There was once a King who had a son who asked in marriage the daughter of a mighty King; she was called Maid Maleen, and was very beautiful. As her father wished to give her to another, the prince was rejected; but as they both loved each other with all their hearts, they would not give each other up, and Maid Maleen said to her father, "I can and will take no other for my husband." Then the King flew into a passion, and ordered a dark tower to be built, into which no ray of sunlight or moonlight should enter. When it was finished, he said, "Therein shalt thou be imprisoned for seven years, and then I will come and see if thy perverse spirit is broken."
Meat and drink for the seven years were carried into the tower, and then she and her waiting-woman were led into it and walled up, and thus cut off from the sky and from the earth. There they sat in the darkness, and knew not when day or night began. The King's son often went round and round the tower, and called their names, but no sound from without pierced through the thick walls. What else could they do but lament and complain? Meanwhile the time passed, and by the diminution of the food and drink they knew that the seven years were coming to an end.
They thought the moment of their deliverance was come; but no stroke of the hammer was heard, no stone fell out of the wall, and it seemed to Maid Maleen that her father had forgotten her. As they only had food for a short time longer, and saw a miserable death awaiting them, Maid Maleen said, "We must try our last chance, and see if we can break through the wall." She took the bread-knife, and picked and bored at the mortar of a stone, and when she was tired, the waiting-maid took her turn.
With great labour they succeeded in getting out one stone, and then a second, and a third, and when three days were over the first ray of light fell on their darkness, and at last the opening was so large that they could look out. The sky was blue, and a fresh breeze played on their faces; but how melancholy everything looked all around! Her father's castle lay in ruins, the town and the villages were, so far as could be seen, destroyed by fire, the fields far and wide laid to waste, and no human being was visible.
When the opening in the wall was large enough for them to slip through, the waiting-maid sprang down first, and then Maid Maleen followed. But where were they to go? The enemy had ravaged the whole kingdom, driven away the King, and slain all the inhabitants. They wandered forth to seek another country, but nowhere did they find a shelter, or a human being to give them a mouthful of bread, and their need was so great that they were forced to appease their hunger with nettles.
When, after long journeying, they came into another country, they tried to get work everywhere; but wherever they knocked they were turned away, and no one would have pity on them. At last they arrived in a large city and went to the royal palace. There also they were ordered to go away, but at last the cook said that they might stay in the kitchen and be scullions.
她的父親希望她到另一個(gè)，王子被拒絕了；但他們都彼此深愛著對(duì)方，所有他們的心，他們不會(huì)給對(duì)方，和少女瑪琳對(duì)她父親說(shuō)，“我可以沒(méi)有我的丈夫?！蓖醪淮笈?，并下令黑暗塔建造，在沒(méi)有陽(yáng)光或月光進(jìn)入。“完了，”他說(shuō)，“你要被囚禁七年，然后我就來(lái)看看你的不靈的靈是壞的?！?BR> 七年的肉和酒被抬進(jìn)了這座塔，然后她和她的等待的女人被帶進(jìn)了這座塔，并用墻圍起來(lái)，這樣就從天上掉下來(lái)了。他們坐在黑暗中，不知道白天或黑夜開始。國(guó)王的兒子經(jīng)常繞著塔轉(zhuǎn)，叫他們的名字，但是沒(méi)有聲音從沒(méi)有穿過(guò)厚厚的墻壁。除了悲傷和抱怨，他們還能做什么呢？時(shí)光在流逝，和食物的減少和飲料，他們知道七年就要結(jié)束了。
他們以為他們解脫的時(shí)刻到了；但沒(méi)有聽到中風(fēng)的錘子，沒(méi)有石頭的墻倒了，它似乎少女瑪琳，她父親已經(jīng)把她忘了。他們只吃了很短的時(shí)間較長(zhǎng)，看到等待他們的悲慘死亡，少女瑪琳說(shuō)，“我們必須盡我們的最后一次機(jī)會(huì)，看看我們是否能打破這道墻?！彼衙姘?，挑在一個(gè)石砂漿灌注，當(dāng)她累了，侍女把她轉(zhuǎn)。
他們用巨大的勞力，成功地從一塊石頭上出來(lái)，然后又一次，三分之一次，三天，在第一縷光線照到他們的黑暗中，最后的開幕式是如此之大，以至于他們可以向外看。天空是藍(lán)的，一片新鮮的微風(fēng)在他們的臉上演奏著，但是，一切都顯得那么憂郁！她父親的城堡是一片廢墟，城鎮(zhèn)和村莊都是這樣的，就可以看到，被火燒毀了，田野又遠(yuǎn)又寬，浪費(fèi)了，沒(méi)有人看得見。
當(dāng)在墻上開了足夠它們滑過(guò)，侍女先跳了，然后跟著少女瑪琳。但是他們要去哪里呢？敵人蹂躪了整個(gè)王國(guó)，趕走了國(guó)王，殺死了所有的居民。他們漫步去尋找另一個(gè)國(guó)家，但他們卻無(wú)處尋找一個(gè)避難所，或一人給他們一口面包，和他們的需要是如此的偉大的，他們被迫用蕁麻安撫他們的饑餓。
當(dāng)，經(jīng)過(guò)長(zhǎng)途跋涉，他們終于來(lái)到了另一個(gè)國(guó)家，他們?cè)噲D讓工作無(wú)處不在；但是，只要他們把他們拒之門外，沒(méi)有人會(huì)可憐他們。最后他們到達(dá)了一個(gè)大城市，去皇家宮殿。還有她們走開，最后廚師說(shuō)，他們可能會(huì)呆在廚房，廚房幫工。
Meat and drink for the seven years were carried into the tower, and then she and her waiting-woman were led into it and walled up, and thus cut off from the sky and from the earth. There they sat in the darkness, and knew not when day or night began. The King's son often went round and round the tower, and called their names, but no sound from without pierced through the thick walls. What else could they do but lament and complain? Meanwhile the time passed, and by the diminution of the food and drink they knew that the seven years were coming to an end.
