The Mole1 had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash2; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating3 even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing4. It was small wonder, then, that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said ‘Bother!’ and ‘O blow!’ and also ‘Hang spring-cleaning!’ and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat. Something up above was calling him imperiously, and he made for the steep little tunnel which answered in his case to the gravelled carriage-drive owned by animals whose residences are nearer to the sun and air. So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then he scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself, ‘Up we go! Up we go!’ till at last, pop! his snout came out into the sunlight, and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow.
整個(gè)上午，鼴鼠都在勤奮地干活，為他小小的家屋作春季大掃除，先用掃帚掃，再用撣子撣，然后登上梯子、椅子什么的，拿著刷子，提著灰漿桶，刷墻，直干到灰塵嗆了嗓子，迷了眼，全身烏黑的毛皮濺滿了白灰漿，腰也酸了，臂也痛了。春天的氣息，在他頭上的天空里吹拂，在他腳下的泥土里游動(dòng)，在他四周圍飄蕩。春天那奇妙的追求、渴望的精神，甚至鉆進(jìn)了他那陰暗低矮的小屋。怪不得他猛地把刷子往地下一扔，嚷道：“煩死人了！”“去它的！” “什么春季大掃除，見它的鬼去吧！”連大衣也沒顧上穿，就沖出家門了。上面有種力量在急切地召喚他，于是他向著陡峭的地道奔去。這地道，直通地面上的碎石子大車道，而這車道是屬于那些住在通風(fēng)向陽的居室里的動(dòng)物的。鼴鼠又掏又撓又爬又?jǐn)D，又?jǐn)D又爬又撓又掏，小爪子忙個(gè)不停，嘴里還不住地念念叨叨，“咱們上去啰！咱們上去啰！”末末了，噗的一聲，他的鼻尖鉆出了地面，伸到了陽光里，跟著，身子就在一塊大草坪暖暖的軟草里打起滾來。
‘This is fine!’ he said to himself. ‘This is better than whitewashing6!’ The sunshine struck hot on his fur, soft breezes caressed7 his heated brow, and after the seclusion8 of the cellarage he had lived in so long the carol of happy birds fell on his dulled hearing almost like a shout. Jumping off all his four legs at once, in the joy of living and the delight of spring without its cleaning, he pursued his way across the meadow till he reached the hedge on the further side.
“太棒了！”他自言自語說，“可比刷墻有意思！”太陽曬在他的毛皮上，暖烘烘的，微風(fēng)輕撫著他發(fā)熱的額頭，在洞穴里蟄居了那么久，聽覺都變得遲鈍了，連小鳥兒歡快的鳴唱，聽起來都跟大聲喊叫一樣。生活的歡樂，春天的愉悅，又加上免了大掃除的麻煩，他樂得縱身一跳，騰起四腳向前飛跑，橫穿草坪，一直跑到草坪盡頭的籬笆前。
‘Hold up!’ said an elderly rabbit at the gap. ‘Sixpence for the privilege of passing by the private road!’
“站住！”籬笆豁口處，一只老兔子喝道。“通過私人道路，得交六便士！”
He was bowled over in an instant by the impatient and contemptuous Mole, who trotted10 along the side of the hedge chaffing the other rabbits as they peeped hurriedly from their holes to see what the row was about. ‘Onion-sauce! Onion-sauce!’ he remarked jeeringly11, and was gone before they could think of a thoroughly12 satisfactory reply. Then they all started grumbling13 at each other. ‘How STUPID you are! Why didn’t you tell him----‘ ‘Well, why didn’t YOU say----‘ ‘You might have reminded him ----‘ and so on, in the usual way; but, of course, it was then much too late, as is always the case.
