愛麗絲夢游仙境：第五章 毛毛蟲的建議

The Caterpillar and Alice looked at each other for some time in silence: at last the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice.

毛毛蟲和愛麗絲彼此沉默地注視了好一會。最后，毛毛蟲從嘴里拿出了水煙管，用慢吞吞的、瞌睡似的聲調(diào)同她說起了話。

‘Who are YOU?' said the Caterpillar.

“你是誰?”毛毛蟲問，

This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, 'I—I hardly know, sir, just at present—at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.'

這可不是鼓勵(lì)人談話的開場白，愛麗絲挺不好意思地回答說：“我……眼下很難說，先生……至少今天起床時(shí)，我還知道我是誰的，從那時(shí)起，可是我就變了好幾回了，”

‘What do you mean by that?' said the Caterpillar sternly. 'Explain yourself!'

“你這話是什么意思?”毛毛蟲嚴(yán)厲地說，“你自己解釋一下!”

‘I can't explain MYSELF, I'm afraid, sir' said Alice, 'because I'm not myself, you see.'

“我沒法解釋，先生，”愛麗絲說，“因?yàn)槲乙呀?jīng)不是我自己了，你瞧。”

‘I don't see,' said the Caterpillar.

“我瞧不出。”毛毛蟲說。

‘I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly,' Alice replied very politely, 'for I can't understand it myself to begin with; and being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing.'‘It isn't,' said the Caterpillar.

“我不能解釋得更清楚了，”愛麗絲非常有禮貌地回答，“因?yàn)槲覊焊鶅翰欢窃趺撮_始的，一天里改變好幾次大小是非常不舒服的。”

‘Well, perhaps you haven't found it so yet,' said Alice; 'but when you have to turn into a chrysalis—you will some day, you know—and then after that into a butterfly, I should think you'll feel it a little queer, won't you?'

“唉，也許你還沒有體會，”愛麗絲說，“可是當(dāng)你必須變成一只蝶蛹的時(shí)候——你知道自己總有一天會這樣的——然后再變成一只蝴蝶、我想你會感到有點(diǎn)奇怪的，是不是，”

‘Not a bit,' said the Caterpillar.

“一點(diǎn)也不。”毛毛蟲說。

‘Well, perhaps your feelings may be different,' said Alice; 'all I know is, it would feel very queer to ME.'

“哦!可能你的感覺同我不一樣，”愛麗絲說，“可是這些事使我覺得非常奇怪。”

‘You!' said the Caterpillar contemptuously. 'Who are YOU?'

“你!”毛毛蟲輕蔑地說，“你是誰?”

Which brought them back again to the beginning of the conversation. Alice felt a little irritated at the Caterpillar's making such VERY short remarks, and she drew herself up and said, very gravely, 'I think, you ought to tell me who YOU are, first.'

這句話又把他們帶回了談話的開頭，對于毛毛蟲的那些非常簡短的回答，愛麗絲頗有點(diǎn)不高興了，她挺直了身子一本正經(jīng)地說：“我想還是你先告訴我，你是誰?”

'Why?' said the Caterpillar.

“為什么?”毛毛蟲說。

Here was another puzzling question; and as Alice could not think of any good reason, and as the Caterpillar seemed to be in a VERY unpleasant state of mind, she turned away.

這又成了一個(gè)難題：愛麗絲想不出任何比較好的理由來回答它，看來，毛毛蟲挺不高興的，因此愛麗絲轉(zhuǎn)身就走了。

‘Come back!' the Caterpillar called after her. 'I've something important to say!'

“回來!”毛毛蟲在她身后叫道，“我有幾句重要的話講!”

This sounded promising, certainly: Alice turned and came back again.

這話聽起來倒是鼓舞人的，于是愛麗絲回來了。

‘Keep your temper,' said the Caterpillar.

“別發(fā)脾氣嘛!”毛毛蟲說，

‘Is that all?' said Alice, swallowing down her anger as well as she could.

“就這個(gè)話嗎?”愛麗絲忍住了怒氣問。

‘No,' said the Caterpillar.

“不。”毛毛蟲說。

Alice thought she might as well wait, as she had nothing else to do, and perhaps after all it might tell her something worth hearing. For some minutes it puffed away without speaking, but at last it unfolded its arms, took the hookah out of its mouth again, and said, 'So you think you're changed, do you?'

