Of course, you must know what a microscope is, that round magnifying glass which makes everything look hundreds of times larger than it really is. If you take it and hold it close to your eye and look at a single drop of ditchwater, you'll see thousands of strange little creatures, such as you couldn't imagine living in a drop of water. But they are really there. They look almost like a plateful of shrimp, all jumping and crowding against each other, and they are so ferocious they tear off each other's arm and legs; yet in their own way they are happy and merry.
Now, once there was an old man whom his neighbors called Krible-Krable, for that was his name. He always tried to make the best of everything, and if he couldn't do it any other way he would try magic.
One day he sat with his eye glued to his microscope, peering at a drop of water taken from a puddle in the ditch. My! How it crawled and squirmed! All those thousands of little imps leaping and springing about, devouring each other, or pulling each other to pieces.
"This is too hideous for words!" said the old Krible-Krable. "There must be some way to make them live in peace and quiet and each mind his own business." But though he thought and thought he couldn't find the answer. So he decided to use magic. "At least I can give them a color," he said, "so I can see them better." And then he let fall into the water a tiny drop of something that looked like red wine, but was really witches' blood, the very finest kind, and worth two pennies. Instantly the strange little creatures became red all over, and the drop of water now looked like a whole town full of naked wild men.
"What have you got there?" asked another old magician, who had no name at all, which made him very distinguished.
"If you can guess what it is," replied Krible-Krable, "I'll give it to you. But it's not very easy to find out if one doesn't know."
So the nameless magician peered down through the microscope. The scene before his eyes really resembled a town where all the inhabitants ran about without clothing. What a terrible sight it was! But it was still more horrible to see them kick and cuff, and struggle and fight, and pull and bite at each other. All those on the bottom were struggling to get to the top, and those on the top were being pushed to the bottom. "Look! Look!" the creatures seemed to be crying. "His leg is longer than mine! Bah! Off with it! And here's one with a little lump behind his ear! An innocent little lump, but it hurts him, and it'll hurt him more!" And they hacked at it and tore at him and devoured him, all because of the little lump.
But one sat very quiet and still, all by itself, like a modest maiden, wishing for nothing but peace and quiet. But the others couldn't stand for that-they pulled her out, beat her, cut her, and ate her.
This is extremely amusing!" said the magician.
"Yes, but what do you think it is?" asked Krible-Krable. "Can you find out?"
"Why, that's easy to see," answered the magician. "Of course, it is Copenhagen, or some other large city. I can't tell which, for they all look alike. But it's certainly some large city."
"It's a drop of ditchwater!" said Krible-Krable.
當然，你一定要知道什么是顯微鏡，那個圓形的放大鏡使得每件東西看起來比它的大幾百倍。如果你把它并把它靠近你的眼睛，看看一滴乏味，你會看到成千上萬的奇怪的小動物，如你不能想象生活在一滴水。但他們真的在那里。他們看起來幾乎像一盤蝦，所有的跳躍和排擠打擊對方，他們是如此的兇猛，他們撕開對方的胳膊和腿；然而，他們是用自己的方式快樂而快樂。
現(xiàn)在，曾經(jīng)有一個老鄰居叫人krible krable，這是他的名字。他總是盡力把的一切，如果他不能這樣做，他將嘗試魔術(shù)的任何其他方式。
有一天，他坐著，他的眼睛盯著顯微鏡，看著一滴水從溝里的水坑。我的！它是如何爬、蠕動！那些成千上萬的小精靈跳躍跳躍，吞噬著對方，或相互拉動件。
“這太可怕了！”老krible krable說?！北仨氂幸恍┓椒ㄊ顾麄兩钤诤推脚c寧靜中，每個人都有自己的想法。”。所以他決定用魔法。”“至少我可以給他們一個顏色，”他說，“所以我可以看到他們更好?！比缓笏屒锾熳兂梢粋€小水滴的東西，看起來像紅酒，但真正的女巫的血液，秀的實物，和價值2便士。一瞬間，這些奇怪的小動物變成了紅色的所有的，而現(xiàn)在的水滴看起來像一個完整的城鎮(zhèn)，充滿了赤**的野人。
“你到那兒怎么了？”又問了另一個沒有名字的老魔法師，他很尊敬他。
“如果你能猜出它是什么，”krible krable答道，“我會給你。但是，如果你不知道的話，要找出一個不知道的問題是不容易的?！?BR> 所以無名的魔術(shù)師低頭通過顯微鏡。在他眼前的景象真像一個城鎮(zhèn)，所有的居民都沒有穿衣服就跑了。那是多么可怕的景象啊！但看到他們踢和袖口，并進行斗爭和斗爭，并拉和咬對方仍然是更可怕的。所有那些在底部的人都掙扎著要到達頂部，那些頂部被推到底部?？?！瞧！”這些生物似乎在哭?！彼耐缺任业倪€長！呸！與它關(guān)閉！這里有一個小腫塊在他的耳朵后面！一個無辜的小腫塊，但它傷害了他，它會傷害他更多！”他們砍下了這一切，把他撕了，把他吃掉了，所有的人都是因為那個小疙瘩。
但是一個人靜靜地坐著，靜靜地，像一個端莊的少女，除了和平與安寧。但其他人不能忍受，他們把她拉出來，打她，切她，吃她。
這是非常有趣！”魔術(shù)師說。
“是的，但是你認為它是什么？”問krible krable?！蹦隳苷业絾?？”
“為什么，很容易看到，”魔術(shù)師回答。當然，是哥本哈根，還是其他一些大城市。我不能告訴他們，因為他們看起來都一樣。但它肯定是一大城市?！?BR> “這是一滴乏味！”