牛津書蟲系列 愛麗絲鏡中世界奇遇記 6 Humpty Dumpty

6 Humpty Dumpty

6.胖墩兒

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.

但雞蛋越變越大，越變越像個人。愛麗絲看見他有眼，有鼻，有嘴巴。她才知道那原來就是胖墩兒。

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

她自言自語道：“肯定是他。他就坐在一堵高墻上，外表像個雞蛋。”

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

他紋絲不動地坐在那兒，好像是睡著了。愛麗絲就站在那兒，口里背誦著一首歌詞：

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;

胖墩兒坐在墻上，

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

胖墩兒摔下重傷。

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

國王的駿馬、騎士，

Couldn't put Humpty together again.

再不能將他拼上。

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

胖墩兒突然睜開眼睛說：“別站在那兒自言自語。告訴我你的名字。”

‘My name is Alice-’

“我叫愛麗絲--”

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

胖墩兒說：“那是個蠢名字!是什么意思?”

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

“名字都得有意思?”愛麗絲不解地問道。

‘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.’

“那當(dāng)然。”胖墩兒笑了一下說：“我的名字說明了我的體形--我的體形多好。像你那個名字，你幾乎什么體形都能用。”

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

愛麗絲不想爭辯，就問：“你怎么一個人坐在這兒?”

‘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.’

“那是因為沒有人與我在一起!”胖墩兒大聲叫道，“你認(rèn)為我不能回答你那個問題?好了，讓我們談些更明智的話題吧。”

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

愛麗絲試圖想些明智的話題講講，但就是想不起來。“你腰上的皮帶多漂亮!”她突然發(fā)現(xiàn)了這點，就說了。

‘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.’

胖墩兒面有悅色，說：“這話題好多了，這是白方國王與王后送我的禮物，是件非生日禮物。”

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

愛麗絲迷惑不解，“非生日禮物到底是什么?”

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

“那當(dāng)然是你非生日那天送你的禮物。”

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

愛麗絲想了想，最后說：“我還是最喜歡生日禮物。”

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

“你在講些什么呀!一年有多少天?”胖墩兒叫嚷道。

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

愛麗絲說：“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天減去1天剩多少?”

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

“當(dāng)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!’

胖墩兒便說：“這么講你只有一天能收到生日禮物。但其他364天都能收到非生日禮物，你就‘成功’了!”

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

“我不明白你說‘成功’指的是什么?”愛麗絲問。

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

胖墩兒笑了笑，“我不告訴你，你當(dāng)然不曉得，我指的是‘給你個聰明的主意!’”

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

“但‘成功’沒有‘聰明主意’的意思呀。”愛麗絲爭辯說。

‘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.’

胖墩兒不理會愛麗絲，說：“我用一個詞兒，我要它什么意思，那詞兒就是什么意思。”

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

“但你可以叫詞兒具有另外的意思嗎?”愛麗絲問。

‘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.

胖墩兒說：“我同意，用詞兒是件不容易的事。但你得對它們顯示你的威力。給它們發(fā)號施令。要它們遵從你。它們必須好好干，對你百依百順!”他說著，激動地將手重重地在墻上拍了一下。

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

“你好像對詞兒很有些辦法，先生。”愛麗絲很有禮貌地說，希望使他平靜下來。她擔(dān)心胖墩兒從墻上摔下來。

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.’

胖墩兒面帶悅色，說：“我能解釋大多數(shù)的詞兒，并叫它們?yōu)槲曳?wù)。有些詞兒像皮箱，里面有好幾種意思。譬如詩歌，一首短詩的意思可以像五個人的行李一樣豐富。”

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

愛麗絲說：“今天早些時候，有人給我背誦了首詩。我想那是特威帝吧。”

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

“哦，只要你不厭煩，我背誦多少首詩都可以。”胖墩兒說。

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

愛麗絲馬上搶著說：“哦，現(xiàn)在不必了。”希望他別開始背。

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

胖墩兒并不聽她，繼續(xù)說：“這首是專門為你寫的。它將給你帶來快樂。”

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

“謝謝!”愛麗絲沮喪地說。她想：如果這首詩是專門為她寫的，她就不能不洗耳恭聽。

In winter，when the fields are white，

冬日里田野白雪皚皚，

I sing this song for your delight-

我唱起這首歌，只為你開懷--

‘But I don't sing it，’he explained.

他解釋說：“但我不唱歌。”

‘Yes，I can see that，’Alice said.

“是的，這我明白。”愛麗絲應(yīng)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.

胖墩兒說：“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。”愛麗絲沉默著，于是他又背：

In spring， when woods are getting green，

春天里樹木郁郁蔥蔥，

I'll try and tell you what I mean.

我要設(shè)法告訴你我的意思。

‘Thank you very much，’ said Alice.

愛麗絲說：“非常感謝。”

In summer， when the days are long，

夏日里炎炎日長，

Perhaps you'll understand the song.

也許你會懂得我的歌唱。

In autumn， when the leaves are brown，

秋天枝葉枯黃，

Take pen and ink and write it down.

拿起筆墨永記不忘。

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

“我會的，如果我能把它長久記住的話。”愛麗絲說。

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

胖墩兒說：“別說了，你說的話不明智。我忘了講到哪兒了。”

I sent a message to the fish;

我給魚兒捎個信;

I told them‘This is what I wish.’

告訴它們“這是我的心愿。”

The little fishes of the sea，

大海里的小魚兒，

They sent an answer back to me.

給了我一個回音。

The little fishes’answer was

小魚兒的回音是

‘We cannot do it，Sir，because-’

“先生，這事我們做不了，因為--”

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

愛麗絲說：“恐怕我理解不了。”

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

“越往后聽，就變得越簡單了。”胖墩兒說。

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.

詩歌又背了好長時間，可是愛麗絲覺得理解起來越來越難，而不是越來越容易了。胖墩兒突然停住，隨后是長久的沉默。

‘Is that all?’Alice asked politely.

愛麗絲客氣地問：“背完了?”

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

“背完了，再見!”胖墩兒答。

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

愛麗絲等了一會兒，但胖墩兒閉上眼，不再說話。她站了起來，道了“再見”，輕輕地走開了。

‘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.

“這真是個非常奇特的人!”她一邊走，一邊自言自語，“我想我從未見過--”但話只講了半截，因為就在那時，強烈的撞擊聲震動了整個森林。