《丝绒兔子》

丝绒兔子

The Velveteen Rabbit

从前有一只丝绒兔子。刚开始的时候，他真的很神气。他胖乎乎、圆滚滚的，正是一只兔子该有的样子。他身上的绒毛有棕白相间的斑纹，胡须是用真正的线做的，耳朵里面还衬着粉红色的缎子。

There was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat was spotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his ears were lined with pink sateen.

圣诞节早晨，他塞在小男孩的长袜口上，两只前爪中间还夹着一小枝冬青，看起来非常惹人喜欢。

On Christmas morning, when he sat wedged in the top of the Boy’s stocking, with a sprig of holly between his paws, the effect was charming.

长袜里还有别的东西，有坚果、橘子、玩具小火车，还有杏仁巧克力和发条小老鼠，但这只兔子绝对是里面最好的一个。

There were other things in the stocking, nuts and oranges and a toy engine, and chocolate almonds and a clockwork mouse, but the Rabbit was quite the best of all.

至少有两个小时，小男孩非常喜欢他。可是后来，叔叔阿姨们来吃晚饭了。屋里到处是撕开包装纸的沙沙声。小男孩兴奋地看着所有新礼物，不知不觉就把丝绒兔子给忘了。

For at least two hours the Boy loved him, and then Aunts and Uncles came to dinner, and there was a great rustling of tissue paper and unwrapping of parcels, and in the excitement of looking at all the new presents the Velveteen Rabbit was forgotten.

很长一段时间里，他都待在玩具柜里，或者待在育儿室的地板上，没有人在意他。他天生害羞，而且因为只是丝绒做的，有些贵重的玩具根本看不起他。

For a long time he lived in the toy cupboard or on the nursery floor, and no one thought very much about him. He was naturally shy, and being only made of velveteen, some of the more expensive toys quite snubbed him.

那些机械玩具非常骄傲，瞧不起所有别的玩具。他们满脑子都是现代想法，假装自己是真的动物。

The mechanical toys were very superior, and looked down upon every one else; they were full of modern ideas, and pretended they were real.

那只玩具帆船已经过了两季，身上的油漆掉了大半，却也学了他们的腔调，总是不放过任何机会，用专业词汇谈论自己的缆绳。

The model boat, who had lived through two seasons and lost most of his paint, caught the tone from them and never missed an opportunity of referring to his rigging in technical terms.

兔子可不敢说自己是什么高档模型，因为他根本不知道世上还有真正的兔子。他以为兔子都和他一样，肚子里填满了锯末。而且他也明白，填锯末早就过时了，在现代圈子里是绝对不能提的。

The Rabbit could not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn’t know that real rabbits existed; he thought they were all stuffed with sawdust like himself, and he understood that sawdust was quite out-of-date and should never be mentioned in modern circles.

就连那只有关节的木头狮子蒂莫西，虽然是由残疾士兵制作的、本该见识更广，却也摆出一副大架子，假装自己和政府有关系。

Even Timothy, the jointed wooden lion, who was made by the disabled soldiers, and should have had broader views, put on airs and pretended he was connected with Government.

在他们中间，这只可怜的小兔子觉得自己又微小又普通。唯一对他好一点的，就只有那匹皮马了。

Between them all the poor little Rabbit was made to feel himself very insignificant and commonplace, and the only person who was kind to him at all was the Skin Horse.

皮马在育儿室里住得比谁都久。他太老了，棕色的皮毛一块块地脱落，露出了里面的缝线，尾巴上的毛大部分也都被拔下来串珠子了。

The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces.

他很有智慧，因为他见过一批又一批机械玩具神气活现地跑来吹牛，不久后发条坏了，就一件件被扔掉。他知道他们不过是玩具，永远变不成别的东西。

He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else.

因为育儿室的魔法非常奇妙，只有像皮马这样古老、聪明又阅历丰富的玩具，才能完全明白。

For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.