柳林風(fēng)聲：The River Bank 河岸

The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing. It was small wonder, then, that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said ‘Bother!’ and ‘O blow!’ and also ‘Hang spring-cleaning!’ and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat. Something up above was calling him imperiously, and he made for the steep little tunnel which answered in his case to the gravelled carriage-drive owned by animals whose residences are nearer to the sun and air. So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then he scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself, ‘Up we go! Up we go!’ till at last, pop! his snout came out into the sunlight, and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow.

整個上午，鼴鼠都在勤奮地干活，為他小小的家屋作春季大掃除，先用掃帚掃，再用撣子撣，然后登上梯子、椅子什么的，拿著刷子，提著灰漿桶，刷墻，直干到灰塵嗆了嗓子，迷了眼，全身烏黑的毛皮濺滿了白灰漿，腰也酸了，臂也痛了。春天的氣息，在他頭上的天空里吹拂，在他腳下的泥土里游動，在他四周圍飄蕩。春天那奇妙的追求、渴望的精神，甚至鉆進(jìn)了他那陰暗低矮的小屋。怪不得他猛地把刷子往地下一扔，嚷道：“煩死人了!”“去它的!”“什么春季大掃除，見它的鬼去吧!”連大衣也沒顧上穿，就沖出家門了。上面有種力量在急切地召喚他，于是他向著陡峭的地道奔去。這地道，直通地面上的碎石子大車道，而這車道是屬于那些住在通風(fēng)向陽的居室里的動物的。鼴鼠又掏又撓又爬又?jǐn)D，又?jǐn)D又爬又撓又掏，小爪子忙個不停，嘴里還不住地念念叨叨，“咱們上去啰!咱們上去啰!”末末了，噗的一聲，他的鼻尖鉆出了地面，伸到了陽光里，跟著，身子就在一塊大草坪暖暖的軟草里打起滾來。

‘This is fine!’ he said to himself. ‘This is better than whitewashing!’ The sunshine struck hot on his fur, soft breezes caressed his heated brow, and after the seclusion of the cellarage he had lived in so long the carol of happy birds fell on his dulled hearing almost like a shout. Jumping off all his four legs at once, in the joy of living and the delight of spring without its cleaning, he pursued his way across the meadow till he reached the hedge on the further side.

“太棒了!”他自言自語說，“可比刷墻有意思!”太陽曬在他的毛皮上，暖烘烘的，微風(fēng)輕撫著他發(fā)熱的額頭，在洞穴里蟄居了那么久，聽覺都變得遲鈍了，連小鳥兒歡快的鳴唱，聽起來都跟大聲喊叫一樣。生活的歡樂，春天的愉悅，又加上免了大掃除的麻煩，他樂得縱身一跳，騰起四腳向前飛跑，橫穿草坪，一直跑到草坪盡頭的籬笆前。

‘Hold up!’ said an elderly rabbit at the gap. ‘Sixpence for the privilege of passing by the private road!’

“站住!”籬笆豁口處，一只老兔子喝道。“通過私人道路，得交六便士!”

He was bowled over in an instant by the impatient and contemptuous Mole, who trotted along the side of the hedge chaffing the other rabbits as they peeped hurriedly from their holes to see what the row was about. ‘Onion-sauce! Onion-sauce!’ he remarked jeeringly, and was gone before they could think of a thoroughly satisfactory reply. Then they all started grumbling at each other. ‘How STUPID you are! Why didn’t you tell him----‘ ‘Well, why didn’t YOU say----‘ ‘You might have reminded him ----‘ and so on, in the usual way; but, of course, it was then much too late, as is always the case.

鼴鼠很不耐煩，態(tài)度傲慢，根本沒把老兔子放在眼里，一時倒把老兔子弄得不知如何是好。鼴鼠順著籬笆一溜小跑，一邊還逗弄著別的兔子，他們一個個從洞口探頭窺看，想知道外面到底吵些什么。“蠢貨!蠢貨!”他嘲笑說，不等他們想出一句解氣的話來回敬他，就一溜煙跑得沒影兒了。這一來，兔子們七嘴八舌互相埋怨起來。“瞧你多蠢，干嗎不對他說……”“哼，那你干嗎不說……”“你該警告他……”諸如此類，照例總是這一套。當(dāng)然啰，照例總是——太晚啦。

It all seemed too good to be true. Hither and thither through the meadows he rambled busily, along the hedgerows, across the copses, finding everywhere birds building, flowers budding, leaves thrusting— everything happy, and progressive, and occupied. And instead of having an uneasy conscience pricking him and whispering ‘whitewash!’ he somehow could only feel how jolly it was to be the only idle dog among all these busy citizens. After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working.

一切都那么美好，好得簡直不像是真的。他跑過一片又一片的草坪，沿著矮樹籬，穿過灌木叢，匆匆地游逛。處處都看到鳥兒做窩筑巢，花兒含苞待放，葉兒擠擠嚷嚷——萬物都顯得快樂，忙碌，奮進(jìn)。他聽不到良心在耳邊嘀咕：“刷墻!”只覺得，在一大群忙忙碌碌的公民當(dāng)中，做一只唯一的懶狗，是多么愜意。看來，過休假日最舒心的方面，還不是自己得到休憩，而是看到別人都在忙著干活。

He thought his happiness was complete when, as he meandered aimlessly along, suddenly he stood by the edge of a full-fed river. Never in his life had he seen a river before—this sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were caught and held again. All was a-shake and a-shiver—glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and bubble. The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated. By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spell-bound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea.

