All the next day he sat on the Prince’s shoulder, and told him stories of what he had seen in strange lands.
第二天一整天,他都坐在王子的肩膀上,给他讲他在异国他乡看到的故事。
He told him of the red ibises, who stand in long rows on the banks of the Nile, and catch gold-fish in their beaks;
他给他讲了红朱鹭的故事,这些朱鹭在尼罗河岸边排成一长排,用嘴捕捉金鱼;
of the Sphinx, who is as old as the world itself, and lives in the desert, and knows everything;
关于狮身人面像,他和世界一样古老,生活在沙漠里,什么都知道;
of the merchants, who walk slowly by the side of their camels, and carry amber beads in their hands;
商人们骑着骆驼慢慢地走着,手里拿着琥珀色的珠子;
of the King of the Mountains of the Moon, who is as black as ebony, and worships a large crystal;
月亮山之王,黑如乌木,敬拜大水晶;
of the great green snake that sleeps in a palm-tree, and has twenty priests to feed it with honey-cakes;
那条睡在棕榈树上的大青蛇,有二十个牧师用蜂蜜蛋糕喂它;
and of the pygmies who sail over a big lake on large flat leaves, and are always at war with the butterflies.
还有那些驾着大而平的树叶在大湖上航行的俾格米人,他们总是与蝴蝶交战。
“Dear little Swallow,” said the Prince,
“亲爱的小燕子,”王子说,
“you tell me of marvellous things, but more marvellous than anything is the suffering of men and of women.
“你告诉我奇妙的事情,但人们的苦难比任何事情都更加奇妙。
There is no Mystery so great as Misery.
没有像苦难一样伟大的谜。
Fly over my city, little Swallow, and tell me what you see there.”
飞过我的城市,小燕子,然后告诉我你在那儿看到的东西。”