鲸鱼的喉咙是怎么来的

很久很久以前，海里有一头鲸鱼，我最亲爱的人儿啊，他专门吃鱼。

In the sea, once upon a time, O my Best Beloved, there was a Whale, and he ate fishes.

他吃海星，吃雀鳝；吃螃蟹，吃拟鲽；吃鲽鱼，吃鲦鱼；吃鳐鱼和它的伙伴；吃青花鱼和白斑狗鱼；还吃那真正转来转去打旋儿的鳗鱼。

He ate the starfish and the garfish, and the crab and the dab, and the plaice and the dace, and the skate and his mate, and the mackereel and the pickereel, and the really truly twirly-whirly eel.

他在大海里能找到的所有鱼，都张大嘴巴吃掉了——就像这样！直到最后，整个大海里只剩下一条小小的鱼。那是一条“机灵鱼”，他游在鲸鱼右耳后一点点的地方，好避开危险。

All the fishes he could find in all the sea he ate with his mouth—so! Till at last there was only one small fish left in all the sea, and he was a small ‘Stute Fish, and he swam a little behind the Whale’s right ear, so as to be out of harm’s way.

这时，鲸鱼用尾巴立起来说：“我饿了。”那条小小的“机灵鱼”用细细的、机灵的声音说：“高贵又大度的鲸鱼先生，您尝过人肉吗？”

Then the Whale stood up on his tail and said, ‘I’m hungry.’ And the small ‘Stute Fish said in a small ‘stute voice, ‘Noble and generous Cetacean, have you ever tasted Man?’

“没有，”鲸鱼说，“那是什么味道？”

‘No,’ said the Whale. ‘What is it like?’

“味道好极了，”小“机灵鱼”说，“很好吃，就是有点硬邦邦、硌得慌。”

‘Nice,’ said the small ‘Stute Fish. ‘Nice but nubbly.’

“那就给我抓一个来，”鲸鱼说，一边用尾巴打得海水翻起泡沫。

‘Then fetch me some,’ said the Whale, and he made the sea froth up with his tail.

“一次吃一个就够了，”机灵鱼说。

‘One at a time is enough,’ said the ‘Stute Fish.

“如果您游到北纬五十度、西经四十度（那地方有魔法），您就会发现一个遇难的水手。他坐在一张木筏上，漂在海中央，身上只穿了一条蓝色帆布裤，戴着一副背带（最亲爱的人儿，您千万别忘了背带），还有一把大折刀。不过我得实话告诉您，他可是一个‘足智多谋、聪明绝顶’的人。”

‘If you swim to latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West (that is magic), you will find, sitting on a raft, in the middle of the sea, with nothing on but a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders (you must not forget the suspenders, Best Beloved), and a jack-knife, one ship-wrecked Mariner, who, it is only fair to tell you, is a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity.’

于是鲸鱼使劲游啊游，飞快地游到了北纬五十度、西经四十度。在海中央的一张木筏上，他找到了那个孤零零的遇难水手。水手身上只穿着一条蓝色帆布裤，戴着一副背带（最亲爱的人儿，您一定要牢牢记住背带），还有一把大折刀，脚趾正泡在水里踢来踢去。

So the Whale swam and swam to latitude Fifty North, longitude Forty West, as fast as he could swim, and on a raft, in the middle of the sea, with nothing to wear except a pair of blue canvas breeches, a pair of suspenders (you must particularly remember the suspenders, Best Beloved), and a jack-knife, he found one single, solitary shipwrecked Mariner, trailing his toes in the water.

（他得到了妈妈的许可才去戏水的，否则他绝不会这么做，因为他是一个“足智多谋、聪明绝顶”的人。）

(He had his mummy’s leave to paddle, or else he would never have done it, because he was a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity.)

这时，鲸鱼把嘴巴往后张啊张，一直张到差点碰到自己的尾巴。他一口吞下了遇难的水手，吞下了他坐着的木筏，吞下了他的蓝色帆布裤和背带（您可千万别忘了背带），还有大折刀——他把它们全都吞进了自己温暖、黑暗的肚子里，然后咂了咂嘴——就像这样，还用尾巴立着转了三圈。

Then the Whale opened his mouth back and back and back till it nearly touched his tail, and he swallowed the shipwrecked Mariner, and the raft he was sitting on, and his blue canvas breeches, and the suspenders (which you must not forget), and the jack-knife—He swallowed them all down into his warm, dark, inside cup-boards, and then he smacked his lips—so, and turned round three times on his tail.

可是，这个足智多谋、聪明绝顶的水手一发现自己真的进到了鲸鱼温暖、黑暗的肚子里，他就跺脚，跳跃，猛撞，乱磕；他昂首阔步，手舞足蹈；他乒乓乱砸，当啷乱响；他打人，咬人；他跳起来，爬过去；他悄悄潜行，放声大叫；他蹦蹦跳跳，倒在地上；他哭泣，叹气；他爬来爬去，大吵大闹；他踩来踩去，乱蹦乱跳，还在不该跳舞的地方大跳水手舞，弄得鲸鱼实在难受极了。

But as soon as the Mariner, who was a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity, found himself truly inside the Whale’s warm, dark, inside cup-boards, he stumped and he jumped and he thumped and he bumped, and he pranced and he danced, and he banged and he clanged, and he hit and he bit, and he leaped and he creeped, and he prowled and he howled, and he hopped and he dropped, and he cried and he sighed, and he crawled and he bawled, and he stepped and he lepped, and he danced hornpipes where he shouldn’t, and the Whale felt most unhappy indeed.

（您把背带给忘了吗？）

(Have you forgotten the suspenders?)