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Grahem The wind in the willows (a whole book), The Wind in the Willows (8)

The Wind in the Willows (8)

The floor was well-worn red brick, and on the wide hearth burnt a fire of logs, between two attractive chimney-corners tucked away in the wall, well out of any suspicion of draught. A couple of high-backed settles, facing each other on either side of the fire, gave further sitting accommodations for the sociably disposed. In the middle of the room stood a long table of plain boards placed on trestles, with benches down each side. At one end of it, where an arm-chair stood pushed back, were spread the remains of the Badger's plain but ample supper. Rows of spotless plates winked from the shelves of the dresser at the far end of the room, and from the rafters overhead hung hams, bundles of dried herbs, nets of onions, and baskets of eggs. It seemed a place where heroes could fitly feast after victory, where weary harvesters could line up in scores along the table and keep their Harvest Home with mirth and song, or where two or three friends of simple tastes could sit about as they pleased and eat and smoke and talk in comfort and contentment. The ruddy brick floor smiled up at the smoky ceiling; the oaken settles, shiny with long wear, exchanged cheerful glances with each other; plates on the dresser grinned at pots on the shelf, and the merry firelight flickered and played over everything without distinction.

The kindly Badger thrust them down on a settle to toast themselves at the fire, and bade them remove their wet coats and boots. Then he fetched them dressing-gowns and slippers, and himself bathed the Mole's shin with warm water and mended the cut with sticking-plaster, till the whole thing was just as good as new, if not better. In the embracing light and warmth, warm and dry at last, with weary legs propped up in front of them, and a suggestive clink of plates being arranged on the table behind, it seemed to the storm-driven animals, now in safe anchorage, that the cold and trackless Wild Wood just left outside was miles and miles away, and all that they had suffered in it a half-forgotten dream.

When at last they were thoroughly toasted, the Badger summoned them to the table, where he had been busy laying a repast. They had felt pretty hungry before, but when they actually saw at last the supper that was spread for them, really it seemed only a question of what they should attack first where all was so attractive, and whether the other things would obligingly wait for them till they had time to give them attention. Conversation was impossible for a long time; and when it was slowly resumed, it was that regrettable sort of conversation that results from talking with your mouth full. The Badger did not mind that sort of thing at all, nor did he take any notice of elbows on the table, or everybody speaking at once. As he did not go into Society himself, he had got an idea that these things belonged to the things that didn't really matter. (We know of course that he was wrong, and took too narrow a view; because they do matter very much, though it would take too long to explain why.) He sat in his arm-chair at the head of the table, and nodded gravely at intervals as the animals told their story; and he did not seem surprised or shocked at anything, and he never said, "I told you so," or, "Just what I always said," or remarked that they ought to have done so-and-so, or ought not to have done something else. The Mole began to feel very friendly towards him.

When supper was really finished at last, and each animal felt that his skin was now as tight as was decently safe, and that by this time he didn't care a hang for anybody or anything, they gathered round the glowing embers of the great wood fire, and thought how jolly it was to be sitting up so late, and so independent, and so full; and after they had chatted for a time about things in general, the Badger said heartily, "Now then! tell us the news from your part of the world. How's old Toad going on?"

"Oh, from bad to worse," said the Rat gravely, while the Mole, cocked up on a settle and basking in the firelight, his heels higher than his head, tried to look properly mournful. "Another smash-up only last week, and a bad one. You see, he will insist on driving himself, and he's hopelessly incapable. If he'd only employ a decent, steady, well-trained animal, pay him good wages, and leave everything to him, he'd get on all right. But no; he's convinced he's a heaven-born driver, and nobody can teach him anything; and all the rest follows."

"How many has he had?" inquired the Badger gloomily.

"Smashes, or machines?" asked the Rat. "Oh, well, after all, it's the same thing—with Toad. This is the seventh. As for the others—you know that coach-house of his? Well, it's piled up—literally piled up to the roof—with fragments of motor-cars, none of them bigger than your hat! That accounts for the other six—so far as they can be accounted for."

"He's been in hospital three times," put in the Mole; "and as for the fines he's had to pay, it's simply awful to think of."

