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Alice in Wonderland, Solo reading, American Accent, 3. A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale

Solo reading, American Accent, 3. A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale

Chapter 3 A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale

They were indeed a queer-looking party that assembled on the bank — the birds with draggled feathers, the animals with their fur clinging close to them, and all dripping wet, cross, and uncomfortable.

The first question of course was, how to get dry again: they had a consultation about this, and after a few minutes it seemed quite natural to Alice to find herself talking familiarly with them, as if she had known them all her life. Indeed, she had quite a long argument with the Lory, who at last turned sulky, and would only say, ‘I am older than you, and must know better'; and this Alice would not allow without knowing how old it was, and, as the Lory positively refused to tell its age, there was no more to be said. At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among them, called out, ‘Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I'll soon make you dry enough!' They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with the Mouse in the middle. Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, for she felt sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon.

‘Ahem!' said the Mouse with an important air, ‘are you all ready? This is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! “William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria —”' ‘Ugh!' said the Lory, with a shiver.

‘I beg your pardon!' said the Mouse, frowning, but very politely: ‘Did you speak?' ‘Not I!' said the Lory hastily.

‘I thought you did,' said the Mouse. ‘— I proceed. “Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him: and even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable —”' ‘Found what ?' said the Duck.

‘Found it ,' the Mouse replied rather crossly: ‘of course you know what “it” means.' ‘I know what “it” means well enough, when I find a thing,' said the Duck: ‘it's generally a frog or a worm. The question is, what did the archbishop find?' The Mouse did not notice this question, but hurriedly went on, ‘”— found it advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and offer him the crown. William's conduct at first was moderate. But the insolence of his Normans —” How are you getting on now, my dear?' it continued, turning to Alice as it spoke.

‘As wet as ever,' said Alice in a melancholy tone: ‘it doesn't seem to dry me at all.' ‘In that case,' said the Dodo solemnly, rising to its feet, ‘I move that the meeting adjourn, for the immediate adoption of more energetic remedies —' ‘Speak English!' said the Eaglet. ‘I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and, what's more, I don't believe you do either!' And the Eaglet bent down its head to hide a smile: some of the other birds tittered audibly.

‘What I was going to say,' said the Dodo in an offended tone, ‘was, that the best thing to get us dry would be a Caucus-race.' ‘What is a Caucus-race?' said Alice; not that she wanted much to know, but the Dodo had paused as if it thought that somebody ought to speak, and no one else seemed inclined to say anything.

‘Why,' said the Dodo, ‘the best way to explain it is to do it.' (And, as you might like to try the thing yourself, some winter day, I will tell you how the Dodo managed it.)

First it marked out a race-course, in a sort of circle, (‘the exact shape doesn't matter,' it said,) and then all the party were placed along the course, here and there. There was no ‘One, two, three, and away,' but they began running when they liked, and left off when they liked, so that it was not easy to know when the race was over. However, when they had been running half an hour or so, and were quite dry again, the Dodo suddenly called out ‘The race is over!' and they all crowded round it, panting, and asking, ‘But who has won?' This question the Dodo could not answer without a great deal of thought, and it sat for a long time with one finger pressed upon its forehead (the position in which you usually see Shakespeare, in the pictures of him), while the rest waited in silence. At last the Dodo said, ‘ everybody has won, and all must have prizes.' ‘But who is to give the prizes?' quite a chorus of voices asked.

‘Why, she , of course,' said the Dodo, pointing to Alice with one finger; and the whole party at once crowded round her, calling out in a confused way, ‘Prizes! Prizes!' Alice had no idea what to do, and in despair she put her hand in her pocket, and pulled out a box of comfits, (luckily the salt water had not got into it), and handed them round as prizes. There was exactly one a-piece all round.

‘But she must have a prize herself, you know,' said the Mouse. ‘Of course,' the Dodo replied very gravely. ‘What else have you got in your pocket?' he went on, turning to Alice.

‘Only a thimble,' said Alice sadly. ‘Hand it over here,' said the Dodo. Then they all crowded round her once more, while the Dodo solemnly presented the thimble, saying ‘We beg your acceptance of this elegant thimble'; and, when it had finished this short speech, they all cheered. Alice thought the whole thing very absurd, but they all looked so grave that she did not dare to laugh; and, as she could not think of anything to say, she simply bowed, and took the thimble, looking as solemn as she could.

The next thing was to eat the comfits: this caused some noise and confusion, as the large birds complained that they could not taste theirs, and the small ones choked and had to be patted on the back. However, it was over at last, and they sat down again in a ring, and begged the Mouse to tell them something more.

