草丛里的蝈蝈
《The Wind in the Willows》选摘
之前看周作人的《雨天集》，里面提到《柳林风声》，想到真的没有好好读过，再读一遍。
PH说的没错，童话就是写给大人看的。
里面提到动物界的法则，明明也是人类的法则。
~🍃~
It all seemed too good to be true. Hither and thither through the meadows he rambled busily, along the hedgerows, across the copses, finding everywhere birds building, flowers budding, leaves thrusting—everything happy, and progressive, and occupied. And instead of having an uneasy conscience pricking him and whispering ‘whitewash!’ he somehow could only feel how jolly it was to be the only idle dog among all these busy citizens. After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working.
一切都那么美好，好得简直不像是真的。他跑过一片又一片的草坪，沿着矮树篱，穿过灌木丛，匆匆地游逛。处处都看到鸟儿做窝筑巢，花儿含苞待放，叶儿挤挤嚷嚷——万物都显得快乐，忙碌，奋进。他听不到良心在耳边嘀咕：“刷墙！”只觉得，在一大群忙忙碌碌的公民当中，做一只唯一的懒狗，是多么惬意。看来，过休假日最舒心的方面，还不是自己得到休憩，而是看到别人都在忙着干活。
~🍃~
‘And beyond the Wild Wood again?’ he asked: ‘Where it’s all blue and dim, and one sees what may be hills or perhaps they mayn’t, and something like the smoke of towns, or is it only cloud-drift?’
‘Beyond the Wild Wood comes the Wide World,’ said the Rat. ‘And that’s something that doesn’t matter, either to you or me. I’ve never been there, and I’m never going, nor you either, if you’ve got any sense at all. Don’t ever refer to it again, please. Now then! Here’s our backwater at last, where we’re going to lunch.’
“那么，在野林以外远远的地方，又是什么？”他问，“就是那个蓝蓝的、模模糊糊的地方，也许是山，也许不是山，有点像城市里的炊烟，或者只是飘动的浮云？”
“在野林外边，就是大世界，”河鼠说。“那地方，跟你我都不相干。那儿我从没去过，也不打算去；你要是头脑清醒，也决不要去。以后请别再提它。好啦，咱们的静水湾到了，该在这儿吃午饭了。”
~🍃~
The Mole knew well that it is quite against animal-etiquette to dwell on possible trouble ahead, or even to allude to it; so he dropped the subject.
鼹鼠知道，老是谈论将来可能发生的麻烦事，哪怕只提一下，都不合乎动物界的礼仪规范，所以，他抛开了这个话题。
~🍃~
The Rat hummed a tune, and the Mole recollected that animal-etiquette forbade any sort of comment on the sudden disappearance of one’s friends at any moment, for any reason or no reason whatever.
河鼠哼起了一支小曲儿。鼹鼠想起，按动物界的规矩，要是你的朋友突然离去，不管有理由还是没理由，你都不该随便议论。
~🍃~
The Mole was so touched by his kind manner of speaking that he could find no voice to answer him; and he had to brush away a tear or two with the back of his paw. But the Rat kindly looked in another direction, and presently the Mole’s spirits revived again, and he was even able to give some straight back-talk to a couple of moorhens who were sniggering to each other about his bedraggled appearance.
When they got home, the Rat made a bright fire in the parlour, and planted the Mole in an arm-chair in front of it, having fetched down a dressing-gown and slippers for him, and told him river stories till supper-time. Very thrilling stories they were, too, to an earth-dwelling animal like Mole. Stories about weirs, and sudden floods, and leaping pike, and steamers that flung hard bottles—at least bottles were certainly flung, and FROM steamers, so presumably BY them; and about herons, and how particular they were whom they spoke to; and about adventures down drains, and night-fishings with Otter, or excursions far a-field with Badger. Supper was a most cheerful meal; but very shortly afterwards a terribly sleepy Mole had to be escorted upstairs by his considerate host, to the best bedroom, where he soon laid his head on his pillow in great peace and contentment, knowing that his new-found friend the River was lapping the sill of his window.
This day was only the first of many similar ones for the emancipated Mole, each of them longer and full of interest as the ripening summer moved onward. He learnt to swim and to row, and entered into the joy of running water; and with his ear to the reed-stems he caught, at intervals, something of what the wind went whispering so constantly among them.
