牛津書蟲系列 格列佛游記 7 At the King's palace

7 At the King's palace

7 在王宮里

Although Glumdalclitch tried to make things as comfort- able as possible for me，such an exhausting life was be- ginning to have a bad effect on my health.I was becoming thinner and thinner.When my master noticed this，he thought I would not live much longer.But it was clear that he wanted to make as much money out of me as he could.While he was thinking how to do this，he was asked to bring me to the palace.The Queen and her ladies had heard about me and wanted to see me.When we arrived in front of the Queen，I fell on my knees and begged to be allowed to kiss her foot.But she kindly held out her hand to me.I took her little finger in both my arms，and put it very politely to my lips.

盡管葛蘭達(dá)克利赤盡可能使一切對我來說舒適些，如此使人精疲力盡的生活對我的健康還是開始產(chǎn)生了不良影響，我越來越瘦了。當(dāng)主人注意到這點，他認(rèn)為我活不長了，但是他顯然想從我身上撈到盡可能多的錢。他正在考慮怎么做到這一點時，他被要求帶我進官。王后和她的貴婦聽說了我，想見見我。當(dāng)我們到達(dá)王后的面前，我雙膝跪下，請求吻她的腳，但是她仁慈地把手伸給了我。我雙臂抱著她的小指，非常禮貌地放到我的雙唇上。

She seemed very pleased with me，and finally she said，‘Would you enjoy living here in the palace，do you think?’

她似乎對我很高興，最后她說，“你覺得，你會喜歡住在宮里嗎?”

‘Great queen，I answered，‘I must do what my master wants，but if I were free，I would want to spend my whole life obeying your orders.’

“偉大的王后，”我回答說，“我必須按我主人的要求做，不過要是我是自由的話，我愿意一生都聽從您的使喚。”

She immediately arranged to buy me from my master.He was delighted to receive a good price for me，especially as he felt sure I would not live longer than a month.I also begged the Queen to let Glumdalclitch stay with me，because she had always taken such good care of me.The Queen agreed，and Glumdalclitch could not hide her happiness.

她馬上安排從我的主人那兒買過我。他非常高興我能賣到好價錢，特別是他很肯定我活不過一個月。我也請求王后讓葛蘭達(dá)克利赤留下來陪我，因為她照料我一直照料得很好。王后同意了，葛蘭達(dá)克利赤也掩飾不住她的喜悅。

When my master had left the palace alone，the Queen said to me，‘Why didn't you say goodbye to him?And why did you look at him so coldly?’

當(dāng)我的主人獨自離開王宮后，王后對我說，“你為什么不對他說再見?你為什么那樣冷冷地看著他?”

‘Madam，I must tell you，’I replied，‘that since he found me，my master has used me as an easy way of making money for himself.He's made me work so hard that I feel tired and ill.He's sold me to you only because he thinks I'm going to die soon.But I feel better already，now that I belong to such a great and good queen.’

“夫人，我必須告訴你，”我回答說，“自從他發(fā)現(xiàn)了我，他就把我當(dāng)作他賺錢的捷徑，他讓我如此努力地干活，我感到疲勞、要病倒似的。他把我賣給你只是因為他認(rèn)為我不久就要死去。不過我已經(jīng)感覺好多了，因為我是屬于如此偉大而善良的王后。”

The Queen was clearly surprised to hear such intelligent words from such a small creature，and decided to show me to her husband.When the King saw me，he thought at first that I must be a mechanical toy.However，when he heard my an-swers to his questions，he realized I must be alive，and he could not hide his astonishment.

王后顯然對于從如此小的生物之口聽到如此聰明的言辭感到詫異，決定把我拿給她的丈夫看。國王看見我，他起初認(rèn)為我是個機械玩具。不過，當(dāng)他聽見我回答他的問題時，他意識到我一定是活的，不禁掩飾不住他的驚訝。

To discover what kind of animal I was，he sent for three of his cleverest professors.After looking at me carefully，they decided that I was a creature outside the laws of nature.I was much too small to climb their trees，or dig their fields，or kill and eat their animals.They could not understand where I had come from，or how I could possibly survive.And when I told them that in my country there were millions just like me，they did not believe me，but just smiled.However，the King was more intelligent than they were.After speaking to Glumdal- clitch and questioning me again，he realized that my story must be true.

