牛津書蟲系列 格列佛游記 12 A voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnme

12 A voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnme

12 到慧骃國的航行

It was not long before I started my next voyage，on 7th September，1710，as captain of my own ship this time.The owner of the ship wanted me to sail to the Indiano Ocean to do some business for him there，but I was very unlucky.On the way，I had to employ some new sailors from Barbados， but they were men of very bad character.I heard them whispering to the other sailors several times，but I did not suspect what they were planning.One morning，as we were sailing round the Cape of Good Hope，they attacked me and tied me up.They told me they were going to take control of the ship and become pirates.There was nothing I could do.They left me，alone，on the beach of a small island in the middle of the Indi-an Ocean.

沒過多久我又開始了我的下一次航行，時間1710年9月7日，這次是作為自己輪船的船長。輪船的所有者希望我航行到印度洋在那兒給他做點事，可是我非常不走運。路上，我不得不在巴爾巴道斯雇一些新水手，可是他們都是品行很差的人。我聽見他們跟別的水手私語了好幾次，但是我沒有懷疑到他們在策劃陰謀。一天早上，當(dāng)我們正繞過好望角時，他們襲擊了我，把我綁了起來。他們告訴我他們將控制輪船去當(dāng)海盜。我毫無辦法。他們把我孤獨地留在印度洋中的一個小島的沙灘上。

As the ship sailed away，I realized I had no idea where I was.I found a road away from the beach，and walked very quietly and carefully along，in case I was attacked.Several strange-looking animals were lying in a field，and some were sitting in a tree.Their heads and chests were covered in hair，and they had beards as well.They walked sometimes on two，and sometimes on four legs，and could climb trees.They were certainly the ugliest animals I had ever seen in all my travels.

當(dāng)輪船駛開了，我才想起我不知身在何處。我找到了一條離開沙灘的路，靜靜地小心地走著，以防受到襲擊。幾個怪模怪樣的動物躺在一塊地里，有些坐在樹上。他們的頭和胸長著毛發(fā)，也有胡須。他們有時用兩肢著地行走，有時用四肢，他們絕對是我在所有旅行中見到的最丑陋的動物。

When I met one of these creatures on the road，his face showed great surprise and he lifted a foot high in the air.I did not know if he was going to attack me or not，but I hit him hard with the side of my sword.He screamed so loudly that all the other animals ran to help him.There were about forty of them around me.I kept them away by waving my sword in the air，but their wild cries frightened me，and the horrible smell from their bodies made me feel sick.

當(dāng)我在路上見到一只這種動物時，他臉上露出吃驚的表情，把一只腳高高地舉在空中。我不知道他是否要襲擊我。但是我用我的劍側(cè)重重地打了他一下。他高聲尖叫，其他動物都跑過來幫他。在我周圍大約有40個這樣的動物。我在空中揮舞著劍，讓他們離開我，不過他們狂亂的叫聲令我害怕，他們身上的可怕氣味令我惡心。

Suddenly they all ran away.I noticed that a horse was com-ing along the road，so I supposed the animals were afraid of him.The horse stopped when he saw me，and seemed very surprised.He neighed several times in a very intelligent，gen-tle way，and I almost wondered if he was speaking in his own language.When another horse came along，the two horses walked up and down together，while neighing to each other.They seemed like two important people discussing a difficult problem.I watched this with astonishment，and decided that if the animals in this country seemed so sensible，the human beings must be the most intelligent in the world.

忽然他們?nèi)寂荛_了。我看見了一匹馬從路上走了過來，所以我估計這些動物害怕他。馬看見我時停了下來，似乎很吃驚。他以非常智慧、溫柔的方式嘶叫了幾下，我?guī)缀踉谙胨欠裨谟米约旱恼Z言說話。另外一匹馬來了，兩匹馬一起走上走下，互相嘶叫。他們像似兩個重要的人物在討論一個難題。我驚訝地看著這一切，覺得如果這個國家的動物看來都這么理智，其人類必定是世界上最智慧的。

The two horses then came close to me，looking at my face and clothes with great interest.They talked to each other a-gain，and then the first horse made clear signs for me to follow him.

然后兩匹馬走近我，非常感興趣地看著我的臉和衣服。他們又互相談話，然后第一匹馬作出明顯的手勢讓我跟他走。

He led me to a long，low building.Inside there were several lange airy rooms，with no furniture.Other horses were sitting or lying comfortably on the floor，on clean blankets.But where was the master of the house?Were these horses his ser-vants?I began to wonder if I was going mad.Then I realized that the house did not belong to a human，but to the horse who had brought me here.In this country，horses，not people，were in control.

