English Original
'In war,' answered the weaver, 'the strong make slaves of the weak, and in peace the rich make slaves of the poor. We must work to live, and they give us such mean wages that we die. We toil for them all day long, and they heap up gold in their coffers, and our children fade away before their time, and the faces of those we love become hard and evil. We tread out the grapes, and another drinks the wine. We sow the corn, and our own board is empty. We have chains, though no eye beholds them; and are slaves, though men call us free.'
'Is it so with all?' he asked.
'It is so with all,' answered the weaver, 'with the young as well as with the old, with the women as well as with the men, with the little children as well as with those who are stricken in years. The merchants grind us down, and we must needs do their bidding. The priest rides by and tells his beads, and no man has care of us. Through our sunless lanes creeps Poverty with her hungry eyes, and Sin with his sodden face follows close behind her. Misery wakes us in the morning, and Shame sits with us at night. But what are these things to thee? Thou art not one of us. Thy face is too happy.' And he turned away scowling, and threw the shuttle across the loom, and the young King saw that it was threaded with a thread of gold.
And a great terror seized upon him, and he said to the weaver, 'What robe is this that thou art weaving?'
'It is the robe for the coronation of the young King,' he answered; 'what is that to thee?'
And the young King gave a loud cry and woke, and lo! he was in his own chamber, and through the window he saw the great honey-coloured moon hanging in the dusky air.
And he fell asleep again and dreamed, and this was his dream.
He thought that he was lying on the deck of a huge galley that was being rowed by a hundred slaves. On a carpet by his side the master of the galley was seated. He was black as ebony, and his turban was of crimson silk. Great earrings of silver dragged down the thick lobes of his ears, and in his hands he had a pair of ivory scales.
The slaves were naked, but for a ragged loincloth, and each man was chained to his neighbour. The hot sun beat brightly upon them, and the negroes ran up and down the gangway and lashed them with whips of hide. They stretched out their lean arms and pulled the heavy oars through the water. The salt spray flew from the blades.
At last they reached a little bay, and began to take soundings. A light wind blew from the shore, and covered the deck and the great lateen sail with a fine red dust. Three Arabs mounted on wild asses rode out and threw spears at them. The master of the galley took a painted bow in his hand and shot one of them in the throat. He fell heavily into the surf, and his companions galloped away. A woman wrapped in a yellow veil followed slowly on a camel, looking back now and then at the dead body.
As soon as they had cast anchor and hauled down the sail, the negroes went into the hold and brought up a long rope-ladder, heavily weighted with lead. The master of the galley threw it over the side, making the ends fast to two iron stanchions. Then the negroes seized the youngest of the slaves, and knocked his gyves off, and filled his nostrils and his ears with wax, and tied a big stone round his waist. He crept wearily down the ladder, and disappeared into the sea. A few bubbles rose where he sank. Some of the other slaves peered curiously over the side. At the prow of the galley sat a shark-charmer, beating monotonously upon a drum.
After some time the diver rose up out of the water, and clung panting to the ladder with a pearl in his right hand. The negroes seized it from him, and thrust him back. The slaves fell asleep over their oars.
Again and again he came up, and each time that he did so he brought with him a beautiful pearl. The master of the galley weighed them, and put them into a little bag of green leather.
The young King tried to speak, but his tongue seemed to cleave to the roof of his mouth, and his lips refused to move. The negroes chattered to each other, and began to quarrel over a string of bright beads. Two cranes flew round and round the vessel.
中文翻译
“在战争中，”织工答道，“强者奴役弱者；在和平时，富人奴役穷人。我们必须工作才能生存，但他们给的工资如此微薄，我们活不下去。我们终日为他们辛劳，他们把金子堆满钱柜，而我们的孩子却过早夭折，我们所爱之人的面容也变得冷酷而邪恶。我们踩出葡萄汁，别人却喝上了美酒。我们播种谷物，自己的餐桌却空空如也。我们身戴枷锁，尽管无人看见；我们是奴隶，尽管人们称我们自由。”
“所有人都这样吗？”他问。
“所有人都这样，”织工回答，“年轻的和年老的，女人和男人，小孩子和风烛残年的老人。商人压榨我们，我们不得不听命于他们。牧师骑马经过，数着他的念珠，没人关心我们。贫穷睁着饥饿的眼睛在我们不见天日的小巷里爬行，罪恶带着他那张湿漉漉的脸紧随其后。清晨，苦难将我们唤醒；夜晚，羞耻与我们同坐。但这些与你何干？你不是我们中的一员。你的脸太快乐了。”他皱着眉头转过身去，将梭子扔过织机，少年国王看到梭子上穿着的是一根金线。
一阵巨大的恐惧攫住了他，他对织工说：“你织的是什么袍子？”
“是少年国王加冕礼的袍子，”他答道，“这与你何干？”
少年国王大叫一声醒来，看哪！他在自己的寝宫里，透过窗户，他看到蜜黄色的大月亮悬在昏暗的空中。
他又睡着了，并做了一个梦，这就是他的梦。
他梦见自己躺在一艘巨大的帆船的甲板上，船由一百个奴隶划动。船长坐在他身旁的地毯上。他黑如乌木，头戴深红色丝绸头巾。巨大的银耳环坠得他厚厚的耳垂下垂，他手里拿着一对象牙天平。
奴隶们除了破烂的缠腰布外一丝不挂，每个人都与旁边的人锁在一起。烈日灼灼地照在他们身上，黑人们在舷梯上跑上跑下，用皮鞭抽打他们。他们伸出瘦骨嶙峋的手臂，在水中划动沉重的船桨。咸涩的浪花从桨叶上飞溅开来。
最后他们到达一个小海湾，开始测量水深。一阵微风从岸边吹来，给甲板和巨大的三角帆蒙上了一层细细的红尘。三个阿拉伯人骑着野驴冲出来，向他们投掷长矛。船长拿起一把彩绘的弓，射中了其中一人的喉咙。他重重地跌入浪花中，他的同伴们策马飞奔而去。一个裹着黄色面纱的女人骑着骆驼缓缓跟在后面，不时回头看看那具尸体。
他们一抛下锚、降下帆，黑人们就走进船舱，拿出一架长长的绳梯，上面用铅块重重地坠着。船长把它从船舷扔下去，把两端牢牢系在两根铁柱上。然后黑人们抓住最年轻的奴隶，敲掉他的脚镣，用蜡塞住他的鼻孔和耳朵，在他腰间绑上一块大石头。他疲惫地爬下梯子，消失在海里。他沉没的地方冒出几个气泡。其他一些奴隶好奇地从船舷边窥视。在船头坐着一个驱鲨人，单调地敲着鼓。
过了一段时间，潜水者浮出水面，气喘吁吁地抓住梯子，右手握着一颗珍珠。黑人们从他手中夺走珍珠，又把他推了回去。奴隶们趴在桨上睡着了。
他一次又一次地浮上来，每次他都带来一颗美丽的珍珠。船长称了称珍珠的重量，把它们放进一个绿色皮革的小袋子里。
少年国王试图说话，但他的舌头似乎粘住了上颚，嘴唇也无法动弹。黑人们互相喋喋不休，开始为一串亮晶晶的珠子争吵起来。两只鹤绕着船飞来飞去。