愛麗絲夢游仙境：第三章 一場會議式賽跑和一個長故事

They were indeed a queer–looking party that assembled on the bank—the birds with draggled feathers, the animals with their fur clinging close to them, and all dripping wet, cross, and uncomfortable.

集合在岸上的這一大群，確實稀奇古怪——羽毛濕了的鳥、毛緊貼著身子的小動物等等，全都是濕淋淋的，橫躺豎臥的，顯得很狼狽。

The first question of course was, how to get dry again: they had a consultation about this, and after a few minutes it seemed quite natural to Alice to find herself talking familiarly with them, as if she had known them all her life. Indeed, she had quite a long argument with the Lory, who at last turned sulky, and would only say, 'I am older than you, and must know better'; and this Alice would not allow without knowing how old it was, and, as the Lory positively refused to tell its age, there was no more to be said.

重要的是：怎樣把身上弄干，對這個問題，他們商量了一會兒。過了幾分鐘，愛麗絲就同它們混熟了，好像老相識似的。你瞧，愛麗絲已經(jīng)同鸚鵡辯論了好長時間了，最后鸚鵡生氣了，一個勁兒地說：“我比你年齡大，也就肯定比你知道得多。”可愛麗絲不同意這點，因為愛麗絲壓根兒不知道它的年齡，而鸚鵡又拒絕說出自已的年齡，她們就再沒話可說了。

At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among them, called out, 'Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I'LL soon make you dry enough!' They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with the Mouse in the middle. Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, for she felt sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon.

最后，那只老鼠——它在它們中間好像很有權威似的——喊道：“你們?nèi)孔?，聽我說，我很快就會把你們弄干的!”他們立即都坐下了，圍成一個大圈，老鼠在中間，愛麗絲焦急地盯著它，她很清楚，如果濕衣服不能很快干的活，她會得重感冒的，

'Ahem!' said the Mouse with an important air, 'are you all ready? This is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! "William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria—"'

“咳，咳!”老鼠煞有介事地說：“你們都準備好了嗎?下面是我要說的最干巴巴的故事了，請大家安靜點。‘征服者威廉的事業(yè)是教皇支持的，不久就征服了英國，英國人也需要有人領導，而且已經(jīng)對篡權和被征服都習慣了。梅西亞和諾森勃列亞(海西亞Mercia和諾森勃利亞Northumbria是英國的兩個古國。)的伯爵埃德溫和莫卡……

'Ugh!' said the Lory, with a shiver.

“啊!”鸚鵡打著哆嗦。

'I beg your pardon!' said the Mouse, frowning, but very politely: 'Did you speak?'

“請原諒!”老鼠皺著眉頭說，但仍然很有禮貌地問：“你有什么話嗎?”

'Not I!' said the Lory hastily.

“我沒有啥說的!”鸚鵡急忙答道。

'I thought you did,' said the Mouse. '—I proceed. "Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him: and even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable—"'

“我以為你有話要說哩!”老鼠說，“我繼續(xù)講，這兩個地方的伯爵埃德溫和莫卡都宣告支持威廉，甚至坎特伯雷的愛國大主教斯蒂坎德也發(fā)現(xiàn)這是可行的……”

'Found WHAT?' said the Duck.

“發(fā)現(xiàn)什么?”鴨子問，

'Found IT,' the Mouse replied rather crossly: 'of course you know what "it" means.'

“發(fā)觀‘這’，”老鼠有點不耐煩地回答，“你當然不知道‘這，的意思。”

'I know what "it" means well enough, when I find a thing,' said the Duck: 'it's generally a frog or a worm. The question is, what did the archbishop find?'

“我發(fā)現(xiàn)了什么吃的東西時，當然知道‘這’是指什么。‘這’通常指一只青蛙或一條蚯蚓，現(xiàn)在的問題是：大主教發(fā)現(xiàn)的是什么呢?”鴨子還不停地呱啦著。

The Mouse did not notice this question, but hurriedly went on, '"—found it advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and offer him the crown. William's conduct at first was moderate. But the insolence of his Normans—" How are you getting on now, my dear?' it continued, turning to Alice as it spoke.

