双语 ● A Mad Tea-party　发疯的茶会

A Mad Tea-party　发疯的茶会

◎ Lewis Carroll

There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head. “Very uncomfortable for the Dormouse,” thought Alice; “only, as it’s asleep, I suppose it doesn’t mind.”

屋前的大树下摆放着一张桌子。三月兔和帽匠正在桌旁喝茶。一只睡鼠在他们中间酣睡着。可那两个家伙却把睡鼠当成垫子，把胳膊支在它身上，而且就在它的头上聊天。“睡鼠应该很不舒服吧！”爱丽丝想，“可它睡着了，也就不在乎了吧！”

The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it. “No room! No room!” they cried out when they saw Alice coming.

桌子很大，可他们三个都挤在桌子的一角。“没地方啦！没地方啦！”他们看见爱丽丝走过来就开始大声嚷嚷。

“There’s plenty of room!” said Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table.

“这儿有的是地方呀！”爱丽丝生气地说道。接着她就在桌子一端的大扶手椅上坐了下来。

“Have some wine,” the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.

“想喝酒吗？”三月兔热情地问道。

Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. “I don’t see any wine,” she remarked.

爱丽丝扫视了一下桌面，发现除了茶什么也没有。“我没看见酒！”爱丽丝回答。

“There isn’t any,” said the March Hare.

“这儿根本没有酒。”三月兔说。

“Then it wasn’t very civil of you to offer it,” said Alice angrily.

“那你邀请我喝酒也太不礼貌了。”爱丽丝生气地说道。

“It wasn’t very civil of you to sit down without being invited,” said the March Hare.

“那你没有受到邀请就坐下来也是不太礼貌的。”三月兔说。

“I didn’t know it was your table,” said Alice; “it’s laid for a great many more than three.”

“我不知道这是你的桌子，”爱丽丝说，“这张桌子可以坐下好多人呢！远远不止三个。”

“Your hair wants cutting,” said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was his first speech.

“你的头发该剪了。”帽匠说。他十分好奇地看了爱丽丝一会儿。这是他第一次开口说话。

“You should learn not to make personal remarks,” Alice said with some severity; “it’s very rude.”

“你必须懂得不要随便评论别人，”爱丽丝一脸严肃地说道，“这是很不礼貌的。”

The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was, “Why is a raven like a writing-desk?”

听到这句话，帽匠的眼睛睁得大大的。最后他说：“一只乌鸦为什么像一张写字台呢？”

“Come, we shall have some fun now!” thought Alice. “I’m glad they’ve begun asking riddles. —I believe I can guess that,” she added aloud.

“来吧！现在我们有好玩的事了！”爱丽丝想，“我很高兴他们开始猜谜语了。”“我觉得我能猜出来。”她接着大声说道。

“Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?” said the March Hare.

“你的意思是你找到这个谜语的答案了？”三月兔说。

“Exactly so,” said Alice.

“没错。”爱丽丝说。

“Then you should say what you mean,” the March Hare went on.

“那你说说你的想法吧！”三月兔接着说。

“I do,” Alice hastily replied; “at least—at least I mean what I say—that’s the same thing, you know.”

“我就是这样的，”爱丽丝急忙回答，“至少……至少凡是我说的就是我想的，你也知道这是一回事。”

“Not the same thing a bit!” said the Hatter. “You might just as well say that ‘I see what I eat’ is the same thing as ‘I eat what I see’!”

“根本不是一回事！”帽匠说，“那么你说‘凡是我吃的东西我都能看见’跟‘凡是我看见的东西我都能吃’是一样的？”

“You might just as well say,” added the March Hare, “that ‘I like what I get’ is the same thing as ‘I get what I like’!”

三月兔补了一句：“那样的话，‘我得到的东西我都喜欢’跟‘我喜欢的东西我都能得到’也是一样的咯？”

“You might just as well say,” added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, “that ‘I breathe when I sleep’ is the same thing as ‘I sleep when I breathe’!”

睡鼠也说了一句，就像说梦话那样：“也就是说‘我睡觉时要呼吸’跟‘我呼吸时要睡觉’也是一样的啦！”

“It is the same thing with you,” said the Hatter, and here the conversation dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute, while Alice thought over all she could remember about ravens and writing-desks, which wasn’t much.

“这对你来说还真是一样。”帽匠接着睡鼠的话说道。谈话告一段落，大家沉默了一会儿。这时，爱丽丝费劲脑汁想着有关乌鸦和写字台的事，可她知道的实在不多。

The Hatter was the first to break the silence. “What day of the month is it?” he said, turning to Alice: he had taken his watch out of his pocket, and was looking at it uneasily, shaking it every now and then, and holding it to his ear.

