愛麗絲夢游仙境：第四章 兔子派遣小比爾進屋

It was the White Rabbit, trotting slowly back again, and looking anxiously about as it went, as if it had lost something; and she heard it muttering to itself 'The Duchess! The Duchess! Oh my dear paws! Oh my fur and whiskers! She'll get me executed, as sure as ferrets are ferrets! Where CAN I have dropped them, I wonder?' Alice guessed in a moment that it was looking for the fan and the pair of white kid gloves, and she very good–naturedly began hunting about for them, but they were nowhere to be seen—everything seemed to have changed since her swim in the pool, and the great hall, with the glass table and the little door, had vanished completely.

原來是那只小白兔，又慢慢地走回來了，它在剛才走過的路上焦急地到處審視，好像在尋找什么東西，愛麗絲還聽到它低產(chǎn)咕嚕：“公爵夫人呵!公爵夫人，唉!我親愛的小爪子呀!我的小胡子呀!她一定會把我的頭砍掉的，一定的!就像雪貂是雪貂那樣千真萬確!我是在哪兒丟掉的呢?”愛麗絲馬上猜到它在找那把扇子和那雙羊皮手套，于是，她也好心地到處尋找，可是找不見，自從她在池塘里游蕩以來，好像所有東西都變了，就是那個有著玻璃桌子和小門的大廳也都不見了。

Very soon the Rabbit noticed Alice, as she went hunting about, and called out to her in an angry tone, 'Why, Mary Ann, what ARE you doing out here? Run home this moment, and fetch me a pair of gloves and a fan! Quick, now!' And Alice was so much frightened that she ran off at once in the direction it pointed to, without trying to explain the mistake it had made.

不一會，當愛麗絲還在到處找的時候，兔子看見了她，并且生氣地向她喊道：“瑪麗.安，你在外面干什么?馬上回家給我拿一雙手套和一把扇子來。趕快去!”愛麗絲嚇得要命，顧不得去解釋它的誤會，趕快按它指的方向跑去了。

'He took me for his housemaid,' she said to herself as she ran. 'How surprised he'll be when he finds out who I am! But I'd better take him his fan and gloves—that is, if I can find them.' As she said this, she came upon a neat little house, on the door of which was a bright brass plate with the name 'W. RABBIT' engraved upon it. She went in without knocking, and hurried upstairs, in great fear lest she should meet the real Mary Ann, and be turned out of the house before she had found the fan and gloves.

“它把我當成它的女仆了，”她邊跑邊對自己說，“它以后發(fā)現(xiàn)我是誰，會多么驚奇啊!可是我最好還是幫它把手套和扇子拿去——要是我能找到的話。”她說著到了一幢整潔的小房子前，門上掛著一塊明亮的黃銅小牌子，刻著“白兔先生”。她沒有敲門就進去了，急忙往樓上跑，生怕碰上真的瑪麗.安，如果那樣的話，她在找到手套和扇子之前就會從這個小屋里被趕出來的，

'How queer it seems,' Alice said to herself, 'to be going messages for a rabbit! I suppose Dinah'll be sending me on messages next!' And she began fancying the sort of thing that would happen: '"Miss Alice! Come here directly, and get ready for your walk!" "Coming in a minute, nurse! But I've got to see that the mouse doesn't get out." Only I don't think,' Alice went on, 'that they'd let Dinah stop in the house if it began ordering people about like that!'

“這真奇怪!”愛麗絲對自己說，“給一只兔子跑腿，我看下一步就該輪到黛娜使喚我了。”于是她就想象那種情景：“‘愛麗絲小姐，快來我這兒，準備去散步，’‘我馬上就來，保姆!可是在黛娜回來之前，我還得看著老鼠洞，不許老鼠出來，’不過，假如黛娜像這樣使喚人的話，他們不會讓它繼續(xù)呆在家里了。”

By this time she had found her way into a tidy little room with a table in the window, and on it (as she had hoped) a fan and two or three pairs of tiny white kid gloves: she took up the fan and a pair of the gloves, and was just going to leave the room, when her eye fell upon a little bottle that stood near the looking–glass. There was no label this time with the words 'DRINK ME,' but nevertheless she uncorked it and put it to her lips. 'I know SOMETHING interesting is sure to happen,' she said to herself, 'whenever I eat or drink anything; so I'll just see what this bottle does. I do hope it'll make me grow large again, for really I'm quite tired of being such a tiny little thing!'

