丑小鸭（2）

大家都要赶走这只可怜的小鸭；连他自己的兄弟姊妹也对他生起气来。

Everyone wanted to chase away the poor little duck; even his own brothers and sisters became angry with him.

他们老是说：“你这个丑妖怪，希望猫儿把你抓去才好！”

They always said, "You ugly monster, I hope the cat catches you!"

于是妈妈也说起来：“我希望你走远些！”

Then the mother joined in, “I wish you would just go far away!”

鸭儿们啄他，小鸡打他，喂鸡鸭的那个女佣人用脚来踢他。

The ducklings pecked at him, the chicks pecked him too, and the maid who fed the chickens and ducks kicked him with her feet.

于是他飞过篱笆逃走了；灌木林里的小鸟一见到他，就惊慌地向空中飞去。

So he flew over the fence and escaped; as soon as the little birds in the bushes saw him, they frantically flew up into the sky.

“这是因为我太丑了！”小鸭想。于是他闭起眼睛，继续往前跑。

"This must be because I’m too ugly!" thought the little duck. So, he closed his eyes and continued to run forward.

他一口气跑到一块住着野鸭的沼泽地里。

He ran all the way to a marsh where some wild ducks lived.

他在这儿躺了一整夜，因为他太累了，太丧气了。

He lay there all night because he was too tired and too dejected.

天亮的时候，野鸭都飞回来了。他们瞧了瞧这位新来的朋友。

When dawn broke, the wild ducks returned and looked at their new friend.

“你是谁呀？”他们问。

“Who are you?” they asked.

小鸭一下转向这边，一下转向那边，尽量对大家恭恭敬敬地行礼。

The little duck turned this way and that, trying to bow respectfully to everyone.

“你真是丑得厉害，”野鸭们说，“不过只要你不跟我们族里任何鸭子结婚，对我们倒也没有什么大的关系。”

“You’re really quite ugly,” the wild ducks said, “but as long as you don’t marry any of our duck relatives, it doesn’t really matter to us.”

可怜的小东西！他根本没有想到什么结婚；他只希望人家准许他躺在芦苇里，喝点沼泽的水就够了。

Poor little thing! He hadn’t even thought about marriage; he just hoped they would let him lie among the reeds and drink some marsh water.

他在那儿躺了两个整天。后来有两只雁——严格地讲，应该说是两只公雁，因为他们是两个雄的——飞来了。

He lay there for two whole days. Then, two geese arrived—strictly speaking, they should be referred to as two gander geese because they were both males.

他们从娘的蛋壳里爬出来还没有多久，因此非常顽皮。

They had just hatched from their eggs not long ago, so they were very mischievous.

“听着，朋友，”他们说，“你丑得可爱，连我们都禁不住要喜欢你了。你做一个候鸟，跟我们一块儿飞走好吗？另外有一块沼泽地离这儿很近，那里有好几只活泼可爱的雁儿。她们都是小姐，都会说：‘嘎！’你是那么丑，可以在她们那儿碰碰你的运气！”

“Listen, friend,” they said, “you’re so ugly that you’re rather endearing, even we can’t help but like you. Why don’t you be a migratory bird and fly away with us? There’s another marsh nearby where there are several lively and lovely geese. They are all maidens and they say 'Honk!' You’re so ugly that you might just find your fortune among them!”

“噼！啪！”天空中发出一阵响声。

“Bang! Bang!” A sound echoed through the sky.

这两只公雁落到芦苇里，死了，把水染得鲜红。

The two gander geese landed in the reeds, and then they died, turning the water crimson.

“噼！啪！”又是一阵响声。整群的雁儿都从芦苇里飞起来，于是又是一阵枪声响起来了。

“Bang! Bang!” Another round of sounds followed. The entire flock of geese took off from the reeds, and then came another barrage of gunfire.

原来有人在大规模地打猎。

It turned out someone was hunting on a large scale.