帽匠最先打破沉默，“今天是几号呀？”他一面问爱丽丝，一面从口袋里掏出一只怀表，不安地看着，还不停地摇晃，拿到耳朵旁听听。

Alice considered a little, and then said “The fourth.”

爱丽丝想了想说：“四号。”

“Two days wrong!” sighed the Hatter. “I told you butter wouldn’t suit the works!” he added looking angrily at the March Hare.

“错了两天！”帽匠叹了一口气，“我跟你说过不该加黄油的！”他生气地瞪着三月兔说。

“It was the best butter,” the March Hare meekly replied.

“这是最好的黄油了。”三月兔弱弱地解释。

“Yes, but some crumbs must have got in as well,” the Hatter grumbled, “you shouldn’t have put it in with the bread-knife.”

“没错。可一些面包屑也掉进去了，”帽匠抱怨着，“你不该把黄油和切面包的刀放在一起。”

The March Hare took the watch and looked at it gloomily; then he dipped it into his cup of tea, and looked at it again; but he could think of nothing better to say than his first remark, “It was the best butter, you know.”

三月兔从帽匠手里接过手表看了看，他懊恼极了。接着他把表泡在自己的茶杯里，过了一会又拿起来看了看。但是，除了刚开始说的那句“这是最好的黄油”之外，他再也无话可说了。

Alice had been looking over his shoulder with some curiosity. “What a funny watch!” she remarked. “It tells the day of the month, and doesn’t tell what o’clock it is!”

爱丽丝好奇地透过他的肩膀看了看。“好奇怪的表！”她说，“它能告诉我们几月几号，却不能告诉我们几点！”

“Why should it?” muttered the Hatter. “Does your watch tell you what year it is?”

“为什么要告诉时间？”帽匠嘀咕着，“你的手表能告诉你今年是哪一年吗？”

“Of course not,” Alice replied very readily, “but that’s because it stays the same year for such a long time together.”

“当然不能啦！”爱丽丝胸有成竹地答道，“那是因为年份在很长时间内都是不变的。”

“Which is just the case with mine,” said the Hatter.

“这也是我的表无法说明时间的原因。”帽匠说。

Alice felt dreadfully puzzled. The Hatter’s remark seemed to have no sort of meaning in it, and yet it was certainly English. “I don’t quite understand you,” she said, as politely as she could.

爱丽丝困惑极了。帽匠的话听起来似乎没有任何意义，但不可否认他说的是标准的英语。“我不是很明白你说的话。”她尽可能礼貌地说道。

“The Dormouse is asleep again,” said the Hatter, and he poured a little hot tea upon its nose.

“睡鼠又睡着了。”帽匠说。然后他在睡鼠的鼻子上倒了一点热茶。

The Dormouse shook its head impatiently, and said, without opening its eyes, “Of course, of course; just what I was going to remark myself.”

睡鼠急忙晃了晃头，还没睁开眼睛就说：“当然，当然，这正是我要说的。”

“Have you guessed the riddle yet?” the Hatter said, turning to Alice again.

“你猜出这个谜语了吗？”帽匠再一次问爱丽丝。

“No, I give it up,” Alice replied, “what’s the answer?”

“还没呢！我猜不出来。”爱丽丝回答，“谜底是什么？”

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” said the Hatter.

“我也不知道。”帽匠说。

“Nor I.” said the March Hare.

“我也不知道。”三月兔说。

Alice sighed wearily. “I think you might do something better with the time,” she said, “than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers.”

爱丽丝轻轻地叹了一口气说：“我觉得你们可以做一些更有意义的事情，不应该把时间浪费在没有谜底的谜语上。”

“If you knew Time as well as I do,” said the Hatter, “you wouldn’t talk about wasting it. It’s him.”

“如果你也像我一样熟悉时间，”帽匠说，“你就不会喊它‘宝贵的时间’而会是‘老朋友’了。”

“I don’t know what you mean,” said Alice.

“我不明白你说的是什么意思。”爱丽丝说。

“Of course you don’t!” the Hatter said, tossing his head contemptuously. “I dare say you never even spoke to Time!”

“你当然不明白啦！”帽匠很得意地晃着头说，“我敢说你从来没有跟时间对话过。”

“Perhaps not,” Alice cautiously replied, “but I know I have to beat time when I learn music.”

