at last they came to a blue lake, and by the side of it, shaded by trees of the deepest green, stood a palace of dazzling white marble, built in the olden times
藤蔓缠绕着它高大的柱子，顶部有许多燕子窝，其中一个就是载着拇指姑娘的燕子的家。
vines clustered round its lofty pillars, and at the top were many swallows’ nests, and one of these was the home of the swallow who carried tiny
“这是我的家，” 燕子说；“但你住在那里不合适 —— 你不会舒服的。你必须从那些可爱的花朵中为自己挑选一朵，我会把你放在上面，然后你就会拥有能让你幸福的一切。”
“this is my house,” said the swallow; “but it would not do for you to live there — you would not be fortable you must choose for yourself one of those lovely flowers, and i will put you down upon it, and then you shall have everything that you can wish to make you happy”
“那将会很美妙。” 她说着，高兴地拍起小手来。
“that will be delightful,” she said, and clapped her little hands for joy
一根巨大的大理石柱子倒在地上，断成了三截。
a large marble pillar lay on the ground, which, in falling, had been broken into three pieces
在这些断柱之间生长着最美丽的大白花；
between these pieces grew the most beautiful large white flowers;
于是燕子带着拇指姑娘飞下来，把她放在一片宽大的叶子上。
so the swallow flew down with tiny, and placed her on one of the broad leaves
但当她看到在花的中间有一个小得不能再小的男人时，是多么惊讶啊，他像水晶做的一样洁白透明！他头上戴着一顶金王冠，肩膀上长着精致的翅膀，而且和拇指姑娘自己差不多大。
but how surprised she was to see in the middle of the flower, a tiny little man, as white and transparent as if he had been made of crystal! he had a gold crown on his head, and delicate wings at his shoulders, and was not much larger than tiny herself
他是花中的精灵；
he was the angel of the flower;
因为每朵花里都住着一个小男人和一个小女人；而他是他们所有人的国王。
for a tiny man and a tiny woman dwell in every flower; and this was the king of them all
“哦，他多么美丽啊！” 拇指姑娘轻声对燕子说。
“oh, how beautiful he is!” whispered tiny to the swallow
小王子一开始非常害怕这只鸟，和他这样娇弱的小生灵相比，这只鸟就像个巨人；
the little prince was at first quite frightened at the bird, who was like a giant, pared to such a delicate little creature as himself;
但是当他看到拇指姑娘时，他很高兴，觉得她是他见过的最美丽的小姑娘。
but when he saw tiny, he was delighted, and thought her the prettiest little maiden he had ever seen
他从头上取下金王冠，戴在她的头上，问她的名字，问她是否愿意做他的妻子，成为所有花朵的王后。
he took the gold crown from his head, and placed it on hers, and asked her name, and if she would be his wife, and queen over all the flowers
这和癞蛤蟆的儿子或者那只穿着黑天鹅绒和皮毛的鼹鼠相比，可真是完全不同类型的丈夫；
this certainly was a very different sort of husband to the son of a toad, or the mole, with my black velvet and fur;
所以她对这位英俊的王子说：“好的。”
so she said, “yes,” to the handsome prince
然后所有的花朵都开放了，每朵花里走出一位小女士或者小男士，他们都非常漂亮，看起来赏心悦目。
then all the flowers opened, and out of each came a little lady or a tiny lord, all so pretty it was quite a pleasure to look at them
他们每个人都给拇指姑娘带来了一份礼物；但最好的礼物是一对美丽的翅膀，这对翅膀原属于一只大白蝇，他们把翅膀系在拇指姑娘的肩膀上，这样她就可以从一朵花飞到另一朵花上了。
each of them brought tiny a present; but the best gift was a pair of beautiful wings, which had belonged to a large white fly and they fastened them to tiny’s shoulders, so that she might fly from flower to flower
接着大家都非常高兴，坐在他们上方巢里的小燕子被邀请唱一首婚礼之歌，他尽可能地唱好了；
then there was much rejoicing, and the little swallow who sat above them, in his nest, was asked to sing a wedding song, which he did as well as he could;
但在他心里却感到悲伤，因为他非常喜欢拇指姑娘，很希望永远不再和她分开。
but in his heart he felt sad for he was very fond of tiny, and would have liked never to part from her again
“你不能再叫拇指姑娘了。” 花中的精灵对她说。
“you must not be called tiny any more,” said the spirit of the flowers to her
“这是个丑陋的名字，而你是如此美丽。我们将称呼你为玛雅。”
“it is an ugly name, and you are so very pretty we will call you maia”
“再见，再见。” 小燕子心情沉重地说，他离开这个温暖的国度，飞回丹麦。
“farewell, farewell,” said the swallow, with a heavy heart as he left the warm countries to fly back into denmark
在那里，他在一所房子的窗户上方有一个巢，这所房子里住着那位童话作家。
there he had a nest over the window of a house in which dwelt the writer of fairy tales
燕子叽叽喳喳地唱着，整个故事就从他的歌声里诞生了。
the swallow sang, “tweet, tweet,” and from his song came the whole story