這時，她已經(jīng)走進了一間整潔的小房間，靠窗子有張桌子，桌子上正像她希望的那樣，有一把扇子和兩、三雙很小的白羊羔皮手套，她拿起扇子和一雙手套。正當她要離開房間的時候，眼光落在鏡子旁邊的一個小瓶上。這一次，瓶上沒有“喝我”的標記。但她卻拔開瓶塞就往嘴里倒。她想，“我每次吃或喝一點東西，總會發(fā)生一些有趣的事。所以我要看看這一瓶能把我怎么樣。我真希望它會讓我長大。說真的，做我現(xiàn)在這樣一點兒的小東西，真厭煩極了。”

It did so indeed, and much sooner than she had expected: before she had drunk half the bottle, she found her head pressing against the ceiling, and had to stoop to save her neck from being broken. She hastily put down the bottle, saying to herself 'That's quite enough—I hope I shan't grow any more—As it is, I can't get out at the door—I do wish I hadn't drunk quite so much!'

小瓶真的照辦了，而且比她期望的還快，她還沒有喝到一半，頭已經(jīng)碰到了天花板，因此，必須立即停止，不能再喝了!否則脖子要給折斷了。愛麗絲趕緊扔掉瓶子，對自己說：“現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)夠了，不要再長了，可是就是現(xiàn)在這樣，我也已經(jīng)出不去了。嗨!我別喝這么多就好啦!”

Alas! it was too late to wish that! She went on growing, and growing, and very soon had to kneel down on the floor: in another minute there was not even room for this, and she tried the effect of lying down with one elbow against the door, and the other arm curled round her head. Still she went on growing, and, as a last resource, she put one arm out of the window, and one foot up the chimney, and said to herself 'Now I can do no more, whatever happens. What WILL become of me?'

唉!現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)太遲了!她繼續(xù)長啊，長啊!再待一會兒就得跪在地板上了，一分鐘后，她必須躺下了，一只胳膊撐在地上，一只胳膊抱著頭、可是還在長，這時只得把一只手臂伸出窗子，一只腳伸進煙囪，然后自語說：“還長的話怎么辦呢?我會變成什么樣子呢?”

Luckily for Alice, the little magic bottle had now had its full effect, and she grew no larger: still it was very uncomfortable, and, as there seemed to be no sort of chance of her ever getting out of the room again, no wonder she felt unhappy.

幸運的是這只小魔術(shù)瓶的作用已經(jīng)發(fā)揮完了，她不再長了，可是心里很不舒服，看來沒有可能從這個房子里出去了。

'It was much pleasanter at home,' thought poor Alice, 'when one wasn't always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and rabbits. I almost wish I hadn't gone down that rabbit–hole—and yet—and yet—it's rather curious, you know, this sort of life! I do wonder what CAN have happened to me! When I used to read fairy–tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one! There ought to be a book written about me, that there ought! And when I grow up, I'll write one—but I'm grown up now,' she added in a sorrowful tone; 'at least there's no room to grow up any more HERE.'

“在家里多舒服，”可憐的愛麗絲想，“在家里不會一會兒變大，一會兒變小，而且不會被老鼠和兔子使喚。我希望不曾鉆進這個兔子洞，可是……可是這種生活是那么離奇，我還會變成什么呢?讀童話時我總認為那種事情永遠不會發(fā)生的，可現(xiàn)在自己卻來到這童話世界了，應該寫一本關(guān)于我的書，應該這樣，當我長大了要寫—本——可我現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)長大了啊。”她又傷心地加了一句：“至少這兒已經(jīng)沒有讓我再長的余地了。”

'But then,' thought Alice, 'shall I NEVER get any older than I am now? That'll be a comfort, one way—never to be an old woman—but then—always to have lessons to learn! Oh, I shouldn't like THAT!'

“可是，”愛麗絲想，“我不會比現(xiàn)在年齡更大了!這倒是一個安慰，我永遠不會成為老太婆了。但是這樣就得老是上學了。唉，這我可不情愿!”