这番亲切体贴的话，感动得鼹鼠说不出话来，只用爪子背儿抹去一两滴眼泪。可是善解人意的河鼠把眼光移向了别处。不一会儿，鼹鼠的情绪缓过来了。当两只松鸡互相唧喳嘲笑他那副狼狈相时，他竟能和他们顶起嘴来。
回到家，河鼠在客厅里升起一炉熊熊的火，给鼹鼠拿来一件晨衣，一双拖鞋，把他安顿在炉前一张扶手椅上，然后给他讲河上的种种趣闻轶事，直到吃晚饭。鼹鼠是一只陆上动物，河上的故事在他听来是十分惊险有趣的。河鼠讲到拦河坝；讲到突发的山洪；讲到跳跃的狗鱼；还有乱扔硬梆梆的瓶子的汽船——扔瓶子是确有其事，而且是由汽船那边扔下来的，因此可以推断，是汽船扔的——还有苍鹭，他们跟别人说话时盛气凌人；还有钻进排水阴沟的探险；还有同水獭一道夜间捉鱼，或者跟獾一道在田野里远足。晚饭吃得痛快极了，可是饭后不多会儿鼹鼠就瞌睡得不行，于是殷勤周到的主人只好把他送到楼上一间讲究的卧室里。鼹鼠马上一头倒住枕头上，感到非常安宁和满意。他知道，他的那位新结识的朋友——大河——在不断轻轻拍打着他的窗棂。
对于新从地下居室解放出来的鼹鼠，这一天，只是一连串相伴的日子的开端。随着万物生长成熟的盛夏的来临，白昼一天比一天长，也一天比一天过得更有趣。他学会了游泳，划船，尝到了与流水嬉戏的甜头。他把耳朵贴近芦苇杆时，有时会偷听到风在芦苇丛里的窃窃私语。
~🍃~
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.
地板是红砖铺的，已经踩得很旧，宽大的壁炉里，燃着木柴，两副很可爱的炉边，深深固定在墙里，冷风绝不会倒刮进来。壁炉两边，面对面摆着一对高背长凳，是专为喜好围炉长谈的客人准备的。厨房正中，立着一张架在支架上不曾上漆的木板长桌，两边摆着长凳。餐桌的一端，一张扶手椅已推回原位，桌上还摊着獾先生吃剩的晚餐，饭菜平常，但很丰盛。厨房的一端，柜橱上摆着一摞摞一尘不染的盘碟，冲人眨着眼；头上的椽子上面，吊挂着一只只火腿，一捆捆干菜，一兜兜葱头，一筐筐鸡蛋。这地方，很适合凯旋归来的英雄们欢聚饮宴；疲劳的庄稼汉好几十人围坐桌旁，开怀畅饮，放声高歌，来欢庆丰收；而富有雅兴的二三好友也可以随便坐坐，舒心惬意地吃喝、抽烟、聊天。赭红的砖地，朝着烟雾缭绕的天花板微笑；使用日久磨得锃亮的橡木长凳，愉快地互相对视；食橱上的盘碟，冲着碗架上的锅盆咧嘴大笑；而那炉欢畅的柴火，闪烁跳跃，把自己的光一视同仁地照亮了屋里所有的东西。
和善的獾把他俩推到一张高背长凳上坐下，让他们向火，又叫他们脱下湿衣湿靴。他给他们拿来晨衣和拖鞋，并且亲自用温水给鼹鼠洗小腿，用胶布贴住伤口，直到小腿变得完好如初。在光和热的怀抱里，他们终于感到干爽暖和了。他们把疲乏的腿高高伸在前面，听着背后的餐桌上杯盘诱人的丁当声，这两只饱受暴风雪袭击的动物，现在稳坐在安全的避风港。他们刚刚摆脱的又冷又没出路的野林，仿佛已经离他们老远老远，他们遭受的种种磨难，似乎都成了一个几乎忘掉的梦。
~🍃~
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.
两位朋友都同意他的话，因为他们理解他的苦衷。按照动物界的规矩，在冬闲季节，不能指望任何动物去做任何费劲的或者英勇的举动，哪怕只是比较活跃的举动。所有的动物都昏昏欲睡，有的真的在睡。所有的动物，多多少少都由于气候的关系，呆在家里，闭门不出。在前一段时间，所有的动物全身的肌肉都绷得紧紧的，体力都耗费到极度。所以，经过前一段日日夜夜的辛勤劳动后，所有的动物都歇了下来。
~🍃~
‘Who can tell?’ said the Badger. ‘People come—they stay for a while, they flourish, they build—and they go. It is their way. But we remain. There were badgers here, I’ve been told, long before that same city ever came to be. And now there are badgers here again. We are an enduring lot, and we may move out for a time, but we wait, and are patient, and back we come. And so it will ever be.’
