四十五.  Travel Diary

Saturday, March 24th

We have arrived in the hot, wet city of Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. This is our first trip to Thailand. All the different smells make us want to try the food. We are going to eat something special for dinner tonight. The hotel room we booked is cheap, but very clean and tidy. We plan to stay here for a few days, visit some places like the Palace in the city and then travel to Chiang Mai in the North.

Tuesday, March 27th

Bangkok is wonderful and surprising! The places are interesting. We visited the famous market which was on water, and saw a lot of fruits and vegetables. Everything is so colorful, and we have already taken hundreds of photos with our new cameral. Later we will leave for Chiang Mai. We will take the train north, stay in Chiang Mai for two days, and then catch a bus to Chiang Rai.

Friday, March 30th

Our trip to Chiang Rai was long and boring. We visited a small village in the mountains. The village people here love the quiet life——no computers or phones. They are the kindest people I have ever met. I feel good here and hope to be able to come back next year.

【漢語翻譯】

旅行日志

3月24日，星期六

我們到達(dá)(arrive in)炎熱潮濕的曼谷，泰國的首都(capital)。這是我們首次宋到泰國。各種不同的氣味不禁讓我們產(chǎn)生品嘗這些食物的欲望。今晚我們打算吃點(diǎn)特別的晚餐。我們預(yù)訂(book)的那家旅館(hotel)雖然便宜，但干凈整潔(tidy)。我們計劃在這里逗留(stay)幾天，游覽這座城市里的宮殿(palace)等一些景點(diǎn)，然后去北部的清邁。

3月27日，星期二

曼谷美妙而令人驚異！這些地方很有趣。我們參觀了著名的水上市場，看到很多水果和蔬菜。一切都很鮮艷(colorful)，我們已經(jīng)用我們的新相機(jī)(camera)拍了好幾百張照片(hundreds of photos)。之后我們將出發(fā)前往(leave for)清邁。我們將乘北去的列車，在清邁呆兩天，然后趕公交車(catch a bus)去清萊。

3月30日，星期五

我們?nèi)デ迦R的旅程長而枯燥(boring)。我們游覽了山里的一個小村莊(small village)。這里的村民喜歡安靜的生活一沒有電腦和電話。他們是我所見過的最友好的(the kindest)人。在這里我感覺很好，希望明年還能再來這里。?  

四十六. The Blue Pig with a Black Tail

Once upon a time(從前) a certain king sent a message to another king, saying, “Send me a blue pig with a black tail, or else——”

The other replied, “I haven't one; if I had——”

Both kings were so angry that they went to war with each other. They collected all their soldiers and fought with each other. Brave men were killed, and women and children died because they could get nothing to eat.

When it seemed that neither side could win the war, the kings began to talk about peace. First of all, it was necessary to explain the two messages. Each king was angry at what the other had said.

“What did you mean,”Asked the second king, “by saying, ‘sending a blue pig with a black tail, or else——’?”

“Why,”said the first king, “I could mean only one thing. I meant that I wanted you to send me a blue pig with a black tail, or else a pig of some other color.”

“Oh, that was all, was it? I did not get the whole of your message,”answered the second king. “What a pity! “He added.

“Ah, but I must know what you meant by your reply to my message,”asked the first king. “You said, 'I haven't one; if I had——”'

“Why, my answer is very clear. I meant that I hadn't one; if I had, I should have sent it to you.”

“Well, well! “said the first king, “We have been fighting about nothing. If we had only explained these things before the war started, then this bitter war must have been avoided.”

So the great war of the blue pig with the black tail was recorded in the histories of the two countries in order to prevent such a war happening again.

【漢語翻譯】

黑尾巴的藍(lán)豬

從前有位國王給另一位國王送去一條信息，說，“給我送來一只長著黑尾巴(tail)的藍(lán)豬，或者其他的——”

另一位回答說，“我沒有這樣的豬，如果我有——”。

兩位國王如此生氣以致于(so angry that)發(fā)動了戰(zhàn)爭。他們調(diào)集所有士兵去打仗。勇敢的士兵死在戰(zhàn)場上，女人和孩子因為沒有食物而死去。

看來好像(it seemed that.)雙方都不能(neither side could)打贏這場戰(zhàn)爭，于是兩位國王開始談?wù)摵推?talk about peace)。首先(first of all)，有必要去解釋(explain)那兩條信息。兩位國王都因?qū)Ψ剿f的話而生氣。

第二位國王問道，“你當(dāng)時說‘送我一只長著黑尾巴的藍(lán)豬，否則——’，你那么說是什么意思？”

“怎么，”第一位國王回答道，“我只能表示一個意思啊，我是說我希望你給我送一只黑尾巴的藍(lán)豬，或者其他顏色的豬?！保ㄗⅲ簅r else可有兩種解釋，一是作為短語，譯為“否則”，二是作為兩個單獨(dú)的單詞，放在一起譯為“或者其他”）

第二位國王回答，“哎呀！就是這個意思??？我沒有理解你信息的全部。”他補(bǔ)充說(add)?！罢婵上?what a pity)!”

“嗯，但我必須知道你的回信是什么意思，”第一位國王補(bǔ)充道，“你說‘我沒有這樣的豬，即使我有——’”。

“我的回答很清楚啊。我是說我沒有那樣的豬；如果有的話，我會送給你的?！?/span>

“哎呀！”第一位國王說，“我們之間的戰(zhàn)爭毫無理由。如果我們能在戰(zhàn)爭開始之前解釋清楚這些事情，這場痛苦的戰(zhàn)爭(bitter war)就一定能避免(avoid)?！?/span>

于是這場關(guān)于黑尾巴的藍(lán)豬的戰(zhàn)爭被載入(was recorded)兩國史冊以防止(prevent)此類現(xiàn)象再次發(fā)生。?