King of the Pumpkins 南瓜王

高齊云選譯

“Deep in the middle of the woods，” said my mother， “is the place where the king of the pumpkins lives.” “But pumpkins live in fields1， not in forests，” I said to my mother. She wouldnt listen to me. “Im telling you，” she said， “the king of the pumpkins lives in the middle of the woods and the woods that he lives in are the woods right next to our house， the woods you can see out of the window over there.” She pointed2 with her hand to the woods that were just outside the window behind our house. “He doesnt live in a field like the other pumpkins，” mother went on， “because hes not an ordinary pumpkin. Hes the King Pumpkin.”

“森林深處，”我母親說，“是南瓜王生活的地方?！薄暗瞎仙钤谔镆袄?，而不是森林里，”我對母親說，她不聽我的。“我告訴你，”她說，“南瓜王住在樹林里面，他住的樹林就是我們家旁邊的樹林，你可以從那邊的窗戶看到的那片樹林?！彼檬种噶酥肝覀兗液蟠巴獾臉淞??！八幌衿渌瞎夏菢由钤谔镆袄??！蹦赣H接著說，“因為他不是一個普通的南瓜。他是南瓜王。”

I shut up and believed her， like you do when youre a kid. Firstly， I knew that it wasnt worth3 fighting with my mother. She always won4. Secondly， when youre a kid， you always believe what grown-ups tell you， no matter how stupid5 it is. Like Santa Claus and stuff like that. Kids always believe it， even though they know its stupid. Still， I wanted to go and find the king of the pumpkins， partly because I was bored， partly because I was curious6， and also—of course—because I wanted to know if my mother really was talking nonsense7 or not.

我閉上嘴，決定相信她，就像你小時候那樣。首先，我知道這不值得和我媽媽爭論，她總是贏。其次，當你還是個孩子的時候，你總是相信大人告訴你的事，不管這有多傻，像圣誕老人之類的。孩子們總是會相信，即使他們知道這很愚蠢。盡管如此，我還是決定去找南瓜王，一方面是因為我很無聊，另一方面是因為我很好奇。當然了，也因為我想知道媽媽是不是真的在胡說八道。

Mother often talked nonsense， I have to say that. There was the time she told me that the moon was made of cheese. I knew that was nonsense. Then there were all the stories she told me. Stories about frogs， princesses， princes and shoes. Stories about donkeys and unicorns8， gnomes9 and elves， magic mirrors and magic cooking pots. Stories about why the stars are exactly the way they are， why the river that runs through our town has the name that it has， stories about where the sun comes from， why the sky is so far away and why the elephant has a long trunk10. Some of these stories， I think， might have been true. I was never sure， and it was difficult to find out. This time， though， with this story about the king of the pumpkins， it was going to be easy to find out if she was telling the truth or not.

媽媽經常胡說八道，我必須得這么說。有一次，她告訴我月亮是奶酪做的。我知道那是胡說八道。還有她給我講的所有故事，關于青蛙、公主、公主和鞋子的故事，關于驢和獨角獸，侏儒和精靈，魔鏡和魔法鍋的故事，關于星星為什么是這樣的故事，為什么流經我們城鎮的河流會叫現在那個名字，關于太陽從哪里來的故事，為什么天空那么遙遠，為什么大象有一個長長的鼻子。其中有些故事，我想有可能是真的。我從不確定，而且很難弄明白是不是真的。不過，這一次關于南瓜王的故事，就很容易弄清她說的是不是真的了。

Some people used to call my mother a witch11， but I knew that she wasnt a witch. Maybe just a bit strange. And she used to talk nonsense. It might be also because of the black cat we had. People say that witches always have black cats， and we had a black cat. But Mog wasnt a witchs cat. He was just a regular12 black cat. Mog could talk， though， I have to say that. Maybe that isnt so regular in a cat， now I think about it.

以前有人叫我媽媽巫婆，但我知道她不是。也許她只是有點奇怪，她過去常常胡說八道，也許也是因為我們養了一只黑貓。人們說女巫總是養黑貓，而我們就有一只黑貓。但莫格不是女巫的貓，它只是一只普通的黑貓。不過，莫格可以說話，我還是得說，也許這在貓身上并不常見，現在我想起來這一點了。

Anyway， I was telling you about the time I went to find the king of the pumpkins. I set off with Mog the cat into the woods to look for the king of the pumpkins. Wed lived in that house near the woods all my life， but I had never gone into the middle of the woods. This was the first time. I was happy I had Mog with me. I was a bit scared， even though I didnt really think that the king of the pumpkins lived there.

不管怎樣，我要告訴你我這次去找南瓜王的經歷。我和貓莫格一起到樹林里去找南瓜王。雖然我們一輩子都住在森林附近的那所房子里，但我從來沒有到過森林里面，這是第一次。我很高興有莫格和我在一起。我有點害怕，盡管我并不真的認為南瓜王住在那里。

“Watch out for the wolves13！” said Mog.

“小心狼。”莫格說。

“Yes...and the grandmothers too！” I joked.

“好的……還有祖母們！”我開玩笑說。

“Lets not leave the path！” said Mog.

“我們不要離開這條路！”莫格說。

When people said my mother was a witch， I told them that witches dont have children. “Yeah，” they answered， “thats true. But you look more like an elf than a regular kid.” I looked in the mirror to see if I looked like an elf or not. I think I looked like a regular kid， but you never can tell really.

當人們說我母親是女巫時，我告訴他們女巫沒有孩子。“是的。”他們回答說，“那倒是真的。但你看起來更像一個小精靈，而不是一個普通的孩子?！蔽艺樟苏甄R子，想看看自己是不是像一個小精靈。我覺得我看起來像個普通的孩子，但你永遠也無法徹底斷定。

“Do you think hes real？” I asked Mog.

