一次，女人走进卧室，小女儿也跟进来说：“妈妈，给我一个苹果。”“好的，我的孩子。”女人说着就从箱子里拿出一只很漂亮的苹果，给了她。箱子有一个又大又重的盖子，盖子上挂着把很严实的大铁锁。“妈妈，”小女孩问，“哥哥不可以也吃一个吗？”她听了便不高兴，可她还是说：“好，等他放学回来吧。”这当儿，她从窗门看见男孩恰好回来了，就像是魔鬼唆使似的，她一把夺回女孩手里的苹果，说：“你哥哥回来之前你不能吃了。”说着把苹果扔回箱中，锁了起来。这时男孩进了门，魔鬼又教她装出一副笑脸，说：“孩子，你想吃个苹果吗？”同时恶狠狠地瞪着他。“妈妈，”男孩说，“你模样怎么这样可怕！好的，给我一只苹果吧。”她被迫跟他说：“走，跟我来，你自己取一只好了。”说着便揭开箱盖。谁想到，男孩刚弯下腰，探头进箱子，魔鬼就唆使女人砰地关下箱盖，一下子轧断了男孩的脑袋，滚到了红红的苹果中间。她害怕起来，心里想：“我得和这事脱掉关系！”跟着就跑进楼上自己的房间，从衣橱顶上拿出一条白单子，把男孩的头装在脖子上，用单子缠起来，叫人看不出一点痕迹，然后放他坐在门前的一把椅子上，给他手里塞进一只苹果。
After this Marlinchen came into the kitchen to her mother， who was standing by the fire with a pan of hot water before her which she was constantly stirring round. “Mother，” said Marlinchen， “brother is sitting at the door， and he looks quite white and has an apple in his hand. I asked him to give me the apple， but he did not answer me， and I was quite frightened.” “Go back to him，” said her mother， “and if he will not answer you， give him a box on the ear.” So Marlinchen went to him and said， “Brother， give me the apple.” But he was silent， and she gave him a box on the ear， whereupon his head fell off. Marlinchen was terrified， and began crying and screaming， and ran to her mother， and said， “Alas， mother， I have knocked my brother"s head off.” and she wept and wept and could not be comforted. “Marlinchen，” said the mother， “what have you done， but be quiet and let no one know it， it cannot be helped now， we will make him into blackpuddings.” Then the mother took the little boy and chopped(chop n.砍， 排骨， 官印， 商标) him in pieces， put him into the pan and made him into black puddings(pudding n.布丁(一种以面粉，牛奶，鸡蛋等为基料的糊状甜食))， but Marlinchen stood by weeping and weeping， and all her tears fell into the pan and there was no need of any salt.
过一会儿，小玛莲到厨房找她妈妈，她站在火炉旁，正搅动面前的一锅热水。“妈妈，”小玛莲说，“哥哥坐在房门前，脸色白极了，手里拿着个苹果。我要他把苹果给我，他不回答，我真害怕呀！”“再去找他，”母亲说，“他要再不回答，就给他一耳光。”于是，小玛莲又去说：“哥哥，把苹果给我！”可他仍旧一声不响，女孩就打他一个耳光，结果他的头便掉了下来，小玛莲被吓坏了，开始哭喊尖叫，赶紧跑去告诉妈妈：“妈妈呀，我把哥哥的头给打掉啦！”边说边哭，一个劲儿地哭啊哭啊，怎么劝也不停下来。“玛莲，”母亲说，“瞧你做的好事，还不悄悄儿的，别让任何人发现！事情反正这样了，咱们拿他来炖汤吧。”说罢女人就抱来男孩，把他砍成一块一块，丢进了汤锅里并且做成黑色的布了。可小玛莲站在旁边还是不停地哭，哭；哭得泪水流进锅里，甚至都不用放盐了。
Then the father came home， and sat down to dinner and said， “But where is my son？” And the mother served up a great dish of blackpuddings， and Marlinchen wept and could not leave offleave (off v.停止， 不再穿). Then the father again said， “But where is my son？” “Ah，” said the mother， “he has gone across the coutry to his mother"s great uncle， he will stay there a while.” “And what is he going to do there？ He did not even say goodbye to me.” “Oh， he wanted to go， and asked me if he might stay six weeks， he is well taken care of there.” “Ah，” said the man， “I feel so unhappy lest all should not be right. He ought to have said goodbye to me.” With that he began to eat and said， “Marlinchen， why are you crying？ Your brother will certainly come back.” Then he said， “Ah， wife， how delicious this food is， give me some more.” And the more he ate the more he wanted to have， and he said， “Give me some more， you shall have none of it. It seems to me as if it were all mine.” And he ate and ate and threw all the bones under the table， until he had finished the whole. But Marlinchen went away to her chest of drawers， and took her best silk handkerchief out of the bottom draw， and got all the bones from beneath the table， and tied them up in her silk handkerchief， and carried them outside the door， weeping tears of blood. Then she lay down under the juniper tree on the green grass， and after she had lain down there， she suddenly felt lighthearted and did not cry any more. Then the juniper tree began to stir itself， and the branches parted asunder(asunder adv.分离， 成碎片)， and moved together again， just as if someone were rejoicing and clapping(clap v.鼓掌， 轻拍) his hands. At the same time a mist seemed to arise from the tree， and in the center of this mist it burned like a fire， and a beautiful bird flew out of the fire singing magnificently， and he flew high up in the air， and when he was gone， the juniper tree was just as it had been before， and the handkerchief with the bones was no longer there. Marlinchen， however， was as gay and happy as if her brother were still alive. And she went merrily into the house， and sat down to dinner and ate.
这时父亲回到家，坐上饭桌，问：“我儿子哪儿去啦？”正巧女人端来一大钵黑颜色的汤，小玛莲一见又哭得没完。父亲于是又问：“我儿子哪儿去啦？”“嗨，”母亲回答，“到乡下去了，去看他舅姥爷，要在那里住一段时间。”“他去干什么？怎么对我连说都不说一声？”“噢，他很想去，让我准许他在那里住六个礼拜。他在那里过得很不错。”“唉，”父亲说，“我挺难过，一定发生了什么事。他无论怎样也该对我讲一讲的！”说着就吃起来，吃着吃着又问：“小玛莲，你哭什么？哥哥会回来的。”他又对妻子说：“啊，太太，肉味道怎么这样好，再给我一些！”他越吃越觉得好吃，就说：“再给我一些，你们就别吃啦，都归我了！”他吃啊吃啊，吃剩的骨头都扔在了桌子底下直到全部吃完。小玛莲去她衣柜最下边一格抽屉里拿来最漂亮的绸手巾，从桌子底下拾起大骨头，用手巾把它们包好，一边拿到门外去，一边痛哭，哭得流出了血泪。随后她把一包骨头埋在杜松子树下的绿草丛中。埋好之后，心里觉得好过一点，就不再哭了。突然，那树动了起来，树枝彼此分开又合拢，看上去就像一个人高兴得拍起手来似的。接着，从树里冒出一股烟雾，雾中像是燃烧着一团火，从火里蓦地飞出一只美丽的鸟儿。它动听地鸣叫着，飞上了天空。鸟儿飞走以后，树恢复了原样，那一包骨头也不见了。小玛莲一下子变得轻松起来，好像她的哥哥还活着似的。她高高兴兴回到房里，坐到桌边吃起饭来。
But the bird flew away and lighted on a goldsmith"s house， and began to sing：“My mother she killed me， my father he ate me， my sister， little marlinchen， gathered together all my bones， tied them in a silken handkerchief， laid them beneath the juniper tree， kywitt， kywitt， what a beautiful bird am I.”
那鸟儿飞走后落在了一位金匠屋顶上，在那儿唱道：
“我的母亲她宰了我，
我的父亲他吃了我，
我的妹妹小玛莲啊，
她捡起我所有的骨头，
包在一条绸手巾里头，
埋在那棵杜松子树下。
克威，克威，我变成只多么美丽的小鸟啦！”