“I retraced my steps to the library，and literally devoured(devour vt.(尤指动物)吞吃，狼吞虎咽，挥霍)a whole novel，that is，properly speaking，the interior or soft part of it，the crust，or binding，I left.When I had digested not only this，but a second，I felt a stirring within me，then I ate a small piece of a third romance，and felt myself a poet.I said it to myself，and told others the same.I had headache and backache，and I cannot tell what aches besides.I thought over all the stories that may be said to be connected with sausage pegs，and all that has ever been written about skewers，and sticks，and staves，and splinters(splinter n.裂片，尖片，小事，碎片v.裂成碎片，分裂)came to my thoughts，the antqueen must have had a wonderfully clear understanding.I remembered the man who placed a white stick in his mouth by which he could make himself and the stick invisible.I thought of sticks as hobbyhorses，staves of music or rhyme，of breaking a stick over a mans back，and heaven knows how many more phrases of the same sort relating to sticks，staves，and skewers.All my thoughts rein on skewers，sticks of wood，and staves，and as I am，at last，a poet，and I have worked terribly hard to make myself one，I can of course make poetry on anything.I shall therefore be able to wait upon you every day in the week with a poetical history of a skewer.And that is my soup.”
“我回到那个图书馆里去，生吞活剥地啃掉了一整部长篇小说——这也就是说，啃掉了它里面的最柔软的部分，它的书皮和装订我一点也没有动。我把它消化了，接着又啃掉了一本。这时我已经感觉它们在身体内动起来，于是我又把第三本咬了几口。这样我就成了一个诗人了。我对我自己这样讲，对别人也这样讲。我有点头痛，有点背痛，我除了能说出痛以外，其它的都说不出来。我开始思索那些与香肠栓联系起来的故事。于是我心中就想起了许多香肠栓，这一定是因为那位蚂蚁皇后有特别细致的理智的原故。我记得有一个人把一根白色的木栓塞进嘴里去，这根木栓使得他变得看不见了。我想到浸在陈啤酒里的木栓、垫东西的木栓、塞东西的木栓和钉棺材的木栓。我所有的思想都环绕着栓而活动！当一个人是诗人的时候，他就可以用诗把这表达出来；而我是一个诗人，因为我费了很大的气力来做一个诗人！因此每星期，每一天，我都可以用一个栓——一个故事——来侍候你。是的，这就是我的汤。”
“In that case，”said the mouseking，“we will hear what the third mouse has to say.”
“如果是那样的话，我们听听第三位有什么话讲吧！”耗子王说。
“Squeak，squeak.”cried a little mouse at the kitchen door，it was the fourth，and not the third，of the four who were contending for the prize，one whom the rest supposed to be dead.She shot in like an arrow，and overturned the sausage peg that had been covered with crape.She had been running day and night.She had watched an opportunity to get into a goods train，and had travelled by the railway，and yet she had arrived almost too late.She pressed forward，looking very much ruffled.She had lost her sausage skewer，but not her voice.for she began to speak at once as if they only waited for her，and would hear her only，and as if nothing else in the world was of the least consequence.She spoke out so clearly and plainly，and she had come in so suddenly，that no one had time to stop her or to say a word while she was speaking.And now let us hear what she said.
“吱！吱！”这是厨房门旁发出的一个声音。于是一只小耗子——她就是大家认为死去了的第四只耗子——跳出来了。她像箭一样冲进来，绊倒了那根系着黑纱的香肠栓。她日夜兼程，只要一有机会，她不惜在铁路上坐着货车走，虽然如此，她几乎还是要迟到了。她一口气冲进来，全身的毛非常乱。她已经失去了她的香肠栓，可是却没有失去她的声音，因此她就立刻发言，好像大家只是在等着她、等着听她讲话，除此以外，世界上再没有别的重要事情似的。她立刻发言，把她所要讲的话全都简洁清晰地讲了出来。她来得这么突然，当她在讲话的时候，谁也没有时间来反对她或她的演词。现在我们且听听吧！
What the Fourth Mouse，Who Spoke Before the Third，Had to Tell
第四只耗子在第三只耗子发言之前所讲的故事
“I started off at once to the largest town，”said she，“but the name of it has escaped me.I have a very bad memory for names.I was carried from the railway，with some forfeited goods，to the jail，and on arriving I made my escape，and ran into the house of the turnkey(turnkey n.监狱的看守，狱吏).The turnkey was speaking of his prisoners，especially of one who had uttered thoughtless words.These words had given rise to other words，and at length they were written down and registered，‘The whole affair is like making soup of sausage skewers，’said he，‘but the soup may cost him his neck.’”
“我立刻起程到一个最大的城市里去，”她说，“这城的名字我可记不起来了——我老是记不住名字。我乘着载满没收物资的大车到市政府去。然后我跑到监狱看守那里去。他谈起他的犯人，特别谈到一个讲了许多鲁莽话的犯人。这些话引起另外许多话，这些话最终被记录下来，并且他的名字也登记下来。‘这完全是一套香肠栓熬的汤，’他说，‘但这汤可能弄得他掉脑袋！’”
“Now this raised in me an interest for the prisoner，”continued the little mouse，“and I watched my opportunity，and slipped into his apartment，for there is a mousehole to be found behind every closed door.The prisoner looked pale，he had a great beard and large，sparkling eyes.There was a lamp burning，but the walls were so black that they only looked the blacker for it.The prisoner scratched pictures and verses with white chalk on the black walls，but I did not read the verses.I think he found his confinement wearisome(wearisome adj.使疲倦的，使厌倦的，乏味的)，so that I was a welcome guest.He enticed me with breadcrumbs，with whistling，and with gentle words，and seemed so friendly towards me，that by degrees I gained confidence in him，and we became friends，he divided his bread and water with me，gave me cheese and sausage，And I really began to love him.
“这引起了我对于那个犯人的兴趣，”小耗子继续说，“于是我就找到一个机会，溜到他那儿去——因为在锁着的门后面总会有一个耗子洞的！他的面色惨白，满脸都是胡子，睁着一对大眼睛。灯在冒着烟，不过墙壁早已习惯于这烟了，所以它并不显得比烟更黑。这犯人在黑色的墙上画出了一些白色的图画和诗句，不过我读不懂。我想他一定感到很无聊而欢迎我这个客人的。他用面包屑，用口哨和一些友善的字眼来诱惑我：他很高兴看到我，在一定程度上我也信任他，因此我们就成了朋友。他把他的面包和水分给我吃；他还送给我乳饼和香肠。我开始更喜欢他了。
“Altogether，I must own that it was a very pleasant intimacy(intimacy n.亲密，隐私，亲昵行为).He let me run about on his hand，and on his arm，and into his sleeve，and I even crept into his beard，and he called me his little friend.I forgot what I had come out into the world for，forgot my sausage skewer which I had laid in a crack in the floor—it is lying there still.I wished to stay with him always where I was，for I knew that if I went away the poor prisoner would have no one to be his friend，which is a sad thing.I stayed，but he did not.He spoke to me so mournfully for the last time，gave me double as much bread and cheese as usual，and kissed his hand to me.Then he went away，and never came back.I know nothing more of his history.
