[翻译大赛NO.3]THE THREE SILLIES 三个傻瓜

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THE THREE SILLIES 三个傻瓜

ONCE upon a time, when folk were not so wise as they are nowadays, there lived a farmer and his wife who had one daughter. And she, being a pretty lass, was courted by the young squire when he came home from his travels.
很久以前，在人们还不像现在这么聪明的时候，一个农夫和他的妻子有一个女儿。她是个漂亮的姑娘，一个年轻的治安官旅行回乡后常向她献殷勤。
Now every evening he would stroll over from the Hall to see her and stop to supper in the farmhouse, and every evening the daughter would go down into the cellar to draw the cider for supper.
每天傍晚他都从镇公所散着步来看她，然后留在农夫家里吃晚饭，而她会下到酒窖里去盛晚饭时喝的苹果酒。
So one evening when she had gone down to draw the cider and had turned the tap as usual, she happened to look up at the ceiling, and there she saw a big wooden mallet stuck in one of the beams.
有一天傍晚，她照例去酒窖盛酒，像往常一样打开龙头。这时候，她不经意间瞧向天花板，看到一根大木槌卡在一根横梁上。
It must have been there for ages and ages, for it was all covered with cobwebs; but somehow or another she had never noticed it before, and at once she began thinking how dangerous it was to have the mallet just there.
这根大木槌肯定已经在那儿很久很久了，因为在它上面布满了蜘蛛网，但不知怎么回事，她以前从没注意到过。她一下子就开始担心这根大木槌刚好卡在那儿有多危险。
"For," thought she, "supposing him and me was married, and supposing we was to have a son, and supposing he were to grow up to be a man, and supposing he were to come down to draw cider like as I'm doing, and supposing the mallet were to fall on his head and kill him, how dreadful it would be!"
“因为”，她想着，“如果我和他结婚了，如果之后我们有了个儿子，如果他顺利长大成人了，如果他像我一样下来盛酒，如果这根木槌掉在他头上把他砸死了……太可怕了！”
And with that she put down the candle she was carrying and seating herself on a cask began to cry. And she cried and cried and cried.
她这么想着，放下照明的蜡烛，坐在一个酒桶上就哭了起来，并且一直哭个不停。
Now, upstairs, they began to wonder why she was so long drawing the cider; so after a time her mother went down to the cellar to see what had come to her and found her, seated on the cask, crying ever so hard, and the cider running all over the floor.
楼上的人们很奇怪她怎么盛酒盛了这么久，于是过了一会儿，她妈妈下到酒窖去看看发生了什么事。她发现她的女儿坐在酒桶上，哭得起劲儿，苹果酒流了一地。
"Lawks a mercy me!" cried her mother, "whatever is the matter?"
“我仁慈的上帝呀！”她妈妈叫道：“到底怎么了？”
"Oh, mother!" says she between her sobs, "it's that horrid mallet. Supposing him and me was married and supposing we was to have a son, and supposing he was to grow up to be a man, and supposing he was to come down to draw cider like as I'm doing, and supposing the mallet were to fall on his head and kill him, how dreadful it would be!"
“妈妈呀”，她抽泣着，“是因为那根可怕的木槌。如果我和他结婚了，如果之后我们有了个儿子，如果他顺利长大成人了，如果他像我一样下来盛酒，如果这根木槌掉在他头上把他砸死了……太可怕了！”
"Dear heart!" said the mother, seating herself beside her daughter and beginning to cry: "How dreadful it would be!"
“我亲爱的乖乖！”妈妈说着，在她女儿旁边坐下来，也哭了：“太可怕了！”
So they both sat a-crying. Now after a time, when they did not come back, the farmer began to wonder what had happened, and going down to the cellar found them seated side by side on the cask, crying hard, and the cider running all over the floor.
于是她们坐着哭着。又过了一会儿，农夫看到她们还没上来，也下到酒窖去看看发生了什么事。他发现她们挨着坐在酒桶上，哭得起劲儿，苹果酒流了一地。
"Zounds!" says he, "whatever is the matter?"
“咄！”他叫道：“到底怎么了？”
"Just look at that horrid mallet up there, father," moaned the mother. "Supposing our daughter was to marry her sweetheart, and supposing they was to have a son, and supposing he was to grow to man's estate, and supposing he was to come down to draw cider like as we're doing, and supposing that there mallet was to fall on his head and kill him, how dreadful it would be!"
“孩子他爸呀，看那根可怕的木槌”，她呜咽着，“是因为那根可怕的木槌。如果我们的女儿和她的心上人结婚了，如果之后她们有了个儿子，如果他顺利长大成人了，如果他像我们一样下来盛酒，如果这根木槌掉在他头上把他砸死了……太可怕了！”
"Dreadful indeed!" said the father, and seating himself beside his wife and daughter started a-crying too.
“确实可怕极了！” 爸爸说着，在他的妻子和女儿旁边坐下来，一起哭了。
Now upstairs the young squire wanted his supper; so at last he lost patience and went down into the cellar to see for himself what they were all after. And there he found them seated side by side on the cask a-crying, with their feet all a-wash in cider, for the floor was fair flooded. So the first thing he did was to run straight and turn off the tap. Then he said:
楼上年轻的治安官想吃晚饭了，最后他没了耐心，下到酒窖亲自去看看发生了什么事。他发现她们挨着坐在酒桶上，哭得起劲儿，他们的脚全都浸在苹果酒里了。于是他做的第一件事就是直冲到龙头前关紧了它。然后他说：
