第63章 一滴水 The Drop of Water (第1/3页)

《一滴水》，1848 年

the drop of water, 1848

放大镜是什么，你肯定知道 —— 就是那种圆圆的镜片，能把一切东西放大一百倍，比实际的要大得多。

what a magnifying glass is, you surely know — such a round sort of spectacle-glass that makes everything full a hundred times larger than it really is.

当人把它举到眼前，去看池塘里的一滴水时，就能看到上千种奇怪的生物。

when one holds it before the eye, and looks at a drop of water out of the pond, then one sees above a thousand strange creatures.

那看起来几乎就像满满一盘虾在彼此间蹦来跳去，而且它们非常贪婪，会撕扯彼此的胳膊、腿、尾巴和身体两侧，但它们还是以自己的方式过得挺开心。

It looks almost like a whole plateful of shrimps springing about among each other, and they are so ravenous, they tear one another’s arms and legs, tails and sides, and yet they are glad and pleased in their way.

从前有个老头儿，大家都叫他 “爬来爬去”，因为那就是他的名字。

Now, there was once an old man, who was called by every body creep-and-crawl; for that was his name.

他总是能把任何事情都做到最好，要是做不好，他就会求助于巫术。

he would always make the best out of everything, and when he could not make anything out of it he resorted to witchcraft.

有一天，他坐着把放大镜举到眼前，去看从沟渠里的一个小水塘里取出来的一滴水。

Now, one day he sat and held his magnifying glass before his eye, and looked at a drop of water that was taken out of a little pool in the ditch.

那里真是一片爬来爬去的景象！成千上万的小生物又蹦又跳，相互拉扯，相互啄咬。

what a creeping and crawling was there! all the thousands of small creatures hopped and jumped about, pulled one another, and pecked one another.

“这太可恶了！”“爬来爬去” 说，“难道就不能让它们和平安静地生活，各干各的事儿吗？”