Snowdrop

Pada pertengahan musim dingin, ketika kepingan-kepingan salju yang lebar berjatuhan di sekitarnya, ratu dari sebuah negeri yang berjarak ribuan mil jauhnya sedang duduk bekerja di dekat jendelanya.

It was the middle of winter, when the broad flakes of snow were falling around, that the queen of a country many thousand miles off sat working at her window.

Kusen jendelanya terbuat dari kayu eboni hitam yang indah, dan saat dia duduk memandang ke luar ke arah salju, jarinya tertusuk jarum, lalu tiga tetes darah jatuh ke atas salju.

The frame of the window was made of fine black ebony, and as she sat looking out upon the snow, she pricked her finger, and three drops of blood fell upon it.

Kemudian dia menatap penuh renungan tetesan merah yang memercik di atas salju putih itu, lalu berkata, “Semoga putri kecilku nanti seputih salju itu, semerah darah itu, dan sehitam kusen jendela eboni ini!”

Then she gazed thoughtfully upon the red drops that sprinkled the white snow, and said, ‘Would that my little daughter may be as white as that snow, as red as that blood, and as black as this ebony windowframe!’

Dan gadis kecil itu benar-benar tumbuh besar; kulitnya seputih salju, pipinya semerah darah, dan rambutnya sehitam eboni; lalu dia dinamai Snowdrop.

And so the little girl really did grow up; her skin was as white as snow, her cheeks as rosy as the blood, and her hair as black as ebony; and she was called Snowdrop.

Namun ratu ini meninggal; dan raja segera menikah lagi dengan wanita lain, yang menjadi ratu dan sangat cantik, tetapi sangat angkuh sehingga dia tidak tahan memikirkan ada orang yang lebih cantik daripadanya.

But this queen died; and the king soon married another wife, who became queen, and was very beautiful, but so vain that she could not bear to think that anyone could be handsomer than she was.

Dia memiliki sebuah cermin ajaib, yang biasa dia datangi, lalu dia akan memandangi dirinya di cermin itu dan berkata:

She had a fairy looking-glass, to which she used to go, and then she would gaze upon herself in it, and say:

“Katakan padaku, cermin, katakan sejujurnya! Dari semua wanita di negeri ini, siapakah yang tercantik, katakan padaku, siapa?”

‘Tell me, glass, tell me true! Of all the ladies in the land, Who is fairest, tell me, who?’

Dan cermin itu selalu menjawab:

And the glass had always answered:

“Engkau, wahai ratu, adalah yang tercantik di seluruh negeri.”

‘Thou, queen, art the fairest in all the land.’

Tetapi Snowdrop tumbuh semakin lama semakin cantik; dan ketika berusia tujuh tahun, dia secerah siang hari dan lebih cantik daripada sang ratu sendiri. Lalu suatu hari cermin itu menjawab sang ratu, ketika dia pergi untuk melihat ke dalamnya seperti biasa:

But Snowdrop grew more and more beautiful; and when she was seven years old she was as bright as the day, and fairer than the queen herself. Then the glass one day answered the queen, when she went to look in it as usual:

“Engkau, wahai ratu, memang elok dan indah dipandang, tetapi Snowdrop jauh lebih cantik daripada dirimu!”

‘Thou, queen, art fair, and beauteous to see, But Snowdrop is lovelier far than thee!’

Ketika mendengar hal ini, wajahnya menjadi pucat karena marah dan dengki, lalu dia memanggil salah seorang pelayannya dan berkata, “Bawalah Snowdrop pergi jauh ke dalam hutan yang luas, agar aku tidak pernah melihatnya lagi.”

When she heard this she turned pale with rage and envy, and called to one of her servants, and said, ‘Take Snowdrop away into the wide wood, that I may never see her any more.’

Lalu pelayan itu membawanya pergi; tetapi hatinya luluh ketika Snowdrop memohon agar nyawanya diampuni, dan dia berkata, “Aku tidak akan melukaimu, anak yang manis.”

Then the servant led her away; but his heart melted when Snowdrop begged him to spare her life, and he said, ‘I will not hurt you, thou pretty child.’

Maka dia meninggalkannya sendirian; dan meskipun dia mengira kemungkinan besar binatang buas akan mencabik-cabiknya, dia merasa seolah-olah beban berat terangkat dari hatinya ketika dia memutuskan untuk tidak membunuhnya, melainkan menyerahkannya pada nasibnya, dengan kemungkinan seseorang akan menemukan dan menyelamatkannya.

So he left her by herself; and though he thought it most likely that the wild beasts would tear her in pieces, he felt as if a great weight were taken off his heart when he had made up his mind not to kill her but to leave her to her fate, with the chance of someone finding and saving her.