牛津書蟲系列 格列佛游記 9 Gulliver escapes from Brobdingnag

9 Gulliver escapes from Brobdingnag

9 格列佛逃離布羅卜丁奈格

I was still hoping to return to England one day.But the ship in which I had arrived in Brobdingnag was the first that had ever come near the coast.So I could not see how I could get away.I began to think more and more about my family and my home.

我仍然希望有朝一日回到英國。可是我到達(dá)布羅卜丁奈格時(shí)乘坐的輪船是第一只曾經(jīng)靠近此處海岸的。所以我不知道怎樣才能逃離。我開始越來越想念我的家人和自己的家了。

By now I had been in Brobdingnag for about two years.When the King and Queen travelled to the south coast，Glum-dalclitch and I went with them.I really wanted to be close to the sea again，which I had not seen or even smelt for so long.As Glumdalclitch was ill，I asked a young servant to take me down to the beach for some fresh air.The boy carried me in my travelling box，and put me down on the beach，while he looked for birds’eggs among the rocks.I looked sadly at the sea，but stayed in my box，and after a while I fell asleep.

這時(shí)我到布羅卜丁奈格已經(jīng)有大約兩年了。國王和王后到南部海岸去旅行時(shí)，葛蘭達(dá)克利赤和我也一同前往。我真是想再度靠近大海，這么長時(shí)間我既沒有看見也沒有聞見它了。由于葛蘭達(dá)克利赤生病了，我叫一個(gè)年輕仆人把我?guī)У胶┥虾粑迈r空氣。這個(gè)男孩用我的旅行盒提著我，在海灘上把我放下來，他自己去石頭中找鳥蛋去了。我憂傷地看著大海，不過還是呆在我的盒子里，過了一會兒我就睡著了。

I was woken suddenly when my box was lifted high in the air.I can only suppose that a large bird took hold of the ring on top of the box with his talons，and flew away with it.Through the windows I could see the sky and clouds passing by，and I could hear the noise of the bird's wings.Then I was falling，so fast that I felt quite breathless.There was a loud crash，as the box fell into the sea.Perhaps the bird had been attacked by others，and so had to drop what he was carrying.

我的盒子被提到高空中，把我突然驚醒了。我只能猜測一只大鳥的爪子抓住了我盒子頂部的環(huán)，帶著它飛走了。透過窗戶我可以看見天空和云彩飛逝，我還可以聽見鳥翅膀的聲音。然后我往下跌，快得我覺得幾乎透不過氣。盒子掉進(jìn)海水里，濺起很響的水聲。也許這鳥兒受到什么襲擊，所以不得不丟下它抓的東西。

Luckily，the box had been well made，and not much sea water came in.But I do not think any traveller has ever been in a worse situation than I was then.I wondered訕how long I would survive，with no food or drink in the middle of the ocean.I felt sure I would never see poor Glumdalclitch again，and I knew how sad she would be to lose me.

幸虧盒子做得很好，沒有多少海水流進(jìn)來，不過我想沒有多少旅行者比我此時(shí)的處境更糟糕。我思忖著，在大洋之中，沒有食物，沒有飲水，我能生存多久。我確切地感到再也見不著可憐的葛蘭達(dá)克利赤了，我知道失去我她將多么悲傷。

Several hours passed，and then I suddenly heard a strange noise above my head People were fastening a rope to the ring.Then my box was pulled through the water.Was it a ship that was pulling me along?

幾個(gè)小時(shí)之后，我忽然聽見頭上有個(gè)奇怪的聲音，有人正在環(huán)上系繩子，然后我的盒子在水中被拖動。是一個(gè)輪船在拖著我走嗎?

‘Help!Help!’I shouted as loudly as I could.

“救命!救命!”我竭力大聲喊叫。

I was delighted to hear English voices reply.

我很高興地聽到說英語的聲音在回答。

‘Who's there?’they cried.

“誰在那兒?”他們喊道。

‘I'm English!’I shouted back desperately.‘Please help me to get out of here!Just put your finger into the ring on top of the box and lift it out of the water!Quickly!’

“我是英國人!”我拼命地嚷，“請幫我從這兒出去!把你的手指放到盒子頂上的環(huán)上把它從水里提出來!快一點(diǎn)!”

There were great shouts of laughter.

一片轟然大笑。

‘He's mad!’I heard one man say.

“他瘋啦!”我聽見一個(gè)人說。

‘Ten men couldn't lift that huge box!’said another.There was more laughter.

“10個(gè)人也提不起那個(gè)大盒子!”另一個(gè)說。笑聲更響了。

Indeed，because I had been with giants for so long，I had forgotten that my countrymen were as small as me.The only thing the sailors could do was to cut a hole in the top of my box，and help me to climb out.I was exhausted and unable to walk far.

確實(shí)，因?yàn)槲液途奕嗽谝黄鹛昧?，我忘了我的國人是和我一樣小的。這些水手唯一能做的是在我的盒子頂部挖一個(gè)洞、幫我爬出來。我累壞了，不能走遠(yuǎn)。

They took me to their captain.

他們把我?guī)У剿麄兊拇L那兒。

‘Welcome to my ship，’he said kindly.‘You're lucky we found you.My men saw that huge box on the water，and we decided to pull it along behind the ship.Then we realized there was a man inside!Why were you locked up in there?Was it a punishment for some terrible crime?But tell me all about it later.Now you need to sleep，and then eat.’

“歡迎到我們船上來，”他和善地說，“你很幸運(yùn)我們發(fā)現(xiàn)了你。我的人發(fā)現(xiàn)水里有一個(gè)大盒子，我們決定將它掛在輪船后面拖著走。然后我們意識到里面有一個(gè)人!你為什么被鎖在里面?這是一種對什么可怕的罪過的懲罰嗎?不過以后再告訴我這些，你現(xiàn)在需要休息，然后吃點(diǎn)東西。”

When I told him my story，a few hours later，he found it difficult to believe.But after a while he began to accept that what I told him must be true.

幾個(gè)小時(shí)之后，我告訴他我的經(jīng)歷，他覺得難以置信。不過過了一會兒他開始接受我所告訴他的是真的。

‘But why do you shout so loudly?’he asked.‘We can hear you perfectly well if you speak normally.’

“可是你為什么叫喊那么大聲音?”他問，“如果你正常地說話我們也能聽得很清楚。”

‘You see，’I explained，‘for two years I've had to shout to make myself understood by the giants.I was like a man in the street who was trying to talk to another man at the top of a very tall building.And another thing-your sailors all seem very small to me，because I've been used to looking up at peo-ple twenty metres tall.’

“你看，”我解釋說，“兩年來我不得不大聲喊叫以便讓我能被巨人聽清楚。我就像一個(gè)走在大街上的人，要跟在一座非常高的建筑物頂上的另一個(gè)人說話。還有一件事，你的水手在我看起來都非常小，因?yàn)槲乙越?jīng)習(xí)慣了仰著頭看20米高的人。”

He shook his head.‘Well，what a story!I think you should write a book about it when you get home.’

他搖著頭。“嗯，多么好的故事啊!我覺得你回家后應(yīng)該把它寫成一本書。”

I stayed on the ship for several months，as we sailed slowly home to England.Finally，we arrived in Bristol on June 3rd，1706.When I reached home，my wife made me promise never to go to sea again，and I thought my adventures had come to an end.

我們慢慢地航行回英國，我在這船上呆了幾個(gè)月。最后我們于1706年6月3日到達(dá)布里斯托爾。我回到家時(shí)，我妻子要我許愿再也不出海，我想我的歷險(xiǎn)到此為止了。