“谁知道呢？”獾说。“人们来了，繁荣兴旺了一阵子，大兴土木——过后又离开了。他们照例总是这样来来去去。可我们始终留下不走。听说，在那座城池出现很久很久以前，这儿就有獾。如今呢，这儿还是有獾。我们是一批长住的动物。我们也许会迁出一段时间，可我们总是耐心等待，过后又迁回来了。永远是这样。”
~🎄~
It was a pretty sight, and a seasonable one, that met their eyes when they flung the door open. In the fore-court, lit by the dim rays of a horn lantern, some eight or ten little fieldmice stood in a semicircle, red worsted comforters round their throats, their fore-paws thrust deep into their pockets, their feet jigging for warmth. With bright beady eyes they glanced shyly at each other, sniggering a little, sniffing and applying coat-sleeves a good deal. As the door opened, one of the elder ones that carried the lantern was just saying, ‘Now then, one, two, three!’ and forthwith their shrill little voices uprose on the air, singing one of the old-time carols that their forefathers composed in fields that were fallow and held by frost, or when snow-bound in chimney corners, and handed down to be sung in the miry street to lamp-lit windows at Yule-time.
他们一下子把门打开，眼前呈现出一幅美丽动人的节日景象。前庭里，在一盏牛角灯笼的幽光照耀下，八只或十只小田鼠排成半圆形站着，每人脖子上围着红色羊毛长围巾，前爪深深插进衣袋，脚丫子轻轻跺着地面保暖。珠子般的亮眼睛，腼腆地互视了一眼，窃笑了一声，抽了抽鼻子，又把衣袖拽了好一阵子。大门打开时，那个提灯笼的年纪大些的田鼠喊了声“预备——一、二、三！”跟着尖细的小嗓就一齐唱了起来，唱的是一首古老的圣诞歌。这首歌，是他们的祖辈们在冰霜覆盖的休耕地里，或者在大雪封门的炉边创作的，一代又一代传了下来。每逢圣诞节，田鼠们就站在泥泞的街道上，对着灯光明亮的窗子，唱这些圣诗。
~🎄~
The voices ceased, the singers, bashful but smiling, exchanged sidelong glances, and silence succeeded—but for a moment only. Then, from up above and far away, down the tunnel they had so lately travelled was borne to their ears in a faint musical hum the sound of distant bells ringing a joyful and clangorous peal.
‘Very well sung, boys!’ cried the Rat heartily. ‘And now come along in, all of you, and warm yourselves by the fire, and have something hot!’
‘Yes, come along, field-mice,’ cried the Mole eagerly. ‘This is quite like old times! Shut the door after you. Pull up that settle to the fire. Now, you just wait a minute, while we—O, Ratty!’ he cried in despair, plumping down on a seat, with tears impending. ‘Whatever are we doing? We’ve nothing to give them!’
‘You leave all that to me,’ said the masterful Rat. ‘Here, you with the lantern! Come over this way. I want to talk to you. Now, tell me, are there any shops open at this hour of the night?’
‘Why, certainly, sir,’ replied the field-mouse respectfully. ‘At this time of the year our shops keep open to all sorts of hours.’
‘Then look here!’ said the Rat. ‘You go off at once, you and your lantern, and you get me——’
Here much muttered conversation ensued, and the Mole only heard bits of it, such as—‘Fresh, mind!—no, a pound of that will do—see you get Buggins’s, for I won’t have any other—no, only the best—if you can’t get it there, try somewhere else—yes, of course, home-made, no tinned stuff—well then, do the best you can!’ Finally, there was a chink of coin passing from paw to paw, the field-mouse was provided with an ample basket for his purchases, and off he hurried, he and his lantern.
The rest of the field-mice, perched in a row on the settle, their small legs swinging, gave themselves up to enjoyment of the fire, and toasted their chilblains till they tingled; while the Mole, failing to draw them into easy conversation, plunged into family history and made each of them recite the names of his numerous brothers, who were too young, it appeared, to be allowed to go out a-carolling this year, but looked forward very shortly to winning the parental consent.
