牛津書蟲系列 格列佛游記 3 Lilliput at war

3 Lilliput at war

3 利力浦特的戰(zhàn)爭

The island of Blefuscu is only about a kilometre to the north of Lilliput.I knew that just beyond the narrow sea separating the two countries there were at least fifty war-ships ready to attack us，with many other smaller ships.But I kept away from that side of the coast，so that the people of Blefuscu would not see me.I had a secret plan.

不來夫斯古島離利力浦特北部只有大約1公里。我知道把兩國分開的狹仄海水那邊至少有50只戰(zhàn)船準(zhǔn)備襲擊我們，此外還有許多小船。可是我不在那側(cè)海岸出現(xiàn)，我有一個秘密計劃。

From the King's workmen I ordered fifty heavy metal hooks，each fastened to a piece of strong rope.I took off my coat and shoes， and walked into the sea with the hooks and ropes in my hands.The water was deep in the middle，so I had to swim for a few metres. But it only took me half an hour to get to Blefuscu.

我向國王的工匠定做了50個很重的金屬鉤，每個都固定在一條結(jié)實的繩上。我脫下外衣和鞋，手中拿著鉤和繩走下海水。海峽中間水比較深，所以我不得不游了幾米，不過我只用了半個小時就到了不來夫斯古。

When the Blefuscans saw me，they were so frightened that they jumped out of their ships and swam to the beach.I then used one hook for each ship，and tied all the ropes together at one end.While I was doing this， the enemy shot thousands of arrows at me，which caused me a lot of pain.I was afraid of getting an arrow in my eyes，but I suddenly remembered I still had an old pair of reading glasses in my pocket，so I put them on and continued my work.When I was ready，I started walking into the shallow water away from Blefuscu.As I walked through the waves，I pulled the enemy's warships be-hind me.When the people of Blefuscu realized that all their warships were disappearing，their cries were terrible to hear.

當(dāng)不來夫斯古人看見我，他們嚇得從船上跳下去游向岸邊。我每只船用一個鉤子，把所有的繩在一端系在一起。當(dāng)我這樣干著時，敵人向我射出了好幾千只箭，弄得我很痛。我怕箭射中我的眼睛，不過我猛然記起我衣袋里還有副舊的眼鏡，就取出來戴上繼續(xù)干。我作好后，就開始離開不來夫斯古走進(jìn)淺水。我在波浪中走著，身后拖著敵人的戰(zhàn)船。當(dāng)不來夫斯古人看出來他們所有的戰(zhàn)船離他們而去時，他們的哭叫聲聽來真是可怕。

As I came nearer to Lilliput，I saw the King and all his lords and ladies standing on the beach.They could only see Blefuscu's warships coming closer，as I was swimming and my head was occasionally under the water.Therefore，they sup-posed that I had drowned，and that the Blefuscan ships were attacking.But when they saw me walking out of the sea， they welcomed me warmly with cries of astonishment and delight.The King himself came down to the water to meet me.

當(dāng)我走近利力浦特，看見國王和他所有的王公及貴婦們站在海邊。他們只是看見不來夫斯古的戰(zhàn)船越來越近，因為我正在游泳，頭不時藏在水下，所以他們以為我已經(jīng)淹死了，而不來夫斯古的戰(zhàn)船正來襲擊。當(dāng)他們看見我從水中走出來時，他們熱情地歡迎我，充滿了驚訝和喜悅。國王本人則下到水里來接我。

‘Everyone in Lilliput is grateful to you!’he cried.‘For your bravery，you will be one of my lords from now on.’

“每個利力浦特人都感激你!”他說，“鑒于你的英勇，從現(xiàn)在起你將作我的一個王公。”

‘Thank you，sir，’I replied.

“謝謝您，先生。”我回答。

‘And now，’he continued，‘go back and steal all the ene-my's ships，so that we can defeat Blefuscu for ever! We'll de-stroy the Big-Endians，and I'll become King of the whole world!’

“現(xiàn)在，”他接著說，“回去把敵人的所有戰(zhàn)船都偷過來，以便我們能徹底打敗不來夫斯古!我將消滅大端派人，我將成為整個世界之王。”

But I would not agree to this plan.