鼴鼠很不耐煩，態(tài)度傲慢，根本沒把老兔子放在眼里，一時(shí)倒把老兔子弄得不知如何是好。鼴鼠順著籬笆一溜小跑，一邊還逗弄著別的兔子，他們一個(gè)個(gè)從洞口探頭窺看，想知道外面到底吵些什么。“蠢貨！蠢貨！”他嘲笑說，不等他們想出一句解氣的話來回敬他，就一溜煙跑得沒影兒了。這一來，兔子們七嘴八舌互相埋怨起來。“瞧你多蠢，干嗎不對他說……”“哼，那你干嗎不說……”“你該警告他……”諸如此類，照例總是這一套。當(dāng)然啰，照例總是——太晚啦。
It all seemed too good to be true. Hither and thither14 through the meadows he rambled15 busily, along the hedgerows, across the copses, finding everywhere birds building, flowers budding, leaves thrusting— everything happy, and progressive, and occupied. And instead of having an uneasy conscience pricking16 him and whispering ‘whitewash!’ he somehow could only feel how jolly it was to be the only idle dog among all these busy citizens. After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working.
一切都那么美好，好得簡直不像是真的。他跑過一片又一片的草坪，沿著矮樹籬，穿過灌木叢，匆匆地游逛。處處都看到鳥兒做窩筑巢，花兒含苞待放，葉兒擠擠嚷嚷——萬物都顯得快樂，忙碌，奮進(jìn)。他聽不到良心在耳邊嘀咕：“刷墻！”只覺得，在一大群忙忙碌碌的公民當(dāng)中，做一只唯一的懶狗，是多么愜意。看來，過休假日最舒心的方面，還不是自己得到休憩，而是看到別人都在忙著干活。
He thought his happiness was complete when, as he meandered17 aimlessly along, suddenly he stood by the edge of a full-fed river. Never in his life had he seen a river before—this sleek18, sinuous19, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling20, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were caught and held again. All was a-shake and a-shiver—glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle21 and swirl22, chatter23 and bubble. The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated. By the side of the river he trotted as one trots24, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spell-bound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered25 on to him, a babbling26 procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea.
他漫無目的地閑逛著，忽然來到一條水流豐盈的大河邊，他覺得真是快樂絕頂了。他這輩子還從來沒有見過一條河哩。這只光光滑滑、蜿蜿蜒蜒、身軀龐大的動(dòng)物，不停地追逐，輕輕地歡笑。它每抓住什么，就格格低笑，把它們?nèi)拥魰r(shí)，又哈哈大笑，轉(zhuǎn)過來又撲向新的玩伴。它們掙扎著甩開了它，可到底還是被它逮住，抓牢了。它渾身顫動(dòng)，晶光閃閃，沸沸揚(yáng)揚(yáng)，吐著旋渦，冒著泡沫，喋喋不休地嘮叨個(gè)沒完。這景象，簡直把鼴鼠看呆了，他心馳神迷，像著了魔似的。他沿著河邊，邁著小碎步跑，像個(gè)小娃娃緊跟在大人身邊，聽他講驚險(xiǎn)故事，聽得入了迷似的。他終于跑累了，在岸邊坐了下來。可那河還是一個(gè)勁兒向他娓娓而談，它講的是世間最好聽的故事。這些故事發(fā)自地心深處，一路講下去，最終要向那聽個(gè)沒夠的大海傾訴。
As he sat on the grass and looked across the river, a dark hole in the bank opposite, just above the water’s edge, caught his eye, and dreamily he fell to considering what a nice snug27 dwelling-place it would make for an animal with few wants and fond of a bijou riverside residence, above flood level and remote from noise and dust. As he gazed, something bright and small seemed to twinkle down in the heart of it, vanished, then twinkled once more like a tiny star. But it could hardly be a star in such an unlikely situation; and it was too glittering and small for a glow-worm. Then, as he looked, it winked28 at him, and so declared itself to be an eye; and a small face began gradually to grow up round it, like a frame round a picture.