"Yes, and that's part of the trouble," continued the Rat. "Toad's rich, we all know; but he's not a millionaire. And he's a hopelessly bad driver, and quite regardless of law and order. Killed or ruined—it's got to be one of the two things, sooner or later. Badger! we're his friends—oughtn't we to do something?"

The Badger went through a bit of hard thinking. "Now look here!" he said at last, rather severely; "of course you know I can't do anything now?"

His two friends assented, quite understanding his point. No animal, according to the rules of animal etiquette, is ever expected to do anything strenuous, or heroic, or even moderately active during the off-season of winter. All are sleepy—some actually asleep. All are weather-bound, more or less; and all are resting from arduous days and nights, during which every muscle in them has been severely tested, and every energy kept at full stretch.

"Very well then!" continued the Badger. "But, when once the year has really turned, and the nights are shorter, and half-way through them one rouses and feels fidgety and wanting to be up and doing by sunrise, if not before—you know!—"

Both animals nodded gravely. They knew!

"Well, then," went on the Badger, "we—that is, you and me and our friend the Mole here—we'll take Toad seriously in hand. We'll stand no nonsense whatever. We'll bring him back to reason, by force if need be. We'll make him be a sensible Toad. We'll—you're asleep, Rat!"

"Not me!" said the Rat, waking up with a jerk.

"He's been asleep two or three times since supper," said the Mole, laughing. He himself was feeling quite wakeful and even lively, though he didn't know why. The reason was, of course, that he being naturally an underground animal by birth and breeding, the situation of Badger's house exactly suited him and made him feel at home; while the Rat, who slept every night in a bedroom the windows of which opened on a breezy river, naturally felt the atmosphere still and oppressive.

"Well, it's time we were all in bed," said the Badger, getting up and fetching flat candlesticks. "Come along, you two, and I'll show you your quarters. And take your time to-morrow morning—breakfast at any hour you please!"

He conducted the two animals to a long room that seemed half bedchamber and half loft. The Badger's winter stores, which indeed were visible everywhere, took up half the room—piles of apples, turnips, and potatoes, baskets full of nuts, and jars of honey; but the two little white beds on the remainder of the floor looked soft and inviting, and the linen on them, though coarse, was clean and smelt beautifully of lavender; and the Mole and the Water Rat, shaking off their garments in some thirty seconds, tumbled in between the sheets in great joy and contentment.

In accordance with the kindly Badger's injunctions, the two tired animals came down to breakfast very late next morning, and found a bright fire burning in the kitchen, and two young hedgehogs sitting on a bench at the table, eating oatmeal porridge out of wooden bowls. The hedgehogs dropped their spoons, rose to their feet, and ducked their heads respectfully as the two entered.

"There, sit down, sit down," said the Rat pleasantly, "and go on with your porridge. Where have you youngsters come from? Lost your way in the snow, I suppose?"

"Yes, please, sir," said the elder of the two hedgehogs respectfully. "Me and little Billy here, we was trying to find our way to school—mother would have us go, was the weather ever so—and of course we lost ourselves, sir, and Billy he got frightened and took and cried, being young and faint-hearted. And at last we happened up against Mr. Badger's back door, and made so bold as to knock, sir, for Mr. Badger he's a kind-hearted gentleman, as every one knows—"

"I understand," said the Rat, cutting himself some rashers from a side of bacon, while the Mole dropped some eggs into a saucepan. "And what's the weather like outside? You needn't 'sir' me quite so much," he added.

"O, terrible bad, sir, terrible deep the snow is," said the hedgehog. "No getting out for the likes of you gentlemen to-day."

"Where's Mr. Badger?" inquired the Mole as he warmed the coffee-pot before the fire.

"The master's gone into his study, sir," replied the hedgehog, "and he said as how he was going to be particular busy this morning, and on no account was he to be disturbed."

This explanation, of course, was thoroughly understood by every one present. The fact is, as already set forth, when you live a life of intense activity for six months in the year, and of comparative or actual somnolence for the other six, during the latter period you cannot be continually pleading sleepiness when there are people about or things to be done. The excuse gets monotonous. The animals well knew that Badger, having eaten a hearty breakfast, had retired to his study and settled himself in an arm-chair with his legs up on another and a red cotton handkerchief over his face, and was being "busy" in the usual way at this time of the year.

