迎，这主要是得益于中国人热衷于学习英文的大环境。从英文学习的角度上来看，直接使用纯英文的学习资料更有利于英语学习。考虑到对英文内容背景的了解有助于英文阅读，使用中文导读应该是一种比较好的方式，也可以说是该类型书的第三种版本形式。采用中文导读而非中英文对照的方式进行编排，这样有利于国内读者摆脱对英文阅读依赖中文注释的习惯。在中文导读中，我们尽力使其贴近原作的精髓，也尽可能保留原作风格。我们希望能够编出为当代中国青少年读者所喜爱的经典读本。读者在阅读英文故事之前，可以先阅读中文导读，这样有利于了解故事背景，从而加快阅读速度。同时，为了读者更好地理解故事内容，书中加入了大量插图。

本书是中文导读英文名著系列丛书中的一种，编写本系列丛书的另一个主要目的就是为准备参加英语国家留学考试的学生提供学习素材。对于留学考试，无论是SSAT、SAT，还是TOEFL、GRE，要取得好的成绩，就必须了解西方的社会、历史、文化、生活等方面的背景知识，而阅读西方原版名著是了解这些知识最重要的手段之一。

作为专门从事英语考试培训、留学规划和留学申请指导的教育机构，啄木鸟教育支持编写的这套中文导读英文原版名著系列图书，可以使读者在欣赏世界原版名著的同时，了解西方的历史、文化、传统、价值观等，并提高英语阅读速度、阅读水平和写作能力，从而在TOEFL、雅思、SSAT、SAT、GRE、GMAT等考试中取得好的成绩，进而帮助读者成功申请到更好的国外学校。

本书中文导读内容由涂末编译。参加本书故事素材搜集整理及编译工作的还有纪飞、赵雪、刘乃亚、蔡红昌、陈起永、熊红华、熊建国、程来川、徐平国、龚桂平、付泽新、熊志勇、胡贝贝、李军、宋亭、张灵羚、张玉瑶、付建平等。限于我们的科学、人文素养和英语水平，书中难免会有不当之处，衷心希望读者朋友批评指正。