他坐在草地上，朝著河那邊張望時(shí)，忽見對岸有個(gè)黑黑的洞口，恰好在水面上邊。他夢悠悠地想，要是一只動(dòng)物要求不過高，只想有一處小巧玲瓏的河邊住宅，漲潮時(shí)淹不著，又遠(yuǎn)離塵囂，這個(gè)住所倒是滿舒適的。他正呆呆地凝望，忽覺得，那洞穴的中央有個(gè)亮晶晶的小東西一閃，忽隱忽現(xiàn)，像一顆小星星。不過，出現(xiàn)在那樣一個(gè)地方，不會是星星。要說是螢火蟲嘛，又顯得太亮，也太小。望著望著，那個(gè)亮東西竟沖他眨巴了一下，可見那是一只眼睛。接著，圍著那只眼睛，漸漸顯出一張小臉，恰像一幅畫，嵌在畫框里。
A brown little face, with whiskers.
A grave round face, with the same twinkle in its eye that had first attracted his notice.
Small neat ears and thick silky hair.
It was the Water Rat!
Then the two animals stood and regarded each other cautiously.
一張棕色的小臉，腮邊有兩撇胡鬚。
一張神情嚴(yán)肅的圓臉，眼睛里閃著光，就是一開始引起他注意的那種光。
一對精巧的小耳朵，一頭絲一般濃密的毛發(fā)。
那是河鼠！
隨后，兩只動(dòng)物面對面站著，謹(jǐn)慎地互相打量。
‘Hullo, Mole!’ said the Water Rat.
“嗨，鼴鼠！”河鼠招呼道。
‘Hullo, Rat!’ said the Mole.
“嗨，河鼠！”鼴鼠答道。
‘Would you like to come over?’ enquired29 the Rat presently.
“你愿意過這邊來嗎？”河鼠問。
‘Oh, its all very well to TALK,’ said the Mole, rather pettishly30, he being new to a river and riverside life and its ways.
“噯，說說倒容易，”鼴鼠沒好氣地說，因?yàn)樗浅醮我娮R一條河，還不熟悉水上的生活習(xí)慣。
The Rat said nothing, but stooped and unfastened a rope and hauled on it; then lightly stepped into a little boat which the Mole had not observed. It was painted blue outside and white within, and was just the size for two animals; and the Mole’s whole heart went out to it at once, even though he did not yet fully31 understand its uses.
河鼠二話沒說，彎腰解開一條繩子，拽攏來，然后輕輕地跨進(jìn)鼴鼠原先沒有注意到的一只小船。那小船外面漆成藍(lán)色，里面漆成白色，鼴鼠的心，一下子飛到了小船上，雖然他還不大明白它的用場。
The Rat sculled smartly across and made fast. Then he held up his forepaw as the Mole stepped gingerly down. ‘Lean on that!’ he said. ‘Now then, step lively!’ and the Mole to his surprise and rapture33 found himself actually seated in the stern of a real boat.
河鼠干練地把船劃到對岸，停穩(wěn)了。他伸出一只前爪，攙著鼴鼠小心翼翼地走下來。“扶好了！”河鼠說，“現(xiàn)在，輕輕地跨進(jìn)來！”于是鼴鼠又驚又喜地發(fā)現(xiàn)，自己真的坐進(jìn)了一只真正的小船的尾端。
‘This has been a wonderful day!’ said he, as the Rat shoved off and took to the sculls again. ‘Do you know, I’ve never been in a boat before in all my life.’
“今天太美了！”鼴鼠說。這時(shí)，河鼠把船撐離岸邊，拿起雙槳。“你知道嗎，我這輩子還從沒坐過船哩！”
‘What?’ cried the Rat, open-mouthed: ‘Never been in a—you never— well I—what have you been doing, then?’
“什么？”河鼠張大嘴巴驚異地喊道，“從沒坐過——你是說你從沒——哎呀呀——那你都干什么來著？”
‘Is it so nice as all that?’ asked the Mole shyly, though he was quite prepared to believe it as he leant back in his seat and surveyed the cushions, the oars34, the rowlocks, and all the fascinating fittings, and felt the boat sway lightly under him.