他把我?guī)У搅艘粋€長而低矮的建筑前，里面有幾個大而通風(fēng)的房間，沒有家具。其他的馬正舒適地站著或躺在地板上、毯子上?？墒欠孔拥闹魅嗽谀膬?這些馬是他的仆從嗎?我開始想我是否瘋啦。然后我意識到這房子不是屬于一個人的，而是屬于把我?guī)У竭@兒來的這匹馬，這個國家是由馬，而不是人控制著。

I started learning a little of their language.Their word Houyhnhnm means a horse，and the word itself sounds very like the noise a horse makes.I found it very difficult to say this word，and so I decided to shorten it and call them Houys.Their servants were the horrible-looking animals I had seen earlier.They did all the hard work，and lived in dirty!little rooms in another building，where they were tied to the walls.To my horror，these ugly animals，called Yahoos，had human faces which looked very similar to mine.I did not want anyone to think I was a Yahoo，so I tried to make it clear that my habits were very different from theirs.At least I was allowed to sleep in a separate room from them.

我開始學(xué)了一點他們的語言。他們的詞“慧骃”(“Houyhnhnm”)意思是馬，詞本身聽起來也非常像馬叫的聲音。我感到非常難發(fā)這個詞，所以我決定把它縮短叫他們“Houy”。他們的仆從是我先前見到的面目可憎的動物。他們干所有的重活，住在另一個建筑的骯臟小房間里，那兒他們被栓在墻壁上。令我恐怖的是，這些丑陋的動物，叫作耶胡，長著人類的臉，看起來跟我的非常相像。我不想讓誰認(rèn)為我是耶胡，所以我竭力表明我的習(xí)慣跟他們的大不一樣。至少我被允許睡在一個和他們隔開的房間里。

At first I thought I would die of hunger，as I could not eat the Yahoos’dirty meat or the Houys’grass and corn.But I soon learnt how to bake little cakes made of corn，which I ate with warm milk.Sometimes I caught a bird，an cooked it，or picked leaves of plants to eat with my bread.

起先我以為我會餓死，因為我既不能吃耶胡的臟肉，也不能吃慧骃的草料和谷物。不過我很快就學(xué)會了怎樣用谷物烤小糕點，我和著熱牛奶一起吃。有時我逮住一只鳥燒來吃，或者摘些植物葉來和著我的面包吃。

My Houy master was very interested in me，and as soon as I could speak the language，he asked me to explain where I had come from.

我的慧骃主人對我很感興趣，一旦我會說他們的話，他就請我解釋我是從哪兒來的。

‘Well，master，’I neighed，‘I've come from a country on the other side of the world.And you may not believe this， but in my country all the important people look like Yahoos.’

“好的，主人，”我嘶叫，“我是從在世界的另一邊的國家來的。也許你不信，在我的國家所有的重要人物都看起來像耶胡。”

‘But how is that possible?’he asked gently.‘Your Houys surely wouldn't allow unintelligent creatures like Yahoos to control the country.’

“可是那怎么可能呢?”他溫柔地問我，“你們慧骃肯定不會允許愚蠢的耶胡來控制國家。”

‘It may seem strange，’I agreed，‘but you see，I was sur-prised to find that in this country the Houys are the sensitive and intelligent creatures.And if I'm lucky enough to return home，I'll tell my friends all about it.But I'm afraid they may accuse me of lying.’

“也許這看起來有點奇怪，”我表示贊同，“可是你看，我發(fā)現(xiàn)在這個國家里慧骃是理智而智慧生物也很吃驚。如果我運氣好能回到家，我會把這些都告訴我的朋友，不過我擔(dān)心他們會說我在撒謊。”

My master looked quite worried.‘What is lying?’he asked.

我的主人看得出來相當(dāng)擔(dān)心。“什么是撒謊?”他問。

In their language there is no word which means telling lies，and my master had great difficulty in understanding me.I tried to explain.

在他們的語言中沒有撒謊一詞，我的主人要理解我很困難。我嘗試著解釋。

‘Oh，’he answered，still unsure.‘But why does anyone tell a lie?There's no reason for doing it.We use language in this country in order to understand each other，and to give and re-ceive information.If you don't tell the truth，how can people understand each other?’

“噢，”他回答，仍然不能肯定，“可是為什么要撒謊呢?沒有理由那樣做。在這個國家我們用語言來相互理解，發(fā)出和接收信息。如果你們不說真相，人們怎么能相互理解呢?”

I began to see how different Houy life was from what I was used to.

我開始明白慧骃的生活跟我過去習(xí)慣的是多么不一樣。

‘But tell me，’he continued，‘about your country.’

“告訴我，”他接著說，“關(guān)于你們國家的情況。”

I was delighted to describe recent English history to him，especially some of our most successful wars.

我很高興地向他描繪最近的英國歷史，特別是一些我們最為成功的戰(zhàn)爭。

‘But why does one country attack another?’he asked.

