English Original
But his companion answered him: 'Nay, but it were an evil thing to leave the child to perish here in the snow, and though I am as poor as thou art, and have many mouths to feed, and but little in the pot, yet will I bring it Home with me, and my wife shall have care of it.'
So very tenderly he took up the child, and wrapped the cloak around it to shield it from the harsh cold, and made his way down the hill to the village, his comrade marvelling much at his foolishness and softness of heart.
And when they came to the village, his comrade said to him, 'Thou hast the child, therefore give me the cloak, for it is meet that we should share.' But he answered him: 'Nay, for the cloak is neither mine nor thine, but the child's only,' and he bade him Godspeed, and went to his own house and knocked.
And when his wife opened the door and saw that her husband had returned safe to her, she put her arms round his neck and kissed him, and took from his back the bundle of faggots, and brushed the snow off his boots, and bade him come in.
But he said to her, 'I have found something in the forest, and I have brought it to thee to have care of it,' and he stirred not from the threshold.
'What is it?' she cried. 'Show it to me, for the house is bare, and we have need of many things.' And he drew the cloak back, and showed her the sleeping child.
'Alack, goodman!' she murmured, 'have we not children enough of our own, that thou must needs bring a changeling to sit by the hearth? And who knows if it will not bring us bad fortune? And how shall we tend it?' And she was wroth against him.
'Nay, but it is a Star-Child,' he answered; and he told her the strange manner of the finding of it.
But she would not be appeased, but mocked at him, and spoke angrily, and cried: 'Our children lack bread, and shall we feed the child of another? Who is there who careth for us? And who giveth us food?'
'Nay, but God careth for the sparrows even, and feedeth them,' he answered.
'Do not the sparrows die of hunger in the winter?' she asked. 'And is it not winter now?' And the man answered nothing, but stirred not from the threshold.
And a bitter wind from the forest came in through the open door, and made her tremble, and she shivered, and said to him: 'Wilt thou not close the door? There cometh a bitter wind into the house, and I am cold.'
'Into a house where a heart is hard cometh there not always a bitter wind?' he asked. And the woman answered him nothing, but crept closer to the fire.
And after a time she turned round and looked at him, and her eyes were full of tears. And he came in swiftly, and placed the child in her arms, and she kissed it, and laid it in a little bed where the youngest of their own children was lying. And on the morrow the Woodcutter took the curious cloak of gold and placed it in a great chest, and a chain of amber that was round the child's neck his wife took and set it in the chest also.
So the Star-Child was brought up with the children of the Woodcutter, and sat at the same board with them, and was their playmate. And every year he became more beautiful to look at, so that all those who dwelt in the village were filled with wonder, for, while they were swarthy and black-haired, he was white and delicate as sawn ivory, and his curls were like the rings of the daffodil. His lips, also, were like the petals of a red flower, and his eyes were like violets by a river of pure water, and his body like the narcissus of a field where the mower comes not.
Yet did his beauty work him evil. For he grew proud, and cruel, and selfish. The children of the Woodcutter, and the other children of the village, he despised, saying that they were of mean parentage, while he was noble, being sprung from a Star, and he made himself master over them, and called them his servants. No pity had he for the poor, or for those who were blind or maimed or in any way afflicted, but would cast stones at them and drive them forth on to the highway, and bid them beg their bread elsewhere, so that none save the outlaws came twice to that village to ask for alms. Indeed, he was as one enamoured of beauty, and would mock at the weakly and ill-favoured, and make jest of them; and himself he loved, and in summer, when the winds were still, he would lie by the well in the priest's orchard and look down at the marvel of his own face, and laugh for the pleasure he had in his fairness.
中文翻译
但他的同伴回答他说：“不，把孩子留在这里在雪中死去是件恶事。虽然我和你一样穷，有许多张嘴要养活，锅里也没多少东西，但我还是要把他带回家，我的妻子会照顾他。”
于是他非常温柔地抱起孩子，用斗篷裹住他，以抵御严寒，然后下山朝村庄走去。他的同伴对他的愚蠢和心软大为惊讶。
当他们到达村庄时，他的同伴对他说：“你得了孩子，那就把斗篷给我吧，我们理应分享。”但他回答说：“不，这斗篷既不是我的也不是你的，只属于这孩子。”他祝他一路平安，然后走到自己家门前敲门。
他的妻子打开门，看到丈夫平安归来，便搂住他的脖子亲吻他，从他背上取下那捆柴火，刷掉他靴子上的雪，叫他进来。
但他对她说：“我在森林里发现了一样东西，带来给你照顾。”他站在门槛边，一动不动。
“是什么？”她喊道。“给我看看，家里空荡荡的，我们需要很多东西。”他掀开斗篷，给她看那熟睡的孩子。
“哎呀，当家的！”她喃喃道，“我们自己的孩子还不够多吗，你非得带个来历不明的孩子来坐在炉边？谁知道他会不会给我们带来厄运？我们怎么抚养他？”她对他很生气。
“不，这是个星孩，”他回答；并告诉她发现孩子的奇异经过。
但她并未平息怒火，反而嘲笑他，愤怒地说：“我们的孩子还缺面包，我们还要喂养别人的孩子吗？有谁关心我们？谁给我们食物？”
“不，但上帝连麻雀都关心，喂养它们，”他答道。
“麻雀冬天不也会饿死吗？”她问。“现在不正是冬天吗？”男人没有回答，仍站在门槛边不动。
一股凛冽的风从森林吹进敞开的门，让她颤抖起来。她打着寒战，对他说：“你不关上门吗？一股寒风进了屋子，我很冷。”
“心肠硬的人家，不是总吹着寒风吗？”他问道。女人没有回答他，只是向炉火挪近了些。
过了一会儿，她转过身看着他，眼里噙满了泪水。他迅速走进来，把孩子放到她怀里。她亲吻了孩子，把他放在一张小床上，他们最小的孩子正躺在那里。第二天，樵夫把那奇异的金色斗篷收进一个大箱子，他妻子也把孩子脖子上的一串琥珀项链取下放进了箱子。
于是，星孩和樵夫的孩子们一起长大，和他们同桌吃饭，是他们的玩伴。他一年比一年长得更美，村里所有居民都惊叹不已，因为他们肤色黝黑、头发乌黑，而他则白皙细腻如象牙，卷发像水仙花环。他的嘴唇也像红花瓣，眼睛像纯净溪水旁的紫罗兰，身体像未遭割草人践踏的田野里的水仙花。
然而，他的美貌却给他带来了祸害。因为他变得骄傲、残忍、自私。他鄙视樵夫的孩子们和村里其他孩子，说他们出身低微，而他自己则出身高贵，来自星星，他自封为主人，称他们为仆人。他对穷人，或是对那些盲人、残废或任何受苦的人毫无怜悯之心，反而会向他们扔石头，把他们赶到公路上，叫他们去别处乞讨，以至于除了亡命之徒，没人会第二次来这个村子乞求施舍。的确，他仿佛迷恋美貌，会嘲笑体弱和相貌丑陋的人，拿他们取乐；他爱他自己，夏天风静时，他会躺在牧师果园的井边，俯视自己面容的奇迹，为自己俊美的容貌而欣喜发笑。