牛津书虫系列 爱丽丝镜中世界奇遇记 6 Humpty Dumpty

6 Humpty Dumpty

6.胖墩儿

But the egg got larger and larger， and more and morelike a person. Then Alice saw that it had eyes and anose and a mouth，and she realized that it was HUMPTYDUMPTY himself.

但鸡蛋越变越大，越变越像个人。爱丽丝看见他有眼，有鼻，有嘴巴。她才知道那原来就是胖墩儿。

‘It must be him，’she said to herself.‘There he is， sittingon a high wall，and he looks just like an egg.’

她自言自语道：“肯定是他。他就坐在一堵高墙上，外表像个鸡蛋。”

He was sitting very still and seemed to be asleep，so Alicestood and repeated to herself the words of the song：

他纹丝不动地坐在那儿，好像是睡着了。爱丽丝就站在那儿，口里背诵着一首歌词：

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;

胖墩儿坐在墙上，

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

胖墩儿摔下重伤。

All the King's horses and all the King's men

国王的骏马、骑士，

Couldn't put Humpty together again.

再不能将他拼上。

‘Don't stand there talking to yourself，’said HumptyDumpty suddenly，opening his eyes.‘Tell me your name.’

胖墩儿突然睁开眼睛说：“别站在那儿自言自语。告诉我你的名字。”

‘My name is Alice-’

“我叫爱丽丝--”

‘That's a stupid name!’said Humpty Dumpty.‘What doesit mean?’

胖墩儿说：“那是个蠢名字!是什么意思?”

‘Must a name mean something?’Alice asked，puzzled.

“名字都得有意思?”爱丽丝不解地问道。

‘Of course it must，’Humpty Dumpty said with a shortlaugh.‘My name means the shape I am-and a very goodshape it is， too. With a name like yours， you could be almostany shape.’

“那当然。”胖墩儿笑了一下说：“我的名字说明了我的体形--我的体形多好。像你那个名字，你几乎什么体形都能用。”

‘Why do you sit out here all alone?’said Alice，not wishingto argue.

爱丽丝不想争辩，就问：“你怎么一个人坐在这儿?”

‘Because there's nobody with me!’ cried Humpty Dumpty.‘Did you think I didn't know the answer to that?Come，let'shave some intelligent conversation now.’

“那是因为没有人与我在一起!”胖墩儿大声叫道，“你认为我不能回答你那个问题?好了，让我们谈些更明智的话题吧。”

Alice tried to think of something intelligent to say， butcouldn't.‘What a beautiful belt you're wearing!’she said，suddenly noticing it.

爱丽丝试图想些明智的话题讲讲，但就是想不起来。“你腰上的皮带多漂亮!”她突然发现了这点，就说了。

‘That's better，’said Humpty Dumpty，looking pleased.‘Yes，it was a present from the White King and Queen.Theygave it to me for an unbirthday present.’

胖墩儿面有悦色，说：“这话题好多了，这是白方国王与王后送我的礼物，是件非生日礼物。”

Alice looked puzzled.‘What is an unbirthday present?’

爱丽丝迷惑不解，“非生日礼物到底是什么?”

‘A present when it isn't your birthday，of course.’

“那当然是你非生日那天送你的礼物。”

Alice thought about this.‘I like birthday presents best，’ shesaid at last.

爱丽丝想了想，最后说：“我还是最喜欢生日礼物。”

‘You don't know what you're talking about!’cried HumptyDumpty.‘How many days are there in a year?’

“你在讲些什么呀!一年有多少天?”胖墩儿叫嚷道。

‘Three hundred and sixty-five，’said Alice.

爱丽丝说：“365天。”

‘And how many birthdays have you?’

“其中有多少天是你的生日?”

‘One.’

“一天。”

‘And if you take one from three hundred and sixty-five，what is left?’

“那么365天减去1天剩多少?”

‘Three hundred and sixty-four， of course.’

“当然是364天。”

‘So there's only one day when you can get birthdaypresents，’said Humpty Dumpty，‘but three hundred and six-ty-four days when you can get unbirthday presents!There'ssuccess for you!’

胖墩儿便说：“这么讲你只有一天能收到生日礼物。但其他364天都能收到非生日礼物，你就‘成功’了!”

‘I don't know what you mean by “success”，’Alice said.

“我不明白你说‘成功’指的是什么?”爱丽丝问。

Humpty Dumpty smiled.‘Of course you don't-until I tellyou.I meant “there's a clever idea for you!”’

胖墩儿笑了笑，“我不告诉你，你当然不晓得，我指的是‘给你个聪明的主意!’”

‘But“success” doesn't mean “a clever idea”，’Alice argued.

“但‘成功’没有‘聪明主意’的意思呀。”爱丽丝争辩说。

‘When I use a word，’Humpty Dumpty said，looking downhis nose at Alice，‘it means just what I choose it to mean-neither more nor less.’

胖墩儿不理会爱丽丝，说：“我用一个词儿，我要它什么意思，那词儿就是什么意思。”

‘But can you make words have different meanings?’askedAlice.

“但你可以叫词儿具有另外的意思吗?”爱丽丝问。

‘Words are difficult things，I agree，’said HumptyDumpty.‘But you have to be strong with them.Give them or-ders.Tell them to obey you.They must work hard，and dowhat they're told!’ He banged his hand excitedly on the wallas he spoke.