They thought the moment of their deliverance was come; but no stroke of the hammer was heard, no stone fell out of the wall, and it seemed to Maid Maleen that her father had forgotten her. As they only had food for a short time longer, and saw a miserable death awaiting them, Maid Maleen said, "We must try our last chance, and see if we can break through the wall." She took the bread-knife, and picked and bored at the mortar of a stone, and when she was tired, the waiting-maid took her turn.
With great labour they succeeded in getting out one stone, and then a second, and a third, and when three days were over the first ray of light fell on their darkness, and at last the opening was so large that they could look out. The sky was blue, and a fresh breeze played on their faces; but how melancholy everything looked all around! Her father's castle lay in ruins, the town and the villages were, so far as could be seen, destroyed by fire, the fields far and wide laid to waste, and no human being was visible.
When the opening in the wall was large enough for them to slip through, the waiting-maid sprang down first, and then Maid Maleen followed. But where were they to go? The enemy had ravaged the whole kingdom, driven away the King, and slain all the inhabitants. They wandered forth to seek another country, but nowhere did they find a shelter, or a human being to give them a mouthful of bread, and their need was so great that they were forced to appease their hunger with nettles.
When, after long journeying, they came into another country, they tried to get work everywhere; but wherever they knocked they were turned away, and no one would have pity on them. At last they arrived in a large city and went to the royal palace. There also they were ordered to go away, but at last the cook said that they might stay in the kitchen and be scullions.
她的父親希望她到另一個(gè)，王子被拒絕了；但他們都彼此深愛著對(duì)方，所有他們的心，他們不會(huì)給對(duì)方，和少女瑪琳對(duì)她父親說(shuō)，“我可以沒(méi)有我的丈夫?！蓖醪淮笈?，并下令黑暗塔建造，在沒(méi)有陽(yáng)光或月光進(jìn)入。“完了，”他說(shuō)，“你要被囚禁七年，然后我就來(lái)看看你的不靈的靈是壞的?！?BR> 七年的肉和酒被抬進(jìn)了這座塔，然后她和她的等待的女人被帶進(jìn)了這座塔，并用墻圍起來(lái)，這樣就從天上掉下來(lái)了。他們坐在黑暗中，不知道白天或黑夜開始。國(guó)王的兒子經(jīng)常繞著塔轉(zhuǎn)，叫他們的名字，但是沒(méi)有聲音從沒(méi)有穿過(guò)厚厚的墻壁。除了悲傷和抱怨，他們還能做什么呢？時(shí)光在流逝，和食物的減少和飲料，他們知道七年就要結(jié)束了。
他們以為他們解脫的時(shí)刻到了；但沒(méi)有聽到中風(fēng)的錘子，沒(méi)有石頭的墻倒了，它似乎少女瑪琳，她父親已經(jīng)把她忘了。他們只吃了很短的時(shí)間較長(zhǎng)，看到等待他們的悲慘死亡，少女瑪琳說(shuō)，“我們必須盡我們的最后一次機(jī)會(huì)，看看我們是否能打破這道墻?！彼衙姘?，挑在一個(gè)石砂漿灌注，當(dāng)她累了，侍女把她轉(zhuǎn)。
他們用巨大的勞力，成功地從一塊石頭上出來(lái)，然后又一次，三分之一次，三天，在第一縷光線照到他們的黑暗中，最后的開幕式是如此之大，以至于他們可以向外看。天空是藍(lán)的，一片新鮮的微風(fēng)在他們的臉上演奏著，但是，一切都顯得那么憂郁！她父親的城堡是一片廢墟，城鎮(zhèn)和村莊都是這樣的，就可以看到，被火燒毀了，田野又遠(yuǎn)又寬，浪費(fèi)了，沒(méi)有人看得見。
當(dāng)在墻上開了足夠它們滑過(guò)，侍女先跳了，然后跟著少女瑪琳。但是他們要去哪里呢？敵人蹂躪了整個(gè)王國(guó)，趕走了國(guó)王，殺死了所有的居民。他們漫步去尋找另一個(gè)國(guó)家，但他們卻無(wú)處尋找一個(gè)避難所，或一人給他們一口面包，和他們的需要是如此的偉大的，他們被迫用蕁麻安撫他們的饑餓。
當(dāng)，經(jīng)過(guò)長(zhǎng)途跋涉，他們終于來(lái)到了另一個(gè)國(guó)家，他們?cè)噲D讓工作無(wú)處不在；但是，只要他們把他們拒之門外，沒(méi)有人會(huì)可憐他們。最后他們到達(dá)了一個(gè)大城市，去皇家宮殿。還有她們走開，最后廚師說(shuō)，他們可能會(huì)呆在廚房，廚房幫工。