'Oh, you foolish Alice!' she answered herself. 'How can you learn lessons in here? Why, there's hardly room for YOU, and no room at all for any lesson–books!'

“啊，你這個傻愛麗絲!”她又回答自己，“你在這兒怎么上學呢?哎唷，這間房子差點兒裝不下你，哪里還有放書的地方呢?”

And so she went on, taking first one side and then the other, and making quite a conversation of it altogether; but after a few minutes she heard a voice outside, and stopped to listen.

她就這樣繼續(xù)說著，先裝這個人，然后又裝另一個人，就這樣說了一大堆話。幾分鐘后，她聽到門外有聲音，才停止嘮叨去聽那個聲音。

'Mary Ann! Mary Ann!' said the voice. 'Fetch me my gloves this moment!' Then came a little pattering of feet on the stairs. Alice knew it was the Rabbit coming to look for her, and she trembled till she shook the house, quite forgetting that she was now about a thousand times as large as the Rabbit, and had no reason to be afraid of it.

“瑪麗·安，瑪麗·安!”那個聲音喊道，“趕快給我拿手套，”然后一連串小腳步聲步上樓梯了。愛麗絲知道這是兔子來找她了，但是她忘了自己現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)比兔子大了一千倍，因此還是嚇得發(fā)抖，哆嗦得屋子都搖動了，

Presently the Rabbit came up to the door, and tried to open it; but, as the door opened inwards, and Alice's elbow was pressed hard against it, that attempt proved a failure. Alice heard it say to itself 'Then I'll go round and get in at the window.'

免子到了門外，想推開門，但是門是朝里開的，愛麗絲的胳膊肘正好頂著門，兔子推也推不動，愛麗絲聽到它自語說，“我繞過去，從窗子爬進去。”

'THAT you won't' thought Alice, and, after waiting till she fancied she heard the Rabbit just under the window, she suddenly spread out her hand, and made a snatch in the air. She did not get hold of anything, but she heard a little shriek and a fall, and a crash of broken glass, from which she concluded that it was just possible it had fallen into a cucumber–frame, or something of the sort.

“這你休想，”愛麗絲想，她等了一會，直到聽見兔子走到窗下，她突然伸出了手，在空中抓了一把，雖然沒有抓住任何東西，但是聽到了摔倒了的尖叫聲，和打碎玻璃的嘩啦啦的響聲，根據(jù)這些聲音，她斷定兔子掉進玻璃溫室之類的東西里面了。

Next came an angry voice—the Rabbit's—'Pat! Pat! Where are you?' And then a voice she had never heard before, 'Sure then I'm here! Digging for apples, yer honour!'

接著是兔子的氣惱聲：“帕特!帕特!你在哪里?”然后，是一個陌生的聲音，“是，我在這兒挖蘋果樹呢?老爺!”

'Digging for apples, indeed!' said the Rabbit angrily. 'Here! Come and help me out of THIS!' (Sounds of more broken glass.)

“哼!還挖蘋果樹呢!”兔子氣憤地說，“到這兒來，把我拉出來!”接著又是一陣弄碎玻璃的聲音。

'Now tell me, Pat, what's that in the window?'

“給我說，帕特，窗子里是什么?”

'Sure, it's an arm, yer honour!' (He pronounced it 'arrum.')

“喲，一只胳膊，老爺!”

'An arm, you goose! Who ever saw one that size? Why, it fills the whole window!'

“—只胳膊!你這個傻瓜，哪有這樣大的胳膊，嗯，它塞滿了整個窗戶呢!”

'Sure, it does, yer honour: but it's an arm for all that.'

“不錯，老爺，可到底是一只胳膊。”

'Well, it's got no business there, at any rate: go and take it away!'

“嗯。別羅嗦了，去把它拿掉!”

There was a long silence after this, and Alice could only hear whispers now and then; such as, 'Sure, I don't like it, yer honour, at all, at all!' 'Do as I tell you, you coward!' and at last she spread out her hand again, and made another snatch in the air. This time there were TWO little shrieks, and more sounds of broken glass. 'What a number of cucumber–frames there must be!' thought Alice. 'I wonder what they'll do next! As for pulling me out of the window, I only wish they COULD! I'm sure I don't want to stay in here any longer!'