“好像没有。”爱丽丝小心翼翼地回答，“可我在学唱歌的时候总是按着时间打拍子的。”

“Ah! That accounts for it,” said the Hatter. “He won’t stand beating. Now, if you only kept on good terms with him, he’d do almost anything you liked with the clock. For instance, suppose it were nine o’clock in the morning, just time to begin lessons; you’d only have to whisper a hint to Time, and round goes the clock in a twinkling! Half-past one, time for dinner!”

“啊！糟糕了。”帽匠说，“他最讨厌人家打他了。现在，如果你跟他保持友好关系，他会为你做任何事情，他能让钟表乖乖听你的话。就比如说吧，假设现在是早上九点，是你上学的时间。这时你只要对时间说上一句悄悄话，钟表上的时间就会马上显示为下午一点半，就变成吃饭的时间啦！”

“I only wish it was,” the March Hare said to itself in a whisper.

“我真希望这是真的。”三月兔轻声地自言自语着。

“That would be grand, certainly,” said Alice thoughtfully, “but then—I shouldn’t be hungry for it, you know.”

“如果真是那样就好了。”爱丽丝若有所思地说，“可那时候我还不饿的话怎么办？”

“Not at first, perhaps,” said the Hatter, “but you could keep it to half-past one as long as you liked.”

“刚开始的时候是不饿，”帽匠说，“但是只要你喜欢，你可以让时钟一直停留在一点半。”

“Is that the way you manage?” Alice asked.

“你就是这样做的吗？”爱丽丝问。

The Hatter shook his head mournfully. “Not I!” he replied. “We quarreled last March—just before he went mad, you know—” (pointing with his tea spoon at the March Hare), “—it was at the great concert given by the Queen of Hearts, and I had to sing:

帽匠伤心地摇了摇头回答：“我再也不能那样做了。三月份的时候我和时间吵架了，就是在他发疯前——”（他用自己的茶匙指着三月兔），“记得那是在红心皇后举办的一次大型音乐会上，我演唱了：

‘Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you’re at!’

‘一闪一闪的小蝙蝠！我多想知道你在哪儿！’”？

“You know the song, perhaps?”

“你听过这首歌吗？”

“I’ve heard something like it.” said Alice.

“我好像听过类似的歌。”爱丽丝说。

“It goes on, you know,” the Hatter continued, “in this way—

“我接着唱，”帽匠继续说道，“就像这样——

‘Up above the world you fly, like a tea-tray in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle—’”

‘你飞翔于天际，就像一只盘旋在空中的茶盘。闪呀，闪呀……’”

Here the Dormouse shook itself, and began singing in its sleep “Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle—” and went on so long that they had to pinch it to make it stop.

这时睡鼠摇了摇身体，在睡梦中唱了起来：“闪呀，闪呀，闪呀，闪呀……”睡鼠唱得太久了，直到他们捅了他一下才停下来。

“Well, I’d hardly finished the first verse,” said the Hatter, “when the Queen jumped up and bawled out, ‘He’s murdering the time! Off with his head!’”

“我还没唱完第一段呢，”帽匠说，“皇后就大喊‘他简直是在糟蹋时间，把他的头砍下来！’”

“How dreadfully savage!” exclaimed Alice.

“太残忍了吧！”爱丽丝嚷道。

“And ever since that,” the Hatter went on in a mournful tone, “he won’t do a thing I ask! It’s always six o’clock now.”

“就是从那以后，”帽匠伤心地接着说，“时间再也不愿为我做任何事情了。它就一直停留在六点钟。”

A bright idea came into Alice’s head. “Is that the reason so many tea-things are put out here?” she asked.

爱丽丝的脑中突然闪现一个好主意：“这就是为什么这儿有这么多茶具吗？”她问。

“Yes, that’s it,” said the Hatter with a sigh: “it’s always tea-time, and we’ve no time to wash the things between whiles.”

“对呀，就是这个缘故。”帽匠叹了一口气说，“我们只有喝茶的时间，却没有洗茶具的时间。”

“Then you keep moving round, I suppose?” said Alice.

“所以你们才围着桌子转？”爱丽丝说。

“Exactly so,” said the Hatter: “as the things get used up.”

“没错。”帽匠说，“只要茶具脏了，我们就挪到下一个位置。”

“But what happens when you come to the beginning again?” Alice ventured to ask.

“可是你们转回到第一个位置时又该怎么办呢？”爱丽丝进一步问道。

“Suppose we change the subject,” the March Hare interrupted, yawning. “I’m getting tired of this. I vote the young lady tells us a story.”

“我们换个话题吧！”三月兔打了一个哈欠，打断了他们的谈话，“我都听烦了。让小姑娘讲个故事吧！”

From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

摘自《爱丽丝漫游奇境记》

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