“可是為什么一個國家要攻擊另一個國家?”他問。

‘There are many reasons，’I replied.‘A king or his lords may want more land.Or there may be a difference of opinion between two countries：for example，whether uniforms should be black，white，red or grey.Sometimes we fight because the enemy's too strong，sometimes because he isn't strong enough .Sometimes our neighbours want the things we have，or have the things we want，so we both fight until they take ours or give us theirs.We often attack our best friend，if we want some of his land.There's always a war somewhere.For this reason，being a soldier is one of the best jobs you can have.’

“有許多理由。”我回答，“一個國王或119者他的王公想得到更多的土地，或者兩個國家意見有分歧，比如說，制服該是黑色、白色、紅色還是灰色。有時候我們打仗是因為敵人太強大，有時候是因為他不夠強大。有時候我們的鄰居想要我們有的東西，或者是有我們想要的東西，所以我們打仗，直到他們拿走我們的，或者把他們的給我們。我們經(jīng)常攻擊我們最好的朋友，如果我們想要他的一些領(lǐng)土。某個地方總會有戰(zhàn)爭。因此，當(dāng)個戰(zhàn)士是你能得到的最好工作之一。”

‘A soldier，’repeated my master.‘I'm not quite sure what that is.’

“戰(zhàn)士?”我的主人重復(fù)道，“我不太清楚那是什么。”

‘A soldier is a Yahoo who works for his King and country.His orders are to kill as many people as he can，’I answered.

“戰(zhàn)士是為他的國王和國家工作的耶胡。給他的命令是盡量殺人。”我回答。

‘People who've never hurt him?’asked the Houy.

“殺害從來沒有傷害他的人”?慧骃問。

‘That's right，’I said，pleased that he seemed to under-stand at last.‘Soldiers have killed thousands of people in re-cent history.’

“對。”我說，高興地看到他似乎終于理解了，“在最近的歷史上戰(zhàn)士已經(jīng)殺死了成千上萬的人。”

He shook his head and looked sad.‘I think you must be-what was your word?Ah yes—lying to me.How could you and your countrymen kill so many other Yahoos?And why would you want to?’

他搖著頭，看上去很哀傷。“我想你一定在——你們的詞怎么說的?噢，對——向我撒謊。你和你的國人怎么能殺死那么多耶胡呢?而你們又為什么想那樣呢?”

I smiled as I replied proudly，‘Sir，you don't know much about European war.With our guns and bullets and gunpow-der we can destroy a thousand ships，a hundred cities，and twenty thousand men You see，—’

我笑著驕傲地回答，“先生，你不太了解歐洲的戰(zhàn)爭。用我們的槍、子彈和火藥我們可以摧毀 1000只輪船，100座城池，2萬人。你看——”

‘Be quiet!’he ordered.‘I 've heard enough.I know Ya-hoos are bad，but I didn't realize they could possibly do such terrible things.’

“安靜點!”他命令道，“我聽夠了。我知道耶胡壞，可是我也沒想到他們竟然會作出如此可怕的事。”

After these conversations I began to wonder whether the Houys were right.Why do we humans so often fight wars and tell lies?Peace and truth began to seem more important than making war or making money.I became more and more used to the Houys’ideas and way of life.As the Houys did，I hated the Yahoos for their dirty habits and unpleasant character.By the time I had been there a year，I walked and neighed like the Houys.I felt such a strong love for them that I planned to spend the rest of my life among them，and to try to become more like them.It is a great sadness to me，even today，that this was not possible.

經(jīng)過這些談話后，我開始想慧骃是否是對的。為什么我們?nèi)祟惾绱私?jīng)常地進行戰(zhàn)爭和撒謊?和平和真話開始看起來比進行戰(zhàn)爭或掙錢更重要。我越來越習(xí)慣于慧骃的想法和生活方式。和慧骃一樣，我也厭惡耶胡的臟習(xí)慣和令人不快的性格。到這時我已經(jīng)在那兒一年了，我像慧骃那樣走路和嘶叫。我對他們充滿強烈的喜愛，我計劃我的余生都和他們一起度過，并且變得更像他們。這沒成為可能;即使今天也是我的一大憾事。

One day my Houy master said，‘Can you explain something to me?Why are the Yahoos so violently fond of those shining stones in the fields?They dig for days to get them out of the ground，and hide them jealously from other Yahoos.’

一天我的慧骃主人說，“你可以給我解釋一些事嗎?為什么耶胡如此狂熱地喜歡田野里的那些閃亮的石頭?他們連續(xù)多少天把它們從地里挖出來，小心翼翼地把它們藏起來不讓別的耶胡發(fā)現(xiàn)。”

‘I expect they've found pieces of gold or silver，’I said.Because he did not seem to understand，I added，‘We use them as money，to pay for things，you see.’