沉寂了好一陣，這時愛麗絲只能偶爾聽到幾句微弱的話音，如：“我怕見它，老爺，我真怕它!”……“照我說的辦，你這個膽小鬼!”最后，她又張開手，在空中抓了一把，這一次聽到了兩聲尖叫和更多的打碎玻璃的聲音，“這里一定有很多玻璃溫室!”愛麗絲想，“不知道他們下一步要干什么?是不是要把我從窗子里拉出去，嘿，我真希望他們這樣做，我實在不愿意再呆下去了!”

She waited for some time without hearing anything more: at last came a rumbling of little cartwheels, and the sound of a good many voices all talking together: she made out the words: 'Where's the other ladder?—Why, I hadn't to bring but one; Bill's got the other—Bill! fetch it here, lad!—Here, put 'em up at this corner—No, tie 'em together first—they don't reach half high enough yet—Oh! they'll do well enough; don't be particular—Here, Bill! catch hold of this rope—Will the roof bear?—Mind that loose slate—Oh, it's coming down! Heads below!' (a loud crash)—'Now, who did that?—It was Bill, I fancy—Who's to go down the chimney?—Nay, I shan't! YOU do it!—That I won't, then!—Bill's to go down—Here, Bill! the master says you're to go down the chimney!'

她等了—會，沒有聽到什么聲音，后來傳來了小車輪的滾動聲，以及許多人說話的嘈雜聲，她聽到說：“另外一個梯子呢?……嗯，我只拿了一個，別一個比爾拿著……比爾，拿過來，小伙子……到這兒來，放到這個角上……不，先綁在一起，現(xiàn)在還沒一半高呢!……對，夠了，你別挑刺啦!—一比爾，這里，抓住這根繩子……頂棚受得了嗎?……小心那塊瓦片松了……掉下來了，低頭!(一個很大的響聲)……現(xiàn)在誰來干?……我認為比爾合適，它可以從煙囪里下去。……不，我不干!……你干!……這我可不干……應該比爾下去……比爾!主人說讓你下煙囪!”

'Oh! So Bill's got to come down the chimney, has he?' said Alice to herself. 'Shy, they seem to put everything upon Bill! I wouldn't be in Bill's place for a good deal: this fireplace is narrow, to be sure; but I THINK I can kick a little!'

“啊，這么說比爾就要從煙囪下來了，”愛麗絲對自己說，“嘿，它們好像把什么事情都推在比爾身上，我可不做比爾這個角色。說真的這個壁爐很窄，不過我還是可以踢那么一下。”

She drew her foot as far down the chimney as she could, and waited till she heard a little animal (she couldn't guess of what sort it was) scratching and scrambling about in the chimney close above her: then, saying to herself 'This is Bill,' she gave one sharp kick, and waited to see what would happen next.

她把伸進煙囪里的腳收了收，等到聽到一個小動物(她猜不出是什么動物)在煙囪里連滾帶爬地接近了她的腳，這時她自語說：“這就是比爾了，”同時狠狠地踢了一腳，然后等著看下一步會發(fā)生些什么。

The first thing she heard was a general chorus of 'There goes Bill!' then the Rabbit's voice along—'Catch him, you by the hedge!' then silence, and then another confusion of voices—'Hold up his head—Brandy now—Don't choke him—How was it, old fellow? What happened to you? Tell us all about it!'

首先，她聽到一片叫喊：“比爾飛出來啦!”然后是兔子的聲音：“喂，籬笆邊的人，快抓住它!”靜了一會兒，又是一片亂嚷嚷：“抬起它的頭……，快，白蘭地……別嗆著了它!怎么樣了?老伙計，剛才你碰見了什么?告訴我們。”

Last came a little feeble, squeaking voice, ('That's Bill,' thought Alice,) 'Well, I hardly know—No more, thank ye; I'm better now—but I'm a deal too flustered to tell you—all I know is, something comes at me like a Jack–in–the–box, and up I goes like a sky–rocket!'