“坐船真那么美嗎？”鼴鼠有點(diǎn)不好意思地問。其實(shí)，在他斜倚著座位，仔細(xì)打量著座墊、槳片、槳架，以及所有那些令人心馳神往的設(shè)備，感到小船在身下輕輕搖曳時(shí)，他早就相信這一點(diǎn)了。
‘Nice? It’s the ONLY thing,’ said the Water Rat solemnly, as he leant forward for his stroke. ‘Believe me, my young friend, there is NOTHING—absolute nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing
about in boats. Simply messing,’ he went on dreamily: ‘messing—about—in—boats; messing----
“美？這是世上獨(dú)一無二的美事，”河鼠俯身劃起槳來。“請相信我，年輕朋友，世界上再也沒有——絕對沒有——比乘船游逛更有意思的事啦。什么也不干，只是游逛，”他夢囈般地喃喃說，“坐在船上，到處游逛，游逛……”
‘‘Look ahead, Rat!’ cried the Mole suddenly.
“當(dāng)心前面，河鼠！”鼴鼠忽地驚叫一聲。
It was too late. The boat struck the bank full tilt35. The dreamer, the joyous36 oarsman, lay on his back at the bottom of the boat, his heels in the air.
太遲了。小船一頭撞到了岸邊。那個(gè)夢悠悠、美滋滋的舟子四腳朝天，跌倒在船底。
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‘—about in boats—or WITH boats,’ the Rat went on composedly, picking himself up with a pleasant laugh. ‘In or out of ‘em, it doesn’t matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that’s the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don’t; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you’re always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you’ve done it there’s always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you’d much better not. Look here! If you’ve really nothing else on hand this morning, supposing we drop down the river together, and have a long day of it?’
“坐在船上——或者跟著船——到處游逛，”河鼠開懷大笑，一骨碌爬起來，若無其事地說下去。“呆在船里，或者呆在船外，這都無所謂。好像什么都無所謂，這就是它叫人著迷的地方。不管你上哪兒，或者不上哪兒；不管你到達(dá)目的地，還是到達(dá)另一個(gè)地方，還是不到什么地方，你總在忙著，可又沒專門干什么特別的事；這件事干完，又有別的事在等著你，你樂意的話，可以去干，也可以不干。好啦，要是今天上午你確實(shí)沒別的事要做，那咱們是不是一塊兒劃到下游去，逛它一整天？”
The Mole waggled his toes from sheer happiness, spread his chest with a sigh of full contentment, and leaned back blissfully into the soft cushions. ‘WHAT a day I’m having!’ he said. ‘Let us start at once!’
鼴鼠樂得直晃腳丫子，腆著胸脯，舒心地長吁一口氣，愜意地躺倒在軟綿綿的座墊上。“今天我可要痛痛快快玩它一天！”他說，“咱們這就動(dòng)身吧！”
‘Hold hard a minute, then!’ said the Rat. He looped the painter through a ring in his landing-stage, climbed up into his hole above, and after a short interval37 reappeared staggering under a fat, wicker luncheon-basket.
“那好，等一等，只消一會兒！”河鼠說。他把纜繩穿過碼頭上的一個(gè)環(huán)，系住，然后爬進(jìn)碼頭上面自家的洞里，不多時(shí)，搖搖晃晃地捧著一只胖大的藤條午餐籃子出來了。
‘Shove that under your feet,’ he observed to the Mole, as he passed it down into the boat. Then he untied38 the painter and took the sculls again.
“把它推到你腳下，”河鼠把籃子遞上船，對鼴鼠說。然后他解開纜繩，拿起雙槳。
‘What’s inside it?’ asked the Mole, wriggling39 with curiosity.
“這里面都裝著些什么？”鼴鼠好奇地扭動(dòng)著身子。
‘There’s cold chicken inside it,’ replied the Rat briefly;‘cold tongue cold ham cold beef pickled gherkins salad french rolls cress sandwiches potted meat ginger32 beer lemonad esoda water----‘
“有冷雞肉，”河鼠一口氣回答說，“冷舌頭冷火腿冷牛肉腌小黃瓜沙拉法國面包卷三明治罐燜肉姜汁啤酒檸檬汁蘇打水……”
‘O stop, stop,’ cried the Mole in ecstacies: ‘This is too much!’
