《爱丽丝镜中奇遇记》 第四章 特威丹与特威帝（2）

It was a very long poem indeed- all about a Walrus¹ and a Carpenter²,

那真是首长诗，讲的是海象与木匠

who went for a walk along a beach and invited lots of young Oysters³ to go with them.

去海边散步，并邀请许多小牡蛎同往。

The Oysters accepted happily.

小牡蛎很高兴地接受了邀请。

'Perhaps that wasn't very sensible⁴ of them,' Alice said.

爱丽丝说：“它们恐怕不太明智吧。”

Tweedledee only smiled, and continued:

特威帝只笑了笑，又继续背：

The Walrus and the Carpenter Walked on a mile or so, And then they rested on a rock.

海象与木匠，步行一英里，要坐岩石上，

Conveniently⁵ low; And all the little Oysters stood. And waited in a row.

石头低又矮；牡蛎站成排。等待又等待。

'The time has come,' the Walrus said, 'To talk of many things: Of shoes-and ships-and sealing-wax- Of cabbages-and kings

海象先开言：“时光已来临，谈论许多事：鞋、船与封蜡--甘蓝与国王

-And why the sea is boiling hot- And whether pigs have wings.'

--大海怎滚烫--猪猡有无翼。”

Alice waited with interest to hear about this conversation, but it never happened,

爱丽丝觉得非常有趣，等着听海象与木匠的对话，

because the Walrus and the Carpenter went on to eat all the Oysters instead.

但就是没声响，因为他们接着忙着吃牡蛎了。

At the end Alice said, 'I like the Walrus best, because he said he felt sorry for the poor Oysters.'

最后爱丽丝说：“我最喜欢海象，因为他说他为可怜的牡蛎感到难过。”

'He ate more of them than the Carpenter,'said Tweedledee. 'He ate faster, you see.'

特威帝说：“他比木匠吃得还多，他吃得还很快。”

'Oh!' said Alice. 'Well then, I like the Carpenter best.'

“哦，是这样。那么我最喜欢木匠。”爱丽丝改口说。

'But he ate as many as he could get,' said Tweedledum.

但特威丹说：“其实木匠也在拚命地吃。”

'Well, they were both very unkind-' Alice began, then stopped when she heard a noise in the wood.

“哦，他们两个都不是什么好人--”爱丽丝刚一出口，就住了口，这时她突然听见树林里传来声音。

It sounded like a wild animal.

听上去那好像是只野兽。

'What's that?' she asked, afraid.

她害怕了，忙问：“那是什么声音？”

'It's only the Red King snoring⁶,' said Tweedledee. 'Come and look at him.'

特威帝答道：“那只是红方国王在打呼噜。来，我们去看看他。”

The brothers each took one of Alice's hands and they went through the wood to where the King was sleeping.

两兄弟每人拉住爱丽丝的一只手，他们穿过树林，来到国王睡觉的地方。

'Doesn't he look lovely?' said Tweedledum.

特威丹问：“他够可爱的，是吧？”

Alice really couldn't agree. The King was lying in a very untidy⁷ way, and was snoring loudly.

爱丽丝真是不敢苟同。国王躺在那儿，邋里邋遢，呼噜打得山响。

1 walrus   

n.海象

参考例句：

• He is the queer old duck with the knee-length gaiters and walrus mustache.他穿着高及膝盖的皮护腿，留着海象般的八字胡，真是个古怪的老家伙。
• He seemed hardly to notice the big walrus.他几乎没有注意到那只大海象。

2 carpenter   

n.木工，木匠

参考例句：

• I have a complete set of carpenter's tools.我有全套的木工工具。
• He worked in a carpenter's shop.他在一家木工厂工作。

3 oysters   

牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We don't have oysters tonight, but the crayfish are very good. 我们今晚没有牡蛎供应。但小龙虾是非常好。
• She carried a piping hot grill of oysters and bacon. 她端出一盘滚烫的烤牡蛎和咸肉。

4 sensible   

adj.可察觉的，意识到的，实用的；n.可感知物

参考例句：

• Are you sensible of the dangers of your position? 你觉察到你处境中的危险了吗？
• He was sensible enough to mind his own business.他颇有见识，不去管闲事。

5 conveniently   

adv.方便地，便利地，合宜地；顺便；随手；信手

参考例句：

• Let's talk the matter over as soon as we are conveniently alone. 让我们单独在一起的时候再讨论这件事情吧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He conveniently forgot to tell me he was married. 他没有告诉我他已经结婚，他觉得不提为好吧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 snoring   

打呼噜，打鼾( snore的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear Paul snoring in the next room. 我听得见保罗在隔壁房间里打呼噜。
• Pushing the door open a trifle, he could hear only snoring inside. 他又走到仆婢室的门前，把门轻轻地推开，只听见屋里的鼾声。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

7 untidy   

adj.不整齐的，懒散的，懒惰的

参考例句：

• This is an untidy plan.这是一个杂乱无章的计划。
• I must apologize for the untidy state of the room.屋子这么不整洁，实在抱歉。