"What are you three after, sitting there crying like babies, and letting good cider run over the floor?"
“你们三个怎么了？为什么坐在这儿哭得像婴儿一样，而让这么好的苹果酒流了一地？”
Then they all three began with one voice, "Look at that horrid mallet! Supposing you and me/she was married, and supposing we/you had a son, and supposing he was to grow to man's estate and supposing he was to come down here to draw cider like as we be, and supposing that there mallet was to fall down on his head and kill him, how dreadful it would be!"
他们三个齐声道：“看那个可怕的木槌！如果你和我（她）结婚了，如果之后我们（你们）有了个儿子，如果他顺利长大成人了，如果他像我们一样下来盛酒，如果这根木槌掉在他头上把他砸死了……太可怕了！”
Then the young squire burst out a-laughing, and laughed till he was tired. But at last he reached up to the old mallet and pulled it out, and put it safe on the floor. And he shook his head and said, "I've travelled far, and I've travelled fast, but never have I met with three such sillies as you three. Now I can't marry one of the three biggest sillies in the world. So I shall start again on my travels, and if I can find three bigger sillies than you three, then I'll come back and be married—not otherwise."
年轻的治安官大笑起来，一直笑到他累了为止。最后他够到了那个旧木槌，把它拔了出来，安全地放在地上。他摇着头说：“我走了很远，走得很快，但我从来没见过向你们这么傻的三个人。我不能和世界上三个最傻的人中的一个结婚。我要再次开始旅行，如果我能找到三个比你们三个更傻的人，我就回来结婚，要是找不到就算了。”
So he wished them goodby and started again on his travels, leaving them all crying; this time because the marriage was off!
之后他和他们说了再见，重新上路。农夫一家都哭了，这次是因为女儿嫁不出去了！
Well, the young man travelled far and he travelled fast, but never did he find a bigger silly, until one day he came upon an old woman's cottage that had some grass growing on the thatched roof.
这个年轻人走了很远，走得很快，但他一直没找到一个更傻的人，直到他路过一个老妇人的小屋，小屋顶上盖着茅草。
And the old woman was trying her best to cudgel her cow into going up a ladder to eat the grass. But the poor thing was afraid and durst not go. Then the old woman tried coaxing, but it wouldn't go. You never saw such a sight! The cow getting more and more flustered and obstinate, the old woman getting hotter and hotter.
那个老妇人正试图用棍子把牛赶上梯子去吃屋顶上的草。可怜的牛不敢上去。老妇人又哄它，它也不上去。你从没见过这样的情景！牛越来越慌乱和固执，老妇人越来越热，也越来越恼火。
At last the young squire said, "It would be easier if you went up the ladder, cut the grass, and threw it down for the cow to eat."
于是年轻的治安官说：“你可以自己爬上梯子，割草，然后把草扔下来给牛吃。”
"A likely story that," says the old woman. "A cow can cut grass for herself. And the foolish thing will be quite safe up there, for I'll tie a rope round her neck, pass the rope down the chimney, and fasten t'other end to my wrist, so as when I'm doing my bit o' washing, she can't fall off the roof without my knowing it. So mind your own business, young sir."
“好主意啊，哼哼！”老妇人说。“牛会自己吃草。那个蠢东西在这儿安全得很，我会在它脖子上系一条绳子，把绳从烟囱里放下去，把另一端系在我的手腕上，这样在我洗衣服的时候，要是它掉下去，我就知道了。管好你自己的事儿吧，年轻的先生。”
Well, after a while the old woman coaxed and codgered and bullied and badgered the cow up the ladder, and when she got it on to the roof she tied a rope round its neck, passed the rope down the chimney, and fastened t'other end to her wrist. Then she went about her bit of washing, and young squire he went on his way.
过了一会儿，在这个老女人的威逼利诱下，牛爬上了梯子。她在它脖子上系了一条绳子，把绳从烟囱里放下去，把另一端系在了自己的手腕上。然后她去洗衣服，治安官自己上路了。
But he hadn't gone but a bit when he heard the awfullest hullabaloo. He galloped back and found that the cow had fallen off the roof and got strangled by the rope round its neck, while the weight of the cow had pulled the old woman by her wrist up the chimney, where she had got stuck half-way and been smothered by the soot!
他还没走多远就听到了最糟糕的喧嚣音。他驱马赶回去，发现牛从屋顶掉下来，被绕在它脖子上的绳子勒死了，而牛的重量把这个老女人从手腕那儿吊起来进了烟囱，她卡在烟囱里被烟灰呛死了！
"That is one bigger silly," quoth the young squire as he journeyed on. "So now for two more!"
“这是一个更傻的人”，年轻的治安官说着，继续他的旅程，“现在还要找到两个！”
He did not find any, however, till late one night he arrived at a little inn. And the inn was so full that he had to share a room with another traveller. Now his room-fellow proved quite a pleasant fellow, and they foregathered, and each slept well in his bed.
他一直没找到，直到有一天他来到一家小旅馆。这个旅馆客人很多，所以他得和另一个旅游者一起共住一间房。这个陌生人人挺好，他们偶然碰见，在各自的床上睡了个好觉。
But next morning when they were dressing what does the stranger do but carefully hang his breeches on the knobs of the tallboy.
但第二天早上，在他们穿衣服的时候，这个陌生人小心地把短裤挂在高脚柜的两个把手上。