胖墩儿说：“我同意，用词儿是件不容易的事。但你得对它们显示你的威力。给它们发号施令。要它们遵从你。它们必须好好干，对你百依百顺!”他说着，激动地将手重重地在墙上拍了一下。

‘You seem very clever with words，Sir，’said Alicepolitely，hoping to calm him.She was worried about himfalling off the wall.

“你好像对词儿很有些办法，先生。”爱丽丝很有礼貌地说，希望使他平静下来。她担心胖墩儿从墙上摔下来。

Humpty Dumpty looked pleased.‘I can explain mostwords，and get them to do what I want，’he said.‘Some ofthem are like suitcases， you know.They've got several mean-ings packed up in them.Take poems，for example.One shortpoem can carry as many meanings as five people's luggage.’

胖墩儿面带悦色，说：“我能解释大多数的词儿，并叫它们为我服务。有些词儿像皮箱，里面有好几种意思。譬如诗歌，一首短诗的意思可以像五个人的行李一样丰富。”

‘Somebody repeated a poem to me earlier today，’saidAlice.‘It was Tweedledee，I think.’

爱丽丝说：“今天早些时候，有人给我背诵了首诗。我想那是特威帝吧。”

‘Oh，I can repeat any number of poems，if you like，’saidHumpty Dumpty.

“哦，只要你不厌烦，我背诵多少首诗都可以。”胖墩儿说。

‘Well， not just at the moment，’Alice said quickly，hopingto stop him from beginning.

爱丽丝马上抢着说：“哦，现在不必了。”希望他别开始背。

‘This piece was written specially for you，’Humpty Dump-ty went on，not listening to her.‘It will amuse you.’

胖墩儿并不听她，继续说：“这首是专门为你写的。它将给你带来快乐。”

‘Thank you，’said Alice sadly. She could not refuse to lis-ten，she thought，if the poem was specially written for her.

“谢谢!”爱丽丝沮丧地说。她想：如果这首诗是专门为她写的，她就不能不洗耳恭听。

In winter，when the fields are white，

冬日里田野白雪皑皑，

I sing this song for your delight-

我唱起这首歌，只为你开怀--

‘But I don't sing it，’he explained.

他解释说：“但我不唱歌。”

‘Yes，I can see that，’Alice said.

“是的，这我明白。”爱丽丝应道。

‘If you can see me singing or not singing， you've better eyesthan most people，’ said Humpty Dumpty.Alice was silent，and he went on.

胖墩儿说：“如果你能看出我是否在唱歌，那么你的眼力比大部分人都要好。”爱丽丝沉默着，于是他又背：

In spring， when woods are getting green，

春天里树木郁郁葱葱，

I'll try and tell you what I mean.

我要设法告诉你我的意思。

‘Thank you very much，’ said Alice.

爱丽丝说：“非常感谢。”

In summer， when the days are long，

夏日里炎炎日长，

Perhaps you'll understand the song.

也许你会懂得我的歌唱。

In autumn， when the leaves are brown，

秋天枝叶枯黄，

Take pen and ink and write it down.

拿起笔墨永记不忘。

‘I will，if I can remember it so long，’said Alice.

“我会的，如果我能把它长久记住的话。”爱丽丝说。

‘Don't go on saying things，’Humpty Dumpty said.‘They're not sensible， and I forget where I am.’

胖墩儿说：“别说了，你说的话不明智。我忘了讲到哪儿了。”

I sent a message to the fish;

我给鱼儿捎个信;

I told them‘This is what I wish.’

告诉它们“这是我的心愿。”

The little fishes of the sea，

大海里的小鱼儿，

They sent an answer back to me.

给了我一个回音。

The little fishes’answer was

小鱼儿的回音是

‘We cannot do it，Sir，because-’

“先生，这事我们做不了，因为--”

‘I'm afraid I don't understand，’said Alice.

爱丽丝说：“恐怕我理解不了。”

‘It gets easier as it goes on，’ Humpty Dumpty replied.

“越往后听，就变得越简单了。”胖墩儿说。

But the poem went on for a long time， and Alice thought itgot harder，not easier，to understand. Then Humpty Dumptysuddenly stopped， and there was a long silence.

诗歌又背了好长时间，可是爱丽丝觉得理解起来越来越难，而不是越来越容易了。胖墩儿突然停住，随后是长久的沉默。

‘Is that all?’Alice asked politely.

爱丽丝客气地问：“背完了?”

‘That's all，’said Humpty Dumpty.‘Goodbye.’

“背完了，再见!”胖墩儿答。

Alice waited a minute，but Humpty Dumpty closed his eyesand did not speak again. So she got up， said‘goodbye’， andquietly walked away.

爱丽丝等了一会儿，但胖墩儿闭上眼，不再说话。她站了起来，道了“再见”，轻轻地走开了。

‘What an extraordinary person!’she said to herself as shewalked.‘I don't think I ever met-’She never finished whatshe was saying，because at that moment a heavy crash shookthe forest from end to end.

“这真是个非常奇特的人!”她一边走，一边自言自语，“我想我从未见过--”但话只讲了半截，因为就在那时，强烈的撞击声震动了整个森林。