牛津書蟲系列 愛麗絲漫游奇境記 中英雙文本04

4 The Cheshire Cat切舍貓

There was a boy outside the door，with a large letter in his hand.(He was dressed like a boy，but his face was very like a fish，Alice thought.)The Fish-Boy knocked at the door，and a second later a large plate came flying out of an open window.

門外站著一個(gè)男孩，手里拿著好大的一封信。(他穿得像個(gè)男孩，愛麗絲覺得他的臉卻很像一條魚。)魚孩敲了一下門，眨眼功夫一個(gè)大盤子從一扇打開的窗戶飛了出來。

'A letter for the Duchess，'the Fish-Boy shouted.He pushed the letter under the door and went away.

“有封給公爵夫人的信，”魚孩大喊道。他把信從門下塞了進(jìn)去，然后走開了。

Alice went up to the door and knocked，but there was a lot of noise inside and nobody answered.So she opened the door and walked in.

愛麗絲走上前去敲了敲門，里面一片嘈雜聲，卻無人應(yīng)門。于是她打開門，走了進(jìn)去。

She found herself in a kitchen，which was full of smoke.There was a very angry cook by the fire，and in the middle of the room sat the Duchess，holding a screaming baby.Every few minutes a plate crashed to the floor.There was also a large cat，which was sitting on a chair and grinning from ear to ear.

她發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在一個(gè)小廚房里，廚房里盡是煙?；疬呌幸粋€(gè)廚師，氣哼哼地;在房間中央坐著公爵夫人，抱著一個(gè)正尖聲大叫的嬰兒。每隔幾分鐘就有一個(gè)盤子摔到地上。椅子上坐著一只很大的貓，正咧著大嘴笑呢。

'Please，'Alice said politely to the Duchess，'why does your cat grin like that?'

“請(qǐng)問，”愛麗絲客客氣氣地對(duì)公爵夫人說，“你的貓為什么那樣咧著嘴笑?”

'It's a Cheshire Cat，'said the Duchess.'That's why.'

“這是一只切舍貓，”公爵夫人說，“這就是原因。”

'I didn't know that cats could grin，'said Alice.

“我不知道貓會(huì)咧著嘴笑，”愛麗絲說。

'Well，you don't know much，'said the Duchess.Another plate crashed to the floor and Alice jumped.'Here!'the Duchess went on.'You can hold the baby for a bit，if you like.The Queen has invited me to play croquet，and I must go and get ready.'She pushed the baby into Alice's arms and hurried out of the room.

“你不知道的事多著呢，”公爵夫人說。又有一只盤子摔到地上，愛麗絲跳了起來。“來!”公爵夫人接著說：“要是你愿意，這個(gè)孩子給你抱一會(huì)兒吧。王后請(qǐng)我打槌球，現(xiàn)在我得去準(zhǔn)備一下。”她把孩子塞到愛麗絲的懷里，急匆匆地走出去了。

'Oh，the poor little thing!'said Alice，looking at the baby， which had a very strange face.She took it outside into the wood and walked around under the trees.Then the baby began to make strange noises，and Alice looked into its face again.Its eyes were really very small for a baby，and its nose now looked very like the nose of a pig.

“噢，可憐的小東西!”愛麗絲說。她看了看孩子的臉，真是張很奇怪的臉。她帶著它出了門，在樹林里轉(zhuǎn)了轉(zhuǎn)。它開始發(fā)出一種奇怪的聲音，愛麗絲又看看它的臉。眼睛很小，不像嬰孩的眼睛，鼻子看起來像豬鼻子。

'Don't make noises like that，my dear，'said Alice.'It's not polite.You're beginning to sound like a pig.'

“親愛的，別那樣出聲，”愛麗絲說。“這很不禮貌，聽起來會(huì)像頭豬一樣。”

But a few minutes later，there was no mistake.It was a pig.Alice put it carefully on the ground，and it ran quietly away on its four legs into the wood.

但過了一會(huì)兒這就算不上一個(gè)錯(cuò)誤了。它確實(shí)是只豬。愛麗絲小心地把它放在地上，它四條腿著地，靜靜地跑進(jìn)森林里去了。

'I'm pleased about that，'Alice said to herself.'It will be a good-looking pig，but it would be terrible to be a child with a face like that.

“我很高興，”愛麗絲自言自語道。“它會(huì)是只漂亮的豬，可小孩要長這么一張臉就太可怕了。”

She was thinking about pigs and children when she suddenly saw the Cheshire Cat in a tree.The Cat grinned at her，and she went nearer to it.