The front-door bell clanged loudly, and the Rat, who was very greasy with buttered toast, sent Billy, the smaller hedgehog, to see who it might be. There was a sound of much stamping in the hall, and presently Billy returned in front of the Otter, who threw himself on the Rat with an embrace and a shout of affectionate greeting.

"Get off!" spluttered the Rat, with his mouth full.

"Thought I should find you here all right," said the Otter cheerfully. "They were all in a great state of alarm along River Bank when I arrived this morning. Rat never been home all night—nor Mole either—something dreadful must have happened, they said; and the snow had covered up all your tracks, of course. But I knew that when people were in any fix they mostly went to Badger, or else Badger got to know of it somehow, so I came straight off here, through the Wild Wood and the snow! My! it was fine, coming through the snow as the red sun was rising and showing against the black tree-trunks! As you went along in the stillness, every now and then masses of snow slid off the branches suddenly with a flop!

The Wind in the Willows (8) El viento en los sauces (8)

The floor was well-worn red brick, and on the wide hearth burnt a fire of logs, between two attractive chimney-corners tucked away in the wall, well out of any suspicion of draught. 地板是破舊的紅磚,寬大的壁爐上燃燒著一堆原木,壁爐的壁爐角藏在牆上,兩個迷人的煙囪角之間,完全沒有通風的嫌疑。 A couple of high-backed settles, facing each other on either side of the fire, gave further sitting accommodations for the sociably disposed. 爐火兩側相對的幾張高背長椅,為善於交際的人提供了更多的座位。 In the middle of the room stood a long table of plain boards placed on trestles, with benches down each side. 房間中央擺著一張長桌,桌上鋪著樸素的木板,放在支架上,兩邊各有一張長椅。 At one end of it, where an arm-chair stood pushed back, were spread the remains of the Badger's plain but ample supper. 房間的一端放著一張向後推開的扶手椅,上面鋪著獾吃過的簡單但豐盛的晚餐。 Rows of spotless plates winked from the shelves of the dresser at the far end of the room, and from the rafters overhead hung hams, bundles of dried herbs, nets of onions, and baskets of eggs. 房間盡頭梳妝台的架子上一排排一塵不染的盤子閃閃發光,頭頂的椽子上掛著火腿、一捆捆乾香草、一網洋蔥和一籃雞蛋。 It seemed a place where heroes could fitly feast after victory, where weary harvesters could line up in scores along the table and keep their Harvest Home with mirth and song, or where two or three friends of simple tastes could sit about as they pleased and eat and smoke and talk in comfort and contentment. 這裡似乎是英雄們勝利後可以盡情享用美食的地方,疲憊的收割者可以在桌子旁排成幾十列,歡聲笑語地守住豐收家園的地方,或者是兩三個口味簡單的朋友可以隨意坐下來吃飯的地方。舒適而滿足地抽煙、聊天。 The ruddy brick floor smiled up at the smoky ceiling; the oaken settles, shiny with long wear, exchanged cheerful glances with each other; plates on the dresser grinned at pots on the shelf, and the merry firelight flickered and played over everything without distinction. 紅潤的磚地板對著煙霧繚繞的天花板微笑。橡木長椅因長期磨損而閃閃發亮,彼此交換著愉快的眼神。梳妝台上的盤子對著架上的罐子微笑,歡快的火光閃爍著,毫無差別地照耀著一切。

