《爱丽丝镜中奇遇记》 第五章 白方王后（1）

5 The White Queen

5．白方王后

She caught the shawl as she spoke¹, and looked around for the owner.

讲话的当儿，她抓住了披肩，四处张望，寻找主人。

A moment later the White Queen came running wildly through the wood.

片刻之后，白方王后穿过树林，飞奔而来。

Alice went to meet her with the shawl.

爱丽丝手拿披肩迎上前去。

'I'm pleased I was able to catch it for you,' Alice said, as she helped the Queen to put on her shawl again.

爱丽丝说：“我很高兴能把围巾抓住。”同时，她给王后重新披上披肩。

'Am I speaking to the White Queen?' she added politely.

她又很有礼貌地补充了一句：“我现在是跟白方王后讲话吗？”

'Yes,' said the Queen, as she pulled helplessly² at her shawl.

王后答道：“是的。”同时徒然地拉了拉披肩，

'Oh dear! I don't know what's the matter with my shawl today.

“天哪！我不明白今天我的披肩是怎么回事。

I think it's angry with me.

我想它在生我的气。

I've pinned it here, and I've pinned it there, but it's just not happy.

我把它别在这儿，又别到那儿，但它就是不满意。

But it can't go straight, you know, if you pin it all on one side,

你如果把披肩别在一边，它就不可能挺直，这你也清楚。

Alice said, as she gently put it right for her.

爱丽丝说着就轻轻地把披肩给她披好。

And I'm afraid your hair is terribly untidy.

恐怕你头发也太乱了。

'The hairbrush is lost in it somewhere,' the Queen said unhappily.

王后不高兴地说：“梳子不知丢在头发里的什么地方了。”

Alice carefully took out the brush and pinned up the Queen's hair more tidily.

爱丽丝小心地拿出了梳子，把王后的头发更整齐地别起来。

'There, you look better now,' she said. 'But really you should have a lady's maid.'

“这样看起来就好多了。说真的，你应该有一个侍女。”她说。

'I'd be happy to take you,' the Queen said. 'Twopence a week, and jam every other day.'

王后说：“纳你做侍女，我会很高兴。一周两便士，再加上隔天吃果酱。”

'I don't want you to employ me,' Alice said, laughing. 'And I don't like jam.'

“我不要你来雇我。再说我也不喜欢吃果酱。”爱丽丝说完，笑了起来。

'It's very good jam,' said the Queen.

王后说：“那是很好的果酱。”

Well, I don't want any today, thank you.

我今天一点也不想要，谢谢了。

'But you can't have jam today,' the Queen said.

王后又说：“但你不可能今天有果酱。

It's jam tomorrow and jam yesterday-but never jam today.

只是明天或昨天有果酱--今天决没有果酱。”

'It must be “jam today” sometimes,' Alice argued.

爱丽丝争辩说：“有时肯定会‘今天有果酱’的。”

'No, it isn't,' said the Queen. 'It's jam every other day. Today isn't any other day, you know.'

"不会有的。隔天才有果酱。你明白吗？今天不是隔天中的任何一天。”王后说。

'I don't understand that,' said Alice, very puzzled.

爱丽丝摸不着头脑，说：“我真不明白那一套。”

'That's because we live backwards³ here,' explained the Queen kindly⁴. 'It's always a little difficult at first.'

"那是因为在这儿我们往后过日子。要理解这一点起初总是困难的。”王后很友善地解释道。

'Live backwards!' Alice repeated, in great surprise. 'I never heard of anybody doing that.'

"往后过日子！”爱丽丝重复了一遍，大吃一惊。“我还从没有听说过有人这样过日子。”

'But there's one very useful thing about it,' the Queen went on, 'you can remember things both ways.'

王后又说：“但这样有一点很有用处，你就可以用两种方法记事情了。”

1 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。

2 helplessly   

adv.无力地，无助地；无可奈何地；眼睁睁

参考例句：

• His abrupt change of subject left her floundering helplessly. 他突然改变话题，使她茫然不知所措。
• She watched helplessly as her husband was dragged away. 她眼睁睁地看着丈夫被拉走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 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。