The faithful servant considered within himself for a long time how to set about the matter，for it was difficult even to obtain a sight of the kings daughter. At length he thought of a way，and said to the king，“Everything which she has about her is of gold—tables，chairs，dishes，glasses，bowls，and household furniture. Among your treasures are five tons of gold，let one of the goldsmithsgoldsmith n.金匠 of the kingdom fashion these into all manner of vesselsvessel n.船，容器，器皿，脉管，导管 and utensilsutensil n.器具，into all kinds of birds，wild beasts and strange animals，such as may please her，and we will go there with them and try our luck.” The king ordered all the goldsmiths to be brought to him，and they had to work night and day until at last the most splendid things were prepared. When everything was stowedstow v.装载 on board a ship，faithful John put on the dress of a merchant，and the king was forced to do the same in order to make himself quite unrecognizableunrecognizable adj.未被承认的。 Then they sailed across the sea，and sailed on until they came to the town wherein dwelt the princess of the golden dwelling.
忠诚的约翰想了很久，也不知该怎么办；要知道，单单去见一见公主，就非常困难。终于，他想出一个主意，对国王说：“她周围的一切，桌子、椅子、碗、杯子、盆子和所有用具，全都是金的。你的宝库中有五吨黄金，让王国的金匠把其中一吨打成各式各样的器物用具，各式各样的飞禽走兽以及珍奇动物，她一定会喜欢，我们就可以带着这些东西去见她，碰一碰运气。” 国王于是下令招来全国的金匠，让他们日夜赶工，直至做好那些美不胜收的东西。一切全装到船上了，忠诚的约翰才换上商人的服装，国王也一个样，叫人不再能认出他们。接着他们便漂洋过海，航行了很久很久，终于来到金屋公主居住的城市。
Faithful John bade the king stay behind on the ship，and wait for him. “Perhaps I shall bring the princess with me，” said he，“therefore see that everything is in order，have the golden vessels set out and the whole ship decorateddecorate v.装饰，为……做室内装修。” Then he gathered together in his apronapron n.围裙，外表或作用类似围裙的东西，[机］挡板，护坦 all kinds of golden things，went on shore and walked straight to the royal palace. When he entered the courtyard of the palace，a beautiful girl was standing there by the well with two golden buckets in her hand，drawing water with them. And when she was just turning round to carry away the sparkling watersparkling water n.（=soda water） 苏打水 she saw the stranger，and asked who he was. So he answered，“I am a merchant.” And opened his apron，and let her look in. Then she cried，“Oh，what beautiful golden things.” And put her pails down and looked at the golden wares one after the other. Then said the girl，“The princess must see these，she has such great pleasure in golden things，that she will buy all you have.” She took him by the hand and led him upstairs，for she was the waitingmaid. When the kings daughter saw the wares，she was quite delighted and said，“They are so beautifully worked，that I will buy them all from you.” But faithful John said，“I am only the servant of a rich merchant. The things I have here are not to be compared with those my master has in his ship. They are the most beautiful and valuable things that have ever been made in gold.” When she wanted to have everything brought up to her，he said，“There are so many of them that it would take a great many days to do that，and so many rooms would be required to exhibit them，that your house is not big enough.” Then her curiositycuriosity n.好奇心 and longing were still more excited，until at last she said，“Conduct me to the ship，I will go there myself，and beholdbehold vt.把……视为 the treasures of your master.”
忠诚的约翰让国王留在船上等他。“也许我能把公主带来，” 他说，“所以你得使船上秩序井然，让手下把金器陈列好，把整艘船打扮得漂漂亮亮。” 随后，他在自己肚兜里装了各式各样金饰，上岸径直朝皇宫走去。到了宫里，只见井边站着一个美丽的少女，用两只金桶在打水。正当她提着亮晶晶的水转过身来想要离开，发现面前有一个陌生人，便问他是谁。忠诚的约翰于是回答：“我是个商人。” 说着趁机打开他的肚兜，让她往里看。“啊，多美的金器！” 她干脆放下提桶，一件一件地观赏起来。最后，她说：“一定得让公主看看，她最喜欢金子做的东西啦，会给您全买下来的。” 她拉住约翰的手，领他往里边走去。原来这姑娘是公主的贴身侍女。公主看过货色，非常高兴，说：“打得挺漂亮，我全部买了。” 谁知约翰却回答：“我只是一位富商的仆人。我这儿给您看的东西，与我主人在船上陈列的真算不了什么，他那些才是从古至今最精美、最珍贵的金制品哟！” 公主要他去全部搬上岸来。可他说，“那得花许多天时间，东西太多了，而且要无数大厅来陈列，殿下宫里地方不够哩。” 这一来，更激起了公主的好奇心和亲眼看看的欲望，她终于说：“那就领我去船上吧，我要好好观赏一下你主人的那些珍宝。”
At this faithful John was quite delighted，and led her to the ship，and when the king saw her，he perceived that her beauty was even greater than the picture had represented it to be，and thought no other than that his heart would burst in twaintwain n.两，双，二，一对。 Then she boarded the ship，and the king led her within. Faithful John，however，remained with the helmsman，and ordered the ship to be pushed off，saying，“Let all sail，till it fly like a bird in the air.” Within，the king showed her the golden vessels，every one of them，also the wild beasts and strange animals. Many hours went by whilst she was seeing everything，and in her delight she did not observe that the ship was sailing away. After she had looked at the last，she thanked the merchant and wanted to go home，but when she came to the side of the ship，she saw that it was on the high seas far from land，and hurrying onwards with all sail set. “Ah，” cried she in her alarm，“I am betrayedbetray vt.出卖，背叛，泄露（秘密），露出……迹象。 I am carried away and have fallen into the power of a merchant—I would rather die.” The king，however，seized her hand，and said，“I am not a merchant. I am a king，and of no meaner origin than you are，and if I have carried you away with subtletysubtlety n.稀薄，微妙，精明，that has come to pass because of my exceedingexceeding adj.非常的，极度的，胜过的，过度的 great love for you. The first time that I looked on your portrait，I fell fainting to the ground.” When the princess of the golden dwelling heard this，she was comforted，and her heart was drawn to him，so that she willinglywillingly adv.自动地，欣然地 consented to be his wife.