愛麗絲想反正沒什么事，不如在這兒等一等，也許最后它會說一點(diǎn)兒值得聽的話的。有好幾分鐘，他只是噴著煙霧不說話。最后它松開胳膊，把水煙管從嘴里拿出來，說：“你認(rèn)為你已經(jīng)變了，是嗎?”

‘I'm afraid I am, sir,' said Alice; 'I can't remember things as I used—and I don't keep the same size for ten minutes together!'

“我想是的，先生。”愛麗絲說。“我平時(shí)知道的事，現(xiàn)在都忘了，而且連把同樣的身材保持十分鐘都做不到，”

‘Can't remember WHAT things?' said the Caterpillar.

“你忘了些什么?”毛毛蟲問。

‘Well, I've tried to say "HOW DOTH THE LITTLE BUSY BEE," but it all came different!' Alice replied in a very melancholy voice.

“我試著背《小蜜蜂怎么干活》，可是背出來的完全變了樣!”愛麗絲憂郁地回答。

‘Repeat, "YOU ARE OLD, FATHER WILLIAM,"' said the Caterpillar.

“那么背誦《你老了，威廉爸爸》吧!”毛毛蟲說。

Alice folded her hands, and began:—

愛麗絲把雙手交叉放好，開始背了：

‘You are old, Father William,' the young man said,

“年輕人說道：‘你已經(jīng)老啦，威廉爸爸，

‘And your hair has become very white;

你頭上長滿了白發(fā)。

And yet you incessantly stand on your head—

可你老是頭朝下倒立著，

Do you think, at your age, it is right?'

像你這把年紀(jì)，這合適嗎?’

‘In my youth,' Father William replied to his son,

‘當(dāng)我年輕的時(shí)候，’威廉爸爸回答兒子，

‘I feared it might injure the brain;

‘我怕這樣會損壞腦子;

But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,

現(xiàn)在我腦袋已經(jīng)空啦，

Why, I do it again and again.'

所以就這樣玩?zhèn)€不止，’

‘You are old,' said the youth, 'as I mentioned before,

‘你已經(jīng)老啦，’年輕人說：‘像我剛才說的一樣，

And have grown most uncommonly fat;

你已經(jīng)變得非常肥胖;

Yet you turned a back–somersault in at the door—

可是你一個(gè)前空翻翻進(jìn)門來，

Pray, what is the reason of that?'

這是怎么搞的?請你講講。’

‘In my youth,' said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,

‘當(dāng)我年輕的時(shí)候，’老哲人搖晃著灰白的卷發(fā)說道，

‘I kept all my limbs very supple

‘我總是讓關(guān)節(jié)保持柔軟靈巧，

By the use of this ointment—one shilling the box—

我用的是這種一先令一盒的油膏，

Allow me to sell you a couple?'

你想要兩盒嗎，

'You are old,' said the youth, 'and your jaws are too weak

請?jiān)试S我向你推銷，‘你已經(jīng)老啦，’年輕人說，

For anything tougher than suet;

‘你的下巴應(yīng)該是衰弱得只能喝些稀湯，

Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak—

可是你把一只整鵝，連骨帶嘴全都吃光，

Pray how did you manage to do it?'

請問你怎能這樣，’

'In my youth,' said his father, 'I took to the law,

‘當(dāng)我年輕的時(shí)候，’爸爸說，研究的是法律條文。

And argued each case with my wife;

對于每個(gè)案子，都拿來同妻子辯論，

And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,

因此我練得下巴肌肉發(fā)達(dá)，

Has lasted the rest of my life.'

這使我受用終身。’

'You are old,' said the youth, 'one would hardly suppose

‘你已經(jīng)老啦，’年輕人說，‘很難想象，

That your eye was as steady as ever;

你的眼睛會像從前，一樣閃光。

Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose—

可是你居然能把一條鰻魚，豎在鼻子尖上。

What made you so awfully clever?'

請問，你怎會這么棒，’

‘I have answered three questions, and that is enough,'

“夠啦，’他的爸爸說，‘我已經(jīng)回答了三個(gè)問題。

Said his father; 'don't give yourself airs!

你不要太放肆啦，

Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?

我不會整天聽你胡言亂語。

Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!'

快滾吧，不然我就要，一腳把你踢下樓梯。

‘That is not said right,' said the Caterpillar.

