于是，忠诚的约翰满心欢喜地领着公主，朝他们的船走去。国王一眼瞅见她，发现她本人比塑像还要美丽得多，真叫欣喜若狂。眼看她上了船，他接她进了舱中，留在船尾舵手身边的约翰却一声令下，船便撑离了岸。“把帆通通升起来，船要快得像飞鸟一样！” 他叫道。可船舱里面，国王仍在一件一件向公主展示那些金器，那些金碗、金杯、金盘和金鸟、金兽以及种种黄金的珍奇动物。许多小时过去了，她还在看啊看啊，心里高兴得竟未察觉船早已开航。直到观赏完最后一件，她才向商人道了谢，打算回宫去。可她来到船舷边，一看船已远远离开陆地，正在大海上满帆向远方急驶，不由得发出一声惊叫：“天呐，我受骗了！我遭到绑架，落进了一个商人的手里！我还不如死了好些！” 国王赶紧抓住她的手，说：“我不是商人，我是一位国王，出身不比你低贱；我之所以用计骗你，是因为我太爱你啦！我第一次看见你的塑像，就晕倒在了地上人事不省。” 金屋公主听他这么说，心才宽了，而且也对他产生了倾慕，终于，她心甘情愿做他的妻子。
It so happened，while they were sailing onwards over the deep sea，that faithful John，who was sitting on the fore part of the vessel，making music，saw three ravens in the air，which came flying towards them. At this he stopped playing and listened to what they were saying to each other，for that he well understood. One cried，“Oh，there he is carrying home the princess of the golden dwelling.” “Yes，” replied the second，“but he has not got her yet.” Said the third，“But he has got her，she is sitting beside him in the ship.” Then the first began again，and cried，“What good will that do him. When they reach land a chestnutchestnut n.栗子 horse will leap forward to meet him，and the prince will want to mountmount vt.爬上，使上马，装上，设置，安放，制作……的标本，上演 it，but if he does that，it will run away with him，and rise up into the air，and he will never see his maiden more.” Spoke the second，“But is there no escape.” “Oh，yes，if someone else mounts it swiftly，and takes out the pistolpistol n.手枪 which he will find in its holsterholster n.手枪用的皮套，and shoots the horse dead，the young king is saved. But who knows that. And whosoever does know it，and tells it to him，will be turned to stone from the toe to the knee.” Then said the second，“I know more than that，even if the horse be killed，the young king will still not keep his bride. When they go into the castle together，a wrought bridal garmentgarment n.衣服，外衣，外表 will be lying there in a dish，and looking as if it were woven of gold and silver，it is，however，nothing but sulphursulphur n.硫磺 and pitchpitch n.程度，斜度，树脂，投掷，定调，（船只）前后颠簸，倾斜，沥青，and if he put it on，it will burn him to the very bone and marrowmarrow n.髓，骨髓，精华，活力，<苏格兰>配偶。” Said the third，“Is there no escape at all？” “Oh，yes，” replied the second，“if any one with gloves on seizes the garment and throws it into the fire and burns it，the young king will be saved. But what good will that do. Whosoever knows it and tells it to him，half his body will become stone from the knee to the heart.” Then said the third，“I know still more，even if the bridal garment be burnt，the young king will still not have his bride. After the wedding，when the dancing begins and the young queen is dancing，she will suddenly turn pale and fall down as if dead，and if some one does not lift her up and draw three drops of blood from her right breast and spit them out again，she will die. But if any one who knows that were to declare it，he would become stone from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot.” When the ravens had spoken of this together，they flew onwards，and faithful John had well understood everything，but from that time forth he became quiet and sad，for if he concealed conceal vt.隐藏，隐蔽，隐瞒 what he had heard from his master，the latter would be unfortunate，and if he discloseddisclose vt.揭露，透露 it to him，he himself must sacrificesacrifice v.牺牲，献出，献祭，供奉 his life. At length，however，he said to himself，“I will save my master，even if it bring destruction on myself.”
可是，当他们继续航行在大海上，却出了一件事：那天，忠诚的约翰坐在船头弹琴，忽然看见空中飞过三只乌鸦。他不再弹，留神听它们的谈话，因为他通鸟语。只听一只乌鸦叫道：“嘿，他带金屋公主回家去了。” “是的，” 第二只乌鸦回答，“不过他还没有得到她。” “为什么没有？” 第三只反驳。“她没有坐在他船里吗？” 第一只重新开了腔，叫道：“那又有什么用！等他们一登岸，就会冲他跑来一匹枣红马，他会忍不住跳上马背，可一等他上去了，马就会驮着他飞走，从此他就再也见不着自己年轻的未婚妻。” “完全没救了吗？” 第二只问。——“呵，有倒有，如果另一个能抢先骑上去，把插在马笼头上的火枪拔出来，用它把马射死，年轻的国王才会得救。可是谁会知道这个！就算有人知道，要是告诉了他，这人也会从脚趾到膝盖变成石头！” “还有还有，” 第二只又抢着说，“就算马被打死了，国王还是得不到他的未婚妻。当他俩一起回到宫中，便会看见盘子里摆着一件现成的结婚礼服，就跟用金丝银线织成的一样，其实呢，纯粹是硫磺和沥青，只要他一穿上身，就会烧得一根骨头不剩！” “完全没救了吗？” 第三只乌鸦问。“呵，有倒有，” 第二只回答，“如果有谁戴上手套，抓起它来扔进火里，礼服自己烧掉了，年轻的国王就会得救。可这又有什么用！谁要知道这办法并告诉了他，谁就会从膝盖到心脏，半个身子都变成石头。” “还有，还有，” 第三只乌鸦也说，“就算结婚礼服烧掉了，年轻国王仍旧得不到他的未婚妻。等婚礼结束举行舞会，年轻的王后——跳舞便会突然脸色苍白，昏死过去。要是没有谁从地上抱起她来，从她右边的乳房吮三滴血然后又吐掉，她便真会死去。可有谁知道这办法并告诉他，谁就会从脚趾到头顶，整个身体全变成石头呵！” 乌鸦们一边交谈，一边飞走了。忠诚的约翰听懂了一切，从此便沉默寡言，暗自悲伤。要知道，他要不把听见的话告诉主人，主人必定遭到不幸；他要告诉了主人呢，他自己就要牺牲性命。可是，他终于还是对自己说：“我要救我的主人，就算自己因此毁灭！”
