《爱丽丝镜中奇遇记》 第五章 白方王后（2）

'I only remember things one way,' Alice said. 'I can't remember things before they happen.'

"我只能用一种方法记住事情。我不会记住那些还没有发生过的事情。”爱丽丝说。

'That's not very useful,' said the Queen.

王后说：“那可没有好处。

I can remember things that happened the week after next.

我可以记住两周后发生的事情。

For example, the King's Messenger¹ is in prison now, but he hasn't done anything wrong yet.

譬如说，国王的信使现在坐牢了，但他至今还没有做错什么事。

His crime² will come much later.

他犯罪的时间要晚得多。

'But what happens if there is no crime,' asked Alice, 'and he doesn't do anything wrong at all?

爱丽丝问：“如果他根本没犯罪，没做错事，那又能有什么后果呢？

That seems a strange way of

这似乎是用离奇的方式来

At that moment the Queen began to scream very loudly, and to shake her hand around in the air.

王后突然大声尖叫起来，并在空中挥舞着手，叫喊着：

Oh, oh! she shouted. My finger's bleeding³! Oh, oh, oh!

哎呀，哎呀！我的手指在流血！哎呀，哎呀，哎呀！

Alice put her hands over her ears.

爱丽丝用双手捂住了耳朵，

'What is the matter?' she said, in between the Queen's screams. 'Have you cut your finger?'

她在王后尖叫的间隙问道：“怎么回事？你割破了手指头？”

'I haven't cut it yet,' the Queen said, 'but I soon shall-oh, oh, oh!'

“我还没有割破手指，但我不久就会了，哎呀，哎呀，哎呀！”王后说。

'When do you think you will do it?' Alice asked, trying not to laugh.

爱丽丝问：“你认为什么时候会割破手指？”尽量不笑出声来。

'When I fasten my shawl again,' the Queen said unhappily, 'one of the pins will come out and-oh, oh!'

王后不高兴地说：“当我再次系牢披肩时，一只别针会脱落下来--哎呀，哎呀！”

As she said the words, one of her shawl pins came undone⁴ and she quickly took hold of it, trying to fasten it again.

正说着，披肩上的一只别针松了，她快速把它抓住，想重新把它固定住。

'Take care!' cried Alice. 'You're holding it wrong!'

爱丽丝喊道：“小心！你抓错了方向！”

She tried to help the Queen, but it was too late-the pin had already gone deep into the Queen's finger.

她想帮王后个忙，但太迟了--别针已经深深地扎进了王后的指头。

'That explains the bleeding, you see,' the Queen said to Alice with a smile.

王后笑着对爱丽丝讲：“那就解释了流血的事。

Now you understand the way things happen here.

现在你明白了这儿事情是怎样发生的吧。

'But why don't you scream now?' Alice asked, holding her hands ready to put over her ears again.

"可是你现在为什么不叫喊？”爱丽丝问，扬起双手准备再次把耳朵捂住。

'I've done all the screaming already,' said the Queen. 'Why do it all again?'

王后说：“我已经叫喊过了。干吗又要重复一遍呢？”

'It's very difficult to believe,' Alice said, 'that life can happen backwards⁵.'

"人生阶段可以倒过来发生，这真令人难以置信。”爱丽丝说。

'Try to believe something a bit easier,' said the Queen helpfully. 'For example, I'm a hundred and one years old.'

王后有意指点她，就说：“设法相信得更容易点。譬如说，我已101岁了。”

'I can't believe that!' said Alice.

"我不能相信。”爱丽丝说。

'Can't you?' the Queen said, shaking her head sadly.

王后沮丧地摇摇头，说：“你怎么不相信？"

Try again. Put your hands together and shut your eyes.

再试试。合上双手并闭上眼睛。

1 messenger   

n.报信者，先驱

参考例句：

• By the time the messenger reached him,the damage had been done.送信人赶到他那儿时，损失已经造成了。
• I'll order a special messenger to deliver the document.我会派专人把文件送去。

2 crime   

n.犯罪，罪行，罪恶

参考例句：

• You'll have to pay for your crime.你得为你的罪行付出代价。
• Crime in our big cities is on the increase.在我们大城市里犯罪率正在增长。

3 bleeding   

adj.出血的；（心情）过度悲痛的；（用于加强语气，尤表示非常厌烦）该死的；讨厌的n.流血，失血v.流血( bleed的现在分词 )；勒索，敲诈；散开；给（某人）放血

参考例句：

• Press firmly on the wound to stop the bleeding. 用力压住伤口止血。
• The nurse applied pressure to his arm to stop the bleeding. 护士压住他的胳膊止血。

4 undone   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

• He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。

5 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。