“背錯(cuò)了。”毛毛蟲說。

‘Not QUITE right, I'm afraid,' said Alice, timidly; 'some of the words have got altered.'

“我也怕不十分對，”愛麗絲羞怯地說，“有些字已經(jīng)變了。”

‘It is wrong from beginning to end,' said the Caterpillar decidedly, and there was silence for some minutes.

“從頭到尾都錯(cuò)了，”毛毛蟲干脆地說。然后他們又沉默了幾分鐘。

The Caterpillar was the first to speak.

毛毛蟲首先開腔了：

‘What size do you want to be?' it asked.

“你想變成多么大小呢?”

‘Oh, I'm not particular as to size,' Alice hastily replied; 'only one doesn't like changing so often, you know.'

“唉!多么大小我倒不在乎。”愛麗絲急忙回答，“可是，一個(gè)人總不會喜歡老是變來變?nèi)サ?，這你是知道的。”

‘I DON'T know,' said the Caterpillar.

“我不知道。”毛毛蟲說。

Alice said nothing: she had never been so much contradicted in her life before, and she felt that she was losing her temper.

愛麗絲不說話了，她從來沒有遭到過這么多的反駁，感到自己要發(fā)脾氣了。

‘Are you content now?' said the Caterpillar.

“你滿意現(xiàn)在的樣子嗎?”毛毛蟲說，

‘Well, I should like to be a LITTLE larger, sir, if you wouldn't mind,' said Alice: 'three inches is such a wretched height to be.'

“哦，如果你不在意的話，先生，我想再大一點(diǎn)，”愛麗絲說，“像這樣三英寸高，太可憐了，”

‘It is a very good height indeed!' said the Caterpillar angrily, rearing itself upright as it spoke (it was exactly three inches high).

“這正是一個(gè)非常合適的高度。”毛毛蟲生氣地說，它說話時(shí)還使勁兒挺直了身子，正好是三英寸高。

‘But I'm not used to it!' pleaded poor Alice in a piteous tone. And she thought of herself, 'I wish the creatures wouldn't be so easily offended!'

“可我不習(xí)慣這個(gè)高度!”愛麗絲可憐巴巴地說道，同時(shí)心里想：“我希望這家伙可別發(fā)火!”

‘You'll get used to it in time,' said the Caterpillar; and it put the hookah into its mouth and began smoking again.

“不久你就會習(xí)慣的!”毛毛蟲說著又把水煙管放進(jìn)嘴里抽起來了。

This time Alice waited patiently until it chose to speak again. In a minute or two the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth and yawned once or twice, and shook itself. Then it got down off the mushroom, and crawled away in the grass, merely remarking as it went, 'One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter.'

這次，愛麗絲耐心地等著它開口，一兩分鐘后，毛毛蟲從嘴里拿出了水煙管，打了個(gè)哈欠，搖了搖身子，然后從蘑菇上下來，向草地爬去，只是在它爬的時(shí)候，順口說道：“一邊會使你長高，另一邊會使你變矮，”

‘One side of WHAT? The other side of WHAT?' thought Alice to herself.

“什么東西的一邊，什么東西的另一邊?”愛麗絲想。

‘Of the mushroom,' said the Caterpillar, just as if she had asked it aloud; and in another moment it was out of sight.

“蘑菇，”毛毛蟲說，就好像愛麗絲在問它似的說完了話，一剎那就不見了。

Alice remained looking thoughtfully at the mushroom for a minute, trying to make out which were the two sides of it; and as it was perfectly round, she found this a very difficult question. However, at last she stretched her arms round it as far as they would go, and broke off a bit of the edge with each hand.

有那么一兩分鐘，愛麗絲端詳著那個(gè)蘑菇，思討著哪里是它的兩邊。由于它十公圓，愛麗絲發(fā)現(xiàn)這個(gè)問題可不容易解決。不管怎樣，最后，她伸開雙管環(huán)抱著它，而且盡量往遠(yuǎn)伸，然后兩只手分別掰下了一塊蘑菇邊。

‘And now which is which?' she said to herself, and nibbled a little of the right–hand bit to try the effect: the next moment she felt a violent blow underneath her chin: it had struck her foot!