他漫無目的地閑逛著，忽然來到一條水流豐盈的大河邊，他覺得真是快樂絕頂了。他這輩子還從來沒有見過一條河哩。這只光光滑滑、蜿蜿蜒蜒、身軀龐大的動物，不停地追逐，輕輕地歡笑。它每抓住什么，就格格低笑，把它們?nèi)拥魰r，又哈哈大笑，轉(zhuǎn)過來又撲向新的玩伴。它們掙扎著甩開了它，可到底還是被它逮住，抓牢了。它渾身顫動，晶光閃閃，沸沸揚(yáng)揚(yáng)，吐著旋渦，冒著泡沫，喋喋不休地嘮叨個沒完。這景象，簡直把鼴鼠看呆了，他心馳神迷，像著了魔似的。他沿著河邊，邁著小碎步跑，像個小娃娃緊跟在大人身邊，聽他講驚險(xiǎn)故事，聽得入了迷似的。他終于跑累了，在岸邊坐了下來。可那河還是一個勁兒向他娓娓而談，它講的是世間最好聽的故事。這些故事發(fā)自地心深處，一路講下去，最終要向那聽個沒夠的大海傾訴。

As he sat on the grass and looked across the river, a dark hole in the bank opposite, just above the water’s edge, caught his eye, and dreamily he fell to considering what a nice snug dwelling-place it would make for an animal with few wants and fond of a bijou riverside residence, above flood level and remote from noise and dust. As he gazed, something bright and small seemed to twinkle down in the heart of it, vanished, then twinkled once more like a tiny star. But it could hardly be a star in such an unlikely situation; and it was too glittering and small for a glow-worm. Then, as he looked, it winked at him, and so declared itself to be an eye; and a small face began gradually to grow up round it, like a frame round a picture.

他坐在草地上，朝著河那邊張望時，忽見對岸有個黑黑的洞口，恰好在水面上邊。他夢悠悠地想，要是一只動物要求不過高，只想有一處小巧玲瓏的河邊住宅，漲潮時淹不著，又遠(yuǎn)離塵囂，這個住所倒是滿舒適的。他正呆呆地凝望，忽覺得，那洞穴的中央有個亮晶晶的小東西一閃，忽隱忽現(xiàn)，像一顆小星星。不過，出現(xiàn)在那樣一個地方，不會是星星。要說是螢火蟲嘛，又顯得太亮，也太小。望著望著，那個亮東西竟沖他眨巴了一下，可見那是一只眼睛。接著，圍著那只眼睛，漸漸顯出一張小臉，恰像一幅畫，嵌在畫框里。

A brown little face, with whiskers.

一張棕色的小臉，腮邊有兩撇胡鬚。

A grave round face, with the same twinkle in its eye that had first attracted his notice.

一張神情嚴(yán)肅的圓臉，眼睛里閃著光，就是一開始引起他注意的那種光。

Small neat ears and thick silky hair.

一對精巧的小耳朵，一頭絲一般濃密的毛發(fā)。

It was the Water Rat!

那是河鼠!

Then the two animals stood and regarded each other cautiously.

隨后，兩只動物面對面站著，謹(jǐn)慎地互相打量。

‘Hullo, Mole!’ said the Water Rat.

“嗨，鼴鼠!”河鼠招呼道。

‘Hullo, Rat!’ said the Mole.

“嗨，河鼠!”鼴鼠答道。

‘Would you like to come over?’ enquired the Rat presently.

“你愿意過這邊來嗎?”河鼠問。

‘Oh, its all very well to TALK,’ said the Mole, rather pettishly, he being new to a river and riverside life and its ways.

“噯，說說倒容易，”鼴鼠沒好氣地說，因?yàn)樗浅醮我娮R一條河，還不熟悉水上的生活習(xí)慣。

The Rat said nothing, but stooped and unfastened a rope and hauled on it; then lightly stepped into a little boat which the Mole had not observed. It was painted blue outside and white within, and was just the size for two animals; and the Mole’s whole heart went out to it at once, even though he did not yet fully understand its uses.

河鼠二話沒說，彎腰解開一條繩子，拽攏來，然后輕輕地跨進(jìn)鼴鼠原先沒有注意到的一只小船。那小船外面漆成藍(lán)色，里面漆成白色，鼴鼠的心，一下子飛到了小船上，雖然他還不大明白它的用場。

The Rat sculled smartly across and made fast. Then he held up his forepaw as the Mole stepped gingerly down. ‘Lean on that!’ he said. ‘Now then, step lively!’ and the Mole to his surprise and rapture found himself actually seated in the stern of a real boat.

河鼠干練地把船劃到對岸，停穩(wěn)了。他伸出一只前爪，攙著鼴鼠小心翼翼地走下來。“扶好了!”河鼠說，“現(xiàn)在，輕輕地跨進(jìn)來!”于是鼴鼠又驚又喜地發(fā)現(xiàn)，自己真的坐進(jìn)了一只真正的小船的尾端。

‘This has been a wonderful day!’ said he, as the Rat shoved off and took to the sculls again. ‘Do you know, I’ve never been in a boat before in all my life.’

“今天太美了!”鼴鼠說。這時，河鼠把船撐離岸邊，拿起雙槳。“你知道嗎，我這輩子還從沒坐過船哩!”

‘What?’ cried the Rat, open-mouthed: ‘Never been in a—you never— well I—what have you been doing, then?’

“什么?”河鼠張大嘴巴驚異地喊道，“從沒坐過——你是說你從沒——哎呀呀——那你都干什么來著?”

‘Is it so nice as all that?’ asked the Mole shyly, though he was quite prepared to believe it as he leant back in his seat and surveyed the cushions, the oars, the rowlocks, and all the fascinating fittings, and felt the boat sway lightly under him.