The Rat, meanwhile, was busy examining the label on one of the beer-bottles. ‘I perceive this to be Old Burton,’ he remarked approvingly. ‘SENSIBLE Mole! The very thing! Now we shall be able to mull some ale! Get the things ready, Mole, while I draw the corks.’
It did not take long to prepare the brew and thrust the tin heater well into the red heart of the fire; and soon every field-mouse was sipping and coughing and choking (for a little mulled ale goes a long way) and wiping his eyes and laughing and forgetting he had ever been cold in all his life.
‘They act plays too, these fellows,’ the Mole explained to the Rat. ‘Make them up all by themselves, and act them afterwards. And very well they do it, too! They gave us a capital one last year, about a field-mouse who was captured at sea by a Barbary corsair, and made to row in a galley; and when he escaped and got home again, his lady-love had gone into a convent. Here, YOU! You were in it, I remember. Get up and recite a bit.’
The field-mouse addressed got up on his legs, giggled shyly, looked round the room, and remained absolutely tongue-tied. His comrades cheered him on, Mole coaxed and encouraged him, and the Rat went so far as to take him by the shoulders and shake him; but nothing could overcome his stage-fright. They were all busily engaged on him like watermen applying the Royal Humane Society’s regulations to a case of long submersion, when the latch clicked, the door opened, and the field-mouse with the lantern reappeared, staggering under the weight of his basket.
There was no more talk of play-acting once the very real and solid contents of the basket had been tumbled out on the table. Under the generalship of Rat, everybody was set to do something or to fetch something. In a very few minutes supper was ready, and Mole, as he took the head of the table in a sort of a dream, saw a lately barren board set thick with savoury comforts; saw his little friends’ faces brighten and beam as they fell to without delay; and then let himself loose—for he was famished indeed—on the provender so magically provided, thinking what a happy home-coming this had turned out, after all. As they ate, they talked of old times, and the field-mice gave him the local gossip up to date, and answered as well as they could the hundred questions he had to ask them. The Rat said little or nothing, only taking care that each guest had what he wanted, and plenty of it, and that Mole had no trouble or anxiety about anything.
They clattered off at last, very grateful and showering wishes of the season, with their jacket pockets stuffed with remembrances for the small brothers and sisters at home. When the door had closed on the last of them and the chink of the lanterns had died away, Mole and Rat kicked the fire up, drew their chairs in, brewed themselves a last nightcap of mulled ale, and discussed the events of the long day. At last the Rat, with a tremendous yawn, said, ‘Mole, old chap, I’m ready to drop. Sleepy is simply not the word. That your own bunk over on that side? Very well, then, I’ll take this. What a ripping little house this is! Everything so handy!’
He clambered into his bunk and rolled himself well up in the blankets, and slumber gathered him forthwith, as a swathe of barley is folded into the arms of the reaping machine.
The weary Mole also was glad to turn in without delay, and soon had his head on his pillow, in great joy and contentment. But ere he closed his eyes he let them wander round his old room, mellow in the glow of the firelight that played or rested on familiar and friendly things which had long been unconsciously a part of him, and now smilingly received him back, without rancour. He was now in just the frame of mind that the tactful Rat had quietly worked to bring about in him. He saw clearly how plain and simple—how narrow, even—it all was; but clearly, too, how much it all meant to him, and the special value of some such anchorage in one’s existence. He did not at all want to abandon the new life and its splendid spaces, to turn his back on sun and air and all they offered him and creep home and stay there; the upper world was all too strong, it called to him still, even down there, and he knew he must return to the larger stage. But it was good to think he had this to come back to; this place which was all his own, these things which were so glad to see him again and could always be counted upon for the same simple welcome.