‘You promised to tell me your history, you know,' said Alice, ‘and why it is you hate — C and D,' she added in a whisper, half afraid that it would be offended again. ‘Mine is a long and a sad tale!' said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing.

‘It is a long tail, certainly,' said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse's tail; ‘but why do you call it sad?' And she kept on puzzling about it while the Mouse was speaking, so that her idea of the tale was something like this:—

‘Fury said to a

mouse, That he

met in the

house,

“Let us

both go to

law: I will

prosecute

you .— Come,

I'll take no denial; We

must have a

trial: For

really this

morning I've nothing

to do.”

Said the

mouse to the

cur, “Such

a trial,

dear Sir,

With

no jury

or judge,

would be

wasting

our

breath.”

“I'll be judge, I'll be jury,”

Said

cunning

old Fury:

“I'll try the

whole

cause,

and

condemn

you

to

death.”' ‘You are not attending!' said the Mouse to Alice severely. ‘What are you thinking of?' ‘I beg your pardon,' said Alice very humbly: ‘you had got to the fifth bend, I think?' ‘I had not !' cried the Mouse, sharply and very angrily.

‘A knot!' said Alice, always ready to make herself useful, and looking anxiously about her. ‘Oh, do let me help to undo it!' ‘I shall do nothing of the sort,' said the Mouse, getting up and walking away. ‘You insult me by talking such nonsense!' ‘I didn't mean it!' pleaded poor Alice. ‘But you're so easily offended, you know!' The Mouse only growled in reply.

‘Please come back and finish your story!' Alice called after it; and the others all joined in chorus, ‘Yes, please do!' but the Mouse only shook its head impatiently, and walked a little quicker.

‘What a pity it wouldn't stay!' sighed the Lory, as soon as it was quite out of sight; and an old Crab took the opportunity of saying to her daughter ‘Ah, my dear! Let this be a lesson to you never to lose your temper!' ‘Hold your tongue, Ma!' said the young Crab, a little snappishly. ‘You're enough to try the patience of an oyster!' ‘I wish I had our Dinah here, I know I do!' said Alice aloud, addressing nobody in particular. ‘She'd soon fetch it back!' ‘And who is Dinah, if I might venture to ask the question?' said the Lory.

Alice replied eagerly, for she was always ready to talk about her pet: ‘Dinah's our cat. And she's such a capital one for catching mice you can't think! And oh, I wish you could see her after the birds! Why, she'll eat a little bird as soon as look at it!' This speech caused a remarkable sensation among the party. Some of the birds hurried off at once: one old Magpie began wrapping itself up very carefully, remarking, ‘I really must be getting home; the night-air doesn't suit my throat!' and a Canary called out in a trembling voice to its children, ‘Come away, my dears! It's high time you were all in bed!' On various pretexts they all moved off, and Alice was soon left alone.

‘I wish I hadn't mentioned Dinah!' she said to herself in a melancholy tone. ‘Nobody seems to like her, down here, and I'm sure she's the best cat in the world! Oh, my dear Dinah! I wonder if I shall ever see you any more!' And here poor Alice began to cry again, for she felt very lonely and low-spirited. In a little while, however, she again heard a little pattering of footsteps in the distance, and she looked up eagerly, half hoping that the Mouse had changed his mind, and was coming back to finish his story.

Solo reading, American Accent, 3. A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale Solo-Lesung, American Accent, 3. ein Caucus-Rennen und eine lange Geschichte Lectura en solitario, American Accent, 3. A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale Lecture solo, Accent américain, 3. Une course de caucus et un long récit Lettura in solitaria, Accento americano, 3. Un caucus-razza e un lungo racconto 独読、アメリカン・アクセント、3.コーカス・レースと長い物語 독백, 미국식 억양, 3. 코커스 인종과 긴 이야기 Solo lezing, Amerikaans accent, 3. Een Caucus-race en een lang verhaal Solowe czytanie, Amerykański akcent, 3. Wyścig z kaukazem i długa opowieść Leitura a solo, Sotaque Americano, 3. Uma Corrida de Caucus e um Longo Conto Чтение в одиночку, американский акцент, 3. Кокус-гонка и длинная история Solo okuma, American Accent, 3. Bir Caucus-Race ve Uzun Bir Hikaye Соло-читання, Американський акцент, 3. Перегони та довга казка 独自阅读,美国口音,3. 党团竞赛和长篇大论 獨讀,美國口音,3.一場黨團競賽和一個長篇故事

Chapter 3 A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale

They were indeed a queer-looking party that assembled on the bank — the birds with draggled feathers, the animals with their fur clinging close to them, and all dripping wet, cross, and uncomfortable. Они действительно представляли собой странную компанию, собравшуюся на берегу — птицы с взлохмаченными перьями, животные с облепившей их шерстью, и все мокрые, сердитые и неудобные.