The kindly Badger thrust them down on a settle to toast themselves at the fire, and bade them remove their wet coats and boots. 和藹可親的獾把他們推到一張長凳上,讓他們在火邊烤,並吩咐他們脫掉濕漉漉的外套和靴子。 Then he fetched them dressing-gowns and slippers, and himself bathed the Mole's shin with warm water and mended the cut with sticking-plaster, till the whole thing was just as good as new, if not better. 然後他拿來晨衣和拖鞋,自己用溫水給鼴鼠的小腿洗澡,並用橡皮膏修補傷口,直到整個東西即使不是更好,也和新的一樣。 In the embracing light and warmth, warm and dry at last, with weary legs propped up in front of them, and a suggestive clink of plates being arranged on the table behind, it seemed to the storm-driven animals, now in safe anchorage, that the cold and trackless Wild Wood just left outside was miles and miles away, and all that they had suffered in it a half-forgotten dream. 在擁抱光明和溫暖的環境中,終於溫暖和乾燥,疲倦的雙腿撐在前面,後面的桌子上擺著盤子,發出暗示性的叮噹聲,對於那些被暴風雨驅趕的動物來說,現在已經安全停泊了,剛離開的那片寒冷無路的荒林已經在數英里之外了,而他們在其中所遭受的一切就像是一個快要忘記的夢境。

When at last they were thoroughly toasted, the Badger summoned them to the table, where he had been busy laying a repast. 當他們終於被徹底烤熟後,獾把他們叫到桌邊,他一直在那裡忙著準備食物。 They had felt pretty hungry before, but when they actually saw at last the supper that was spread for them, really it seemed only a question of what they should attack first where all was so attractive, and whether the other things would obligingly wait for them till they had time to give them attention. 他們以前也覺得很餓了,但當他們終於看到為他們準備的晚餐時,真的似乎只是在這一切如此誘人的情況下先攻擊什麼,以及其他的東西是否會殷勤地等待他們的問題。直到他們有時間給予他們關注。 Conversation was impossible for a long time; and when it was slowly resumed, it was that regrettable sort of conversation that results from talking with your mouth full. 很長一段時間都無法交談。當它慢慢恢復時,這就是那種因嘴裡塞滿東西而說話而令人遺憾的對話。 The Badger did not mind that sort of thing at all, nor did he take any notice of elbows on the table, or everybody speaking at once. 獾根本不介意這種事情,他也沒有註意到桌子上的肘部,或者每個人同時說話。 As he did not go into Society himself, he had got an idea that these things belonged to the things that didn't really matter. 由於他自己沒有進入社會,所以他覺得這些東西屬於無關緊要的東西。 (We know of course that he was wrong, and took too narrow a view; because they do matter very much, though it would take too long to explain why.) (我們當然知道他錯了,而且觀點太狹隘;因為它們確實非常重要,儘管要花很長時間來解釋原因。) He sat in his arm-chair at the head of the table, and nodded gravely at intervals as the animals told their story; and he did not seem surprised or shocked at anything, and he never said, "I told you so," or, "Just what I always said," or remarked that they ought to have done so-and-so, or ought not to have done something else. 他坐在桌首的扶手椅上,聽著動物們說自己的故事,時不時嚴肅地點點頭。他似乎對任何事情都沒有感到驚訝或震驚,他從來沒有說過,“我告訴過你了”,或者,“就是我一直說的”,或者說他們應該做某事,或者不應該做某事做了其他事情。 The Mole began to feel very friendly towards him. 鼴鼠開始對他感到非常友善。

When supper was really finished at last, and each animal felt that his skin was now as tight as was decently safe, and that by this time he didn't care a hang for anybody or anything, they gathered round the glowing embers of the great wood fire, and thought how jolly it was to be sitting up so late, and so independent, and so full; and after they had chatted for a time about things in general, the Badger said heartily, "Now then! 當晚餐終於真正吃完的時候,每隻動物都覺得自己的皮膚現在已經很緊了,已經相當安全了,而且這時候他已經不在乎任何人或任何事了,它們聚集在偉大的發光餘燼周圍。燃著柴火,想著這麼晚了,如此獨立、如此充實地坐著是多麼快樂。他們就一般性的事情聊了一會兒之後,獾衷心地說:「那麼現在吧! tell us the news from your part of the world. 告訴我們您所在地區的新聞。 How's old Toad going on?"