猎人都埋伏在这沼泽地的周围，有几个人甚至坐在伸到芦苇上空的树枝上。

Hunters had ambushed the marsh, and a few men were even perched on branches that stretched over the reeds.

蓝色的烟雾像云块似地笼罩着这些黑树，慢慢地在水面上向远方飘去。

Blue smoke hung in the air like clouds, slowly drifting away over the water.

这时，猎狗都扑通扑通地在泥泞里跑过来，灯芯草和芦苇向两边倒去。

At that moment, hunting dogs came splashing through the mud, causing the sedge and reeds to bend aside.

这对于可怜的小鸭说来真是可怕的事情！他把头掉过来，藏在翅膀里。

This was truly a terrifying situation for the poor little duck! He tucked his head away and hid it under his wings.

正在这时候，一只骇人的大猎狗紧紧地站在小鸭的身边。

Just then, a fearsome large hunting dog stood right next to the little duck.

它的舌头从嘴里伸出很长，眼睛发出丑恶和可怕的光。它把鼻子顶到这小鸭的身上，露出了尖牙齿，可是——扑通！扑通！——它跑开了，没有把他抓走。

Its long tongue hung out of its mouth, and its eyes shone with a hideous and terrifying light. It nudged the little duck with its nose, revealing its sharp teeth, but—splash! Splash!—it ran away without catching him.

“啊，谢谢老天爷！”小鸭叹了一口气，“我丑得连猎狗也不要咬我了！”

“Ah, thank goodness!” sighed the little duck, “I’m so ugly that even the hunting dogs don’t want to bite me!”

他安静地躺下来。枪声还在芦苇里响着，枪弹一发接着一发地射出来。

He lay quietly down. The gunfire continued to echo in the reeds, with bullet after bullet being shot.

天快要暗的时候，四周才静下来。

When dusk approached, it finally quieted down around him.

可是这只可怜的小鸭还不敢站起来。

But this poor little duck still didn’t dare to stand up.

他等了好几个钟头，才敢向四周望一眼，于是他急忙跑出这块沼泽地，拼命地跑，向田野上跑，向牧场上跑。

He waited for several hours before he dared to take a look around, and hurriedly ran out of that marsh, trying his utmost to run, towards the fields, towards the pastures.

这时吹起一阵狂风，他跑起来非常困难。

A strong wind began to blow, making it very difficult for him to run.

到天黑的时候，他来到一个简陋的农家小屋。

By the time dark fell, he stumbled upon a shabby little farmhouse.

它是那么残破，甚至不知道应该向哪一边倒才好——因此它也就没有倒。

It was so dilapidated that it didn’t even know which way to fall—so it didn’t fall at all.

狂风在小鸭身边号叫得非常厉害，他只好面对着狂风坐下来。风越吹越凶。

The fierce wind howled around the little duck, and he had to sit down facing the wind. The wind grew stronger.

他看到那门上的铰链有一个已经松了，门也歪了，他可以从空隙钻进屋里去，他便钻进去了。

He noticed that one of the hinges on the door had become loose, and the door was crooked; he could slip through the gap, so he went inside.

屋子里有一个老太婆和她的猫儿，还有一只母鸡住在一起。

Inside the house lived an old woman, her cat, and a hen.

她把这只猫儿叫“小儿子”。他能把背拱得很高，发出咪咪的叫声；他的身上还能迸出火花，不过要他这样做，你就得倒摸他的毛。

She called the cat "Little Son." It could arch its back high and make a soft "meow" sound; it could even spark when it did so, but it would only do this if you stroked its fur the right way.

母鸡的腿又短又小，因此她叫“短腿鸡儿”。

The hen had very short legs, so she was called “Short Leg Hen.”

她生下的蛋很好，所以老太婆把她爱得像自己的亲生孩子一样。

She laid good eggs, so the old woman loved her as if she were her own child.

