How the Whale Got His Throat

In the sea, once upon a time, O my Best Beloved, there was a Whale, and he ate fishes. He ate the starfish and the garfish, and the crab and the dab, and the plaice and the dace, and the skate and his mate, and the mackereel and the pickereel, and the really truly twirly-whirly eel. All the fishes he could find in all the sea he ate with his mouth—so!

从前，我的乖乖，在大海里住着一头鲸鱼，他专吃各种鱼。他吃海星和雀鳝，吃螃蟹和鲽鱼，吃比目鱼和白斑狗鱼，吃鳐鱼和它的伴侣，吃鲭鱼和梭鱼，还吃那真正、真正弯弯曲曲、滑溜溜的鳗鱼。整片大海里凡是能找到的鱼，他都一张嘴——嗖地一口吞了下去！

Till at last there was only one small fish left in all the sea, and he was a small ‘Stute Fish, and he swam a little behind the Whale’s right ear, so as to be out of harm’s way. Then the Whale stood up on his tail and said, ‘I’m hungry.’ And the small ‘Stute Fish said in a small ‘stute voice, ‘Noble and generous Cetacean, have you ever tasted Man?’

就这样吃啊吃，直到最后，整片大海里只剩下一条小鱼了，那是一条机灵的小鱼，他总是游在鲸鱼的右耳朵后边一点点，好躲开危险。这时鲸鱼竖起尾巴站了起来，说道：“我饿了。”那条机灵的小鱼便用一种机灵的小嗓门说道：“高贵又慷慨的鲸大人，您可曾尝过‘人’的滋味？”

‘No,’ said the Whale. ‘What is it like?’

“没有，”鲸鱼说道。“那是什么样的滋味？”

‘Nice,’ said the small ‘Stute Fish. ‘Nice but nubbly.’

“挺好吃的，”机灵的小鱼说道。“挺好吃，就是有点疙疙瘩瘩的。”

‘Then fetch me some,’ said the Whale, and he made the sea froth up with his tail.

“那就给我弄一个来，”鲸鱼说道，说着便用尾巴把海水搅得白浪翻滚。

‘One at a time is enough,’ said the ‘Stute Fish. ‘If you swim to latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West (that is magic), you will find, sitting on a raft, in the middle of the sea, with nothing on but a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders (you must not forget the suspenders, Best Beloved), and a jack-knife, one ship-wrecked Mariner, who, it is only fair to tell you, is a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity.’

“一次吃一个就够了，”机灵的小鱼说道。“您要是游到北纬五十度、西经四十度（这可是有魔法的地方），就会看见大海正中央有一只木筏，上面坐着一位遇难的水手，他身上只穿着一条蓝帆布短裤，系着一副背带（我的乖乖，这副背带您可千万别忘了），还带着一把折刀，说句公道话，我得先告诉您，他可是位足智多谋、见多识广的人物。”

So the Whale swam and swam to latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West, as fast as he could swim, and on a raft, in the middle of the sea, with nothing to wear except a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders (you must particularly remember the suspenders, Best Beloved), and a jack-knife, he found one single, solitary shipwrecked Mariner, trailing his toes in the water. (He had his mummy’s leave to paddle, or else he would never have done it, because he was a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity.)

于是鲸鱼便拼命游啊游，一路游到北纬五十度、西经四十度，果然在大海正中央的一只木筏上，看见一个孤零零的遇难水手，身上除了一条蓝帆布短裤、一副背带（我的乖乖，这副背带您可一定要记牢了）和一把折刀，什么也没穿，他正把脚趾伸进水里晃悠着呢。（他这是得了他妈妈的许可才敢这样划水玩的，不然他才不会这么做呢，因为他本是个足智多谋、见多识广的人物。）

Then the Whale opened his mouth back and back and back till it nearly touched his tail, and he swallowed the shipwrecked Mariner, and the raft he was sitting on, and his blue canvas breeches, and the suspenders (which you must not forget), and the jack-knife—He swallowed them all down into his warm, dark, inside cup-boards, and then he smacked his lips—so, and turned round three times on his tail.

于是鲸鱼把嘴巴张开，张得越来越大，一直张到快要碰到自己的尾巴，然后把那遇难水手、他坐的木筏、他那条蓝帆布短裤、那副背带（这个可千万别忘了），还有那把折刀，统统一口吞了下去——全都吞进了他那温暖、漆黑的肚子里的一个个小柜子似的地方，然后砸吧砸吧嘴——就这样，还用尾巴打了三个转。

But as soon as the Mariner, who was a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity, found himself truly inside the Whale’s warm, dark, inside cup-boards, he stumped and he jumped and he thumped and he bumped, and he pranced and he danced, and he banged and he clanged, and he hit and he bit, and he leaped and he creeped, and he prowled and he howled, and he hopped and he dropped, and he cried and he sighed, and he crawled and he bawled, and he stepped and he lepped, and he danced hornpipes where he shouldn’t, and the Whale felt most unhappy indeed. (Have you forgotten the suspenders?)

可是那位水手，本就是个足智多谋、见多识广的人物，一发现自己真的到了鲸鱼肚子里那温暖漆黑的一个个小柜子里，便又跺又跳，又捶又撞，又蹦又跳舞，又敲又打，又打又咬，又蹿又爬，又转悠又嚎叫，又蹦跶又摔倒，又哭又叹气，又爬又喊叫，又踏步又蹦跳，还在不该跳的地方跳起了水手舞，闹得鲸鱼实在难受极了。（您可别忘了那副背带哦！）

So he said to the ‘Stute Fish, ‘This man is very nubbly, and besides he is making me hiccough. What shall I do?’