The first question of course was, how to get dry again: they had a consultation about this, and after a few minutes it seemed quite natural to Alice to find herself talking familiarly with them, as if she had known them all her life. Die erste Frage war natürlich, wie man wieder trocken werden konnte: Sie berieten sich darüber, und nach einigen Minuten kam es Alice ganz natürlich vor, dass sie sich so vertraut mit ihnen unterhielt, als ob sie sie schon ihr ganzes Leben lang kennen würde. 数分後、アリスはまるでずっと前から知っていたかのように、彼らと親しく話している自分に気がついた。 Indeed, she had quite a long argument with the Lory, who at last turned sulky, and would only say, ‘I am older than you, and must know better'; and this Alice would not allow without knowing how old it was, and, as the Lory positively refused to tell its age, there was no more to be said. At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among them, called out, ‘Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! Наконец Мышь, которая, казалось, была среди них авторитетным человеком, крикнула: «Садитесь все и слушайте меня! I'll soon make you dry enough!' すぐに十分に乾かしてやる!』。 They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with the Mouse in the middle. Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, for she felt sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon. すぐに乾かさないと、ひどい風邪をひいてしまうと思ったからだ。 Алиса не сводила с него глаз с тревогой, так как была уверена, что сильно простудится, если не высохнет в ближайшее время.

‘Ahem!' Ähem! said the Mouse with an important air, ‘are you all ready? This is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! 静粛に願います “William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. "Guillermo el Conquistador, cuya causa fue favorecida por el Papa, pronto fue sometido por los ingleses, que querían líderes, y habían estado últimamente muy acostumbrados a la usurpación y la conquista. 「ウィリアム征服王はローマ教皇に気に入られ、指導者を求めていたイングランド人はすぐに服従した。 «Вильгельм Завоеватель, чье дело поддерживал папа, вскоре подчинился англичанам, которые нуждались в вождях и в последнее время привыкли к узурпации и завоеваниям. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria —”' エドウィンとモルカー、メルキアとノーザンブリアの伯爵--」。 ‘Ugh!' うっ!」。 said the Lory, with a shiver.

‘I beg your pardon!' 失礼しました!」。 said the Mouse, frowning, but very politely: ‘Did you speak?' — спросила Мышь, нахмурившись, но очень вежливо. — Ты говорил? ‘Not I!' said the Lory hastily.

‘I thought you did,' said the Mouse. ‘— I proceed. 私は進む。 -- Продолжаю. “Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him: and even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable —”' "Edwin y Morcar, los condes de Mercia y Northumbria, se declararon a su favor: e incluso Stigand, el patriota arzobispo de Canterbury, lo consideró conveniente -"' 「メルキアとノーザンブリアの伯爵エドウィンとモルカーは彼の支持を表明し、愛国的なカンタベリー大司教スティガンドもそれが望ましいと判断した」。 «Эдвин и Моркар, графы Мерсии и Нортумбрии, высказались за него, и даже Стиганд, патриотически настроенный архиепископ Кентерберийский, счел целесообразным…» ‘Found what ?' said the Duck.

‘Found it ,' the Mouse replied rather crossly: ‘of course you know what “it” means.' もちろん、"それ "が何を意味するかは知っているはずだ」。 ‘I know what “it” means well enough, when I find a thing,' said the Duck: ‘it's generally a frog or a worm. The question is, what did the archbishop find?' Вопрос в том, что нашел архиепископ? The Mouse did not notice this question, but hurriedly went on, ‘”— found it advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and offer him the crown. William's conduct at first was moderate. Поведение Уильяма сначала было умеренным. But the insolence of his Normans —” How are you getting on now, my dear?' Но наглость его норманнов… — Как дела, дорогая? it continued, turning to Alice as it spoke. アリスに向き直った。 — продолжал он, обращаясь к Алисе.

‘As wet as ever,' said Alice in a melancholy tone: ‘it doesn't seem to dry me at all.' アリスは憂鬱そうな口調で言った。 ‘In that case,' said the Dodo solemnly, rising to its feet, ‘I move that the meeting adjourn, for the immediate adoption of more energetic remedies —' ‘Speak English!' said the Eaglet. ‘I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and, what's more, I don't believe you do either!' その長い言葉の半分の意味も知らないし、さらに言えば、あなたもそうだとは思っていない」。 — Я не знаю значения половины этих длинных слов, и, более того, я не верю, что ты его тоже знаешь! And the Eaglet bent down its head to hide a smile: some of the other birds tittered audibly.