"Oh, from bad to worse," said the Rat gravely, while the Mole, cocked up on a settle and basking in the firelight, his heels higher than his head, tried to look properly mournful. 「哦,情況越來越糟了,」河鼠嚴肅地說,而鼴鼠則豎起起身子,沐浴在火光中,腳跟高過頭,試圖表現出適當的悲傷。 "Another smash-up only last week, and a bad one. 「上週又發生了一起車禍,而且是一場糟糕的車禍。 You see, he will insist on driving himself, and he's hopelessly incapable. 你看,他一定要自己開車,而且他無能為力。 If he'd only employ a decent, steady, well-trained animal, pay him good wages, and leave everything to him, he'd get on all right. 如果他只僱用一頭體面、穩定、訓練有素的動物,付給他豐厚的工資,並將一切都交給他,他就會過得很好。 But no; he's convinced he's a heaven-born driver, and nobody can teach him anything; and all the rest follows." 但不是;他堅信自己是天生的車手,沒有人可以教他任何事;其餘的都隨之而來。”

"How many has he had?" inquired the Badger gloomily. 獾陰沉地問。

"Smashes, or machines?" “粉碎,還是機器?” asked the Rat. "Oh, well, after all, it's the same thing—with Toad. This is the seventh. As for the others—you know that coach-house of his? 至於其他人──你知道他的那個馬車房嗎? Well, it's piled up—literally piled up to the roof—with fragments of motor-cars, none of them bigger than your hat! 好吧,它堆滿了——實際上堆到了屋頂——汽車碎片,沒有一個比你的帽子大! That accounts for the other six—so far as they can be accounted for." 這就是其他六個的原因——就其所能解釋的範圍而言。”

"He's been in hospital three times," put in the Mole; "and as for the fines he's had to pay, it's simply awful to think of." 「他已經住過三次醫院了,」鼴鼠插話道。 “至於他必須支付的罰款,想想就太可怕了。”

"Yes, and that's part of the trouble," continued the Rat. 「是的,這就是麻煩的一部分,」河鼠繼續說道。 "Toad's rich, we all know; but he's not a millionaire. 「我們都知道,蟾蜍很富有;但他不是百萬富翁。 And he's a hopelessly bad driver, and quite regardless of law and order. 而且他是個無可救藥的壞司機,完全不顧法律和秩序。 Killed or ruined—it's got to be one of the two things, sooner or later. 被殺或被毀-遲早必須是這兩件事之一。 Badger! we're his friends—oughtn't we to do something?"

The Badger went through a bit of hard thinking. "Now look here!" he said at last, rather severely; "of course you know I can't do anything now?" 他最後說道,語氣相當嚴厲。 “你當然知道我現在什麼也做不了?”

His two friends assented, quite understanding his point. 他的兩個朋友也同意了,很理解他的意思。 No animal, according to the rules of animal etiquette, is ever expected to do anything strenuous, or heroic, or even moderately active during the off-season of winter. 根據動物禮儀規則,任何動物都不應該在冬季淡季做任何艱苦的、英勇的、甚至是適度的活動。 All are sleepy—some actually asleep. 所有人都困了——有些人實際上已經睡著了。 All are weather-bound, more or less; and all are resting from arduous days and nights, during which every muscle in them has been severely tested, and every energy kept at full stretch. 一切或多或少都受到天氣的影響;所有人都在辛苦的日日夜夜中休息,每一塊肌肉都受到了嚴峻的考驗,每一分精力都處於充分伸展狀態。

"Very well then!" continued the Badger. "But, when once the year has really turned, and the nights are shorter, and half-way through them one rouses and feels fidgety and wanting to be up and doing by sunrise, if not before—you know!—" 「但是,當一年真正到來時,夜晚變得更短,中途人們會醒來並感到煩躁,想要在日出之前起床做事,如果不是在——你知道的!——”

Both animals nodded gravely. 兩隻動物都認真地點點頭。 They knew!

"Well, then," went on the Badger, "we—that is, you and me and our friend the Mole here—we'll take Toad seriously in hand. 「那麼,」獾繼續說道,「我們——也就是說,你、我和我們的鼴鼠朋友——我們會認真對待蟾蜍。 We'll stand no nonsense whatever. We'll bring him back to reason, by force if need be. We'll make him be a sensible Toad. We'll—you're asleep, Rat!"

