高齊云選譯

“Deep in the middle of the woods，” said my mother， “is the place where the king of the pumpkins lives.” “But pumpkins live in fields1， not in forests，” I said to my mother. She wouldnt listen to me. “Im telling you，” she said， “the king of the pumpkins lives in the middle of the woods and the woods that he lives in are the woods right next to our house， the woods you can see out of the window over there.” She pointed2 with her hand to the woods that were just outside the window behind our house. “He doesnt live in a field like the other pumpkins，” mother went on， “because hes not an ordinary pumpkin. Hes the King Pumpkin.”

“森林深處，”我母親說(shuō)，“是南瓜王生活的地方?！薄暗瞎仙钤谔镆袄?，而不是森林里，”我對(duì)母親說(shuō)，她不聽(tīng)我的?！拔腋嬖V你，”她說(shuō)，“南瓜王住在樹(shù)林里面，他住的樹(shù)林就是我們家旁邊的樹(shù)林，你可以從那邊的窗戶看到的那片樹(shù)林。”她用手指了指我們家后窗外的樹(shù)林。“他不像其他南瓜那樣生活在田野里?！蹦赣H接著說(shuō)，“因?yàn)樗皇且粋€(gè)普通的南瓜。他是南瓜王。”

I shut up and believed her， like you do when youre a kid. Firstly， I knew that it wasnt worth3 fighting with my mother. She always won4. Secondly， when youre a kid， you always believe what grown-ups tell you， no matter how stupid5 it is. Like Santa Claus and stuff like that. Kids always believe it， even though they know its stupid. Still， I wanted to go and find the king of the pumpkins， partly because I was bored， partly because I was curious6， and also—of course—because I wanted to know if my mother really was talking nonsense7 or not.

我閉上嘴，決定相信她，就像你小時(shí)候那樣。首先，我知道這不值得和我媽媽爭(zhēng)論，她總是贏。其次，當(dāng)你還是個(gè)孩子的時(shí)候，你總是相信大人告訴你的事，不管這有多傻，像圣誕老人之類的。孩子們總是會(huì)相信，即使他們知道這很愚蠢。盡管如此，我還是決定去找南瓜王，一方面是因?yàn)槲液軣o(wú)聊，另一方面是因?yàn)槲液芎闷妗．?dāng)然了，也因?yàn)槲蚁胫缷寢屖遣皇钦娴脑诤f(shuō)八道。

Mother often talked nonsense， I have to say that. There was the time she told me that the moon was made of cheese. I knew that was nonsense. Then there were all the stories she told me. Stories about frogs， princesses， princes and shoes. Stories about donkeys and unicorns8， gnomes9 and elves， magic mirrors and magic cooking pots. Stories about why the stars are exactly the way they are， why the river that runs through our town has the name that it has， stories about where the sun comes from， why the sky is so far away and why the elephant has a long trunk10. Some of these stories， I think， might have been true. I was never sure， and it was difficult to find out. This time， though， with this story about the king of the pumpkins， it was going to be easy to find out if she was telling the truth or not.

媽媽經(jīng)常胡說(shuō)八道，我必須得這么說(shuō)。有一次，她告訴我月亮是奶酪做的。我知道那是胡說(shuō)八道。還有她給我講的所有故事，關(guān)于青蛙、公主、公主和鞋子的故事，關(guān)于驢和獨(dú)角獸，侏儒和精靈，魔鏡和魔法鍋的故事，關(guān)于星星為什么是這樣的故事，為什么流經(jīng)我們城鎮(zhèn)的河流會(huì)叫現(xiàn)在那個(gè)名字，關(guān)于太陽(yáng)從哪里來(lái)的故事，為什么天空那么遙遠(yuǎn)，為什么大象有一個(gè)長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的鼻子。其中有些故事，我想有可能是真的。我從不確定，而且很難弄明白是不是真的。不過(guò)，這一次關(guān)于南瓜王的故事，就很容易弄清她說(shuō)的是不是真的了。

Some people used to call my mother a witch11， but I knew that she wasnt a witch. Maybe just a bit strange. And she used to talk nonsense. It might be also because of the black cat we had. People say that witches always have black cats， and we had a black cat. But Mog wasnt a witchs cat. He was just a regular12 black cat. Mog could talk， though， I have to say that. Maybe that isnt so regular in a cat， now I think about it.

