I had been in Boston only a short time when it was discovered that a story similar to "The Frost King," called "The Frost Fairies" by Miss Margaret T. Canby, had appeared before I was born in a book called "Birdie and His Friends." The two stories were so much alike in thought and language that it was evident Miss Canby's story had been read to me, and that mine was—a plagiarism. It was difficult to make me understand this; but when I did understand I was astonished and grieved. No child ever drank deeper of the cup of bitterness than I did. I had disgraced myself; I had brought suspicion upon those I loved best. And yet how could it possibly have happened? I racked my brain until I was weary to recall anything about the frost that I had read before I wrote "The Frost King"; but I could remember nothing, except the common reference to Jack Frost, and a poem for children, "The Freaks of the Frost," and I knew I had not used that in my composition.
我刚回到波士顿不久，就有人发现了一篇同《冰雪之王》类似的故事，那个故事名叫《冰雪仙子》，作者是玛格利特·
T.肯拜小姐。这篇故事出自一本叫做《布莱迪和他的伙伴们》的书，而这本书早在我出生之前就出版了。无论在思路还是语言上，这两篇故事是如此相似，令人不得不相信我曾看到过肯拜小姐的书，这就是说，我的故事是一篇剽窃之作。起初我感到难以理解，但是搞明白后，我感到既震惊又伤心。没有一个孩子像我这样饮下了这么多的苦水。我感到颜面尽失。我令我最爱的那些人疑虑重重。可是，这一切怎么可能发生呢？我搜索枯肠左思右想，直到厌倦了回忆我读到过的任何有关森林的故事。事实上，在写《冰雪之王》之前，我不记得看到过这类故事。也许杰克·弗罗斯特为孩子们写的一首叫做《寒冬奇想》的诗和冰雪有关，可是我绝对没有在我的故事中使用到诗里的内容。
At
first
Mr.
Anagnos,
though
deeply
troubled,
seemed
to
believe
me.
He
was
unusually
tender
and
kind
to
me,
and
for
a
brief
space
the
shadow
lifted.
To
please
him
I
tried
not
to
be
unhappy,
and
to
make
myself
as
pretty
as
possible
for
the
celebration
of
Washington's
birthday,
which
took
place
very
soon
after
I
received
the
sad
news.
虽然阿纳戈诺斯先生深受困扰，但是他似乎相信我的清白。很快，这段短暂的阴霾消散了，他变得对我更加和蔼可亲了。为了让他高兴，我尽量掩饰自己的不快，我以最优雅的举止参加了华盛顿诞辰的庆典活动，这件事就发生在我得到那个坏消息之后不久。
I
was
to
be
Ceres
in
a
kind
of
masque
given
by
the
blind
girls.
How
well
I
remember
the
graceful
draperies
that
enfolded
me,
the
bright
autumn
leaves
that
wreathed
my
head,
and
the
fruit
and
grain
at
my
feet
and
in
my
hands,
在伙伴们组织的假面舞会中，我扮演了谷物女神色瑞斯。我的身上围裹着华丽的织物，头上缠绕着亮闪闪的秋叶，手脚周围布满了果实和谷物；
|