这篇故事最初发表在1866年哥本哈根出版的《新的童话和故事集》第二卷第四部。安徒生在手记中说：“《看门人的儿子》有许多情节是生活中的真事儿。“与安徒生所写的其他有关儿时就开始种下爱情的种子的故事不同，这篇故事不是以悲剧结束，而是“有情人终成眷属”。但是这并不无社会的条件。出身微贱的看门人的儿子争取到了与将军同等（甚至超过）的社会地位才得与将军的女儿结婚。当然，这种地位的获得与看门人的儿子的“勇气和信心”分不开——可是有多少同样出身和具有同样勇气和信心的年轻人却失败了！这里只说明一个事实，事物的规律不一定就是“龙生龙，凤生凤”。微贱的看门人的儿子也可以成为全国知名的艺术家和建筑师。
The Porters Son看门人的儿子
THE General lived in the grand first floor，and the porter lived in the cellar. There was a great distance between the two families—the whole of the ground floor，and the difference in rank； but they lived in the same house，and both had a view of the street，and of the courtyard. In the courtyard was a grassplot，on which grew a blooming acacia tree （when it was in bloom），and under this tree sat occasionally the finelydressed nurse，with the still more finelydressed child of the General—little Emily. Before them danced about barefoot the little son of the porter，with his great brown eyes and dark hair； and the little girl smiled at him，and stretched out her hands towards him； and when the General saw that from the window，he would nod his head and cry，“Charming！” The Generals lady （who was so young that she might very well have been her husbands daughter from an early marriage） never came to the window that looked upon the courtyard. She had given orders，though，that the boy might play his antics to amuse her child，but must never touch it. The nurse punctuallypunctually adv.按时地，如期地 obeyed the gracious ladys orders.
将军一家住在一层楼上，看门人的家住在地下室里。两家人中间有很大的距离，整整隔着地面上的厅堂，还有他们之间的社会地位的差别。可是他们同住在一个屋顶之下，看到的是同一条街和同一个院子。院子里有一块草坪和一株金合欢树，在开花的时节，树上开满金合欢花。树下，有时坐着那位衣着漂亮的保姆，她带着将军的那位衣着更加漂亮的孩子“小爱米莉”。在她们前面，看门人的小男孩光着脚跳来跳去，他长着一双棕色大眼睛和一头黑发。小姑娘冲着他笑，把小手伸向他。将军站在窗子后看见了这副情景，他点着头，说：“好极了！”将军夫人非常年轻，几乎可以做她丈夫前妻的女儿。她从来不从窗子往院子里望，不过她曾经下过命令，地下室那家人的孩子可以在小姑娘面前玩，但他不能碰她。保姆一字不差地遵从夫人的命令。
The sun shone in upon the people in the grand first floor，and upon the people in the cellar； the acacia tree was covered with blossoms，and they fell off，and next year new ones came. The tree bloomed，and the porters little son bloomed too，and looked like a fresh tuliptulip n.[植］郁金香，郁金香花，郁金香球茎。
太阳照到一楼的一家人，照进了地下室的一家人。金合欢花开放了，又凋落了，第二年又出了新的，树长得茂盛。看门人的儿子也像鲜花一样绽开，看去就像是一朵鲜艳的郁金香。
The Generals little daughter became delicate and pale，like the leaf of the acacia blossom. She seldom came down to the tree now，for she took the air in a carriage. She drove out with her mamma，and then she would always nod at the porters George； yes，she used even to kiss her hand to him，till her mamma said she was too old to do that now.
将军的女儿长得很娇嫩，脸色微白，就像金合欢花粉红色的花瓣。现在她极少下楼到树下来了，她乘马车去享受新鲜空气。她和妈妈一起乘车出去时，总对看门人的儿子乔治点头。是啊，她还给他送去一个飞吻，直到她的母亲对她说她已经很大了，不能再这么做了。
One morning George was sent up to carry the General the letters and newspapers that had been delivered at the porters room in the morning. As he was running up stairs，just as he passed the door of the sandbox，he heard a faint piping. He thought it was some young chicken that had strayed there，and was raising cries of distressdistress n.悲痛，穷困，不幸，危难，忧伤v.使悲痛，使穷困，使忧伤； but it was the Generals little daughter，decked out in lace and finery.
有一天上午，他要将当天早晨送到门房来的那些信件和报纸送到将军家，在他走上台阶经过沙洞的时候，他听到里面有唧唧喳喳的声音。他以为是一只小鸡在叫，但是却发现是将军那位穿着洋花布衣裳的小女儿。
“Dont tell papa and mamma，” she whimperedwhimper vi.呜咽，哀诉； “they would be angry.”
“别对爸爸妈妈讲，他们会生气的！”
“Whats the matter，little missie？” asked George.
“怎么回事？小姐！”乔治问道。
“Its all on fire！” she answered. “Its burning with a bright flame！”
“全烧起来了！”她说道。“明火烧起来了！”
George hurried up stairs to the Generals apartments； he opened the door of the nursery. The window curtain was almost entirely burnt，and the wooden curtainpole was one mass of flame. George sprang upon a chair he brought in hastein haste adv.急速地，急忙地，草率地，and pulled down the burning articles； he then alarmed the people. But for him，the house would have been burned down. The General and his lady crossquestioned little Emily.
乔治把幼儿室的门打开。窗帘几乎全烧光了，挂窗帘的棍被烧得通红，四边全是火焰。乔治跳了过去，把它拽下来，同时喊着人。要是没有他，一场烧掉房子的大火便会酿成。将军和将军夫人查问小爱米莉。
“I only took just one lucifermatch，” she said，“and it was burning directly，and the curtain was burning too. I spat at it，to put it out； I spat at it as much as ever I could，but I could not put it out； so I ran away and hid myself，for papa and mamma would be angry.”
“我只划了一根火柴，”她说道，“火马上烧起来了，窗帘也马上就着起来了。我吐唾沫想把火灭掉，虽然使劲儿地吐，可是唾沫不够。所以我便跑出来躲了起来，因为爸爸妈妈要生气的。”
“I spat！” cried the Generals lady； “What an expression！ Did you ever hear your papa and mamma talk about spitting？ You must have got that from down stairs！”
“吐唾沫，”将军夫人说，“这是什么词？你什么时候听爸爸妈妈说过吐唾沫？你是从下面学来的！”
And George had a penny given him. But this penny did not go to the bakers shop，but into the savingsbox； and soon there were so many pennies in the savingsbox that he could buy a paintbox and color the drawings he made，and he had a great number of drawings. They seemed to shoot out of his pencil and out of his fingers ends. His first colored pictures he presented to Emily.
小乔治得了一枚铜币。他没把这文钱花在面包店里，而是塞进了攒钱罐里，没有多久他就攒了不少的钱。他可以买上一盒颜料，把他的画涂上颜色。画，他有许多许多；就像是从铅笔和他的手指头里跳出来似的。他把最初几幅涂了色的画送给了小爱米莉。
“Charming！” said the General，and even the Generals lady acknowledged that it was easy to see what the boy had meant to draw. “He has genius.” Those were the words that were carried down into the cellar.
“好极了！”将军说道。将军夫人也承认，可以看得出小家伙脑瓜里想些什么。“他很有天才！”这是带回地下室的话。