老鼠一點也不理睬，只是急急忙忙地繼續(xù)講：“……發(fā)現(xiàn)與埃德加.阿瑟林一起去親自迎接威廉，并授予他皇冠是可行的，威廉的行動起初還有點節(jié)制，可他那諾曼人的傲慢……，你感覺怎么樣了?我親愛的。”它突然轉向愛麗絲問道。

'As wet as ever,' said Alice in a melancholy tone: 'it doesn't seem to dry me at all.'

“跟原來一樣的濕。”愛麗絲憂郁地說，“你講這些一點也不能把我身上弄干。”

'In that case,' said the Dodo solemnly, rising to its feet, 'I move that the meeting adjourn, for the immediate adoption of more energetic remedies—'

“在這種情況下，我建議休會，并立即采取更加有效的措施。”渡渡鳥站后來嚴肅地說。

'Speak English!' said the Eaglet. 'I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and, what's more, I don't believe you do either!' And the Eaglet bent down its head to hide a smile: some of the other birds tittered audibly.

“講英語!”小鷹說，“你這句話的意思，我連一半都聽不懂!更主要的是我不相信你自己會懂，”小鷹說完后低下頭偷偷笑了，其它一些鳥也都偷偷地笑出聲來。

'What I was going to say,' said the Dodo in an offended tone, 'was, that the best thing to get us dry would be a Caucus–race.'

“我說的是，能讓我們把濕衣服弄干的最好辦法，是來個會議式的賽跑。”渡渡鳥惱怒地說。

'What IS a Caucus–race?' said Alice; not that she wanted much to know, but the Dodo had paused as if it thought that SOMEBODY ought to speak, and no one else seemed inclined to say anything.

“什么是會議式賽跑?”愛麗絲問，愛麗絲本來不想多問，因為渡渡鳥說到這里停住了，似乎想等別人問似的，而偏偏又沒人問它。

'Why,' said the Dodo, 'the best way to explain it is to do it.' (And, as you might like to try the thing yourself, some winter day, I will tell you how the Dodo managed it.)

渡渡鳥說：“對，為了說明它，最好的辦法就是咱們親自做一做。”(由于你在冬天也許會想起來玩這種游戲，所以我占這里告訴你渡渡鳥是怎么做的。)

First it marked out a race–course, in a sort of circle, ('the exact shape doesn't matter,' it said,) and then all the party were placed along the course, here and there. There was no 'One, two, three, and away,' but they began running when they liked, and left off when they liked, so that it was not easy to know when the race was over. However, when they had been running half an hour or so, and were quite dry again, the Dodo suddenly called out 'The race is over!' and they all crowded round it, panting, and asking, 'But who has won?'

前先，它劃出個比賽路線，有點像個圓圈，它說：“具體形狀沒關系的。”然后，這一大群家伙就在圈子內(nèi)散亂地站著，也不用說“—，二，三，開始!”而是誰想開始就開始，誰想停下，就停下，所以，要知道這場比賽的結束是不容易的。它們跑了大約半個小時，衣服大體上都干了，渡渡鳥就突然喊道：“比賽結束了!”聽這話，它們都喘著氣圍攏過來，不停地問：“誰贏了，”

This question the Dodo could not answer without a great deal of thought, and it sat for a long time with one finger pressed upon its forehead (the position in which you usually see Shakespeare, in the pictures of him), while the rest waited in silence. At last the Dodo said, 'EVERYBODY has won, and all must have prizes.'

這個問題，渡渡鳥得好好考慮一下才能回答。因此，它坐下來，用一個指頭撐著前額想了好長時間(就像照片上莎士比亞的那種姿態(tài))，這段時間里大家都安靜地等待著。最后，渡渡鳥說：“每人都贏了，而且都有獎品!”

'But who is to give the prizes?' quite a chorus of voices asked.

“誰給獎品呢?”大家齊聲問，

'Why, SHE, of course,' said the Dodo, pointing to Alice with one finger; and the whole party at once crowded round her, calling out in a confused way, 'Prizes! Prizes!'

“她重當然是她啦!”渡渡鳥用一個手指頭指著愛麗絲說。于是，這一大群立即圍住了愛麗絲，胡亂喊叫著：“獎品!獎品!”