正當(dāng)她想著豬和小孩時(shí)，突然看見切舍貓正坐在一棵樹上。貓沖她咧嘴一笑，愛麗絲向它靠了靠。

'Please，'she said，'can you tell me which way to go from here?'

她說：“請(qǐng)你告訴我，從這兒我該往哪條路走?”

'But where do you want to get to?'said the Cat.

“可你要上哪兒去呀?”貓問。

'It doesn't really matter—'began Alice.

“去哪兒倒無所謂——”愛麗絲答道。

'Then it doesn't matter which way you go，'said the Cat.

“那你走哪條路都行。”貓說。

'But I would like to get somewhere，'Alice explained.

“但我想去個(gè)什么地方。”愛麗絲解釋道。

'If you just go on walking，'said the Cat，'in the end you'll arrive somewhere.'

“如果你一直走，你總會(huì)到個(gè)什么地方的。”貓說。

That was true，thought Alice，but not very helpful，so she tried another question.'What kind of people live near here?'

這倒是真的，愛麗絲想，可毫無意義。所以她試著問點(diǎn)別的。“這附近都住著什么樣的人?”

'To the left，'the Cat said，'lives a Hatter.And to the right，lives a March Hare.You can visit either of them.They're both mad.'

貓回答：“左邊住著一個(gè)制帽人。右邊住了一只三月兔。你可以去看看他們中的誰?？伤麄兌集偭?。”

'But I don't want to visit mad people，'said Alice.

“我可不想去看瘋子。”愛麗絲說。

'We're all mad here，you know，'said the Cat.'I'm mad.You're mad.'

“你得知道，這兒人人都是瘋子。”切舍貓說：“我是瘋子，你也是瘋子。”

'How do you know that I'm mad?'said Alice.

“你怎么知道我瘋了?”愛麗絲問。

'Of course you're mad，'said the Cat.'Only mad people come here.'

“你當(dāng)然是瘋子，”切舍貓說。“到這兒來的人都瘋了。”

Alice was thinking about this，but the Cat went on，'Are you playing croquet with the Queen today?'

愛麗絲還在想著這個(gè)事，貓又接著問：“今天你去跟王后打槌球嗎?”

'I would like to very much，'said Alice，'but nobody has invited me yet.'

“我很想去，”愛麗絲說，”可沒人請(qǐng)我埃”

'You'll see me there，'said the Cat，and vanished.

“你在那兒會(huì)看到我的。”切舍貓說，然后一下子不見了。

Alice was not really surprised at this，because so many strange things were happening today.She was still looking at the tree when，suddenly，the Cat appeared again.

愛麗絲也不覺得奇怪，因?yàn)榻裉彀l(fā)生了那么多奇怪的事。她還在那兒盯著樹看，突然，切舍貓又出現(xiàn)了。

'I forgot to ask，'said the Cat.'What happened to the baby?'

“我忘了問，”貓說：“那娃娃怎么啦?”

'It turned into a pig，'Alice said.

“變成了一頭豬。”愛麗絲說。

'I'm not surprised，'said the Cat，and vanished again.

“我一點(diǎn)也不覺得奇怪。”貓說，然后又不見了。

Alice began to walk on，and decided to visit the March Hare.'It's the month of May now，'she said to herself，'so perhaps the Hare won't be as mad as he was in March.'

愛麗絲開步走了，決定去拜訪三月兔。她想：“現(xiàn)在是五月，不是三月，也許這只兔不像在三月份那么瘋了。”

Suddenly，there was the Cheshire Cat again，sitting in another tree.Alice jumped in surprise.

突然，切舍貓又出現(xiàn)了。它坐在另一棵樹上。愛麗絲吃驚地跳了起來。

'Do you think，'she said politely，'that you could come and go more slowly?'

“你說，”愛麗絲客氣地說：“你可以慢一點(diǎn)一會(huì)兒出現(xiàn)，一會(huì)兒隱沒嗎?”

'All right，'said the Cat.And this time it vanished very slowly.First its tail went，then its body，then its head，and last，the grin.

“可以。”貓說。這次，它慢慢地隱沒。先是尾巴沒了，然后是身體、頭，最后，咧著笑的嘴。

'Well!I've often seen a cat without a grin，'thought Alice，'but never a grin without a cat!'

“我?？匆姴贿珠_嘴笑的貓，”愛麗絲想，“可還沒見過有咧開的嘴而沒有身子的貓。”

Soon she saw the house of the March Hare in front of her.It was a large house，so she ate a little piece of mushroom to get bigger，and walked on.

一會(huì)兒她看到三月兔的房子就在眼前。房子挺大，所以愛麗絲吃了一小片蘑菇以便長大一點(diǎn)，然后走上前去。