“坐船真那么美嗎?”鼴鼠有點(diǎn)不好意思地問。其實(shí)，在他斜倚著座位，仔細(xì)打量著座墊、槳片、槳架，以及所有那些令人心馳神往的設(shè)備，感到小船在身下輕輕搖曳時，他早就相信這一點(diǎn)了。

‘Nice? It’s the ONLY thing,’ said the Water Rat solemnly, as he leant forward for his stroke. ‘Believe me, my young friend, there is NOTHING—absolute nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing,’ he went on dreamily: ‘messing—about—in—boats; messing----

“美?這是世上獨(dú)一無二的美事，”河鼠俯身劃起槳來。“請相信我，年輕朋友，世界上再也沒有——絕對沒有——比乘船游逛更有意思的事啦。什么也不干，只是游逛，”他夢囈般地喃喃說，“坐在船上，到處游逛，游逛……”

‘‘Look ahead, Rat!’ cried the Mole suddenly.

“當(dāng)心前面，河鼠!”鼴鼠忽地驚叫一聲。

It was too late. The boat struck the bank full tilt. The dreamer, the joyous oarsman, lay on his back at the bottom of the boat, his heels in the air.

太遲了。小船一頭撞到了岸邊。那個夢悠悠、美滋滋的舟子四腳朝天，跌倒在船底。

‘—about in boats—or WITH boats,’ the Rat went on composedly, picking himself up with a pleasant laugh. ‘In or out of ‘em, it doesn’t matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that’s the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don’t; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you’re always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you’ve done it there’s always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you’d much better not. Look here! If you’ve really nothing else on hand this morning, supposing we drop down the river together, and have a long day of it?’

“坐在船上——或者跟著船——到處游逛，”河鼠開懷大笑，一骨碌爬起來，若無其事地說下去。“呆在船里，或者呆在船外，這都無所謂。好像什么都無所謂，這就是它叫人著迷的地方。不管你上哪兒，或者不上哪兒;不管你到達(dá)目的地，還是到達(dá)另一個地方，還是不到什么地方，你總在忙著，可又沒專門干什么特別的事;這件事干完，又有別的事在等著你，你樂意的話，可以去干，也可以不干。好啦，要是今天上午你確實(shí)沒別的事要做，那咱們是不是一塊兒劃到下游去，逛它一整天?”

The Mole waggled his toes from sheer happiness, spread his chest with a sigh of full contentment, and leaned back blissfully into the soft cushions. ‘WHAT a day I’m having!’ he said. ‘Let us start at once!’

鼴鼠樂得直晃腳丫子，腆著胸脯，舒心地長吁一口氣，愜意地躺倒在軟綿綿的座墊上。“今天我可要痛痛快快玩它一天!”他說，“咱們這就動身吧!”

‘Hold hard a minute, then!’ said the Rat. He looped the painter through a ring in his landing-stage, climbed up into his hole above, and after a short interval reappeared staggering under a fat, wicker luncheon-basket.

“那好，等一等，只消一會兒!”河鼠說。他把纜繩穿過碼頭上的一個環(huán)，系住，然后爬進(jìn)碼頭上面自家的洞里，不多時，搖搖晃晃地捧著一只胖大的藤條午餐籃子出來了。

‘Shove that under your feet,’ he observed to the Mole, as he passed it down into the boat. Then he untied the painter and took the sculls again.

“把它推到你腳下，”河鼠把籃子遞上船，對鼴鼠說。然后他解開纜繩，拿起雙槳。

‘What’s inside it?’ asked the Mole, wriggling with curiosity.

“這里面都裝著些什么?”鼴鼠好奇地扭動著身子。

‘There’s cold chicken inside it,’ replied the Rat briefly;‘cold tongue cold ham cold beef pickled gherkins salad french rolls cress sandwiches potted meat ginger beer lemonad esoda water----‘

“有冷雞肉，”河鼠一口氣回答說，“冷舌頭冷火腿冷牛肉腌小黃瓜沙拉法國面包卷三明治罐燜肉姜汁啤酒檸檬汁蘇打水……”

‘O stop, stop,’ cried the Mole in ecstacies: ‘This is too much!’

“行啦，行啦，”鼴鼠眉飛色舞地喊道，“太多了!”

‘Do you really think so?’ enquired the Rat seriously. ‘It’s only what I always take on these little excursions; and the other animals are always telling me that I’m a mean beast and cut it VERY fine!’

“你真的認(rèn)為太多了?”河鼠一本正經(jīng)地問，“這只是我平日出游常帶的東西;別的動物還老說我是個小氣鬼，帶的東西剛剛夠吃哩!”

The Mole never heard a word he was saying. Absorbed in the new life he was entering upon, intoxicated with the sparkle, the ripple, the scents and the sounds and the sunlight, he trailed a paw in the water and dreamed long waking dreams. The Water Rat, like the good little fellow he was, sculled steadily on and forebore to disturb him.

可河鼠的話，鼴鼠半點(diǎn)也沒聽進(jìn)去。他正深深地沉湎在這種新穎生活里，陶醉在波光、漣漪、芳香、水聲、陽光之中。他把一只腳爪伸進(jìn)水里，做著長長的白日夢。心地善良的河鼠，只管穩(wěn)穩(wěn)當(dāng)當(dāng)?shù)貏澲鴺?，不去驚擾他。

‘I like your clothes awfully, old chap,’ he remarked after some half an hour or so had passed. ‘I’m going to get a black velvet smoking-suit myself some day, as soon as I can afford it.’

“我特喜歡你這身衣裳，老伙計(jì)，”約莫過了半個鐘頭，河鼠才開口說話，“有一天，等我手頭方便時，我也要給自己搞一件黑絲絨吸煙服穿穿。”

‘I beg your pardon,’ said the Mole, pulling himself together with an effort. ‘You must think me very rude; but all this is so new to me. So—this—is—a—River!’

“你說什么?”鼴鼠好不容易才清醒過來。“你大概覺得我這人很不懂禮貌吧，可這一切對我是太新鮮了。原來，這——就是一條——河。”

‘THE River,’ corrected the Rat.

“是這條河，”河鼠糾正說。

‘And you really live by the river? What a jolly life!’

“那么，你真的是生活在這條河邊啰?多美呀!”