歌声停止了，歌手们忸怩地微笑着，相互斜睨一眼，然后是一片寂静——但只一会儿。接着，由远远的地面上，通过他们来时经过的隧道，隐隐传来嗡嗡的钟声，丁丁当当，奏起了一首欢快的乐曲。
“唱得太好了，孩子们！”河鼠热情地喊道。“都进屋来，烤烤火，暖和暖和，吃点热东西！”
“对，田鼠们，快进来，”鼹鼠忙喊道。“跟过去一个样！关上大门。把那条长凳挪到火边。现在，请稍候一下，等我们——唉，鼠儿！”他绝望地喊，颓然坐在椅子上，眼泪都快掉下来了。“咱们都干些什么呀？咱们没有东西请他们吃！”
“这个，就交给我吧，”主人气派十足的河鼠说。“喂，这位打灯笼的，你过来，我有话问你。告诉我，这个时辰，还有店铺开门吗？”
“当然，先生，”那只田鼠恭恭敬敬地回答。“每年这个季节，我们的店铺昼夜都开门。”
“那好！”河鼠说。“你马上打着灯笼去，给我买——”
接着他俩又低声嘀咕了一阵，鼹鼠只零星听到几句，什么——“注意，要新鲜的！——不，一磅就够了——一定要伯金斯的出品，别家的我不要——不，只要最好的——那家要是没有，试试别家——对，当然是要家制的，不要罐头——好吧，尽力而为吧！”然后，只听得一串丁当声，一把硬币从一只爪子落进另一只爪子，又递给田鼠一只购物的大篮子，于是田鼠提着灯笼，飞快地出去了。
其余的田鼠，在条凳上坐成一排，小腿儿悬挂着，前后摆动，尽情享受炉火的温暖。他们在火上烤脚上的冻疮，直烤得刺痒痒的。鼹鼠想引着他们无拘无束地谈话，可没成功，就讲起家史来，要他们逐个儿报自己那许多弟弟的名字、看来，他们的弟弟因为年纪还小，今年还不让出门唱圣诞歌，不过也许不久就能获得父母的恩准。
这时，河鼠在忙着细看啤酒瓶上的商标。“看得出来，这是老伯顿牌的，”他赞许地评论说。“鼹鼠很识货呀！是地道货！现在我们可以用它来调热甜酒了！鼹鼠，准备好家什，我来拔瓶塞。”
甜酒很快就调好了，于是把盛酒的锡壶深深插进红红的火焰里；不一会，每只田鼠都在啜着，咳着，呛着（因为一点点热甜酒劲头就够大的），又擦眼泪，又笑，忘记了他们这辈子曾经挨冻来着。
“这些小家伙还会演戏哩，”鼹鼠向河鼠介绍说。“戏全是由他们自编自演的。演得还真棒！去年，他们给我们演了一出精彩的戏，讲的是一只田鼠，在海上被北非的海盗船俘虏了，被迫在船舱里划桨。后来他逃了出来，回到家乡时，他心爱的姑娘却进了修道院。喂，你！你参加过演出的，我记得。站起来，给咱们朗诵一段台词吧。”
那只被点名的田鼠站起来，害羞地格格笑着，朝四周扫了一眼，却张口结舌，一句也念不出。同伴们给他打气，鼹鼠哄他，鼓励他，河鼠甚至抓住他的肩膀一个劲摇晃，可什么都不管用，他硬是摆脱不了上场昏。他们围着他团团转，就像一帮子水手，按照皇家溺水者营救协会的规则，抢救一个长时间溺水的人那样。这时，门闩卡嗒一声，门开了，打灯笼的田鼠被沉甸甸的篮子压得趔趔趄趄，走了进来。
等到篮子里那些实实在在的东西一股脑倾倒在餐桌上时，演戏的事就再也没人提了。在河鼠的调度下，每只动物都动手去干某件事或取某件东西。不消几分钟，晚饭就准备停当。鼹鼠仿佛做梦似的，在餐桌主位坐定，看到刚才还是空荡荡的桌面，现在堆满了美味佳肴，看到他的小朋友们个个喜形于色，迫不及待地狼吞虎咽，他自己也放开肚皮大嚼那些魔术般变出来的食物。他心想，这次回家，想不到结果竟如此圆满。他们边吃边谈，说些往事。田鼠们告诉他最近的当地新闻，还尽力回答他提出的上百个问题。河鼠很少说话，只关照客人们各得所需，多多享用，好让鼹鼠一切不必操心。
最后，田鼠们卿卿喳喳，一迭连声地道谢，又祝贺主人节日愉快，告辞离去了，他们的衣兜里都塞满了纪念品，那是带给家里的小弟妹们的。等送走最后一位客人，大门关上，灯笼的叮咚声渐渐远去时，鼹鼠和河鼠把炉火拨旺，拉过椅子来，给自己热好睡前的最后一杯甜酒，就议论起这长长的一天里发生的事情。末了，河鼠打了个大大的呵欠，说，“鼹鼠，老朋友，我实在累得要死啦。‘瞌睡’这个词儿远远不够了。你自己的床在那边是吧？那我就睡这张床了。这小屋真是妙极了！什么都特方便顺手！”
河鼠爬进他的床铺，用毯子把自己紧紧裹住，立刻沉入了梦乡的怀抱，就像一行大麦落进了收割机的怀抱一样。
倦乏的鼹鼠也巴不得快点睡觉，马上就把脑袋倒在枕头上，觉得非常舒心快意。不过在合眼之前，他还要环视一下自己的房间。在炉火的照耀下，这房间显得十分柔和温煦。火光闪烁，照亮了他所熟悉的友好的物件。这些东西早就不知不觉成了他的一部分，现在都在笑眯眯毫无怨言地欢迎他回来。他现在的心境，正是机敏的河鼠不声不响引他进入的那种状态。他清楚地看到，他的家是多么平凡简陋，多么狭小，可同时也清楚，它们对他有多么重要，在他的一生中，这样的一种避风港具有多么特殊的意义。他并不打算抛开新的生活和明朗的广阔天地，不打算离开阳光空气和它们赐予他的一切欢乐，爬到地下，呆在家里。地面世界的吸引力太强大了，就是在地下，也仍不断地召唤着他。他知道，他必须回到那个更大的舞台上去。不过，有这么个地方可以回归，总是件好事。这地方完全是属于他的，这些物件见到他总是欢天喜地，不管他什么时候回来，总会受到同样亲切的接待。
