a written petition was brought to him with the request that it should be immediately read. 他的卫兵给他送来一份书面请愿书。书中注明，请求国王即刻阅读。

The King had just returned from hunting, and the glare of the sun, or some other cause,  当时，国王刚刚结束打猎回宫，因为阳光刺眼，或某些其他原因，

had so dazzled his eyes that he found it difficult to make out a single word of the writing. 他头昏眼花，一个字也很难看清。

His private secretary happened to be absent; and the soldier who brought the petition could not read. 国王的私人秘书碰巧不在宫内，送来请愿书的卫兵也不识字。

There was a page, or favorite boy servant, waiting in the hall, and upon him the King called. 当时有位男侍，或者不如说一位乖巧侍童正在大厅当班伺候，国王吩咐他过来。

The page was a son of one of the noblemen of the court, but proved to be a very poor reader. 那位侍童是宫廷某位贵族的儿子，可随后证实，他的阅读能力相当糟糕。

In the first place, he did not articulate distinctly. 一上来，那位侍童发音就不够清晰，

He huddled his words together in the utterance, as if they were syllables of one long word, which he must get through with as speedily as possible. 那些词语在他嘴里居然咕囔成串，杂乱无章地快速蹦出。听起来，有的词语音节应该很长，可他似乎总是急不可耐地含糊读完。

His pronunciation was bad, and he did not modulate his voice so as to bring out the meaning of what he read. 他的发音很糟，无法表现文字的准确含义。

Every sentence was uttered with a dismal monotony of voice, as if it did not differ in any respect from that which preceded it. 与此同时，他所表述的所有话语无不沉闷呆板，毫无抑扬顿挫之感或音调变化，似乎词语间不存在任何差异。

"Stop!" said the King, impatiently. “停下！”国王不耐心地说，

Is it an auctioneer's list of goods to be sold that you are hurrying over? 莫非你是公开清单、急于拍卖物品的拍卖师，那么草草念完？

Send your companion to me. 把你的同伴叫来！

Another page who stood at the door now entered, and to him the King gave the petition. 很快，大厅门口守候的另一位侍童来到国王身边，国王将请愿书交给了他。

The second page began by hemming and clearing his throat in such an affected manner, 那侍童装模作样地清了清嗓子，

that the King jokingly asked him whether he had not slept in the public garden, with the gate open, the night before. 国王诙谐地问他，是不是他昨晚没在公园里过夜，但睡觉时门却整晚没关。