‘By it and with it and on it and in it,’ said the Rat. ‘It’s brother and sister to me, and aunts, and company, and food and drink, and (naturally) washing. It’s my world, and I don’t want any other. What it hasn’t got is not worth having, and what it doesn’t know is not worth knowing. Lord! the times we’ve had together! Whether in winter or summer, spring or autumn, it’s always got its fun and its excitements. When the floods are on in February, and my cellars and basement are brimming with drink that’s no good to me, and the brown water runs by my best bedroom window; or again when it all drops away and, shows patches of mud that smells like plum-cake, and the rushes and weed clog the channels, and I can potter about dry shod over most of the bed of it and find fresh food to eat, and things careless people have dropped out of boats!’

“我生活在河邊，同河在一起，在河上，也在河里，”河鼠說，“在我看來，這條河，就是我的兄弟姐妹，我的姑姑姨姨，我的伙伴，它供我吃喝，也供我洗涮。它就是我的整個世界;另外的世界，我都不需要。凡是河里沒有的，都不值得要，凡是河所不了解的，都不值得了解。主啊!我們在一塊度過了多少美妙的時光啊!不管春夏秋冬，它總有趣味，總叫人興奮。二月里漲潮的時候，我的地窖里灌滿了不衛(wèi)生的湯，黃褐色的河水從我最講究的臥室的窗前淌過。等落潮以后，一塊塊泥地露了出來，散發(fā)著葡萄干蛋糕的氣味，河道里淤滿了燈芯草等水草。這時，我又可以在大部分河床上隨便溜達(dá)，不會弄濕鞋子，可以找到新鮮食物吃，還有那些粗心大意的人從船上扔下來的東西。”

‘But isn’t it a bit dull at times?’ the Mole ventured to ask. ‘Just you and the river, and no one else to pass a word with?’

“不過，是不是有時也會感到有點(diǎn)無聊?”鼴鼠壯著膽子問。“光是你跟河一道，沒有別的人跟你拉拉家常?”

‘No one else to—well, I mustn’t be hard on you,’ said the Rat with forbearance. ‘You’re new to it, and of course you don’t know. The bank is so crowded nowadays that many people are moving away altogether: O no, it isn’t what it used to be, at all. Otters, kingfishers, dabchicks, moorhens, all of them about all day long and always wanting you to DO something—as if a fellow had no business of his own to attend to!’

“沒有別的人?——咳，這也難怪，”河鼠寬宏大量地說，“你新來乍到嘛，自然不明白?，F(xiàn)如今，河上的居民已經(jīng)擁擠不堪，許多人只好遷走了。河上的光景，今非昔比啦。水獺呀，魚狗呀，鸊鷉呀，松雞呀，等等，成天圍著你轉(zhuǎn)，求你干這干那，就像咱自個兒沒有自己的事要料理似的。”

‘What lies over THERE’ asked the Mole, waving a paw towards a background of woodland that darkly framed the water-meadows on one side of the river.

“那邊是什么?”鼴鼠揚(yáng)了揚(yáng)爪子，指著河那邊草地后面黑幽幽的森林。

‘That? O, that’s just the Wild Wood,’ said the Rat shortly. ‘We don’t go there very much, we river-bankers.’

“那個嗎?哦，那就是野林。”河鼠簡略地回答，“我們河上居民很少去那邊。”

‘Aren’t they—aren’t they very NICE people in there?’ said the Mole, a trifle nervously.

“他們——那邊的居民，他們不好嗎?”鼴鼠稍有點(diǎn)不安地問。

‘W-e-ll,’ replied the Rat, ‘let me see. The squirrels are all right. AND the rabbits—some of ‘em, but rabbits are a mixed lot. And then there’s Badger, of course. He lives right in the heart of it; wouldn’t live anywhere else, either, if you paid him to do it. Dear old Badger! Nobody interferes with HIM. They’d better not,’ he added significantly.

“嗯，”河鼠回答，“讓我想想。松鼠嘛，不壞。兔子嘛，有的還好，不過兔子有好有壞。當(dāng)然，還有獾。他就住在野林正中央，別處他哪也不愿住，哪怕你花錢請他也不干。親愛的老獾!沒有人打攪他。最好別去打攪他。”河鼠意味深長地加上一句。

‘Why, who SHOULD interfere with him?’ asked the Mole.

“怎么，會有人打攪他嗎?”鼴鼠問。

‘Well, of course—there—are others,’ explained the Rat in a hesitating sort of way.‘Weasels—and stoats—and foxes—and so on. They’re all right in a way—I’m very good friends with them—pass the time of day when we meet, and all that—but they break out sometimes, there’s no denying it, and then—well, you can’t really trust them, and that’s the fact.’

“嗯，當(dāng)然，有的——有另外一些動物，”河鼠吞吞吐吐地說，“黃鼠狼呀——白鼬呀——狐貍呀，等等。他們也并不全壞，我和他們處得還不錯，遇上時，一塊兒玩玩什么的。可他們有時會成群結(jié)隊(duì)鬧事，這一點(diǎn)不必否認(rèn)。再說，你沒法真正信賴他們，這也是事實(shí)。”

The Mole knew well that it is quite against animal-etiquette to dwell on possible trouble ahead, or even to allude to it; so he dropped the subject.

鼴鼠知道，老是談?wù)搶砜赡馨l(fā)生的麻煩事，哪怕只提一下，都不合乎動物界的禮儀規(guī)范，所以，他拋開了這個話題。

‘And beyond the Wild Wood again?’ he asked: ‘Where it’s all blue and dim, and one sees what may be hills or perhaps they mayn’t, and something like the smoke of towns, or is it only cloud-drift?’

“那么，在野林以外遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)的地方，又是什么?”他問，“就是那個藍(lán)藍(lán)的、模模糊糊的地方，也許是山，也許不是山，有點(diǎn)像城市里的炊煙，或者只是飄動的浮云?”