“你認為它是真的嗎？”我問莫格。

“Who， the wolf？ He certainly is，” answered Mog.

“誰？狼？它當然是真的?！蹦翊鸬?。

“No， not the wolf. I know the wolf is real，” I said to Mog.

“不，不是狼。我知道狼是真的。”我對莫格說。

Sometimes I could hear the wolf howling14 at night. I knew he was real.

有時我能聽到狼在夜里嚎叫，我知道它是真的。

“No， not the wolf. The king of the pumpkins. Do you think hes real？”

“不，不是狼，是南瓜之王。你覺得它是真的嗎？”

“Dont know，” said the cat. “Guess well just have to find out.”

“不知道。”貓說，“我想我們得弄清楚?！?/p>

We walked on into the forest. The trees got taller and taller and taller. The path got narrower15 and narrower and narrower.

我們走進了森林，樹越來越高了，路越來越窄了。

“What does he do， then， this king of the pumpkins？” asked Mog.

“那這位南瓜王是做什么的呢？”莫格問道。

“I dont know really，” I said. “I guess he just kind of is head pumpkin， boss pumpkin. He decides on pumpkin rules and pumpkin laws， and punishes16 people who break them.”

“我真的不知道?！蔽艺f，“我想它就是南瓜的頭，南瓜首領。它制定南瓜規則和南瓜法，并懲罰違反這些規則的南瓜。”

“Oh， I see，” said Mog. He was quiet for a bit， then said， “What kind of things are pumpkin rules17 then？”

“哦，我明白了?！蹦裾f。他沉默了一會兒，然后說：“那南瓜的規矩是什么？”

“Erm， how big you can grow. What colour you have to be. Stuff like that.”

“呃，你能長多大，你必須是什么顏色，諸如此類的事情。”

“Youre making this up， arent you？” asked Mog.

“你在瞎編，是吧？”莫格問道。

“Yeah，” I said.

“是的?！蔽艺f。

At last， we got to the middle of the forest. At least， I think it was the middle of the forest， but its difficult to say exactly. There was a clearing， a big space where there were no trees. In the middle of the clearing was the king of the pumpkins. I think it was the king of the pumpkins. It looked like a man at first. He was quite tall and had legs and arms made from sticks. He was wearing an old black coat. His head was a pumpkin. His head was the biggest pumpkin I had ever seen. Me and Mog went up close to him. He didnt say anything.

終于，我們來到了森林的中央。至少我認為那是森林的中央，但很難說清楚是不是。這是一片空地，一個沒有樹的大空地，在空地中間的那個是南瓜王。我認為是南瓜王。一開始它看起來像個人，它很高，腿和胳膊都是用棍子做的，穿著一件舊的黑色外套，頭是個南瓜。它的頭是我見過的最大的南瓜。我和莫格走近它，它什么也沒說。

“Is that it？” asked Mog.

“是它嗎？”莫格問道。

“I guess so，” I said.

“我想是的?！蔽艺f。

“Disappointing18，” said Mog.

“真令人失望?！蹦裾f。

“Do you think hes the real king of the pumpkins？” I asked Mog.

“你覺得它是真正的南瓜王嗎？”我問莫格。

“Who knows？” answered the cat.

“誰知道呢？”貓回答說。

As we walked back along the path out of the forest， I started to think about what was real and what was not. Could things that were made up also be true？ What was the difference between “story” and “history”？ One is real and the other isnt—is that it？

當我們沿著走出森林的小路往回走時，我開始思考什么是真的，什么不是。編出來的東西也可能是真的嗎？“故事”和“歷史”有什么區別？一個是真的，另一個不是——是嗎？

“What about all those other things that Mother talks about？ Do you think theyre real？” I asked Mog.

“媽媽說的其他事情呢？你認為它們是真的嗎？”我問莫格。

“Hmm...Im not sure，” said Mog. “Those stories she tells sometimes...about why the night is black and the day is blue， about golden eggs and girls with golden hair， about why people have ten fingers， ten toes， two feet， two hands and two eyes...sometimes I think shes crazy， and sometimes I think she might be right...”

“嗯……我不確定。”莫格說，“她有時講的那些故事……關于為什么夜晚是黑色的，白天是藍色的，關于金色的雞蛋和金色頭發的女孩，關于為什么人們有十個手指、十個腳趾、兩只腳、兩只手和兩只眼睛……有時候我覺得她瘋了，有時候我覺得她可能是對的……”

I knew what Mog meant. I felt the same way. “Maybe the stories arent true，” I said， “but what they mean is.”

我知道莫格的意思，我也有同樣的感覺?！耙苍S這些故事不是真的，”我說，“但它們的內涵是真的?！?/p>

（英語原文選自：learnenglish.britishcouncil.org）

【Notes】

1. field ?n. 領域;牧場;曠野;草地; 田地

2. point ?vt. 指向;vi. 表明;指向

3. worth ?adj. 值……的

4. win ?vi. 贏;獲勝;成功

5. stupid ?adj. 愚蠢的;麻木的;乏味的

6. curious ?adj. 好奇的，有求知欲的;古怪的

7. nonsense ?n. 胡說;廢話

8. unicorn ?n. 獨角獸;麒麟

9. gnome ?n. 小矮人;土地神;格言

10. trunk ?n. 樹干;軀干;象鼻

11. witch ?n. 巫婆，女巫

12. regular ?adj. 定期的;有規律的;合格的;整齊的;普通的

13. wolf ?n. 狼

14. howl ?v. （狗、狼等）嚎叫

15. narrow ?adj. 狹窄的，有限的

16. punish ?vt. 懲罰

17. rule ?v. 統治，管理;支配;規定

18. disappointing ?adj. 令人失望的;令人掃興的