Alice had no idea what to do, and in despair she put her hand in her pocket, and pulled out a box of comfits, (luckily the salt water had not got into it), and handed them round as prizes. There was exactly one a–piece all round.

愛麗絲真不知該怎么辦了，她無可奈何地把手伸進了衣袋，嘿!拿出了一盒糖果，真幸運，還沒給咸水浸透，她就把糖果作為獎品，發(fā)給了大家。正好每位分到一塊，只是她自己沒有。

'But she must have a prize herself, you know,' said the Mouse.

“可是她自己也應該有一份獎品啊!”老鼠說，

'Of course,' the Dodo replied very gravely. 'What else have you got in your pocket?' he went on, turning to Alice.

“當然啦，”渡渡鳥非常嚴肅地回答，“你的口袋里還有別的東西嗎，”它轉向愛麗絲問道。

'Only a thimble,' said Alice sadly.

“只有一個頂針了。”愛麗絲傷心地說。

'Hand it over here,' said the Dodo.

“把它拿來。”渡渡鳥說，

Then they all crowded round her once more, while the Dodo solemnly presented the thimble, saying 'We beg your acceptance of this elegant thimble'; and, when it had finished this short speech, they all cheered.

這時，大家又圍住了愛麗絲，渡渡鳥接過頂針后兌嚴肅地遞給了她，說：“我們請求你接受這只精致的頂針，”它剛結束這句簡短的講演，大家全都歡呼起來了。

Alice thought the whole thing very absurd, but they all looked so grave that she did not dare to laugh; and, as she could not think of anything to say, she simply bowed, and took the thimble, looking as solemn as she could.

愛麗絲認為這些事情全都非?；奶疲墒撬鼈儏s十分認真，她也不敢笑，一時又想不出許說什么話，只見好鞠了個躬，盡量裝得一本正經(jīng)地接過了頂針。

The next thing was to eat the comfits: this caused some noise and confusion, as the large birds complained that they could not taste theirs, and the small ones choked and had to be patted on the back. However, it was over at last, and they sat down again in a ring, and begged the Mouse to tell them something more.

下步是吃糖果了，這又引起一陣喧鬧，大鳥們埋怨還沒嘗到味兒，糖就沒了，小鳥們則被糖塊噎著了，還得別人替它拍拍背。不管怎么說，最后，糖果總算吃完了，這時它們又圍成一個大圈坐下來，請求老鼠再講點故事。

'You promised to tell me your history, you know,' said Alice, 'and why it is you hate—C and D,' she added in a whisper, half afraid that it would be offended again.

“你記得嗎，你答應過講你的歷史，”愛麗絲說，“作為什么恨……恨‘M’和‘G’呀，”她壓低聲音，說完了這句話，她怕說出貓和狗這兩個字惹老鼠生氣，于是只說出貓和狗兩字的拼音字頭。

'Mine is a long and a sad tale!' said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing.

“我的處事是個結尾悲傷的長故事，”老鼠對愛麗絲嘆息著說。

'It IS a long tail, certainly,' said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse's tail; 'but why do you call it sad?' And she kept on puzzling about it while the Mouse was speaking, so that her idea of the tale was something like this:—

愛麗絲沒有聽清這句話，她看著老鼠的尾巴納悶了：“它確實是根長尾巴，可為什么說尾巴是悲傷的呢?”老鼠講故事的整個過程中，愛麗絲還一直為這個問題納悶，因此，在她腦子里就把整個故事想象成這個樣子了：

'Fury said to a mouse, That he met in the house, "Let us both go to law: I will prosecute YOU.—Come, I'll take no denial; We must have atrial: For really this morning I've nothing to do." Said the mouse to the cur, "Such a trial, dear Sir, With no jury or judge, would be wasting our breath." "I'll be judge, I'll be jury," Said cunning old Fury: "I'll try the whole cause, and condemn you to death."'

“獵狗對屋子里的一只老鼠說道：‘跟我到法庭去，我要把你控告，我不睬你的辯解，要把你審判。因為今晨我沒事干，所以我要跟你搗搗蛋。’老孔對惡狗說：‘這樣的審判，既沒有陪審員，又沒有法官，不過是白白浪費時間，恩狗說：‘我就是陪審員，我就是法官，我要親自執(zhí)法審判，我要判處你的死刑!’”