‘Beyond the Wild Wood comes the Wide World,’ said the Rat. ‘And that’s something that doesn’t matter, either to you or me. I’ve never been there, and I’m never going, nor you either, if you’ve got any sense at all. Don’t ever refer to it again, please. Now then! Here’s our backwater at last, where we’re going to lunch.’

“在野林外邊，就是大世界，”河鼠說。“那地方，跟你我都不相干。那兒我從沒去過，也不打算去;你要是頭腦清醒，也決不要去。以后請別再提它。好啦，咱們的靜水灣到了，該在這兒吃午飯了。”

Leaving the main stream, they now passed into what seemed at first sight like a little land-locked lake. Green turf sloped down to either edge, brown snaky tree-roots gleamed below the surface of the quiet water, while ahead of them the silvery shoulder and foamy tumble of a weir, arm-in-arm with a restless dripping mill-wheel, that held up in its turn a grey-gabled mill-house, filled the air with a soothing murmur of sound, dull and smothery, yet with little clear voices speaking up cheerfully out of it at intervals. It was so very beautiful that the Mole could only hold up both forepaws and gasp, ‘O my! O my! O my!’

他們離開主河道，駛進(jìn)一處乍看像陸地環(huán)抱的小湖的地方。樹邊，是綠茸茸的青草坡地。蛇一般曲曲彎彎的褐色樹根，在幽靜的水面下發(fā)光。前方，是一座高高隆起的銀色攔河壩，壩下泡沫翻滾。相連的是一個不停地滴水的水車輪子，輪子上方，是一間有灰色山墻的磨坊。水車不停地轉(zhuǎn)動，發(fā)出單調(diào)沉悶的隆隆聲，可是磨坊里又不時傳出陣陣清脆歡快的小嗓說話聲。這情景實(shí)在太動人了，鼴鼠不由得舉起兩只前爪，激動得上氣不接下氣地喊道：“哎呀!哎呀!哎呀!”

The Rat brought the boat alongside the bank, made her fast, helped the still awkward Mole safely ashore, and swung out the luncheon-basket. The Mole begged as a favour to be allowed to unpack it all by himself; and the Rat was very pleased to indulge him, and to sprawl at full length on the grass and rest, while his excited friend shook out the table-cloth and spread it, took out all the mysterious packets one by one and arranged their contents in due order, still gasping, ‘O my! O my!’ at each fresh revelation. When all was ready, the Rat said, ‘Now, pitch in, old fellow!’ and the Mole was indeed very glad to obey, for he had started his spring-cleaning at a very early hour that morning, as people WILL do, and had not paused for bite or sup; and he had been through a very great deal since that distant time which now seemed so many days ago.

河鼠把船劃到岸邊，靠穩(wěn)了，把仍舊笨手笨腳的鼴鼠平安地扶上岸，然后扔出午餐籃子?！↓B鼠央求河鼠準(zhǔn)許他獨(dú)自開籃取出食物。河鼠很樂意依他，自己便伸直全身在草地上休息，聽由他興奮的朋友去擺弄。鼴鼠抖開餐布，鋪在地上，一樣一樣取出籃子里的神秘貨色，井井有條地?cái)[好。每次新的發(fā)現(xiàn)，都引得他驚嘆一聲：“哎呀!哎呀!”全都擺設(shè)就緒后，河鼠一聲令下：“現(xiàn)在，老伙計(jì)，開嚼!”鼴鼠非常樂于從命，因?yàn)樗翘煲辉缇桶闯Ｒ?guī)進(jìn)行春季大掃除，馬不停蹄地干，一口沒吃沒喝，以后又經(jīng)歷了這許多事，仿佛過了好些天。

‘What are you looking at?’ said the Rat presently, when the edge of their hunger was somewhat dulled, and the Mole’s eyes were able to wander off the table-cloth a little.

“你在看什么?”河鼠問。這時，他倆的轆轆饑腸已多少緩解，鼴鼠已經(jīng)能夠把眼光稍稍移開餐布，投向別處了。

‘I am looking,’ said the Mole, ‘at a streak of bubbles that I see travelling along the surface of the water. That is a thing that strikes me as funny.’

“我在看水面上移動著的一串泡沫，”鼴鼠說，“覺得它怪好玩的。”

‘Bubbles? Oho!’ said the Rat, and chirruped cheerily in an inviting sort of way.

“泡沫?啊哈!”河鼠高興地吱喳一聲，像在對誰發(fā)出邀請。

A broad glistening muzzle showed itself above the edge of the bank, and the Otter hauled himself out and shook the water from his coat.

岸邊的水里，冒出一只寬扁發(fā)亮的嘴。水獺鉆出水面，抖落掉外衣上的水滴。

‘Greedy beggars!’ he observed, making for the provender. ‘Why didn’t you invite me, Ratty?’

“貪吃的花子們!”他朝食物湊攏去，“鼠兄，怎不邀請我呀?”

‘This was an impromptu affair,’ explained the Rat. ‘By the way—my friend Mr. Mole.’

“這次野餐是臨時動議的，”河鼠解釋說，“來，介紹一下，這位是我的朋友鼴鼠。”

‘Proud, I’m sure,’ said the Otter, and the two animals were friends forthwith.

“很榮幸，”水獺說，兩只動物立刻成了朋友。’

‘Such a rumpus everywhere!’ continued the Otter. ‘All the world seems out on the river to-day. I came up this backwater to try and get a moment’s peace, and then stumble upon you fellows!--At least—I beg pardon—I don’t exactly mean that, you know.’

“到處都鬧哄哄的!”水獺接著說。“今兒個仿佛全世界都上河來了。我到這靜水灣，原想圖個清靜，不料又撞上你們二位!至少是——啊，對不起——我不是這個意思，你們知道的。”

There was a rustle behind them, proceeding from a hedge wherein last year’s leaves still clung thick, and a stripy head, with high shoulders behind it, peered forth on them.

