Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

雅各布·格林和威廉·格林

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were two young men from Germany who loved a good story.

雅各布·格林和威廉·来自德国的两个年轻人格林喜欢听好故事。

As university students, they became interested in folktales(民间故事) — traditional stories that people memorized and told again and again.

大学毕业后，他们开始对民间故事产生生了兴趣，那就是那种流传了很久的传统故事。

They began to collect traditional folktales from storytellers all over Germany.

他们开始从德国各地的说书人那里收集传统民间故事。

Many were similar to stories told in France, Italy, Japan, and other countries.

许多故事与法国、西班牙、日本日本和其他国家。

Between 1812 and 1814, the brothers published two books in German.

两兄弟从1812年到1814年出版了两本德语书。

These included stories like Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood.

故事包括《汉塞尔与格雷特》和《小红帽》。

Despite the fact that Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are often associated with Snow White and Rapunzel(长发公主) the brothers didn't actually write any of those stories.

尽管人们兄弟经常与白雪公主和长发公主联系在一起，但这些故事确实不是他们写的。

In fact, the stories existed long before the two men were born in Germany in the mid-1780s.

事实上，早在17世纪80年代中期，这对兄弟还没有出生在德国，这些故事就已经存在。

The fairy tales, in fact, were part of a rich oral（口头） tradition — passed down from generation to generation, often by women seeking to pass the time during household chores.

童话过去属于口头故事 - 代代相传，通常是女性在做家务时说要消遣时间。

In 1812, Jacob and Wilhelm published the stories as part of a collection titled Nursery and Household Tales, or what is now known as Grimm's Fairy Tales(绿色童话).

1812年，雅各布和威廉出版了一本名为《苗圃与家庭故事》的合集，现在是《格林童话》。

The Grimm brothers' tales were about traditional life and beliefs.

格林兄弟的故事都与传统生活和信仰有关。

例如，森林在德国很常见，许多森林出现在格林童话中。

In the past, many people believed forests were dangerous places.

在过去，许多人认为森林是一个危险的地方。

In the Grimms' stories, a forest is the home of evil witches（女巫）, talking animals, and other magical beings.

在格林童话中，女巫、会说话的动物和会施魔法的精灵生活在森林里。

Although most people today think of these stories as fairy tales for children, the brothers first wrote them for adults.

虽然现在大多数人都认为这些故事是儿童读的童话，但是兄弟俩最初是写给大人读的。

Many of their early tales were dark and a little scary. Later, the brothers changed the text of some of the original stories.

他们一开始写的许多故事都是黑暗而恐怖的。之后，两兄弟改变了一些故事。

They "softened" many of the tales and added drawings. This made them more appropriate for children.

把那些故事改得不那么吓人，加上一些画，这样更适合孩子阅读。

Like the early tales, though, each story still has a moral（寓意）: work hard, be good, and listen to your parents.

然而，和早期的故事一样，每一个故事都包含着道德：努力工作，做一个好人，听父母的话。

Actually, as university-trained philologists(语言学家) and librarians, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published more than fairy tales.

事实上，作为一名受过高等教育的语言学家和图书管理员，雅各布·格林和威廉·格林的作品不仅仅是童话故事。

They wrote books about mythology（神话）, and published scholarly（学术的） works on linguistics（语言学） and medieval（中世纪） studies.

他们还写了关于神话的书，出版了关于语言学和中世纪研究的学术著作。