以前有人叫我媽媽巫婆，但我知道她不是。也許她只是有點(diǎn)奇怪，她過(guò)去常常胡說(shuō)八道，也許也是因?yàn)槲覀凁B(yǎng)了一只黑貓。人們說(shuō)女巫總是養(yǎng)黑貓，而我們就有一只黑貓。但莫格不是女巫的貓，它只是一只普通的黑貓。不過(guò)，莫格可以說(shuō)話，我還是得說(shuō)，也許這在貓身上并不常見(jiàn)，現(xiàn)在我想起來(lái)這一點(diǎn)了。

Anyway， I was telling you about the time I went to find the king of the pumpkins. I set off with Mog the cat into the woods to look for the king of the pumpkins. Wed lived in that house near the woods all my life， but I had never gone into the middle of the woods. This was the first time. I was happy I had Mog with me. I was a bit scared， even though I didnt really think that the king of the pumpkins lived there.

不管怎樣，我要告訴你我這次去找南瓜王的經(jīng)歷。我和貓莫格一起到樹(shù)林里去找南瓜王。雖然我們一輩子都住在森林附近的那所房子里，但我從來(lái)沒(méi)有到過(guò)森林里面，這是第一次。我很高興有莫格和我在一起。我有點(diǎn)害怕，盡管我并不真的認(rèn)為南瓜王住在那里。

“Watch out for the wolves13！” said Mog.

“小心狼。”莫格說(shuō)。

“Yes...and the grandmothers too！” I joked.

“好的……還有祖母?jìng)儯　蔽议_(kāi)玩笑說(shuō)。

“Lets not leave the path！” said Mog.

“我們不要離開(kāi)這條路！”莫格說(shuō)。

When people said my mother was a witch， I told them that witches dont have children. “Yeah，” they answered， “thats true. But you look more like an elf than a regular kid.” I looked in the mirror to see if I looked like an elf or not. I think I looked like a regular kid， but you never can tell really.

當(dāng)人們說(shuō)我母親是女巫時(shí)，我告訴他們女巫沒(méi)有孩子。“是的。”他們回答說(shuō)，“那倒是真的。但你看起來(lái)更像一個(gè)小精靈，而不是一個(gè)普通的孩子?！蔽艺樟苏甄R子，想看看自己是不是像一個(gè)小精靈。我覺(jué)得我看起來(lái)像個(gè)普通的孩子，但你永遠(yuǎn)也無(wú)法徹底斷定。

“Do you think hes real？” I asked Mog.

“你認(rèn)為它是真的嗎？”我問(wèn)莫格。

“Who， the wolf？ He certainly is，” answered Mog.

“誰(shuí)？狼？它當(dāng)然是真的。”莫格答道。

“No， not the wolf. I know the wolf is real，” I said to Mog.

“不，不是狼。我知道狼是真的?！蔽覍?duì)莫格說(shuō)。

Sometimes I could hear the wolf howling14 at night. I knew he was real.

有時(shí)我能聽(tīng)到狼在夜里嚎叫，我知道它是真的。

“No， not the wolf. The king of the pumpkins. Do you think hes real？”

“不，不是狼，是南瓜之王。你覺(jué)得它是真的嗎？”

“Dont know，” said the cat. “Guess well just have to find out.”

“不知道。”貓說(shuō)，“我想我們得弄清楚?！?/p>

We walked on into the forest. The trees got taller and taller and taller. The path got narrower15 and narrower and narrower.

我們走進(jìn)了森林，樹(shù)越來(lái)越高了，路越來(lái)越窄了。

“What does he do， then， this king of the pumpkins？” asked Mog.

“那這位南瓜王是做什么的呢？”莫格問(wèn)道。

“I dont know really，” I said. “I guess he just kind of is head pumpkin， boss pumpkin. He decides on pumpkin rules and pumpkin laws， and punishes16 people who break them.”

“我真的不知道?！蔽艺f(shuō)，“我想它就是南瓜的頭，南瓜首領(lǐng)。它制定南瓜規(guī)則和南瓜法，并懲罰違反這些規(guī)則的南瓜?！?/p>

“Oh， I see，” said Mog. He was quiet for a bit， then said， “What kind of things are pumpkin rules17 then？”

“哦，我明白了?！蹦裾f(shuō)。他沉默了一會(huì)兒，然后說(shuō)：“那南瓜的規(guī)矩是什么？”

“Erm， how big you can grow. What colour you have to be. Stuff like that.”

“呃，你能長(zhǎng)多大，你必須是什么顏色，諸如此類的事情?！?/p>

“Youre making this up， arent you？” asked Mog.

“你在瞎編，是吧？”莫格問(wèn)道。

“Yeah，” I said.