他們背后響起了一陣窸窣聲，是從樹籬那邊來的。樹籬上，還厚厚地掛著頭年的葉子。一個帶條紋的腦袋，腦袋下一副高聳的肩膀，從樹籬后面探出來，眼瞅著他們。

‘Come on, old Badger!’ shouted the Rat.

“過來呀，老獾!”河鼠喊道。

The Badger trotted forward a pace or two; then grunted, ‘H’m! Company,’ and turned his back and disappeared from view.

老獾向前小跑了一兩步，然后咕嚕說，“哼!有同伴!”隨即掉頭跑開了。

‘That’s JUST the sort of fellow he is!’ observed the disappointed Rat. ‘Simply hates Society! Now we shan’t see any more of him to-day. Well, tell us, WHO’S out on the river?’

“他就是這么個人!”滿心失望的河鼠議論道，“最討厭社交生活!今天別想再見到他了。好吧，告訴我們，到河上來的還有誰?”

‘Toad’s out, for one,’ replied the Otter. ‘In his brand-new wager-boat; new togs, new everything!’

“蟾蜍就是一個，”水獺回答。“駕著他那只嶄新的賽艇;一身新裝，什么都是新的!”

The two animals looked at each other and laughed.

兩只動物相視大笑。

‘Once, it was nothing but sailing,’ said the Rat, ‘Then he tired of that and took to punting. Nothing would please him but to punt all day and every day, and a nice mess he made of it. Last year it was house-boating, and we all had to go and stay with him in his house-boat, and pretend we liked it. He was going to spend the rest of his life in a house-boat. It’s all the same, whatever he takes up; he gets tired of it, and starts on something fresh.’

“有一陣子，他一門心思玩帆船，”河鼠說，“過后，帆船玩膩了，就玩起撐船來。對什么都不感興趣，成天就知道撐船，捅了不少簍子。去年呢，又迷上了宅船①，于是我們都得陪他住他的宅船，還得裝做喜歡。說他后半輩子就在宅船里過了。不管迷上什么，結(jié)果總是一樣，沒過多久就膩煩了，又迷上了新的玩意兒。” ①一種帶住所可以居住的船。——譯注

‘Such a good fellow, too,’ remarked the Otter reflectively: ‘But no stability—especially in a boat!’

“人倒真是個好人，”水獺若有所思地說，“可就是沒常性，不穩(wěn)當(dāng)——特別是在船上!”

From where they sat they could get a glimpse of the main stream across the island that separated them; and just then a wager-boat flashed into view, the rower—a short, stout figure—splashing badly and rolling a good deal, but working his hardest. The Rat stood up and hailed him, but Toad—for it was he—shook his head and settled sternly to his work.

從他們坐的地方，隔著一個島子，可以望見大河的主流。就在這時，一只賽艇映入眼簾。劃船的——一個矮壯漢子——打槳打得水花四濺，身子在船里來回滾動，可還在使勁劃著。河鼠站起來，沖他打招呼，可蟾蜍——就是那個劃船的——卻搖搖頭，專心致志地劃他的船。“要是他老這么滾來滾去，不消多會兒，他就會摔出船外的，”河鼠說著，又坐了下來。

‘He’ll be out of the boat in a minute if he rolls like that,’ said the Rat, sitting down again. ‘Of course he will,’ chuckled the Otter. ‘Did I ever tell you that good story about Toad and the lock-keeper? It happened this way. Toad. . . .’

“他肯定會摔出來的，”水獺格格笑著說，“我給你講過那個有趣的故事嗎?就是蟾蜍和那個水閘管理員的故事?蟾蜍他……”

An errant May-fly swerved unsteadily athwart the current in the intoxicated fashion affected by young bloods of May-flies seeing life. A swirl of water and a ‘cloop!’ and the May-fly was visible no more.

一只隨波漂流的蜉蝣，滿懷著血?dú)夥絼偟暮笊鷮ι畹你裤剑嵬嵝毙钡啬嫠蝸?。忽見水面卷起一個旋渦，“咕嚕”一聲，蜉蝣就沒影兒了。

Neither was the Otter.

水獺也不見了。

The Mole looked down. The voice was still in his ears, but the turf whereon he had sprawled was clearly vacant. Not an Otter to be seen, as far as the distant horizon.

鼴鼠忙低下頭去看。水獺的話音還在耳邊，可他扒過的那塊草地卻空空如也。從腳下一直望到天邊，一只水獺也不見。

But again there was a streak of bubbles on the surface of the river.

不過，河面又泛起了一串泡沫。

The Rat hummed a tune, and the Mole recollected that animal-etiquette forbade any sort of comment on the sudden disappearance of one’s friends at any moment, for any reason or no reason whatever.

河鼠哼起了一支小曲兒。鼴鼠想起，按動物界的規(guī)矩，要是你的朋友突然離去，不管有理由還是沒理由，你都不該隨便議論。

‘Well, well,’ said the Rat, ‘I suppose we ought to be moving. I wonder which of us had better pack the luncheon-basket?’ He did not speak as if he was frightfully eager for the treat.

“好啦，好啦，”河鼠說，“我想咱們該走啦。我不知道，咱們兩個誰該收拾碗碟?”聽口氣，仿佛他并不特別樂意享受這個待遇。

‘O, please let me,’ said the Mole. So, of course, the Rat let him.

“哦，讓我來吧，”鼴鼠說。當(dāng)然，河鼠就讓他去干了。

Packing the basket was not quite such pleasant work as unpacking’ the basket. It never is. But the Mole was bent on enjoying everything, and although just when he had got the basket packed and strapped up tightly he saw a plate staring up at him from the grass, and when the job had been done again the Rat pointed out a fork which anybody ought to have seen, and last of all, behold! the mustard pot, which he had been sitting on without knowing it—still, somehow, the thing got finished at last, without much loss of temper.