They set off up the road on their mission of mercy, Badger leading the way. Animals when in company walk in a proper and sensible manner, in single file, instead of sprawling all across the road and being of no use or support to each other in case of sudden trouble or danger.
他们出发上路，去执行一项行善的任务，獾在前领路。动物们在结伴同行时，总是采取一种适当而合理的走法，就是排成竖行，而不是横跨整个路面。因为如果那样走，在突遇麻烦或危险时，就不便互相支援协助。
~🍃~
They piled on more coals, shovelling furiously; the furnace roared, the sparks flew, the engine leapt and swung but still their pursuers slowly gained. The engine-driver, with a sigh, wiped his brow with a handful of cotton-waste, and said, ‘I’m afraid it’s no good, Toad. You see, they are running light, and they have the better engine. There’s just one thing left for us to do, and it’s your only chance, so attend very carefully to what I tell you. A short way ahead of us is a long tunnel, and on the other side of that the line passes through a thick wood. Now, I will put on all the speed I can while we are running through the tunnel, but the other fellows will slow down a bit, naturally, for fear of an accident. When we are through, I will shut off steam and put on brakes as hard as I can, and the moment it’s safe to do so you must jump and hide in the wood, before they get through the tunnel and see you. Then I will go full speed ahead again, and they can chase me if they like, for as long as they like, and as far as they like. Now mind and be ready to jump when I tell you!’
They piled on more coals, and the train shot into the tunnel, and the engine rushed and roared and rattled, till at last they shot out at the other end into fresh air and the peaceful moonlight, and saw the wood lying dark and helpful upon either side of the line. The driver shut off steam and put on brakes, the Toad got down on the step, and as the train slowed down to almost a walking pace he heard the driver call out, ‘Now, jump!’
Toad jumped, rolled down a short embankment, picked himself up unhurt, scrambled into the wood and hid.
Peeping out, he saw his train get up speed again and disappear at a great pace. Then out of the tunnel burst the pursuing engine, roaring and whistling, her motley crew waving their various weapons and shouting, ‘Stop! stop! stop!’ When they were past, the Toad had a hearty laugh—for the first time since he was thrown into prison.