為了弄明白我是哪種動物，他叫來了三個最聰明的教授。仔細(xì)看過我之后，他們認(rèn)定我是一種不符合自然法則的生物。我太小，無法攀緣他們的樹，挖他們的田地，或者殺死他們的牲畜吃。他們無法理解我是從哪兒來的，我怎么能夠生存下來的。在我告訴他們我們國家有數(shù)百萬像我這樣的人時，他們并不相信我，只是一笑置之。但是國王比他們智力要高些，在跟葛蘭達(dá)克利赤談話并問我問題之后，他意識到我的故事一定是真的。

They took very good care of me.The Queen's workmen made a special bedroom for me.It was a wooden box，with windows，a door，and two cupboards.The ceiling could be b lifted off，so that Glumdalclitch could change my sheets and tidy my room.The workmen even made me two little chairs and a table，and a lock for the door，so that no rats could get in.

他們把我照料得很好。王后的工匠為我做了個特制的臥室，那是個木盒子，有門窗和兩個小廚柜，天花板可以揭開，這樣葛蘭達(dá)克利赤可以給我換床單，整理我的房間。工匠甚至還給我做了兩個小椅子和一張桌子，一把門鎖，這樣老鼠就進不去了。

The Queen became so fond of me that she could not eat without me.My small table and chair were always placed on the dinner table near her left elbow，and Glumdalclitch stood near me，in case I needed her help.I ate off tiny silver plates，with silver knives and forks But I never got used to seeing the Queen eat.In one mouthful she ate as much as twelve English farmers could eat in a whole meal.She drank from a cup as big as one of our barrels，and her knives were like huge swords.I was quite frightened of them.

王后如此喜歡我，我不在她就吃不下飯。我的小桌子和椅子總是放在餐桌上靠近她的左肘的地方，葛蘭達(dá)克利赤站在我附近，預(yù)備在我需要她時幫助我。我用小銀盤子、銀刀和銀叉吃。不過我從來也沒有習(xí)慣看王后吃東西。她一口就吃下了12個英國農(nóng)場主一頓所能吃的東西。她用一個大得跟我們的桶一樣的杯子喝東西，而她的餐刀就像巨大的劍。我很害怕這些餐刀。

On Wednesday，which is a day of rest in Brobdingnag，like our Sunday，the King and Queen always had dinner together，with their children，in the King's rooms.I was usually invited too.My little chair and table were at the King's left elbow.he enjoyed very much hearing me talk about England—our laws，our universities，our great buildings.He listened so po-litely that I perhaps talked a little too much about my dear country.In the end he looked at me kindly，but could not stop himself laughing.He turned to one of his lords.

在星期三，這是布羅卜丁奈格的休息日，正如我們的星期天，國王和王后總是和他們的孩子一起，在國王的房間用餐。我的小桌椅放在國王的左肘邊。他非常喜歡聽我講英國——我們的法律、我們的大學(xué)、我們的偉大建筑。他聽得那樣有禮貌，也許我談?wù)撐铱蓯鄣淖鎳劦锰嗔?。最后他慈祥地望著我，控制不住地大笑起來。他扭頭對著他的一個王公。

‘How amusing it is，’he said to him，‘that an insect like this should.talk of such important matters!He thinks his country is so highly developed!But I suppose even tiny crea-tures like him have a hole in the ground that they call a home.They argue，they love，they fight and they die，as we do.But of course the poor little animals aren't on our level.’

“多么有意思，”他對他說，“像這樣的小昆蟲也能談?wù)撊绱酥匾氖虑?他認(rèn)為他的國家有如此發(fā)達(dá)!不過我想就是像他這樣的小動物在地面也有個洞子他們自己稱作家。他們爭辯、戀愛、戰(zhàn)爭、死亡，跟我們一樣。當(dāng)然這種可憐的小動物跟我們不是在同一個層次。”

I could not believe what I was hearing.He was laughing at my country，a country famous for its beautiful cities and palaces，its great kings and queens，its brave and honest people.However，there was nothing I could do about it，and I simply had to accept the situation.