“是的?！蔽艺f(shuō)。

At last， we got to the middle of the forest. At least， I think it was the middle of the forest， but its difficult to say exactly. There was a clearing， a big space where there were no trees. In the middle of the clearing was the king of the pumpkins. I think it was the king of the pumpkins. It looked like a man at first. He was quite tall and had legs and arms made from sticks. He was wearing an old black coat. His head was a pumpkin. His head was the biggest pumpkin I had ever seen. Me and Mog went up close to him. He didnt say anything.

終于，我們來(lái)到了森林的中央。至少我認(rèn)為那是森林的中央，但很難說(shuō)清楚是不是。這是一片空地，一個(gè)沒(méi)有樹(shù)的大空地，在空地中間的那個(gè)是南瓜王。我認(rèn)為是南瓜王。一開(kāi)始它看起來(lái)像個(gè)人，它很高，腿和胳膊都是用棍子做的，穿著一件舊的黑色外套，頭是個(gè)南瓜。它的頭是我見(jiàn)過(guò)的最大的南瓜。我和莫格走近它，它什么也沒(méi)說(shuō)。

“Is that it？” asked Mog.

“是它嗎？”莫格問(wèn)道。

“I guess so，” I said.

“我想是的?！蔽艺f(shuō)。

“Disappointing18，” said Mog.

“真令人失望。”莫格說(shuō)。

“Do you think hes the real king of the pumpkins？” I asked Mog.

“你覺(jué)得它是真正的南瓜王嗎？”我問(wèn)莫格。

“Who knows？” answered the cat.

“誰(shuí)知道呢？”貓回答說(shuō)。

As we walked back along the path out of the forest， I started to think about what was real and what was not. Could things that were made up also be true？ What was the difference between “story” and “history”？ One is real and the other isnt—is that it？

當(dāng)我們沿著走出森林的小路往回走時(shí)，我開(kāi)始思考什么是真的，什么不是。編出來(lái)的東西也可能是真的嗎？“故事”和“歷史”有什么區(qū)別？一個(gè)是真的，另一個(gè)不是——是嗎？

“What about all those other things that Mother talks about？ Do you think theyre real？” I asked Mog.

“媽媽說(shuō)的其他事情呢？你認(rèn)為它們是真的嗎？”我問(wèn)莫格。

“Hmm...Im not sure，” said Mog. “Those stories she tells sometimes...about why the night is black and the day is blue， about golden eggs and girls with golden hair， about why people have ten fingers， ten toes， two feet， two hands and two eyes...sometimes I think shes crazy， and sometimes I think she might be right...”

“嗯……我不確定。”莫格說(shuō)，“她有時(shí)講的那些故事……關(guān)于為什么夜晚是黑色的，白天是藍(lán)色的，關(guān)于金色的雞蛋和金色頭發(fā)的女孩，關(guān)于為什么人們有十個(gè)手指、十個(gè)腳趾、兩只腳、兩只手和兩只眼睛……有時(shí)候我覺(jué)得她瘋了，有時(shí)候我覺(jué)得她可能是對(duì)的……”

I knew what Mog meant. I felt the same way. “Maybe the stories arent true，” I said， “but what they mean is.”

我知道莫格的意思，我也有同樣的感覺(jué)?！耙苍S這些故事不是真的，”我說(shuō)，“但它們的內(nèi)涵是真的。”

（英語(yǔ)原文選自：learnenglish.britishcouncil.org）

【Notes】

1. field ?n. 領(lǐng)域;牧場(chǎng);曠野;草地; 田地

2. point ?vt. 指向;vi. 表明;指向

3. worth ?adj. 值……的

4. win ?vi. 贏;獲勝;成功

5. stupid ?adj. 愚蠢的;麻木的;乏味的

6. curious ?adj. 好奇的，有求知欲的;古怪的

7. nonsense ?n. 胡說(shuō);廢話

8. unicorn ?n. 獨(dú)角獸;麒麟

9. gnome ?n. 小矮人;土地神;格言

10. trunk ?n. 樹(shù)干;軀干;象鼻

11. witch ?n. 巫婆，女巫

12. regular ?adj. 定期的;有規(guī)律的;合格的;整齊的;普通的

13. wolf ?n. 狼

14. howl ?v. （狗、狼等）嚎叫

15. narrow ?adj. 狹窄的，有限的

16. punish ?vt. 懲罰

17. rule ?v. 統(tǒng)治，管理;支配;規(guī)定

18. disappointing ?adj. 令人失望的;令人掃興的