"Not me!" said the Rat, waking up with a jerk. 河鼠猛地驚醒,說。

"He's been asleep two or three times since supper," said the Mole, laughing. 「晚餐後他已經睡了兩三次了。」鼴鼠笑著說。 He himself was feeling quite wakeful and even lively, though he didn't know why. 他自己感覺很清醒,甚至很活躍,但他不知道為什麼。 The reason was, of course, that he being naturally an underground animal by birth and breeding, the situation of Badger's house exactly suited him and made him feel at home; while the Rat, who slept every night in a bedroom the windows of which opened on a breezy river, naturally felt the atmosphere still and oppressive. 當然,因為他天生就是地下動物,獾家的環境正好適合他,讓他有賓至如歸的感覺;而老鼠每晚睡在臥室裡,窗戶開著,河面微風徐徐,自然感到氣氛沉悶而壓抑。

"Well, it's time we were all in bed," said the Badger, getting up and fetching flat candlesticks. 「好吧,我們都該上床睡覺了,」獾說著,站起來拿來扁平燭台。 "Come along, you two, and I'll show you your quarters. 「你們兩個來吧,我帶你們看看你們的住處。 And take your time to-morrow morning—breakfast at any hour you please!" 明天早上慢慢來——任何時間都可以吃早餐!”

He conducted the two animals to a long room that seemed half bedchamber and half loft. 他帶領兩隻動物來到一個長長的房間,看起來一半是臥室,一半是閣樓。 The Badger's winter stores, which indeed were visible everywhere, took up half the room—piles of apples, turnips, and potatoes, baskets full of nuts, and jars of honey; but the two little white beds on the remainder of the floor looked soft and inviting, and the linen on them, though coarse, was clean and smelt beautifully of lavender; and the Mole and the Water Rat, shaking off their garments in some thirty seconds, tumbled in between the sheets in great joy and contentment. 獾的冬季儲備確實隨處可見,佔據了半個房間——成堆的蘋果、蘿蔔和土豆,裝滿堅果的籃子,還有罐裝蜂蜜;但地板其餘部分的兩張白色小床看起來柔軟而誘人,床上的床單雖然粗糙,但很乾淨,聞起來有淡淡的薰衣草味。鼴鼠和水鼠在大約三十秒內脫掉了衣服,非常高興和滿足地在床單之間翻滾。

In accordance with the kindly Badger's injunctions, the two tired animals came down to breakfast very late next morning, and found a bright fire burning in the kitchen, and two young hedgehogs sitting on a bench at the table, eating oatmeal porridge out of wooden bowls. 按照好心的獾的吩咐,第二天一早,兩隻疲憊的動物下樓吃早餐,發現廚房裡生著熊熊的火,兩隻小刺猬坐在桌邊的長凳上,吃著木碗裡的燕麥粥。 。 The hedgehogs dropped their spoons, rose to their feet, and ducked their heads respectfully as the two entered. 當兩人進來時,刺蝟們放下了勺子,站了起來,恭敬地低下了頭。

"There, sit down, sit down," said the Rat pleasantly, "and go on with your porridge. 「那兒,坐下,坐下,」河鼠愉快地說,「繼續喝粥吧。 Where have you youngsters come from? Lost your way in the snow, I suppose?"

"Yes, please, sir," said the elder of the two hedgehogs respectfully. 「是的,先生,」兩隻刺蝟中年長的恭敬地說。 "Me and little Billy here, we was trying to find our way to school—mother would have us go, was the weather ever so—and of course we lost ourselves, sir, and Billy he got frightened and took and cried, being young and faint-hearted. 「我和小比利在這裡,我們正試圖找到去學校的路——無論天氣如何,媽媽都會讓我們去的——當然,我們迷失了自己,先生,比利被嚇壞了,帶走了,哭了,因為他還年輕。和膽怯。 And at last we happened up against Mr. Badger's back door, and made so bold as to knock, sir, for Mr. Badger he's a kind-hearted gentleman, as every one knows—" 最後,我們碰巧碰到了獾先生的後門,我們大膽地敲了門,先生,因為獾先生是一位心地善良的紳士,眾所周知——”

"I understand," said the Rat, cutting himself some rashers from a side of bacon, while the Mole dropped some eggs into a saucepan. 「我明白,」河鼠說著,從培根的一邊給自己切了幾片,而鼴鼠則把一些雞蛋扔進了平底鍋裡。 "And what's the weather like outside? You needn't 'sir' me quite so much," he added.

