“Well，” said the old man to his sons， “you really ought to be praised to the skies， you have used your time well， and learnt something good. I cant say which of you deserves the most praise. That will be proved if you have but an early opportunity of using your talents.” Not long after this， there was a great uproaruproar n.喧嚣， 骚动 in the country， for the kings daughter was carried off by a dragondragon n.龙， 凶暴的人， 严厉而有警觉性的女人。 The king was full of trouble about it， both by day an night， and caused it to be proclaimedproclaim vt.宣布， 声明， 显示， 显露 that whosoever brought her back should have her to wife. The four brothers said to each other， “This would be a fine opportunity for us to show what we can do.” And resolved to go forth together and liberateliberate v.解放， 释放 the kings daughter. “I will soon know where she is，” said the astronomer， and looked through his telescope and said， “I see her already， she is far away from here on a rock in the sea， and the dragon is beside her watching her.” Then he went to the king， and asked for a ship for himself and his brothers， and sailed with them over the sea until they came to the rock. There the kings daughter was sitting， and the dragon was lying asleep on her lap. The huntsman said， “I dare not fire， I should kill the beautiful maiden at the same time.” “Then I will try my art.” said the thief， and he crept thither and stole her away from under the dragon， so quietly and dexterously， that the monster never noticed it， but went on snoringsnore v.打鼾， 打着鼾渡过（时间）。 Full of joy， they hurried off with her on board ship， and steeredsteer v.驾驶， 掌舵 out into the open sea， but the dragon， who when he awoke had found no princess there， followed them， and came snortingsnort v.喷鼻息 angrily through the air. Just as he was circling above the ship， and about to descenddescend vi.下来， 下降， 遗传（指财产，气质，权利），突击， 出其不意的拜访 on it， the huntsman shouldered his gun， and shot him to the heart. The monster fell down dead， but was so large and powerful that his fall shattered the whole ship. Fortunately， however， they laid hold of a couple of planks， and swam about the wide sea. Then again they were in great perilperil n.危险， but the tailor， who was not idle， took his wondrouswondrous adj.令人惊奇的， 非常的 needle， and with a few stitches sewed the planks together and they seated themselves upon them， and collected together all the fragmentsfragment n.碎片， 断片， 片段 of the vessel. Then he sewed these so skillfully together， that in a very short time the ship was once more seaworthyseaworthy adj.适于航海的， 经得起航海的， and they could go home again in safety. “好呵，”父亲对儿子们说，“我真的得夸奖你们，你们很好地利用自己的时间，学会一点有用的东西。我没法讲你们哪个最值得称赞。只要你们很快有机会用自己的手艺，优劣就自会分明。”没过多久，国内闹了个大乱子：公主让一条龙给掳跑啦。国王日夜焦虑，向全国宣布：谁能救回公主，就让谁娶她做妻子。那四弟兄商量说：“我们显身手的机会来啦！”于是一道动身去救公主。“我立刻就会知道她在哪儿，”星象家一边用望远镜看，一边说，“已经看见了，她坐在离这儿很远的海中的一块礁石上，旁边有一条龙守着呐。”说完他去见国王，求国王给他和他兄弟一艘船，然后和他们乘船过海，一直到礁石前面。公主坐在上边，那龙却躺在她怀里睡觉。猎人讲：“我不敢开枪，怕把那美丽的公主一块儿打死啦。”“那我倒想试一试自己的运气。”小偷说，说完便溜上礁石，从龙的身体底下将公主救出，动作又轻又灵巧，那怪物一点没感觉，仍然继续呼呼大睡。他们高兴极了，赶快带着公主上船驶向大海里。那龙醒来不见了公主，立刻飞上天空，气急败坏地跟着他们追来。可正当它在船的上空盘旋准备下落时，猎人便举枪瞄准，一枪射穿了它的心脏。这怪物死了，谁知在掉下来时却把船砸碎了。他们幸好抓住一块木板，抱着在大海上漂来荡去。情况又万分危急。好一个裁缝，这时他掏出自己的宝针来，先飞快几针把手边的板子缝在一起，再爬上去坐在上面，搜集起船的所有碎片。随后，他把它们也全部缝拢，并且缝得那么灵巧快速，不一会儿，船又可以扬帆航行了，他们便幸福地返回公主的王国。
When the king once more saw his daughter， there were great rejoicingsrejoicing n. 欢庆；欢宴。 He said to the four brothers， one of you shall have her to wife， but which of you it is to be you must settle among yourselves. Then a heated argument arose among them， for each of them preferred his own claim. The astronomer said， “If I had not seen the princess， all your arts would have been useless， so she is mine.” The thief said， “What would have been the use of your seeing， if I had not got her away from the dragon. So she is mine.” The huntsman said， “You and the princess， and all of you， would have been torn to pieces by the dragon if my ball had not hit him， so she is mine.” The tailor said， “And if I， by my art， had not sewn the ship together again， you would all of you have been miserably drowned， so she is mine.” Then the king pronounced his verdictverdict n.[律］（陪审团的）裁决， 判决， 判断， 定论， 结论， “Each of you has an equal right， and as all of you cannot have the maiden， none of you shall have her， but I will give to each of you， as a reward， half a kingdom.” The brothers were pleased with this decision， and said， it is better thus than that we should be at variancevariance n.不一致， 变化， 变异， 变迁， 分歧， 不和 with each other. Then each of them received half a kingdom， and they lived with their father in the greatest happiness as long as it pleased God.
国王见到自己的女儿，非常高兴。他对四弟兄讲：“你们中的一个可以娶她，但究竟是哪一个，由你们自己决定。”于是他们发生了激烈的争吵，因为谁都说自己要娶公主。星象家说：“要是我不看见她，你们的本领全部白搭，所以嘛她是我的！”“看见又有什么用，要是我不把她从龙身下弄出来，你们谁救得了她？所以她是我的！”小偷说。猎人说：“我要不一枪打死那怪物，你们和公主全给它咬碎喽，所以她该归我！”裁缝说：“不是我凭自己的本事把船替你们修好缝拢，你们全都淹死了，所以她该归我！”听了他们的争论，国王宣布：“你们每个人都有同样的权利，可是又不能每个人都娶公主做妻子，因此就不要娶了；不过，为了报答你们， 我愿把半个王国分给你们。”哥儿几个满意这个决定，说：“这样更好些，免得我们弟兄闹分裂。”于是每个人得到王国的一部分，一起和父亲过着美满幸福的生活。