“我估計他們找到了金子或銀子。”我說，因為他似乎還不理解，我又加了一句，“我們用來當(dāng)錢花，來買東西，明白吧。”

‘How strange!’he replied.‘We share everything here.No Houy needs-what do you call it?-money.’

“多奇怪!”他回答，“我們這兒什么都共享，沒有慧骃需要——你們叫它什么?——錢。”

Perhaps you can imagine how I felt.I knew I could be hap-py for ever with these sensible，gentle creatures，who never lied or stole，in a country which had no disease，no crime，no wars.But this perfect happiness did not last long.

也許你可以想象我的感受，我清楚，和這些理智、溫順的動物在一起，他們從不撒謊或偷盜，在一個沒有疾并沒有犯罪、沒有戰(zhàn)爭的國家里，我將永遠幸福。可是這種完美的幸福沒有持續(xù)多長時間。

‘I'm sorry，’said my master one day.‘My friends and I have decided you can't stay here any longer.You see，you're neither one of us，nor a Yahoo.’

“我很抱歉，”一天我的主人說，“我的朋友和我已經(jīng)決定，你不能在這兒呆下去了。你看，你既不是我們中的一員，也不是一個耶胡。”

‘No!’I cried desperately.‘Don't send me away!How can I go back to England to live with those awful Yahoos!’

“不!”我絕望地叫，“不要趕走我!我怎么能回到英國去與那些可怕的耶胡住在一起呢!”

‘I'm afraid you must，’he replied gently.‘My servants will help you make a boat.’

“我恐怕你必須走。”他溫文爾雅地回答，“我的仆從會幫你造一只船。”

And so，two months later，although I was very sad to leave，I said goodbye to my dear master and his family，and rowed away from the land of the Houys.I knew that I would never find happiness anywhere else.

這樣，兩個月后，盡管我為離去感到悲傷，我還是告別了我的主人和他的一家，劃船離開了慧骃國。我清楚我在別的地方再也不會找到幸福。

After several days travelling eastwards，I arrived in Aus-tralia，and from there managed to find a ship returning to Eu-rope.I did not enjoy the voyage.The sailors all laughed at me because I walked and neighed like a horse.They looked just like those horrible Yahoos，and at first I could not let them touch me or come near me.Their ugly faces and unpleasant smell made me feel quite ill.

向東航行了幾天后，我到達了澳大利亞，在那兒我找到了一艘返回歐洲的輪船。我不喜歡這旅行。水手們都嘲笑我，因為我像一匹馬那樣走路和嘶叫。他們就像那些可怕的耶胡，起初我不讓他們碰我或者靠近我。他們丑陋的臉和令人不快的氣味讓我感到惡心。

And when I arrived home in England，after being away for five years，my wife and children were delighted to see me，be-cause they had thought I was dead.But to my horror they looked and smelt like Yahoos too，and I told them to keep away from me.

當(dāng)我到達了在英格蘭的家，在離開了5年后，我的妻子和兒女見到我非常高興，因為他們以為我已經(jīng)死了。令我感到恐懼的是，他們看起來、嗅起來也像耶胡，我叫他們離我遠點。

Even now，five years later，I do not let my children get close to me，although I sometimes allow my wife to sit with me while I eat.I try to accept my countrymen now，but the proud ones，who are so full of their own self-importance-well，they had better not come near me.How sad that people cannot learn from the Houys!I was hoping that perhaps hu- man beings would change their ways after reading the stories of my life with the Houys.But they accuse me of lying in my book.And now I realize that people still lie，steal，and fight，just as they have always done，and probably will always do.

即使現(xiàn)在，5年以后，我還是不讓我的孩子靠近我，盡管我有時讓我的妻子在我吃飯時與我在一起坐一會兒?，F(xiàn)在我力圖接受我的國人，那些驕傲的除外，他們充滿了自大的情緒——他們最好不要走近我。人們不能向慧骃學(xué)習(xí)是多么令人憂傷!我希望人類在讀了我與慧骃在一起生活的故事后也許會改變他們的方式?？墒撬麄冎肛?zé)我在書中撒謊?，F(xiàn)在我意識到人們?nèi)匀辉谌鲋e、搶劫和戰(zhàn)爭，正如他們一直所做的，而且也許永遠會這樣。

I will say no more.Clearly，there is no hope for human be-ings.I was stupid to think that I could bring reason and truth into their lives and thoughts Humans are all Yahoos，and Ya- boos they will remain.

我不想再說什么。顯然，人類是沒有希望的。我真愚蠢，我以為我可以把理智和真相帶到他們的生活和思想中去。人類都是耶胡，而且將永遠是耶胡。