第三级-《爱丽丝镜中世界奇遇记》-第17课

前情提要 

胖墩儿专门为爱丽丝写了一首诗，然而爱丽丝并不能理解诗的内容。就在他们互道再见之后，强烈的撞击声震动了整个森林……

故事原文

Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There 17

爱丽丝镜中世界奇遇记 17

7 The Lion and the Unicorn

7 狮子与独角兽

The next moment soldiers came running through the wood, at first in twos and threes, then ten or twenty together, and at last in great crowds that seemed to fill the forest. Alice got behind a tree and watched them go past.

稍后，士兵跑步穿过树林，起先是三三两两的，随后是十个二十个，最后是成群成群的，似乎把整个森林都塞满了。爱丽丝躲在树后看着他们过去。

They were very strange soldiers, she thought. They were always falling over(1) something or other, and when one soldier went down, several more always fell over him. Soon the ground was covered with fallen men.

她想这些士兵真够奇特。他们总是跌倒在什么东西上。一个士兵倒下，更多的士兵就倒在他上面。片刻之间，地面上到处是倒下的人了。

Then came the horses. With four feet, they managed better than the foot-soldiers, but even they fell more often than not(2). And when a horse fell, the rider always fell off at once. It was almost like a battle in itself, and Alice decided it would be safer to move on(3). Soon she came to an open place, where she found the White King sitting on the ground, busily writing in his notebook.

后来骑兵过来了。马有四条腿，因此跑得比步兵平稳，但即使这样也经常摔倒。马一摔倒，骑士总是马上掉下来。这种局面几乎本身就像一场战斗。爱丽丝拿定主意，离开此地会更安全。不久，她来到了一个开阔地。在那儿，她看见白方国王坐在地上，忙着在笔记本上写东西。

'I've sent them all!' the King cried happily when he saw Alice. 'Did you happen to meet any soldiers, my dear, as you came through the wood?'

国王一看见爱丽丝就高兴地叫嚷道：“我把士兵都派出去了，小宝贝，你走过树林时，碰见他们了吗？”

'Yes, I did,' said Alice. 'Several thousand, I think.'

“碰上了，我想有好几千。”爱丽丝答道。

'Four thousand two hundred and seven,' the King said, looking at his book. 'I couldn't send all the horses, because two of them are wanted in the game. And I haven't sent the Messengers, Haigha and Hatta. I need them myself, of course ― to come and go. One to come, and one to go.'

国王看了看本子，说：“共4207人。我不能把马匹都派出去，因为象棋里需要两枚马。而且我也没把黑格与哈特两位信使派去。当然，我需要他们来回穿梭送信。一个来，一个去。”

'I don't think I understand,' said Alice. 'Why one to come and one to go?'

爱丽丝说：“我想我还是不明白。干吗一个来，一个去？”

'I've told you,' the King said crossly. 'I must have two ― to fetch(4) and carry. One to fetch, and one to carry.'

国王面有愠色，说：“我告诉过你，我得有两个帮手——一个取信，一个送信。”

At that moment Haigha, one of the Messengers, arrived. He had very large hands and great eyes, which were always moving wildly from side to side.

这时，叫黑格的那个信使来了。他长着巨手、大眼，眼珠老是左右乱转。

'What's the news from town?' said the King.

国王问：“城里有什么消息？”

'I'll whisper it,' said Haigha, putting his mouth close to the King's ear.

“我悄声告诉你。”黑格凑近国王的耳朵说话。

Alice was sorry about this, because she wanted to hear the news too. But, instead of whispering, Haigha shouted at the top of his voice, 'They're at it again!'

爱丽丝也想听听城里的消息，心里有点遗憾。但突然黑格转而大叫一声：“他们又斗起来了！”

'Do you call that a whisper?' cried(5) the poor King, jumping up and shaking himself. 'Don't do that again!'

“你把这称作悄悄话？不允许再这样大嚷大叫了！”可怜的国王吓得跳了起来，浑身颤抖。

'Who are at it again?' Alice asked.

爱丽丝问：“谁又斗起来了？”

'The Lion and the Unicorn, of course,' said the King.

“当然是狮子与独角兽。”国王说。

'Fighting for the crown(6)?'

“为了争夺王冠？”

'Yes, and it's my crown that they're fighting about!' said the King. 'Amusing, isn't it? Let's run and see them.'

“是的，他们为争夺我的王冠斗了起来！太有趣了，是不是？我们赶紧去瞧瞧！”国王说。

They began to run, and as they went, Alice repeated to herself the words of the old song.

他们开始跑起来，一边跑着，爱丽丝一边背着一首古老的歌词：

The Lion and the Unicorn

狮子与独角兽

were fighting for the crown;

为王冠而格斗；

The Lion beat the Unicorn

狮子打败了独角兽，

all round the town.

把他满城追逐。

Some gave them white bread

有些人给他们白面包

and some gave them brown;

有些人却布施黑面包；

Some gave them plum-cake

有些人送上了葡萄干蛋糕

and drummed them out of town.

击鼓把他们送出城。

（原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点

1. fall over 跌倒，摔倒

例句：

He fell over three times because he drank too much.

他喝得太醉了，跌倒了三次。

2. more often than not 经常，常常（means the most of the time）

例句：

During the bad weather, the planes are late more often than not．

天气不好的时候，飞机常常会晚点。

3. move on 前进，出发；（心态上进入下一个阶段的）前进，向前看

例句：

He moved on from Beijing to Shanghai.

他离开北京后，前往了上海。

She decided to move on and forget about the past.

她决定忘记过去，去迎接新的生活。

4. fetch 取回

例句：

I have to fetch the ticket from the train station.

我必须到火车站去取票。

5. cry 大声喊叫（to shout or to say something loudly）

例句：

She cried,"do not move".

她大喊：“不要动。”

6. crown 王冠，王权；为……加冕

fight for the crown 争夺王权

例句：

The queen was crowned in 1952.

女王在 1952 年被正式加冕。