他们一个劲儿往锅炉里添煤；炉火呼呼地吼，火花四溅，机车上下颠动，左右摇晃，可是追撵的机车还是渐渐逼近了。司机用废棉纱擦了擦额头，叹口气说：“这样怕不行，蟾蜍。你瞧，他们没有负重，跑起来轻快，而且他们的机车更优良。咱们只有一个法子，这是你逃脱的唯一机会，好好听我说。前方不远，有一条很长的隧道，过了隧道，路轨要穿过一座密林。过隧道时，我要加足马力，可后面的人因为怕出事故，会放慢速度。一过隧道，我就关汽，来个急刹车。等车速慢到可以安全跳车时，你就跳下去，在他们钻出隧道、看到你以前，跑进树林里藏起来。然后我再全速行驶，引他们来追我，随他们想追多久就追多远好啦。现在注意，做好准备，我叫你跳车，就跳！”
他们又添了些煤，火车像子弹一样射进隧洞，机车轰隆隆狂吼着往前直冲，末了，他们从隧道另一端射出来，又驶进新鲜空气和宁静的月光。只见那座树林横躺在路轨的两侧，显得非常乐意帮忙的样子。司机关上汽门，踩住刹车，蟾蜍站到踏板上，火车速减慢到差不多和步行一样时，他听到司机一声喊：“现在，跳！”
蟾蜍跳了下去，一骨碌滚过一段短短的路基，从地上爬起来，居然一点没伤着。他爬进树林，藏了起来。
他从树林里往外窥望，只见他坐的那辆火车又一次加速行进，转眼间就消失不见了。接着，从隧道里冲出那辆追车，咆哮着，尖声鸣着笛，车上那帮杂合人群摇晃着各自不同的武器，高喊“停车！停车！停车！”等他们驶了过去时，蟾蜍禁不住哈哈大笑——自打入狱以来，他还是第一次笑得这样痛快。
~🍃~
After this climax, the four animals continued to lead their lives, so rudely broken in upon by civil war, in great joy and contentment, undisturbed by further risings or invasions. Toad, after due consultation with his friends, selected a handsome gold chain and locket set with pearls, which he dispatched to the gaoler’s daughter with a letter that even the Badger admitted to be modest, grateful, and appreciative; and the engine-driver, in his turn, was properly thanked and compensated for all his pains and trouble. Under severe compulsion from the Badger, even the barge-woman was, with some trouble, sought out and the value of her horse discreetly made good to her; though Toad kicked terribly at this, holding himself to be an instrument of Fate, sent to punish fat women with mottled arms who couldn’t tell a real gentleman when they saw one. The amount involved, it was true, was not very burdensome, the gipsy’s valuation being admitted by local assessors to be approximately correct.
这次盛会之后，四只动物继续过着欢快惬意的生活，这种生活曾一度被内战打断，但以后再也没有受到动乱或入侵的干扰。蟾蜍和朋友们商量后，选购了一条漂亮的金项链，配有一只镶珍珠的小匣子，外加一封连獾也承认是谦虚知恩的感谢倍，差人送给狱卒的女儿。火车司机也因他付出的辛劳和遭到的风险，得到了适当的酬谢和补偿。在獾的严厉敦促下，就连那位船娘，也费了颇大周折找到，适当地赔偿了她的马钱。尽管蟾蜍对此暴跳如雷，极力申辩说，他是命运之神派来惩罚那个臂上长色斑的胖女人的，因为她明白面对一位绅士，却有眼不识泰山。酬谢和赔偿的总额，说实在的，倒也不算太高。那吉卜赛人对马的估价，据当地评估员说，大体上符合实际。
~🍃~
Sometimes, in the course of long summer evenings, the friends would take a stroll together in the Wild Wood, now successfully tamed so far as they were concerned; and it was pleasing to see how respectfully they were greeted by the inhabitants, and how the mother-weasels would bring their young ones to the mouths of their holes, and say, pointing, ‘Look, baby! There goes the great Mr. Toad! And that’s the gallant Water Rat, a terrible fighter, walking along o’ him! And yonder comes the famous Mr. Mole, of whom you so often have heard your father tell!’ But when their infants were fractious and quite beyond control, they would quiet them by telling how, if they didn’t hush them and not fret them, the terrible grey Badger would up and get them. This was a base libel on Badger, who, though he cared little about Society, was rather fond of children; but it never failed to have its full effect.
在长长的夏日黄昏，四位朋友有时一起去野林散步。野林现在已被他们整治得服服帖帖了。他们高兴地看到，野林居民们怎样恭恭敬敬向他们问好，黄鼠狼妈妈们怎样教导她们的小崽子，把小家伙们带到洞口，指着四只动物说：“瞧，娃娃！那位是伟大的蟾蜍先生！他旁边是英勇的河鼠，一位无畏的战士。那一位，是著名的鼹鼠先生，你们的父亲常说起的！”要是娃娃们使性子，不听话，妈妈们就吓唬说，要是他们再闹，再烦人，可怕的大灰獾就会把他们抓走。其实，这是对獾的莫大诬蔑，因为獾虽不大喜欢同人交往，却挺喜欢孩子的。不过，黄鼠狼妈妈这样说，总是很奏效的。
P.S：很喜欢Inga Moore插图版的《柳林风声》⤵️特别温馨❤️ 
