第十章 龙虾四组舞

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But the snail replied "Too far, too far!" and gave a look askance—

‘太远啦，太远啦。’蜗牛斜了一眼回答。

Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join the dance.

它说谢谢鳕鱼，但它不愿把舞会参加。

Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join the dance.

它不愿，它不能，它不愿，它不能，它不愿把舞会参加。

Would not, could not, would not, could not, could not join the dance.

它不愿，它不能，它不愿，它不能，它不能把舞会参加。

'"What matters it how far we go?" his scaly friend replied.

它的有鳞的朋友回答：‘扔得远又有什么相干？

"There is another shore, you know, upon the other side.

你要知道，在大海那边，还有另一个海岸。

The further off from England the nearer is to France—

如果你更远地离开英格兰，就会更加接近法兰西。

Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance.

亲爱的蜗牛，不要害怕，赶快去把舞会参加。

Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?

你不愿，你可要，你可愿，你可要，你可愿把舞会参加？

Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the dance?"'

你不愿，你可要，你可愿，你可要，你可要把舞会参加？’”

'Thank you, it's a very interesting dance to watch,' said Alice, feeling very glad that it was over at last: 'and I do so like that curious song about the whiting!'

“谢谢你，我组舞真好玩，”爱丽丝说，她很高兴它终于结束了，“我很喜欢这支奇怪的关于鳕鱼的歌。”

'Oh, as to the whiting,' said the Mock Turtle, 'they—you've seen them, of course?'

素甲鱼说：“哦，说到鳕鱼，它们……你当然看见过它们啦？”

'Yes,' said Alice, 'I've often seen them at dinn—' she checked herself hastily.

“是的，”爱丽丝回答，“在饭……”，她想说在饭桌上，但是急忙停住了。

'I don't know where Dinn may be,' said the Mock Turtle, 'but if you've seen them so often, of course you know what they're like.'

“我不知道‘饭’是什么地方，”素甲鱼说，“不过，如果你常常看见它们，你当然知道它们的样子了。”

'I believe so,' Alice replied thoughtfully. 'They have their tails in their mouths—and they're all over crumbs.'

“我想我知道，”爱丽丝思索着说，“它们把尾巴弯到嘴里，身上撒满了面包屑（这是西菜中烧好的鳕鱼的样子。）。”

'You're wrong about the crumbs,' said the Mock Turtle: 'crumbs would all wash off in the sea. But they HAVE their tails in their mouths; and the reason is—' here the Mock Turtle yawned and shut his eyes.—'Tell her about the reason and all that,' he said to the Gryphon.

“面包屑？你可说错了！”素甲鱼说，“海水会把面包屑冲掉的。不过它们倒真是把尾巴弯到嘴里的。这个缘故是……”说到这里，素甲鱼打个哈欠，合上了眼。“告诉她这是什么缘故。”它对鹰头狮说。

'The reason is,' said the Gryphon, 'that they WOULD go with the lobsters to the dance. So they got thrown out to sea. So they had to fall a long way. So they got their tails fast in their mouths. So they couldn't get them out again. That's all.'

鹰头狮说，“这是因为它们同龙虾一道参加舞会，于是，它们就从海里被扔出去了，于是，它们落得老远，于是，它们就把尾巴塞到嘴里去了，于是，它们没法把尾巴弄出来了。就是这些。”

'Thank you,' said Alice, 'it's very interesting. I never knew so much about a whiting before.'

“谢谢你，”爱丽丝说，“真有意思，我以前不知道这么多的关于鳕鱼的故事。”

'I can tell you more than that, if you like,' said the Gryphon. 'Do you know why it's called a whiting?'

“如果你愿意，我还可以告诉你更多哩！”鹰头狮说，“你知道为什么叫鳕鱼吗？”

'I never thought about it,' said Alice. 'Why?'

“我没想过，”爱丽丝说，“为什么？”

'IT DOES THE BOOTS AND SHOES.' the Gryphon replied very solemnly.

“它是擦靴子和鞋子的。”鹰头狮严肃地说。

Alice was thoroughly puzzled. 'Does the boots and shoes!' she repeated in a wondering tone.

爱丽丝感到迷惑不解。“擦靴子和鞋子？”她诧异地问。

'Why, what are YOUR shoes done with?' said the Gryphon. 'I mean, what makes them so shiny?'

“是的，你的鞋用什么擦的？”鹰头狮说，“我的意思是，你用什么把鞋子擦得那么亮？”

Alice looked down at them, and considered a little before she gave her answer. 'They're done with blacking, I believe.'

爱丽丝看了下自己的鞋子，想了一下说：“我用的黑鞋油。”

'Boots and shoes under the sea,' the Gryphon went on in a deep voice, 'are done with a whiting. Now you know.'

“靴子和鞋子在海里，要白得发亮，”鹰头狮说，“你知道，是用鳕鱼的雪擦亮的。”

'And what are they made of?' Alice asked in a tone of great curiosity.

“鳕鱼的雪是由什么做成的呢？”爱丽丝好奇地问。

'Soles and eels, of course,' the Gryphon replied rather impatiently: 'any shrimp could have told you that.'

“当然是鳊鱼和鳗鱼啦！”鹰头狮很不耐烦地回答，“就是小虾也会这样告诉你的。”

'If I'd been the whiting,' said Alice, whose thoughts were still running on the song, 'I'd have said to the porpoise, "Keep back, please: we don't want YOU with us!"'

“如果我是鳕鱼，”爱丽丝说，脑子里还想着那首歌，“我会对海豚说“远一点，我们不要你同我们在一起！’”

'They were obliged to have him with them,' the Mock Turtle said: 'no wise fish would go anywhere without a porpoise.'

“它们不得不要海豚，”素甲鱼说，“没有一种聪明的鱼外出旅行时，不要海豚的。”

'Wouldn't it really?' said Alice in a tone of great surprise.

“真的吗？”爱丽丝惊奇地说。

'Of course not,' said the Mock Turtle: 'why, if a fish came to ME, and told me he was going a journey, I should say "With what porpoise?"'

“可不是，”素甲鱼说，“如果有鱼外出旅行，来告诉我，我就会说‘哪个海豚去’”

'Don't you mean "purpose"?' said Alice.

“你说什么‘孩童’？”爱丽丝说。

'I mean what I say,' the Mock Turtle replied in an offended tone. And the Gryphon added 'Come, let's hear some of YOUR adventures.'

“我知道我说的意思，”素甲鱼生气地回答。鹰头狮接着说：“让我们听听关于你的故事吧。”

'I could tell you my adventures—beginning from this morning,' said Alice a little timidly: 'but it's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.'

“我可以告诉你们我的故事——从今天早晨开始，”爱丽丝有点胆怯地说，“咱们不必从昨天开始，因为从那以后，我已经变成另一个人啦。”

'Explain all that,' said the Mock Turtle.

“你解释解释。”素甲鱼说。

'No, no! The adventures first,' said the Gryphon in an impatient tone: 'explanations take such a dreadful time.'

“不，不！先讲故事，后解释。”鹰头狮不耐烦地说，“解释太耽误功夫了。”