"What are you doing?" asks young squire.
“你在干嘛呢？”年轻的治安官问道。

"I'm putting on my breeches," says the stranger; and with that he goes to the other end of the room, takes a little run, and tried to jump into the breeches.
“我在穿短裤。”陌生人答道。他走到房间的另一端，助跑了一下，然后试图跳进短裤里。

But he didn't succeed, so he took another run and another try, and another and another and another, until he got quite hot and flustered, as the old woman had got over her cow that wouldn't go up the ladder. And all the time young squire was laughing fit to split, for never in his life did he see anything so comical.
但他没成功，所以他又重新助跑试了一次，然后试了一次又一次，直到他变得又热又慌乱，就像那个老女人对付她不愿上梯子的牛那时候一样。年轻的治安官从头到尾都在咧嘴大笑，因为他从没看过这么有趣的事情。
Then the stranger stopped a while and mopped his face with his handkerchief, for he was all in a sweat. "It's very well laughing," says he, "but breeches are the most awkwardest things to get into that ever were. It takes me the best part of an hour every morning before I get them on. How do you manage yours?"
陌生人歇了一会儿，用手帕抹了抹脸，他完全被汗水浸湿了。“这确实很好笑”，他说，“但短裤是最难穿进去的东西了。我每天早上要花一小时里最宝贵的时间来穿上它们。你是怎么弄的呢？”
Then young squire showed him, as well as he could for laughing, how to put on his breeches, and the stranger was ever so grateful and said he never should have thought of that way.
年轻的治安官尽力忍住笑，为他示范了如何穿短裤，陌生人无比感激，说他以前从没想到能这么干。
"So that," quoth young squire to himself, "is a second bigger silly." But he travelled far, and he travelled fast without finding the third, until one bright night when the moon was shining right overhead he came upon a village. And outside the village was a pond, and round about the pond was a great crowd of villagers. And some had got rakes, and some had got pitchforks, and some had got brooms. And they were as busy as busy, shouting out, and raking, and forking, and sweeping away at the pond.
“所以”，年轻的治安官对自己说，“这是第二个更傻的人。”他又走了很远，走得很快，但一直没有找到第三个。直到有一个明月当头、月色明亮的晚上，他路过一个村子。他看到村外有个池塘，池塘周围有一群村民。他们有的拿着耙子，有的拿着干草叉，有的拿着扫帚。他们都忙得要命，大声喊叫，对着池塘又耙又叉又扫。
"What is the matter?" cried young squire, jumping off his horse to help. "Has any one fallen in?"
“出什么事了？”年轻的治安官喊着，跳下马来准备帮忙：“有人掉进去了吗？”
"Aye! Matter enough," says they. "Can't ee see moon's fallen into the pond, an' we can't get her out nohow?"
“唉！麻烦大了。”他们说。“你看不出月亮掉进池塘了，我们没法儿把它捞出来吗？”
And with that they set to again raking, and forking, and sweeping away. Then the young squire burst out laughing, told them they were fools for their pains, and bade them look up over their heads where the moon was riding broad and full. But they wouldn't, and they wouldn't believe that what they saw in the water was only a reflection. And when he insisted they began to abuse him roundly and threaten to duck him in the pond. So he got on his horse again as quickly as he could, leaving them raking and forking and sweeping away; and for all we know they may be at it yet!
他们边说着，边又耙又叉又扫。年轻的治安官迸出一阵大笑，说他们的烦恼是傻瓜的烦恼，并且让他们抬头看看，月亮挂在空中，又大又圆。但他们不愿意抬头看，也不愿意相信他们在水里看到的只是个倒影。当他坚持自己的说法时，他们开始对他口出恶言，并威胁要把他扔进池塘。他用最快的速度骑上马走了，留下那群人在那里又耙又叉又扫。他们也许现在还在那儿呢。
But the young squire said to himself, "There are many more sillies in this world than I thought for; so I'll just go back and marry the farmer's daughter. She is no sillier than the rest."
年轻的治安官对自己说：“世界上的傻瓜比我之前想像得多多了，我还是回去娶农夫的女儿吧，她不比别人傻。”
So they were married, and if they didn't live happy ever after, that has nothing to do with the story of the three sillies.
于是他们结婚了。如果他们之后并没有一直幸福地生活下去，那也和三个傻瓜的故事无关了。