“可現(xiàn)在哪邊是哪邊呢?”她問自己，然后啃了右手那塊試試。驀地覺得下巴被猛烈地碰了一下：原來下巴碰著腳背了。

She was a good deal frightened by this very sudden change, but she felt that there was no time to be lost, as she was shrinking rapidly; so she set to work at once to eat some of the other bit. Her chin was pressed so closely against her foot, that there was hardly room to open her mouth; but she did it at last, and managed to swallow a morsel of the lefthand bit.

這突然的變化使她戰(zhàn)栗，縮得太快了，再不抓緊時(shí)間就完了，于是，她立即去吃另一塊，雖然下巴同腳頂?shù)锰o，幾乎張不開口，但總算把左手的蘑菇啃著了一點(diǎn)。

‘Come, my head's free at last!' said Alice in a tone of delight, which changed into alarm in another moment, when she found that her shoulders were nowhere to be found: all she could see, when she looked down, was an immense length of neck, which seemed to rise like a stalk out of a sea of green leaves that lay far below her.

“啊，我的頭自由了!”愛麗絲高興地說，可是轉(zhuǎn)眼間高興變成了恐懼。這時(shí)，她發(fā)現(xiàn)找不見自己的肩膀了，她往下看時(shí)，只能見到了很長的脖子，這個(gè)脖子就像是矗立在綠色海洋中的高樹桿。

‘What CAN all that green stuff be?' said Alice. 'And where HAVE my shoulders got to? And oh, my poor hands, how is it I can't see you?' She was moving them about as she spoke, but no result seemed to follow, except a little shaking among the distant green leaves.

“那些綠東西是什么呢?”愛麗絲說，“我的肩膀呢?哎呀!我的可憐的雙手啊，怎樣才能再見到你們呢?”她說話時(shí)揮動著雙手，可是除了遠(yuǎn)處的綠樹叢中出現(xiàn)一些顫動外，什么也沒有了。

As there seemed to be no chance of getting her hands up to her head, she tried to get her head down to them, and was delighted to find that her neck would bend about easily in any direction, like a serpent. She had just succeeded in curving it down into a graceful zigzag, and was going to dive in among the leaves, which she found to be nothing but the tops of the trees under which she had been wandering, when a sharp hiss made her draw back in a hurry: a large pigeon had flown into her face, and was beating her violently with its wings.

看起來，她的手沒法舉到頭上來了，于是，她就試著把頭彎下去湊近手。她高興地發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的脖子像蛇一樣，可以隨便地往上下左右扭轉(zhuǎn)，她把脖子朝下，變成一個(gè)“z”字形，準(zhǔn)備伸進(jìn)那些綠色海洋里去，發(fā)現(xiàn)這些綠色海洋不是別的，正是剛才曾經(jīng)在它下面漫游的樹林的樹梢。就在這對，一種尖利的嘶聲，使得她急忙縮回了頭。一只大鴿子朝她臉上飛來，并且呼搧著翅膀瘋狂地拍打她。

‘Serpent!' screamed the Pigeon.

“蛇!”鴿子尖叫著。

‘I'm NOT a serpent!' said Alice indignantly. 'Let me alone!'

“我不是蛇!”愛麗絲生氣地說，“你走開!”

‘Serpent, I say again!' repeated the Pigeon, but in a more subdued tone, and added with a kind of sob, 'I've tried every way, and nothing seems to suit them!'

“我再說一遍，蛇!”鴿子重復(fù)著，可是已經(jīng)是用很低的聲音在說話了，然后還嗚咽地加了一句：“我各種方法都試過了，但是沒有一樣能叫它們滿意!”

‘I haven't the least idea what you're talking about,' said Alice.

“你的話我一點(diǎn)幾都不懂!”愛麗絲說，

‘I've tried the roots of trees, and I've tried banks, and I've tried hedges,' the Pigeon went on, without attending to her; 'but those serpents! There's no pleasing them!'

“我試了樹根，試了河岸，還試了籬笆，”鴿子繼續(xù)說著，并不注意她，“可是這些蛇!沒法子讓它們高興!”

Alice was more and more puzzled, but she thought there was no use in saying anything more till the Pigeon had finished.

愛麗絲越來越奇怪了，但是她知道，鴿子不說完自己的話，是不會讓別人說話的。

‘As if it wasn't trouble enough hatching the eggs,' said the Pigeon; 'but I must be on the look–out for serpents night and day! Why, I haven't had a wink of sleep these three weeks!'

“僅僅是孵蛋就夠麻煩的啦，”鴿子說，“我還得日夜守望著蛇，天哪!這三個(gè)星期我還沒合過眼呢!”

