day 15,week 3 周一

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

第九章 素甲鱼的故事

2

'Oh, I know!' exclaimed Alice, who had not attended to this last remark, 'it's a vegetable. It doesn't look like one, but it is.'

“哦，我知道啦！”爱丽丝没注意她后一句，大声叫道，“它是一种植物，虽然看起来不像，不过就是植物。”

'I quite agree with you,' said the Duchess; 'and the moral of that is—"Be what you would seem to be"—or if you'd like it put more simply—"Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise."'

“我十分同意你所说的，”公爵夫人说，“这里面的教训是：‘你看着像什么就是什么’；或者，你可以把这话说得简单点：‘永远不要把自己想象成和别人心目中的你不一样，因为你曾经或可能曾经在人们心目中是另外一个样子。’”

'I think I should understand that better,' Alice said very politely, 'if I had it written down: but I can't quite follow it as you say it.'

“要是我把您的话记下来，我想我也许会更明白一点，’爱丽丝很有礼貌地说，“现在我可跟不上趟。”

'That's nothing to what I could say if I chose,' the Duchess replied, in a pleased tone.

“我没什么？要是我愿意，我还能说得更长呢！”公爵夫人愉快地说。

'Pray don't trouble yourself to say it any longer than that,' said Alice.

“哦，请不必麻烦您自己了。”爱丽丝说道。

'Oh, don't talk about trouble!' said the Duchess. 'I make you a present of everything I've said as yet.'

“说不上麻烦，”公爵夫人说，“我刚才说的每句话，都是送给你的一片礼物。”

'A cheap sort of present!' thought Alice. 'I'm glad they don't give birthday presents like that!' But she did not venture to say it out loud.

“这样的礼物可真便宜，”爱丽丝想，“幸好人家不是这么送生日礼物的。”

'Thinking again?' the Duchess asked, with another dig of her sharp little chin.

“又在想什么了呢？”公爵夫人问道，她的小小的尖下巴顶得更紧了。

'I've a right to think,' said Alice sharply, for she was beginning to feel a little worried.

“我有想的权利，”爱丽丝尖锐地回答道，因为她有点不耐烦了。

'Just about as much right,' said the Duchess, 'as pigs have to fly; and the m—'

“是的，”公爵夫人说道，“正像小猪有飞的权利一样。这里的教……”

But here, to Alice's great surprise, the Duchess's voice died away, even in the middle of her favourite word 'moral,' and the arm that was linked into hers began to tremble. Alice looked up, and there stood the Queen in front of them, with her arms folded, frowning like a thunderstorm.

爱丽丝十分诧异，公爵夫人的声音突然消失了，甚至连她最爱说的“教训”也没说完。挽着爱丽丝的那只胳膊也颤抖起来了。爱丽丝抬起头来，发现王后站在她们面前，交叉着胳膊，脸色阴沉得像大雷雨前的天色一样。

'A fine day, your Majesty!' the Duchess began in a low, weak voice.

“天气真好呵，陛下。”公爵夫人用低而微弱的声音说。

'Now, I give you fair warning,' shouted the Queen, stamping on the ground as she spoke; 'either you or your head must be off, and that in about half no time! Take your choice!'

“现在我警告你！”王后跺着脚嚷道，“你要么滚开，要么把头砍下来滚开，你得立刻选一样，马上就选。”

The Duchess took her choice, and was gone in a moment.

公爵夫人作出了她的选择，马上就走掉了。

'Let's go on with the game,' the Queen said to Alice; and Alice was too much frightened to say a word, but slowly followed her back to the croquet–ground.

“现在咱们再去玩槌球吧。”王后对爱丽丝说。爱丽丝吓得不敢吭气，只得慢慢地跟着她回到槌球场。

The other guests had taken advantage of the Queen's absence, and were resting in the shade: however, the moment they saw her, they hurried back to the game, the Queen merely remarking that a moment's delay would cost them their lives.

其他的客人趁王后不在，都跑到树荫下乘凉去了。他们一看到王后，立刻跳起来又玩槌球了。王后说，谁要是耽误一秒钟，就得付出生命的代价。

All the time they were playing the Queen never left off quarrelling with the other players, and shouting 'Off with his head!' or 'Off with her head!' Those whom she sentenced were taken into custody by the soldiers, who of course had to leave off being arches to do this, so that by the end of half an hour or so there were no arches left, and all the players, except the King, the Queen, and Alice, were in custody and under sentence of execution.

整个槌球游戏进行中，王后不断地同别人吵嘴，嚷着“砍掉他的头”或“砍掉她的头”。被宣判的人，立刻就被士兵带去监禁起来。这样，执行命令的士兵就不能再回来做球门了。过了约莫半个小时，球场上已经没有一个球门了。除了国王王后和爱丽丝，所有参加槌球游戏的人，都被判了砍头监管起来了。

Then the Queen left off, quite out of breath, and said to Alice, 'Have you seen the Mock Turtle yet?'

于是，累得喘不过气的王后停了下来，对爱丽丝说：“你还没去看素甲鱼吧，”

'No,' said Alice. 'I don't even know what a Mock Turtle is.'

“没有，”爱丽丝说，“我还不知道素甲鱼是什么东西呢！”

'It's the thing Mock Turtle Soup is made from,' said the Queen.

“不是有素甲鱼汤（英国菜中有素甲鱼汤，是用素有模制的甲负汤。如同中国的豆制品素鸡，名为素鸡，实则同鸡不相干的。）吗，”王后说，“那么当然有素甲鱼了。”

'I never saw one, or heard of one,' said Alice.

“我从来没见过，也从来没听说过。”爱丽丝说。

'Come on, then,' said the Queen, 'and he shall tell you his history,'

“那么咱们走吧，”王后说，“他会给你讲他的故事的。”

As they walked off together, Alice heard the King say in a low voice, to the company generally, 'You are all pardoned.' 'Come, THAT'S a good thing!' she said to herself, for she had felt quite unhappy at the number of executions the Queen had ordered.

当地们一起走开的时候，爱丽丝听到国王小声地对客人们说“你们都被赦免了。”爱丽丝想这倒是个好事。王后判了那么多人砍头，使她很难过。

They very soon came upon a Gryphon, lying fast asleep in the sun. (IF you don't know what a Gryphon is, look at the picture.) 'Up, lazy thing!' said the Queen, 'and take this young lady to see the Mock Turtle, and to hear his history. I must go back and see after some executions I have ordered'; and she walked off, leaving Alice alone with the Gryphon. Alice did not quite like the look of the creature, but on the whole she thought it would be quite as safe to stay with it as to go after that savage Queen: so she waited.

她们很快就碰见了一只鹰头狮，正晒着太阳睡觉呢（要是你不知道什么是鹰头狮，你可以看看画）。“快起来，懒家伙！”王后说道，“带这位年轻小姐去看素甲鱼，听他的故事。我还得检查我的命令执行得怎样了。”她说罢就走了，把爱丽丝留在鹰头狮那儿。爱丽丝不大喜欢这个动物的模样。但是她想，与其同那个野蛮的王后在一起，还不如跟它在一起来得安全，所以，她就留下来等候着。