最后傳來的是一個微弱的尖細聲(愛麗絲認為這是比爾)“唉，我一點也不知道……再不要，謝謝你，我已經(jīng)好多了……我太緊張了，沒法說清楚，我所知道的就是……不知什么東西，就像盒子里的玩偶人(西方小孩經(jīng)常玩一種玩偶盒，一打開盒蓋即彈出小玩偶來。)一樣彈過來，于是，我就像火箭一樣飛了出來!”

'So you did, old fellow!' said the others.

“不錯，老伙計!你真是像火箭一樣。”另外一個聲音說。

'We must burn the house down!' said the Rabbit's voice; and Alice called out as loud as she could, 'If you do. I'll set Dinah at you!'

“我們必須把房子燒掉!”這是兔子的聲音。愛麗絲盡力喊道：“你們敢這樣，我就放黛娜來咬你們!”

There was a dead silence instantly, and Alice thought to herself, 'I wonder what they WILL do next! If they had any sense, they'd take the roof off.' After a minute or two, they began moving about again, and Alice heard the Rabbit say, 'A barrowful will do, to begin with.'

接著，是死一般的寂靜，愛麗絲想：“不知道它們下一步想干什么，如果它們有見識的話，就應該把屋頂拆掉。”過了一兩分鐘，它們又走動了，愛麗絲聽到兔子說：“開頭用一車就夠了。”

'A barrowful of WHAT?' thought Alice; but she had not long to doubt, for the next moment a shower of little pebbles came rattling in at the window, and some of them hit her in the face. 'I'll put a stop to this,' she said to herself, and shouted out, 'You'd better not do that again!' which produced another dead silence.

“一車什么呀?”愛麗絲想，但一會兒就知道了，小卵石像暴雨似的從窗子扔進來了，有些小卵石打到了她的臉上，“我要讓他們住手，”她對自己說，然后大聲喊道：“你們最好別再這樣干了!”這一聲喊叫后，又是一片寂靜。

Alice noticed with some surprise that the pebbles were all turning into little cakes as they lay on the floor, and a bright idea came into her head. 'If I eat one of these cakes,' she thought, 'it's sure to make SOME change in my size; and as it can't possibly make me larger, it must make me smaller, I suppose.'

愛麗絲驚奇地注意到，那些小卵石掉到地板上部變成了小點心，她腦子里立即閃過了一個聰明的念頭：“如果我吃上一塊，也許會使我變小，現(xiàn)在我已經(jīng)不可能更大了，那么，它一定會把我變小的。”

So she swallowed one of the cakes, and was delighted to find that she began shrinking directly. As soon as she was small enough to get through the door, she ran out of the house, and found quite a crowd of little animals and birds waiting outside. The poor little Lizard, Bill, was in the middle, being held up by two guinea–pigs, who were giving it something out of a bottle. They all made a rush at Alice the moment she appeared; but she ran off as hard as she could, and soon found herself safe in a thick wood.

開是，她吞了一塊點心，當即明顯地迅速縮小了。在她剛剛縮到能夠穿過門的時候，就跑出了屋子，她見到一群小動物和小鳥都守在外邊，那只可憐的小壁虎——比爾在中間，由兩只豚鼠扶著，從瓶子里倒著東西喂它。當愛麗絲出現(xiàn)的瞬間，它們?nèi)紱_上來。她拼了命，總算跑掉了，不久她就平安地到了一個茂密的樹林里。

'The first thing I've got to do,' said Alice to herself, as she wandered about in the wood, 'is to grow to my right size again; and the second thing is to find my way into that lovely garden. I think that will be the best plan.'

“我的第一件事，”愛麗絲在樹林中漫步時對自己說，“是把我變到正常大小，第二件就是去尋找那條通向可愛的小花園的路。這是我最好的計劃了。”

It sounded an excellent plan, no doubt, and very neatly and simply arranged; the only difficulty was, that she had not the smallest idea how to set about it; and while she was peering about anxiously among the trees, a little sharp bark just over her head made her look up in a great hurry.