收拾籃子這種活兒，不像打開籃子那樣叫人高興，向來如此。不過鼴鼠天生來對所有的事都感興趣。他剛把籃子裝好系緊，就看見還有一只盤子躺在地上沖他瞪眼。等他重新把盤子裝好，河鼠又指出漏掉了一只誰都應(yīng)該看見的叉子。末末了，瞧，還有那只他坐在屁股底下竟毫無感覺的芥末瓶——盡管一波三折，這項(xiàng)工作總算完成了，鼴鼠倒也沒怎么特不耐煩。

The afternoon sun was getting low as the Rat sculled gently homewards in a dreamy mood, murmuring poetry-things over to himself, and not paying much attention to Mole. But the Mole was very full of lunch, and self-satisfaction, and pride, and already quite at home in a boat (so he thought) and was getting a bit restless besides: and presently he said, ‘Ratty! Please, I want to row, now!’

下午的太陽漸漸西沉，河鼠朝回家的方向夢悠悠地輕蕩雙槳，一面自顧自低吟著什么詩句，沒怎么理會鼴鼠。鼴鼠呢，肚里裝滿了午餐，心滿意足，自認(rèn)為坐在船上已挺自在自如了，于是有點(diǎn)躍躍欲試起來。他忽然說：“喂，鼠兄，我現(xiàn)在想劃劃船!”

The Rat shook his head with a smile. ‘Not yet, my young friend,’ he said—‘wait till you’ve had a few lessons. It’s not so easy as it looks.’

河鼠微微一笑，搖搖頭說：“現(xiàn)在還不行，我的年輕朋友，等你學(xué)幾次再劃吧。劃船并不像看起來那么容易。”

The Mole was quiet for a minute or two. But he began to feel more and more jealous of Rat, sculling so strongly and so easily along, and his pride began to whisper that he could do it every bit as well. He jumped up and seized the sculls, so suddenly, that the Rat, who was gazing out over the water and saying more poetry-things to himself, was taken by surprise and fell backwards off his seat with his legs in the air for the second time, while the triumphant Mole took his place and grabbed the sculls with entire confidence.

有一兩分鐘，鼴鼠沒吭聲，可是他越來越眼紅起河鼠來。見河鼠一路劃著，動作那么有力，又那么輕松，鼴鼠的自尊心開始在他耳邊嘀咕，說他也能劃得和河鼠一樣好。他猛地跳起來，從河鼠手中奪過雙槳。河鼠兩眼一直呆望著水面，嘴里嘟噥著一些什么小詩，沒提防鼴鼠這一著，竟仰面翻下座位，又一次四腳朝天跌倒在船底。得勝的鼴鼠搶占了他的位子，信心十足地握住了雙槳。

‘Stop it, you SILLY ass!’ cried the Rat, from the bottom of the boat. ‘You can’t do it! You’ll have us over!’

“住手!你這個蠢驢!”河鼠躺在船底喊道，“你干不了這個!你會把船弄翻的!”

The Mole flung his sculls back with a flourish, and made a great dig at the water. He missed the surface altogether, his legs flew up above his head, and he found himself lying on the top of the prostrate Rat. Greatly alarmed, he made a grab at the side of the boat, and the next moment—Sploosh!

鼴鼠把雙槳往后一揮，深深插進(jìn)水里。槳根本沒有劃在水面。只見他兩腳高高翹起，整個兒跌倒在躺倒的河鼠身上。他驚慌失措，忙去抓船舷，剎那間——撲通!

Over went the boat, and he found himself struggling in the river.

船兒兜底翻了過來，鼴鼠在河里撲騰著掙扎。

O my, how cold the water was, and O, how VERY wet it felt. How it sang in his ears as he went down, down, down! How bright and welcome the sun looked as he rose to the surface coughing and spluttering! How black was his despair when he felt himself sinking again! Then a firm paw gripped him by the back of his neck. It was the Rat, and he was evidently laughing—the Mole could FEEL him laughing, right down his arm and through his paw, and so into his—the Mole’s—neck.

哎呀，水好冷呀，渾身都濕透啦!他往下沉，沉，沉，水在他耳朵轟轟直響。一會兒，他冒到水面上，又咳又嗆，吱哇亂叫。太陽顯得多可愛呀!一會兒，他又沉了下去，深深地陷入絕望。這時，一只強(qiáng)有力的爪子抓住了他的后脖頸。那是河鼠。河鼠分明是在大笑——鼴鼠能感覺到這一點(diǎn)。他的笑，從胳臂傳下來，經(jīng)過爪子，一直傳到鼴鼠的脖子。

The Rat got hold of a scull and shoved it under the Mole’s arm; then he did the same by the other side of him and, swimming behind, propelled the helpless animal to shore, hauled him out, and set him down on the bank, a squashy, pulpy lump of misery.

河鼠抓過一只槳，塞在鼴鼠腋下，又把另一只槳塞在他另一腋下。然后，他在后面游泳，將那個可憐巴巴的動物推到岸邊，拽出水來，安頓在岸上，成了濕漉漉、軟癱癱、慘兮兮的一堆。

When the Rat had rubbed him down a bit, and wrung some of the wet out of him, he said, ‘Now, then, old fellow! Trot up and down the towing-path as hard as you can, till you’re warm and dry again, while I dive for the luncheon-basket.’

河鼠把鼴鼠的身子搓揉了一陣，擰去濕衣裳上的水，然后說：“現(xiàn)在，老伙計(jì)!順著繹道使勁來回跑，跑到身上暖過來，衣裳干了為止。我潛下水去撈午餐籃子。”

So the dismal Mole, wet without and ashamed within, trotted about till he was fairly dry, while the Rat plunged into the water again, recovered the boat, righted her and made her fast, fetched his floating property to shore by degrees, and finally dived successfully for the luncheon-basket and struggled to land with it.