我不能相信我所聽到的。他在嘲笑我的祖國，一個以其美麗的城市和宮殿、以其偉大的國王和王后、以其英勇而誠實的人民而聞名的國家。不過我對此毫無辦法，只有簡單地接受這種處境。

The worst problem I had at the palace was the Queen's dwarf.Until I arrived，he had always been the smallest person in the country(he was about ten metres tall).As I was much smaller than him，he was very rude to me and behaved very badly，especially when nobody was looking.Once he took a large bone from the table and stood it on the Queen's plate.Then he took me in both hands and pushed my legs into the top of the bone.I could not pull myself out，and had to stay there，feeling—and looking—extremely stupid.When the Queen finally saw me，she could not stop herself laughing， but she was angry with the dwarf at the same time.

我在宮里最糟糕的問題是王后的侏儒。我到達(dá)前，他一直是這個國家最矮小的人(他大約10米高)。因為我遠(yuǎn)比他矮，他對我很粗魯，他表現(xiàn)得很不好，特別是當(dāng)沒人在旁看著時。有一次他從桌上拿了一根大骨頭立在王后的盤子上，然后抓著我的兩只手把我的雙腿推進骨頭的頂端，我自己出不來，只有呆在那兒，感覺——而且看起來也是——極為愚蠢，王后最終看見了，禁不住笑起來，但同時也對侏儒非常生氣。

In Brobdingnag there are large numbers of flies in summer，and these awful insects，each as big as an English bird， gave me no peace.The dwarf used to catch some in his hands，and then let them out suddenly under my nose.He did this both to frighten me and amuse the Queen.I had to use my knife to cut them to pieces as they flew around me.

布羅卜丁奈格夏天有大量的蒼蠅，而這種可怕的昆蟲每個有英格蘭一只鳥那么大，擾得我毫無寧日。侏儒經(jīng)常抓幾個在手中，然后在我的鼻子底下突然松手，他這樣做既是驚嚇我也是逗王后樂。它們在我身邊飛來飛去，我只有用我的刀子把它們砍成碎片。

Another time，the dwarf picked me up and dropped me quickly into a bowl of milk on the table.Luckily，I am a good swimmer，so I managed to keep my head out of the milk.As soon as Glumdalclitch saw I was in danger，she ran from the other side of the room to rescue me.I was not hurt，but this time the dwarf was sent away from the palace as a punishment.I was very pleased.

另有一次，侏儒抓起我然后迅速把我丟進桌上的一碗牛奶里。好在我是個游泳好手，所以我能使頭露在牛奶外面。葛蘭達(dá)克利赤一看見我有危險就從屋子的另一端跑過來救我。我沒有受傷，不過這次侏儒被罰出了宮，我對此非常高興。

I would now like to describe Brobdingnag.The people who draw our European maps think there is nothing but sea be-tween Japan and America，but they are wrong.Brobdingnag is quite a large country，joined on to northwest America，but separated from the rest of America by high mountains.It is about ten thousand kilometres long and from five to eight thousand wide.The sea around it is so rough and there are so many rocks in the water that no large ships can land on any of the beaches.This means that the people of Brobdingnag do not normally have visitors from other parts of the world.

現(xiàn)在我想描繪一下布羅卜丁奈格。繪制歐洲地圖的人認(rèn)為在日本和美洲之間除了海什么都沒有，但是他們錯了。布羅卜丁奈格是個相當(dāng)大的國家，與北美相連，但高山把它與美洲其他部分隔開了。它大約有1萬公里長，5 000至8 000公里寬。它周圍海水洶涌，水中有太多的礁石，絕沒有大輪船可以在岸邊登陸。這意味著布羅卜丁奈格人正常情況下很少有來自世界其他地方的來客。

There are fifty-one cities and a large number of towns and villages The capital stands on both sides of a river，and has more than eighty thousand houses.It covers three hundred and forty square kilometres.The King's palace covers about eleven square kilometres：the main rooms are eighty metres high.The palace kitchen is huge—if I described it，with its great pots on the fire and the mountains of food on the tables，perhaps you would not believe me.Travellers are often accused of not telling the truth when they return.To幾avoid this hap-pening to me，I am being careful to describe what I saw as ex-actly and carefully as possible.

有51座城市，大量的市鎮(zhèn)和村莊。都城橫跨一條河，有8萬座房子，面積達(dá)340多平方公里，國王的宮殿占地大約11平方公里，主要房屋有80米高。王宮的廚房很大——如果我來描繪，還有火上的大鍋和桌上如山的食物，也許你不會相信。旅行者常常被指責(zé)在他們回家時不說真話。為了避免這種事發(fā)生在我身上，我一直留心盡可能準(zhǔn)確、仔細(xì)地描繪我所看到的。