第二天早晨，人们马上注意到了这只来历不明的小鸭。

The next morning, people immediately noticed the little duck of unknown origins.

那只猫儿开始咪咪地叫，那只母鸡也咯咯地喊起来。

The cat started meowing, and the hen began clucking.

“这是怎么回事儿？”老太婆说，同时朝四周看。

“What’s going on here?” the old woman said, looking around.

不过她的眼睛有点花，所以她以为小鸭是一只肥鸭，走错了路，才跑到这儿来了。

However, her eyes were a bit blurred, so she thought the little duck was a fat duck that had lost its way and ended up here.

“这真是少有的运气！”她说，“现在我可以有鸭蛋了。我只希望他不是一只公鸭才好！我们得弄个清楚！”

“What good fortune this is!” she exclaimed, “Now I can have duck eggs. I just hope he’s not a male duck! We need to clear this up!”

这样，小鸭就在这里受了三个星期的考验，可是他什么蛋也没有生下来。

So, the little duck underwent three weeks of trials in this place, but he didn’t lay a single egg.

那只猫儿是这家的绅士，那只母鸡是这家的太太，所以他们一开口就说：“我们和这世界！”

The cat was the gentleman of the house, and the hen was the lady of the house, so they both opened their mouths and said, “We and this world!”

因为他们以为他们就是半个世界，而且还是最好的那一半呢。

Because they thought they were half of the world, and still the best half at that.

小鸭觉得自己可以有不同的看法，但是他的这种态度，母鸡却忍受不了。

The little duck felt he had a different view, but the hen couldn’t tolerate his attitude.

“你能够生蛋吗？”她问。

“Can you lay eggs?” she asked.

“不能！”

“No!”

“那么就请你不要发表意见。”

“Then please don’t express your opinions.”

于是雄猫说：“你能拱起背，发出咪咪的叫声和迸出火花吗？”

So the tomcat said, “Can you arch your back, meow, and spark?”

“不能！”

“No!”

“那么，当有理智的人在讲话的时候，你就没有发表意见的必要！”

“Then when rational beings are speaking, you don’t need to express your opinions!”

小鸭坐在一个墙角里，心情非常不好。

The little duck sat in a corner, feeling very miserable.

这时他想起了新鲜空气和阳光。

At that moment, he thought of fresh air and sunlight.

他觉得有一种奇怪的渴望：他想到水里去游泳。

He felt a strange yearning; he wanted to swim in the water.

最后他实在忍不住了，不得不把心事对母鸡说出来。

Finally, he couldn’t hold it in any longer and had to share his thoughts with the hen.

“你在起什么念头？”母鸡问。

“What kind of notion are you having?” the hen asked.

“你没有事情可干，所以你才有这些怪想头。你只要生几个蛋，或者咪咪地叫几声，那么你这些怪想头也就会没有了。”

“You have nothing to do, so you are having these strange ideas. If you just lay a few eggs or meow a little, then these strange thoughts will vanish.”

“不过，在水里游泳是多么痛快呀！”小鸭说。

“But swimming in the water is so delightful!” said the little duck.

“让水淹在你的头上，往水底一钻，那是多么痛快呀！”

“Oh, to be submerged and dive down to the bottom, how exhilarating that would be!”

“是的，那一定很痛快！”母鸡说，“你简直在发疯。你去问问猫儿吧——在我所认识的一切朋友当中，他是最聪明的——你去问问他喜欢不喜欢在水里游泳，或者钻进水里去。

“Yes, it must be splendid!” said the hen, “You’re simply going mad. Go ask the cat—he’s the smartest one I know among all my friends—go ask him if he likes to swim in the water or dive under the surface.

我先不讲我自己。你去问问你的主人——那个老太婆吧，世界上再也没有比她更聪明的人了！你以为她想去游泳，让水淹过她的头顶吗？”

I won’t even mention myself. Go ask your owner—the old woman—she’s the smartest person in the world! Do you think she would want to swim with the water over her head?”