驚魂未定的鼴鼠，外面渾身濕透，內(nèi)心羞愧難當(dāng)，在河邊來回跑步，直跑到身上干得差不多了。同時，河鼠又一次竄進(jìn)水中，抓回小船，把它翻正，系牢;又把散落水面的什物一件件尋上岸來，最后，他潛入水底，撈到了午餐籃子，奮力將它帶到岸上。

When all was ready for a start once more, the Mole, limp and dejected, took his seat in the stern of the boat; and as they set off, he said in a low voice, broken with emotion, ‘Ratty, my generous friend! I am very sorry indeed for my foolish and ungrateful conduct. My heart quite fails me when I think how I might have lost that beautiful luncheon-basket. Indeed, I have been a complete ass, and I know it. Will you overlook it this once and forgive me, and let things go on as before?’

等一切都安排停當(dāng)，又要啟航時，鼴鼠一瘸一拐、垂頭喪氣地坐到了船尾的座位上。開船時，他情緒激動，斷斷續(xù)續(xù)地低聲說：“鼠兄，我寬宏大量的朋友!我太愚蠢，太不知好歹了!實(shí)在是對你不起。想到我險(xiǎn)些兒把那只美麗的午餐籃子弄丟了，心情就特別沉重。說真格的，我是一只十足的蠢驢，我心里明白。你能不能不計(jì)前嫌，原諒我這一遭，對我還跟過去一樣?”

‘That’s all right, bless you!’ responded the Rat cheerily. ‘What’s a little wet to a Water Rat? I’m more in the water than out of it most days. Don’t you think any more about it; and, look here! I really think you had better come and stop with me for a little time. It’s very plain and rough, you know—not like Toad’s house at all—but you haven’t seen that yet; still, I can make you comfortable. And I’ll teach you to row, and to swim, and you’ll soon be as handy on the water as any of us.’

“這沒什么，祝福你!”河鼠輕松地答道，“一只河鼠嘛，弄濕點(diǎn)兒算什么?多數(shù)日子，我呆在水里的時間比呆在岸上還長哩。你就別再惦著了。這么著吧，我真的希望，你來跟我一道住些時候。我的家很普通，很簡陋，根本沒法和蟾蜍的家相比?？赡氵€沒來我家看過哩。你來了，我會讓你過得舒舒服服的。而且，我還能教你學(xué)會劃船，游泳，你很快就能像我們一樣，在水上自由自在了。”

The Mole was so touched by his kind manner of speaking that he could find no voice to answer him; and he had to brush away a tear or two with the back of his paw. But the Rat kindly looked in another direction, and presently the Mole’s spirits revived again, and he was even able to give some straight back-talk to a couple of moorhens who were sniggering to each other about his bedraggled appearance.

這番親切體貼的話，感動得鼴鼠說不出話來，只用爪子背兒抹去一兩滴眼淚?？墒巧平馊艘獾暮邮蟀蜒酃庖葡蛄藙e處。不一會兒，鼴鼠的情緒緩過來了。當(dāng)兩只松雞互相唧喳嘲笑他那副狼狽相時，他竟能和他們頂起嘴來。

When they got home, the Rat made a bright fire in the parlour, and planted the Mole in an arm-chair in front of it, having fetched down a dressing-gown and slippers for him, and told him river stories till supper-time. Very thrilling stories they were, too, to an earth-dwelling animal like Mole. Stories about weirs, and sudden floods, and leaping pike, and steamers that flung hard bottles—at least bottles were certainly flung, and FROM steamers, so presumably BY them; and about herons, and how particular they were whom they spoke to; and about adventures down drains, and night-fishings with Otter, or excursions far a-field with Badger. Supper was a most cheerful meal; but very shortly afterwards a terribly sleepy Mole had to be escorted upstairs by his considerate host, to the best bedroom, where he soon laid his head on his pillow in great peace and contentment, knowing that his new-found friend the River was lapping the sill of his window.

回到家，河鼠在客廳里升起一爐熊熊的火，給鼴鼠拿來一件晨衣，一雙拖鞋，把他安頓在爐前一張扶手椅上，然后給他講河上的種種趣聞軼事，直到吃晚飯。鼴鼠是一只陸上動物，河上的故事在他聽來是十分驚險(xiǎn)有趣的。河鼠講到攔河壩;講到突發(fā)的山洪;講到跳躍的狗魚;還有亂扔硬梆梆的瓶子的汽船——扔瓶子是確有其事，而且是由汽船那邊扔下來的，因此可以推斷，是汽船扔的——還有蒼鷺，他們跟別人說話時盛氣凌人;還有鉆進(jìn)排水陰溝的探險(xiǎn);還有同水獺一道夜間捉魚，或者跟獾一道在田野里遠(yuǎn)足。晚飯吃得痛快極了，可是飯后不多會兒鼴鼠就瞌睡得不行，于是殷勤周到的主人只好把他送到樓上一間講究的臥室里。鼴鼠馬上一頭倒住枕頭上，感到非常安寧和滿意。他知道，他的那位新結(jié)識的朋友——大河——在不斷輕輕拍打著他的窗欞。

This day was only the first of many similar ones for the emancipated Mole, each of them longer and full of interest as the ripening summer moved onward. He learnt to swim and to row, and entered into the joy of running water; and with his ear to the reed-stems he caught, at intervals, something of what the wind went whispering so constantly among them.

對于新從地下居室解放出來的鼴鼠，這一天，只是一連串相伴的日子的開端。隨著萬物生長成熟的盛夏的來臨，白晝一天比一天長，也一天比一天過得更有趣。他學(xué)會了游泳，劃船，嘗到了與流水嬉戲的甜頭。他把耳朵貼近蘆葦桿時，有時會偷聽到風(fēng)在蘆葦叢里的竊竊私語。