《爱丽丝镜中奇遇记》 第二章 会说话的花园（2）

When she had seen her by the fireplace¹, the Queen had been only eight centimetres high. Now she was taller than Alice herself!

那次在壁炉边看见王后时，她只有8厘米高，而今竟比爱丽丝还高些。

'I think I'll go and meet her,' Alice said.

爱丽丝说：“我想我还是去见见她。”

'You can't possibly do that,' said the Rose. 'You must walk the other way if you want to meet her.'

玫瑰说：“这你办不到。你要见她，就必须走另外一条路。”

This sounded nonsense² to Alice, so she began to walk towards the Red Queen.

在爱丽丝听来，这似乎是无稽之谈，于是她开始朝红方王后走过去。

To her surprise, she found herself a minute later walking in through the front door of the house.

令她惊讶的是，一分钟后，她发现自己又踏进那幢房子的正门。

She turned round crossly, and saw the Queen again, on the other side of the garden.

她气恼地转过身来，又瞧见王后在花园的另一头。

This time she tried walking the other way, away from the Queen. It succeeded beautifully.

这次，她试着走另一条路，远离王后。这次她终于完满地成功了。

A minute later she was standing³ opposite the Red Queen, and very near the hill that she had wanted to get to.

片刻之后，她站到了王后的对面，并且离她要去的那座小山丘已经很近了。

'Where do you come from?' said the Red Queen. 'Where are you going? And why are you here at all?

红方王后问：“你从哪里来？要到哪里去？你来这儿究竟干什么？

Look up, speak nicely, keep your hands still.

讲话要抬头，要有礼貌，手要放好。

And curtsy while you're think-ing what to say. It saves time.'

在考虑下一句该讲什么时，要行屈膝礼。这样会节省时间。”

Alice tried to obey all these orders, feeling just a little frightened of the Queen.

爱丽丝试图遵循这些命令，但内心还是有点儿害怕王后。

'I only wanted to look at the garden, your Majesty⁴, from the top of that hill,' she began.

她开了言：“王后陛下，我只是想站在山顶看看底下的花园。”

'Hill!' cried the Queen. 'Some people would call that a valley.'

“山！有人称那为峡谷。”王后高喊了一句。

'But a hill can't be a valley,' said Alice. 'That would be nonsense.'

爱丽丝应了声：“但山决不会是峡谷。这是无稽之谈。”

The Red Queen shook her head. 'You can call it nonsense if you like. Some people would say it was sensible⁵!'

王后摇了摇头。“你可以把这种讲法称作无稽之谈，但有人却认为很有道理。”

Alice curtsied again, and decided⁶ it would be safer not to argue any more.

爱丽丝又行了一个礼，拿定主意还是别争辩的好。

Together, they walked on in silence up the hill.

他们双双一言不发地上了山。

At the top Alice could see right across the country-and a very strange country it was.

从山顶，爱丽丝可以俯瞰整个原野，这真是片奇特的原野。

There were lots of little brooks⁷ running across from side to side, and there were long lines of hedges⁸, going the other way.

那里有条条小溪与排排的小树林，在其间纵横交错。

It was a country of squares.

整个原野被分割成一个个方块格子。

'It's just like a large chess-board!' Alice said at last. 'Oh, and I can see some chessmen down there!'

爱丽丝最后说：“多像一个大棋盘！啊，我还看见了那儿站着些棋子哪！”

Her heart began to beat fast with excitement.

她激动得心蹦蹦直跳。

'It's a great game of chess, as big as the world itself-if this is the world at all.

“这是一场大型的象棋游戏。如果世界就在我们眼前，那么它就跟整个世界一样大。

Oh, what fun! I wish I could be in it, even as a Pawn⁹.

啊，多有趣！真希望我能在那里面，做一个小卒也行。

Although I would love to be a Queen, of course.'

当然，我更喜欢当一个王后。”

She looked a little worriedly at the real Queen as she said this.

讲到这里，她有点不安地看了眼真正的王后。

But the Red Queen smiled kindly¹⁰, and said, 'You can be the White Queen's Pawn, if you like.

可是，红方王后好心地微笑着说：“如果你愿意，你可以做白方王后前面的卒子。

Lily is too young to play.

百合太小，玩不了棋。

You're in the Second Square now, and when you get to the Eighth Square, you'll be a Queen-'

现在你站在第二格，当你走到第八格时，就升变为王后了--”

Just at that moment, they began to run.

话音刚落，她们就开始跑起来。

1 fireplace   

n.壁炉，炉灶

参考例句：

• The fireplace smokes badly.这壁炉冒烟太多。
• I think we should wall up the fireplace.我想应该封住壁炉。

2 nonsense   

n.胡说，废话

参考例句：

• Go along with you! What you say is all nonsense!去你的！你说的全是废话！
• "Don't talk nonsense",she said sharply.“别胡扯”，她严厉地说。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

5 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。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 hedges   

树篱( hedge的名词复数 )； 保护手段； 防止损失（尤指金钱）的手段

参考例句：

• Farmers often enclose their land with hedges. 农夫们常用树篱将他们的地围起来。
• She came across butchered hedges and flowerbeds choked with weeds. 她发现树篱被糟蹋，花坛里野草丛生。

9 pawn   

n.典当，抵押，小人物，走卒；v.典当，抵押

参考例句：

• He is contemplating pawning his watch.他正在考虑抵押他的手表。
• It looks as though he is being used as a political pawn by the President.看起来他似乎被总统当作了政治卒子。

10 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。