可是我不能同意他的計劃。

‘Sir，’I replied，‘I will never help to take a brave nation's freedom away.Lilliput and Blefuscu should live in peace now.

“先生，”我回答，“我永遠(yuǎn)也不會幫助剝奪一個勇敢民族的自由。利力浦特和不來夫斯古現(xiàn)在應(yīng)該和平相處。”

The King could not persuade me，and unfortunately he nev-er forgot that I had refused to do what he wanted.Although I had saved his country from attack by Blefuscan warships， he preferred to remember my refusal.

國王無法說服我，不幸的是，他從不忘記我曾經(jīng)拒絕做他想做的事，盡管我使他的國家免遭不來夫斯古戰(zhàn)船的攻擊，他更愿意記住我對他的拒絕。

From this time on，I heard from my friends that there were secret conversations in the palace between the King and some of his lords，who were jealous of me.These conversations nearly led to my death in the end.

從這時起，我從幾個朋友那兒得知國王和幾個嫉妒我的王公在宮里秘密商議。這些密談后來幾乎要了我的命。

About three weeks later，the King of Blefuscu sent his offi-cials to ask for peace between the two countries.After the Ble-fuscans had arranged everything with the Lilliputian officials，they came to visit me.They had heard how I had prevented the King from destroying all their ships.After thanking me，they invited me to visit their country.

大約3周后，不來夫斯古國王派官員來求和。不來夫斯古人與利力浦特官員安排好一切事之后，他們來拜訪我。他們已經(jīng)聽說了我如何阻止國王摧毀他們所有的船只。道謝后，他們邀請我去訪問他們的國家。

However，when I asked the King of Lilliput if I could visit Blefuscu， he agreed，but very coldly.I learnt later that he and some of his lords considered I was wrong to have a conversa-tion with enemies of Lilliput.Now I was beginning to under-stand how difficult and dangerous political life can be.

可是，當(dāng)我問利力浦特國王我是否可以拜訪不來夫斯古時，他同意了，不過很冷淡。我后來得知他和幾個王公認(rèn)為我不該與利力浦特的敵人會談?，F(xiàn)在我開始明白政治生活是多么艱難而危險。

A few days later I had another chance to help the King. I was woken at midnight by the cries of hundreds of Lilliputians outside my house.

幾天后，我又有一次機(jī)會幫助國王。半夜里我被我房子外面幾百名利力浦特人的叫喊聲吵醒。

‘Fire!Fire!’they shouted.‘The Queen's rooms in the palace are burning!Come quickly，Man-Mountain!’

“救火!救火!”他們大叫。“宮里王后的屋子著火啦!快來呀，人山!”

So I pulled on my clothes and hurried to the palace. A large part of the building was in flames.People were climbing lad-ders up the walls，and throwing water on the flames， but the fire was burning more strongly every minute.At least the Queen and her ladies had escaped，but there seemed to be no way of saving this beautiful palace.Suddenly I had an idea.The evening before，I had drunk a lot of good wine，and very luckily I had not made water since then.In three minutes I managed to put out the whole fire， and the lovely old building was safe.

所以我披上衣服就趕往王宮。王宮的很大一部分騰著火焰。人們爬上豎在墻上的梯子向火焰潑水，但是火勢仍然有增無減。幸好王后和她的貴婦們已經(jīng)脫險了，但是似乎沒有辦法挽救這座美麗的宮殿。我忽然有了主意。那夜前，我喝了不少酒，而且這之后我幸好還沒有撒尿。只用3分鐘我就把火整個兒撲滅了，美麗的古老建筑得救了。

I went home without waiting for the King's thanks，because I was not sure what he would say.Although I had certainly saved the palace，I knew it was a crime，punishable by death，to make water anywhere near the palace.I heard later that the Queen was so angry that she refused to enter any of the dam-aged rooms ever again，and promised to take her revenge on me.

我沒有等國王致謝就回家了，因為我不敢肯定國王會怎么說。雖然我肯定是救了宮殿，我也知道在宮殿附近撒尿是犯罪，罪可處死。我后來聽說王后極為生氣，拒絕再進(jìn)入受損的房屋一步，而且揚(yáng)言要報復(fù)我。