聽起來，這真是個卓越的計劃，而且安排得美妙而簡單，唯一的困難是她不知道怎樣才能辦成。正當她在樹林中著急地到處張望時，她頭頂上面?zhèn)鱽砹思饧毜娜吐暋?/p>

An enormous puppy was looking down at her with large round eyes, and feebly stretching out one paw, trying to touch her. 'Poor little thing!' said Alice, in a coaxing tone, and she tried hard to whistle to it; but she was terribly frightened all the time at the thought that it might be hungry, in which case it would be very likely to eat her up in spite of all her coaxing.

她趕緊抬頭朝上看，一只大的叭兒狗，正在瞪著又大又圓的眼睛朝下看著她，還輕輕地伸出一只爪子，要抓她。“可憐的小東西!”愛麗絲用哄小孩的聲調(diào)說，一邊還努力地向它吹口哨。但是實際上，她心里嚇得要死，因為想到它可能餓了，那么不管她怎么哄它，它還是很可能把她吃掉的。

Hardly knowing what she did, she picked up a little bit of stick, and held it out to the puppy; whereupon the puppy jumped into the air off all its feet at once, with a yelp of delight, and rushed at the stick, and made believe to worry it; then Alice dodged behind a great thistle, to keep herself from being run over; and the moment she appeared on the other side, the puppy made another rush at the stick, and tumbled head over heels in its hurry to get hold of it; then Alice, thinking it was very like having a game of play with a cart–horse, and expecting every moment to be trampled under its feet, ran round the thistle again; then the puppy began a series of short charges at the stick, running a very little way forwards each time and a long way back, and barking hoarsely all the while, till at last it sat down a good way off, panting, with its tongue hanging out of its mouth, and its great eyes half shut.

她幾乎不知道該怎么辦，拾了一根小樹枝，伸向小狗，那只小狗立即跳了起來，高興地汪、汪叫著，向樹枝沖過去，假裝要咬，愛麗絲急忙躲進一排薊樹叢后面，免得給小狗撞倒，她剛躲到另一邊，小狗就向樹枝發(fā)起第二次沖鋒。它沖得太急了，不但沒有抓著樹枝，反而翻了個筋斗，愛麗絲覺得真像同一匹馬玩耍，隨時都有被它踩在腳下的危險，因此，她又圍著薊樹叢轉(zhuǎn)了起來，那只小狗又向樹枝發(fā)起了一連串的沖鋒。每一次都沖過了頭，然后再后退老遠，而且嘶聲地狂吠著。最后它在很遠的地方蹲坐了下來，喘著氣，舌頭伸在嘴外，那雙大眼睛也半閉上了。

This seemed to Alice a good opportunity for making her escape; so she set off at once, and ran till she was quite tired and out of breath, and till the puppy's bark sounded quite faint in the distance.

這是愛麗絲逃跑的好機會，她轉(zhuǎn)身就跑了，一直跑得喘不過氣來，小狗的吠聲也很遠了，才停了下來。

'And yet what a dear little puppy it was!' said Alice, as she leant against a buttercup to rest herself, and fanned herself with one of the leaves: 'I should have liked teaching it tricks very much, if—if I'd only been the right size to do it! Oh dear! I'd nearly forgotten that I've got to grow up again! Let me see—how IS it to be managed? I suppose I ought to eat or drink something or other; but the great question is, what?'

“然而，這是只多么可愛的小狗啊!”在愛麗絲靠在一棵毛茛上，用一片毛茛葉搧著休息時說，“要是我像正常那么大小，我真想教它玩許多把戲，啊，親愛的，我?guī)缀跬浳疫€要想法再長大呢?讓我想一想，這怎么才能做到呢?我應該吃或者喝一點什么東西，可是該吃喝點什么呢?”

The great question certainly was, what? Alice looked all round her at the flowers and the blades of grass, but she did not see anything that looked like the right thing to eat or drink under the circumstances. There was a large mushroom growing near her, about the same height as herself; and when she had looked under it, and on both sides of it, and behind it, it occurred to her that she might as well look and see what was on the top of it.

確實，最大的問題是吃喝點什么呢?愛麗絲看著周圍的花草，沒有可吃喝的東西。離她很近的地方長著一個大蘑菇，差不多同她一樣高。她打量了蘑菇的下面、邊沿、背面，還想到應該看看上面有什么東西。