‘I'm very sorry you've been annoyed,' said Alice, who was beginning to see its meaning.

“我很同情，你被人家擾亂得不得安寧，”愛麗絲開始有點(diǎn)明白它的意思了，

‘And just as I'd taken the highest tree in the wood,' continued the Pigeon, raising its voice to a shriek, 'and just as I was thinking I should be free of them at last, they must needs come wriggling down from the sky! Ugh, Serpent!'

“我剛剛把家搬到樹林里最高的樹上，”鴿子繼續(xù)說，把嗓門提高成了尖聲嘶叫，“我想已經(jīng)最后擺脫它們了，結(jié)果它們還非要彎彎曲曲地從天上下來不可。唉!這些蛇呀!”

‘But I'm NOT a serpent, I tell you!' said Alice. 'I'm a—I'm a—'

“我可不是蛇，我告訴你!”愛麗絲說，“我是一個(gè)……我是一個(gè)……，

‘Well! WHAT are you?' said the Pigeon. 'I can see you're trying to invent something!'

“啊，你是什么呢?”鴿子說，“我看得出你正想編謊哩!”

‘I—I'm a little girl,' said Alice, rather doubtfully, as she remembered the number of changes she had gone through that day.

“我是一個(gè)小姑娘。”愛麗絲拿不準(zhǔn)地說，因?yàn)樗肫鹆诉@一天中經(jīng)歷的那么多的變化。

‘A likely story indeed!' said the Pigeon in a tone of the deepest contempt. 'I've seen a good many little girls in my time, but never ONE with such a neck as that! No, no! You're a serpent; and there's no use denying it. I suppose you'll be telling me next that you never tasted an egg!'

“說得倒挺像那么回事!”鴿子十分輕蔑地說，“我這輩子看見過許多小姑娘，可從來沒有一個(gè)長著像你這樣的長脖子的!沒有，絕對沒有!你是一條蛇，辯解是沒有用的，我知道你還要告訴我，你從來沒有吃過一只蛋吧!”

‘I HAVE tasted eggs, certainly,' said Alice, who was a very truthful child; 'but little girls eat eggs quite as much as serpents do, you know.'

“我確實(shí)吃過許多的蛋，”愛麗絲說，(她是一個(gè)非常誠實(shí)的孩子。)“你知道，小姑娘也像蛇那樣，要吃好多蛋的。”

‘I don't believe it,' said the Pigeon; 'but if they do, why then they're a kind of serpent, that's all I can say.'

“我不相信，”鴿子說，“假如她們吃蛋的話，我只能說她們也是一種蛇。”

This was such a new idea to Alice, that she was quite silent for a minute or two, which gave the Pigeon the opportunity of adding, 'You're looking for eggs, I know THAT well enough; and what does it matter to me whether you're a little girl or a serpent?'

這對于愛麗絲真是個(gè)新的概念，她愣了幾分鐘。于是鴿子趁機(jī)加了一句：“反正你是在找蛋，因此，你是姑娘還是蛇，對我都一樣。”

‘It matters a good deal to ME,' said Alice hastily; 'but I'm not looking for eggs, as it happens; and if I was, I shouldn't want YOURS: I don't like them raw.'

“這對我很不一樣，”愛麗絲急忙分辯，“而且老實(shí)說，我不是在找蛋，就算我在找蛋，我還不要你的呢?我是不吃生蛋的。”

‘Well, be off, then!' said the Pigeon in a sulky tone, as it settled down again into its nest. Alice crouched down among the trees as well as she could, for her neck kept getting entangled among the branches, and every now and then she had to stop and untwist it. After a while she remembered that she still held the pieces of mushroom in her hands, and she set to work very carefully, nibbling first at one and then at the other, and growing sometimes taller and sometimes shorter, until she had succeeded in bringing herself down to her usual height.

“哼，那就滾開!”鴿子生氣地說著，同時(shí)又飛下去鉆進(jìn)它的窩里了。愛麗絲費(fèi)勁兒地往樹林里蹲，因?yàn)樗牟弊映３粯洳鎾熳?，要隨時(shí)停下來排解。過了一會，她想起了手里的兩塊蘑菇，于是她小心地咬咬這塊，又咬咬那塊，因此她一會兒L長高，一會縮小，最后終于使自己成了平常的高度了。