“行啦，行啦，”鼴鼠眉飛色舞地喊道，“太多了！”
‘Do you really think so?’ enquired the Rat seriously. ‘It’s only what I always take on these little excursions; and the other animals are always telling me that I’m a mean beast and cut it VERY fine!’
“你真的認(rèn)為太多了？”河鼠一本正經(jīng)地問，“這只是我平日出游常帶的東西；別的動(dòng)物還老說我是個(gè)小氣鬼，帶的東西剛剛夠吃哩！”
The Mole never heard a word he was saying. Absorbed in the new life he was entering upon, intoxicated40 with the sparkle, the ripple41, the scents42 and the sounds and the sunlight, he trailed a paw in the water and dreamed long waking dreams. The Water Rat, like the good little fellow he was, sculled steadily43 on and forebore to disturb him.
可河鼠的話，鼴鼠半點(diǎn)也沒聽進(jìn)去。他正深深地沉湎在這種新穎生活里，陶醉在波光、漣漪、芳香、水聲、陽光之中。他把一只腳爪伸進(jìn)水里，做著長長的白日夢。心地善良的河鼠，只管穩(wěn)穩(wěn)當(dāng)當(dāng)?shù)貏澲鴺蝗ン@擾他。
‘I like your clothes awfully44, old chap,’ he remarked after some half an hour or so had passed. ‘I’m going to get a black velvet45 smoking-suit myself some day, as soon as I can afford it.’
“我特喜歡你這身衣裳，老伙計(jì)，”約莫過了半個(gè)鐘頭，河鼠才開口說話，“有一天，等我手頭方便時(shí)，我也要給自己搞一件黑絲絨吸煙服穿穿。”
‘I beg your pardon,’ said the Mole, pulling himself together with an effort. ‘You must think me very rude; but all this is so new to me. So—this—is—a—River!’
“你說什么？”鼴鼠好不容易才清醒過來。“你大概覺得我這人很不懂禮貌吧，可這一切對我是太新鮮了。原來，這——就是一條——河。”
‘THE River,’ corrected the Rat.
“是這條河，”河鼠糾正說。
‘And you really live by the river? What a jolly life!’
“那么，你真的是生活在這條河邊啰？多美呀！”
‘By it and with it and on it and in it,’ said the Rat. ‘It’s brother and sister to me, and aunts, and company, and food and drink, and (naturally) washing. It’s my world, and I don’t want any other. What it hasn’t got is not worth having, and what it doesn’t know is not worth knowing. Lord! the times we’ve had together! Whether in winter or summer, spring or autumn, it’s always got its fun and its excitements. When the floods are on in February, and my cellars and basement are brimming with drink that’s no good to me, and the brown water runs by my best bedroom window; or again when it all drops away and, shows patches of mud that smells like plum-cake, and the rushes and weed clog46 the channels, and I can potter about dry shod over most of the bed of it and find fresh food to eat, and things careless people have dropped out of boats!’
“我生活在河邊，同河在一起，在河上，也在河里，”河鼠說，“在我看來，這條河，就是我的兄弟姐妹，我的姑姑姨姨，我的伙伴，它供我吃喝，也供我洗涮。它就是我的整個(gè)世界；另外的世界，我都不需要。凡是河里沒有的，都不值得要，凡是河所不了解的，都不值得了解。主啊！我們在一塊度過了多少美妙的時(shí)光啊！不管春夏秋冬，它總有趣味，總叫人興奮。二月里漲潮的時(shí)候，我的地窖里灌滿了不衛(wèi)生的湯，黃褐色的河水從我最講究的臥室的窗前淌過。等落潮以后，一塊塊泥地露了出來，散發(fā)著葡萄干蛋糕的氣味，河道里淤滿了燈芯草等水草。這時(shí)，我又可以在大部分河床上隨便溜達(dá)，不會弄濕鞋子，可以找到新鮮食物吃，還有那些粗心大意的人從船上扔下來的東西。”
