《爱丽丝镜中奇遇记》 第四章 特威丹与特威帝（1）

4 Tweedledum and Tweedledee

4．特威丹与特威帝

Alice knew immediately which one was which, because each had his name on his shirt.

爱丽丝一下子就把这对孪生兄弟辨认出来了，因为衬衫上都标明了名字。

They were standing¹ very still, with their arms round each other, and Alice forgot that they were alive.

他们纹丝不动地站在那儿，手挽着手，爱丽丝因此竟忘了他们是活的。

'They look just like schoolboys,' she said aloud.

她大声地说：“他们看起来就像小男学生。”

Then one of them spoke², and Alice jumped in surprise.

接着两个中的一个讲话了，爱丽丝惊奇地跳起来。

'You've begun wrong!' cried the one called Tweedledum.

叫特威丹的那位叫道：“你开头就错了。

'The first thing in a visit is to say “How do you do?” and shake hands.'

拜访朋友，第一件事是打招呼‘你好！’同时握手。”

And here the brothers held out the two hands that were free, to shake hands with her.

这时，两兄弟伸出了闲着的两只手，与她握手。

Alice did not know which hand to shake first, so she took hold of both hands at once.

爱丽丝搞不清楚要先握哪只手，于是就同时抓住了两只手。

The next moment they were all three dancing round in a circle.

随后，他们三个就围成一个圈跳舞。

This seemed very natural at the time, and Alice was not even surprised to hear music playing.

当时这似乎非常自然，爱丽丝听见音乐奏起，也不感到奇怪。

The two brothers were fat, and soon got tired.

这两兄弟长得胖墩墩的，一会儿就疲惫不堪了。

'Four times round is enough for one dance,' Tweedledee said, and they stopped as suddenly as they had begun.

特威帝说：“一曲跳四圈就够了。”他们停下来就像开始时那样突然。

Then they stood looking at Alice in silence.

然后他们站在那儿，静静地看着爱丽丝。

Alice did not know what to say.

爱丽丝不知道该说些什么。

How do you begin a conversation with people that you have just been dancing with? she wondered.

如何开始同刚刚与你跳过舞的人谈话呢？她琢磨着。

'I hope you're not too tired?' she said at last.

她终于开了口，说：“希望你们不会太累。”

'Not at all. And thank you very much for asking,' said Tweedledum.

“一点也没有。谢谢你的关心。”特威丹答道。

'Very kind of you,' added³ Tweedledee. 'Do you like poems?'

“你太好了。你喜欢诗歌吗？”特威帝补充说。

Yes… well, some poems,' Alice said carefully.

爱丽丝非常谨慎地答道：“是……是的，有些诗歌。

'Would you tell me which road to take out of the wood?'

劳驾你告诉我哪条路可以走出树林？”

'What shall I repeat to her?' Tweedledee said to Tweedledum, not noticing Alice's question.

“我该给她背诵什么？”特威帝对特威丹说，没有注意到爱丽丝的发问。

'The Walrus⁴ and the Carpenter⁵ is the longest,' Tweedledum replied, putting a friendly arm round his brother.

特威丹很友好地搂住自己的兄弟，说：“海象与木匠这首诗是最长的。”

'If it's very long,' Alice said politely, 'would you tell me first which road-'

“如果这首诗很长，劳驾你先告诉我哪条路……”爱丽丝很有礼貌地恳求道。

Tweedledee smiled gently and began his poem.

特威帝微微一笑，就背诵起诗来了。

1 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。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 added   

adj.更多的，附加的，额外的

参考例句：

• They have added a new scene at the beginning.在开头他们又增加了一场戏。
• The pop music added to our enjoyment of the film.片中的流行音乐使我们对这部电影更加喜爱。

4 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。

5 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。