于是他对那条机灵的小鱼说道：“这个人可真是疙疙瘩瘩的，而且还害我打起了嗝。这可怎么办呢？”

‘Tell him to come out,’ said the ‘Stute Fish.

“叫他自己出来吧，”机灵的小鱼说道。

So the Whale called down his own throat to the shipwrecked Mariner, ‘Come out and behave yourself. I’ve got the hiccoughs.’

于是鲸鱼便对着自己的喉咙深处，朝那遇难水手喊道：“出来吧，规矩点。我都打嗝打个不停了。”

‘Nay, nay!’ said the Mariner. ‘Not so, but far otherwise. Take me to my natal-shore and the white-cliffs-of-Albion, and I’ll think about it.’ And he began to dance more than ever.

“不行，不行！”水手说道。“这可不成，正相反才对。把我送回我的故乡海岸、送到那阿尔比恩的白色悬崖去，我再考虑这事。”说着他跳得更起劲了。

‘You had better take him home,’ said the ‘Stute Fish to the Whale. ‘I ought to have warned you that he is a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity.’

“您还是把他送回家去吧，”机灵的小鱼对鲸鱼说道。“我本该早点提醒您，他可是个足智多谋、见多识广的人物。”

So the Whale swam and swam and swam, with both flippers and his tail, as hard as he could for the hiccoughs; and at last he saw the Mariner’s natal-shore and the white-cliffs-of-Albion, and he rushed half-way up the beach, and opened his mouth wide and wide and wide, and said, ‘Change here for Winchester, Ashuelot, Nashua, Keene, and stations on the Fitchburg Road;’ and just as he said ‘Fitch’ the Mariner walked out of his mouth.

于是鲸鱼便用两片鳍和尾巴拼命地游啊游啊游，尽管打着嗝也拼尽全力；终于，他望见了水手的故乡海岸和那阿尔比恩的白色悬崖，便冲上半个沙滩，把嘴巴张得大大的、大大的、再大大的，说道：“到这儿换车去温彻斯特、阿舒洛特、纳舒厄、基恩，还有菲奇堡铁路沿线各站；”正说到“菲奇”这个词的当口，水手便从他嘴里走了出来。

But while the Whale had been swimming, the Mariner, who was indeed a person of infinite-resource-and-sagacity, had taken his jack-knife and cut up the raft into a little square grating all running criss-cross, and he had tied it firm with his suspenders (now, you know why you were not to forget the suspenders!), and he dragged that grating good and tight into the Whale’s throat, and there it stuck! Then he recited the following Sloka, which, as you have not heard it, I will now proceed to relate—

不过在鲸鱼游泳的这段时间里，那位确实足智多谋、见多识广的水手，早已用他的折刀把木筏割成了一个纵横交错的小方格栅，又用他的背带把它牢牢系紧（瞧，这就是为什么您千万不能忘了那副背带！），然后把这栅栏结结实实地拖进了鲸鱼的喉咙里，正正卡在那儿！随后他念诵了下面这首偈子，既然您还没听过，我这就说给您听——

By means of a grating I have stopped your ating.

一副小小栅栏， 堵住你的血盆大口。

For the Mariner he was also an Hi-ber-ni-an. And he stepped out on the shingle, and went home to his mother, who had given him leave to trail his toes in the water; and he married and lived happily ever afterward. So did the Whale. But from that day on, the grating in his throat, which he could neither cough up nor swallow down, prevented him eating anything except very, very small fish; and that is the reason why whales nowadays never eat men or boys or little girls.

原来这位水手还是个爱尔兰人呢。他踩着卵石滩走了出来，回家去见他妈妈，正是妈妈许了他去水里晃脚趾的；后来他娶了妻，从此幸福地生活下去。鲸鱼也是如此。可是从那天起，他喉咙里那副栅栏，既咳不出来，也咽不下去，害得他再也吃不了别的东西，只能吃些极小极小的鱼；这就是为什么如今的鲸鱼再也不吃男人、男孩或小女孩的缘故了。

The small ‘Stute Fish went and hid himself in the mud under the Door-sills of the Equator. He was afraid that the Whale might be angry with him.

那条机灵的小鱼跑去躲进了赤道门槛下的泥巴里，他生怕鲸鱼会因此生他的气。

The Sailor took the jack-knife home. He was wearing the blue canvas breeches when he walked out on the shingle. The suspenders were left behind, you see, to tie the grating with; and that is the end of that tale.

那位水手把折刀带回了家。他踩着卵石滩走出来时，身上还穿着那条蓝帆布短裤。至于那副背带呢，您瞧，就留下来系那栅栏用了；这个故事到这儿也就讲完了。

When the cabin port-holes are dark and green Because of the seas outside; When the ship goes wop (with a wiggle between) And the steward falls into the soup-tureen, And the trunks begin to slide; When Nursey lies on the floor in a heap, And Mummy tells you to let her sleep, And you aren’t waked or washed or dressed, Why, then you will know (if you haven’t guessed) You’re ‘Fifty North and Forty West!’

每当船舱的舷窗又暗又绿， 只因外头海浪滔滔； 每当大船摇摇晃晃地颠簸前行， 管事的一头栽进汤盆里， 箱子也开始四处滑跑； 每当保姆瘫倒在地板上， 妈妈叫你别吵她，让她睡个安稳觉， 没人来叫你起床、给你梳洗、给你穿衣裳， 哎呀，那时你便该明白了（要是你还没猜到的话） 你这是到了“北纬五十度、西经四十度”啦！