'You are not attending!' said the Mouse to Alice severely. 'What are you thinking of?'

“你沒有注意聽，”老鼠嚴厲地對愛麗絲說，“你在想什么呢?”

'I beg your pardon,' said Alice very humbly: 'you had got to the fifth bend, I think?'

“請原諒!”愛麗絲似乎理虧似地說，“我想你已經(jīng)拐到第五個彎了吧!”

'I had NOT!' cried the Mouse, sharply and very angrily.

“我沒有彎!”老鼠非常生氣地厲聲說。

'A knot!' said Alice, always ready to make herself useful, and looking anxiously about her. 'Oh, do let me help to undo it!'

“你要個碗(彎)!”愛麗絲說，由于她總是熱心幫助別人的，因此就焦急她四周尋找，“哦，讓我?guī)湍阏艺铱础?rdquo;

'I shall do nothing of the sort,' said the Mouse, getting up and walking away. 'You insult me by talking such nonsense!'

“我不吃你這一套，你的這些廢話侮辱了我!”老鼠說著站起來就走。

'I didn't mean it!' pleaded poor Alice. 'But you're so easily offended, you know!'

“我沒有侮辱你的意思!可是你也太容易生氣了!”可憐的愛麗絲辯解著說。

The Mouse only growled in reply.

老鼠咕嚕了—聲沒理她。

'Please come back and finish your story!' Alice called after it; and the others all joined in chorus, 'Yes, please do!' but the Mouse only shook its head impatiently, and walked a little quicker.

“請你回來講完你的故事!”愛麗絲喊著，其他動物也都齊聲說：“是啊!請回來吧!”但是，老鼠只是不耐煩地搖著腦袋，步子走得更快了。

'What a pity it wouldn't stay!' sighed the Lory, as soon as it was quite out of sight; and an old Crab took the opportunity of saying to her daughter 'Ah, my dear! Let this be a lesson to you never to lose YOUR temper!' 'Hold your tongue, Ma!' said the young Crab, a little snappishly. 'You're enough to try the patience of an oyster!'

“它走了，多遺憾哪!”當老鼠剛走得看不見了時，鸚鵡就嘆息著，老螃蟹趁這個機會對女兒說：“哦，我親愛的，這是一個教訓，告訴你以后永遠也不要發(fā)脾氣。”“別說了，媽!你這樣羅嗦，就是牡蠣都忍耐不了。”小螃蟹耐著小脾氣說。

'I wish I had our Dinah here, I know I do!' said Alice aloud, addressing nobody in particular. 'She'd soon fetch it back!'

“我多么希望我的黛娜在這兒呀!”愛麗絲自言自語地大聲說，“她一定會馬上把它抓回來的!”

'And who is Dinah, if I might venture to ask the question?' said the Lory.

“請允許我冒昧地問一下，那么，黛娜是誰呢?”鸚鵡說。

Alice replied eagerly, for she was always ready to talk about her pet: 'Dinah's our cat. And she's such a capital one for catching mice you can't think! And oh, I wish you could see her after the birds! Why, she'll eat a little bird as soon as look at it!'

愛麗絲隨時都樂意談論她心愛的小寶貝，所以她熱心地回答：“黛娜是我的貓，她抓老鼠可是好樣的，簡直想象不出來。嘿，我還希望你看到她怎么抓鳥的哩，她只要看見一只鳥，一眨眼就合把它吃到肚子里去的!”

This speech caused a remarkable sensation among the party. Some of the birds hurried off at once: one old Magpie began wrapping itself up very carefully, remarking, 'I really must be getting home; the night–air doesn't suit my throat!' and a Canary called out in a trembling voice to its children, 'Come away, my dears! It's high time you were all in bed!' On various pretexts they all moved off, and Alice was soon left alone.

這話惹得大家十分驚慌，有些鳥急急忙忙離開了，老喜鵲小心地把自己裹嚴，解釋道：“我必須回家了，今晚的空氣對我的喉嚨不合適。”金絲鳥發(fā)抖地對它的孩子說：“走吧!我親愛的，你們早該睡覺了。”它們?nèi)荚诟鞣N借口下走掉了。不久，又只剩下愛麗絲孤單單的一個人了。