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Chapter 3 The Inside of the World 第3章 世界的内部
When I was a very little boy I was very inquisitive1. 小时候就是个非常好奇的孩子,
At least that's what my nurse called me. 至少我的保姆是这样说的。
One day when I was walking with her along the city pavements, I asked:Jane, what's under the pavement? 一天她带我一起走在城市的人行道上,我问她:简,人行道下面是什么?
Oh, just dirt, she replied. And what is under the dirt? Oh, more dirt, she replied. 哦,就是泥土。她回答说。那泥土下面呢?哦,更多的泥土。她回答说。
Well, what's under that? I asked. I wasn't satisfied. 嗯,那再下面是什么呢?我不满意这个回答,又问她。
Oh, nothing-I don't know—why are you always so inquisitive? she asked. 哦,什么都没有—我不知道—你为什么总是这么好奇呢?她问我。
I knew there must be something underneath2 that, and I just wanted to know what it was—I was just inquisitive. 我想那下面一定有东西,我就是想知道那到底是什么东西—我很好奇。
I had heard that the place bad boys went when they died was down under the ground somewhere—a big cave, perhaps—and I wanted to know if that were so. 我曾听说坏孩子死了之后会到地下的一个什么地方—也许是个大洞—我想知道是不是那样。
And then I had heard that all the way down through on the other side of the World Chinamen lived, head down, and walked upside down like flies on the ceiling. 我还听说绕着地球直到走到另一面是中国人住的地方,人们都是头朝下,倒过来走路的,就像苍蝇趴在天花板上。
I wanted to find out if that were so too. So I made up my mind I'd dig down through the World; 我想看看到底是不是那样。于是我下定决心要自己挖通世界;
down, down, down, till I came through on the other side, and then I'd know. 向下一直挖,一直挖,一直挖到世界的另一面,那时我就知道了。
I was a very little boy, you see. With a tin shovel3 I started a hole in the back yard behind the grapevines, where no one would know what I was doing. 要知道我当时很小,我开始用一把铁锹在后院葡萄藤后面挖了个洞,没人知道我在那儿干什么。
I wanted to keep it a secret until I had dug all the way through. 我想在我彻底挖通之前保守秘密。
Day after day I worked, digging up first soft ground—that was easy—then I got down to solid ground; that was hard. 我一天又一天地干着,先挖到软软的土层—那很容易,然后我挖到了坚硬的土,很难挖。
I had a hole which I could stand in up to my waist. 我挖出了一个齐腰深的坑。
Then one evening my father asked, What's that hole in the back yard? 后来有天晚上,爸爸问我:后院里那个坑是怎么回事?
My secret was out. 我的秘密被发现了。
He didn't laugh when I told him— at least out loud—but he asked me if I knew how far I'd have to dig. 当我告诉他的时候他并没有笑我—至少没有大声笑出来—但他问我知不知道我得挖多深才能挖得通。
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1
inquisitive
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adj.求知欲强的,好奇的,好寻根究底的 | |
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2
underneath
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adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面 | |
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3
shovel
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n.铁锨,铲子,一铲之量;v.铲,铲出 | |
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