Bruin and Reynard

The Bear and the Fox had once bought a firkin of butter together; they were to have it at Yule and hid it till then under a thick spruce bush.

熊和狐狸曾经合伙买了一小桶黄油，打算留到圣诞节的时候吃，于是把它藏在一丛茂密的云杉灌木下面。

After that they went a little way off and lay down on a sunny bank to sleep. So when they had lain a while the Fox got up, shook himself, and bawled out “yes”.

之后，他们走到不远的地方，躺在一处向阳的斜坡上睡觉。躺了一会儿之后，狐狸站了起来，抖了抖身子，大喊一声“来了”。

Then he ran off straight to the firkin and ate a good third part of it. But when he came back, and the Bear asked him where he had been, since he was so fat about the paunch, he said:

然后他径直跑向那桶黄油，吃掉了足足三分之一。可是当他回来时，熊问他去了哪里，为什么肚子鼓得这么大，他说：

“Don’t you believe then that I was bidden to barsel, to a christening feast.”

“难道你不信吗，我是被请去参加洗礼宴了。”

“So, so”, said the Bear, “and pray what was the bairn’s name.”

“哦，是吗，”熊说，“那么请问孩子叫什么名字？”

“Just-begun”, said the Fox.

“刚开始”，狐狸说。

So they lay down to sleep again. In a little while up jumped the Fox again, bawled out “yes”, and ran off to the firkin.

于是他们又躺下睡觉。过了一会儿，狐狸又跳了起来，大喊一声“来了”，跑去找那桶黄油。

This time too he ate a good lump. When he came back, and the Bear asked him again where he had been, he said:

这一次他又吃掉了一大块。回来后，熊又问他去了哪里，他说：

“Oh, wasn’t I bidden to barsel again, don’t you think.”

“哦，我这不是又被请去参加洗礼宴了嘛，你说是不是。”

“And pray what was the bairn’s name this time”, asked the Bear.

“那这次孩子又叫什么名字？”熊问道。

“Half-eaten”, said the Fox.

“吃了一半”，狐狸说。

The Bear thought that a very queer name, but he hadn’t wondered long over it before he began to yawn and gape and fell asleep. Well, he hadn’t lain long before the Fox jumped up as he had done twice before, bawled out “yes” and ran off to the firkin, which this time he cleared right out. When he got back he had been bidden to barsel again, and when the Bear wanted to know the bairn’s name, he answered:

熊觉得这名字十分古怪，但他没有多想，就打起哈欠、张大嘴巴，睡着了。他没躺多久，狐狸又像前两次那样跳了起来，大喊一声“来了”，跑去找那桶黄油，这一次他把它彻底吃光了。他回来后说自己又被请去参加洗礼宴了，熊想知道孩子的名字，他回答道：

“Licked-to-the-bottom.”

“舔到底”。

After that they lay down again, and slept a long time; but then they were to go to the firkin to look at the butter, and when they found it eaten up, the Bear threw the blame on the Fox, and the Fox on the Bear; and each said the one had been at the firkin while the other slept.

之后他们又躺下，睡了很长时间；可是后来他们该去看看那桶黄油了，发现黄油已经被吃光了，熊把责任推给狐狸，狐狸又把责任推给熊；两人都说是对方趁自己睡着的时候偷吃的。

“Well, well”, said Reynard, “we’ll soon find this out, which of us has eaten the butter. We’ll just lay down in the sunshine, and he whose cheeks and chaps are greasiest when we wake, he is the thief.”

“好了，好了，”狐狸说，“我们很快就能查出来，是我们俩当中谁吃了黄油。我们就躺在阳光下，谁醒来的时候脸颊和嘴巴上油光最重，谁就是贼。”

Yes, that trial Bruin was ready to stand; and as he knew in his heart he had never so much as tasted the butter, he lay down without a care to sleep in the sun.

好吧，这个考验熊愿意接受；他心里清楚自己从未尝过那黄油一口，于是毫无顾虑地躺下，在阳光下睡去。

Then Reynard stole off to the firkin for a morsel of butter, which stuck there in a crack, and then he crept back to the Bear, and greased his chaps and cheeks with it; and then he, too, lay down to sleep as if nothing had happened.

于是狐狸偷偷溜到那桶黄油那里，取了一点粘在裂缝里的黄油，然后爬回熊身边，把它涂在自己的嘴巴和脸颊上；接着他也躺下睡觉，仿佛什么事都没发生过一样。

So when they both woke, the sun had melted the butter, and the Bear’s whiskers were all greasy; and so it was Bruin after all, and no one else, who had eaten the butter.

于是等他们俩都醒来时，太阳已经把黄油晒化了，熊的胡须上全是油光；就这样，原来吃掉黄油的不是别人，正是熊自己。