"O, terrible bad, sir, terrible deep the snow is," said the hedgehog. 「哦,太糟糕了,先生,雪太深了,」刺蝟說。 "No getting out for the likes of you gentlemen to-day." “像你們這樣的先生們,今天不准出去。”

"Where's Mr. Badger?" inquired the Mole as he warmed the coffee-pot before the fire. 鼴鼠一邊在火邊加熱咖啡壺一邊問。

"The master's gone into his study, sir," replied the hedgehog, "and he said as how he was going to be particular busy this morning, and on no account was he to be disturbed." “先生,主人已經進書房了,”刺猬回答道,“他說今天早上會特別忙,無論如何都不能打擾他。”

This explanation, of course, was thoroughly understood by every one present. 這個解釋,當然在場的每一個人都聽明白了。 The fact is, as already set forth, when you live a life of intense activity for six months in the year, and of comparative or actual somnolence for the other six, during the latter period you cannot be continually pleading sleepiness when there are people about or things to be done. 事實是,正如已經闡述的那樣,當你一年中有六個月過著劇烈活動的生活,而另外六個月則相對或實際嗜睡時,在後一個時期,當周圍有人時,你不能不斷地藉口困倦。或要做的事情。 The excuse gets monotonous. 藉口變得單調。 The animals well knew that Badger, having eaten a hearty breakfast, had retired to his study and settled himself in an arm-chair with his legs up on another and a red cotton handkerchief over his face, and was being "busy" in the usual way at this time of the year. 動物們很清楚,獾吃完豐盛的早餐後,已經回到書房,坐在一張扶手椅上,雙腿搭在另一把椅子上,臉上蒙著一塊紅色棉手帕,正像往常一樣“忙碌」。每年的這個時候。

The front-door bell clanged loudly, and the Rat, who was very greasy with buttered toast, sent Billy, the smaller hedgehog, to see who it might be. 前門的鈴聲叮噹作響,塗了黃油的吐司弄得很油膩的老鼠派小刺猬比利去看看是誰。 There was a sound of much stamping in the hall, and presently Billy returned in front of the Otter, who threw himself on the Rat with an embrace and a shout of affectionate greeting. 大廳傳來了一陣跺腳的聲音,不久比利回到了水獺面前,水獺撲到了老鼠身上,擁抱了老鼠,大聲喊出了深情的問候。

"Get off!" spluttered the Rat, with his mouth full. 河鼠嘴裡塞滿了東西,結結巴巴地說。

"Thought I should find you here all right," said the Otter cheerfully. 「我想我應該在這裡找到你,」水獺高興地說。 "They were all in a great state of alarm along River Bank when I arrived this morning. 「當我今天早上到達時,河岸沿岸的人們都處於高度警戒的狀態。 Rat never been home all night—nor Mole either—something dreadful must have happened, they said; and the snow had covered up all your tracks, of course. 老鼠整夜都沒回家──鼴鼠也沒有──他們說一定發生了可怕的事;當然,雪已經掩蓋了你所有的足跡。 But I knew that when people were in any fix they mostly went to Badger, or else Badger got to know of it somehow, so I came straight off here, through the Wild Wood and the snow! 但我知道,當人們陷入困境時,他們大多會去找獾,或者獾會以某種方式知道這件事,所以我直接從這裡出發,穿過荒林和雪地! My! it was fine, coming through the snow as the red sun was rising and showing against the black tree-trunks! 天氣很好,紅色的太陽正在升起,映襯在黑色的樹幹上,穿過雪地! As you went along in the stillness, every now and then masses of snow slid off the branches suddenly with a flop! 在寂靜中前行,時不時地,大片大片的雪突然從樹枝上「撲通」地滑落!