‘What I was going to say,' said the Dodo in an offended tone, ‘was, that the best thing to get us dry would be a Caucus-race.' «Я хотел сказать, — сказал Додо обиженным тоном, — что лучший способ высушить нас — это кокус-гонка». ‘What is a Caucus-race?' said Alice; not that she wanted much to know, but the Dodo had paused as if it thought that somebody ought to speak, and no one else seemed inclined to say anything. сказала Алиса; не то чтобы она хотела много знать, но додо остановился, как будто подумал, что кто-то должен заговорить, а больше никто, казалось, не собирался ничего говорить.

‘Why,' said the Dodo, ‘the best way to explain it is to do it.' (And, as you might like to try the thing yourself, some winter day, I will tell you how the Dodo managed it.) (そして、冬のある日、ドードーがどうやってそれを成し遂げたのか、あなた自身が試してみたいかもしれないので、お話ししよう)。

First it marked out a race-course, in a sort of circle, (‘the exact shape doesn't matter,' it said,) and then all the party were placed along the course, here and there. There was no ‘One, two, three, and away,' but they began running when they liked, and left off when they liked, so that it was not easy to know when the race was over. Не было «раз, два, три и вперед», но они начинали бежать, когда хотели, и останавливались, когда хотели, так что было нелегко узнать, когда гонка закончилась. However, when they had been running half an hour or so, and were quite dry again, the Dodo suddenly called out ‘The race is over!' and they all crowded round it, panting, and asking, ‘But who has won?' и все столпились вокруг него, тяжело дыша и спрашивая: «Но кто же победил?» This question the Dodo could not answer without a great deal of thought, and it sat for a long time with one finger pressed upon its forehead (the position in which you usually see Shakespeare, in the pictures of him), while the rest waited in silence. At last the Dodo said, ‘ everybody has won, and all must have prizes.' ‘But who is to give the prizes?' quite a chorus of voices asked.

‘Why, she , of course,' said the Dodo, pointing to Alice with one finger; and the whole party at once crowded round her, calling out in a confused way, ‘Prizes! Prizes!' Alice had no idea what to do, and in despair she put her hand in her pocket, and pulled out a box of comfits, (luckily the salt water had not got into it), and handed them round as prizes. There was exactly one a-piece all round.

‘But she must have a prize herself, you know,' said the Mouse. ‘Of course,' the Dodo replied very gravely. — Конечно, — очень серьезно ответил Додо. ‘What else have you got in your pocket?' ポケットに他に何がある? he went on, turning to Alice.

‘Only a thimble,' said Alice sadly. ‘Hand it over here,' said the Dodo. Then they all crowded round her once more, while the Dodo solemnly presented the thimble, saying ‘We beg your acceptance of this elegant thimble'; and, when it had finished this short speech, they all cheered. Alice thought the whole thing very absurd, but they all looked so grave that she did not dare to laugh; and, as she could not think of anything to say, she simply bowed, and took the thimble, looking as solemn as she could.

The next thing was to eat the comfits: this caused some noise and confusion, as the large birds complained that they could not taste theirs, and the small ones choked and had to be patted on the back. However, it was over at last, and they sat down again in a ring, and begged the Mouse to tell them something more.

‘You promised to tell me your history, you know,' said Alice, ‘and why it is you hate — C and D,' she added in a whisper, half afraid that it would be offended again. ‘Mine is a long and a sad tale!' said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing.

‘It is a long tail, certainly,' said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse's tail; ‘but why do you call it sad?' «Конечно, это длинный хвост», — сказала Алиса, с удивлением глядя на хвост Мыши; — Но почему ты называешь это грустным? And she kept on puzzling about it while the Mouse was speaking, so that her idea of the tale was something like this:— И она все ломала голову над этим, пока Мышь говорила, так что представление об этой сказке было примерно таким:

‘Fury said to a — сказал Фьюри

mouse, That he

met in the

house,

“Let us

both go to

law: I will

prosecute

you .— Come,

I'll take no denial; We

must have a

trial: For

really this

morning I've nothing

to do.”

Said the

mouse to the

cur, “Such

a trial,

dear Sir,

With

no jury

or judge,

would be

wasting

our

breath.”

“I'll be judge, I'll be jury,”

Said

cunning

old Fury:

“I'll try the

whole

cause,

and

condemn

you

to

death.”' ‘You are not attending!' あなたは出席していない!』。 — Вы не идете! said the Mouse to Alice severely. ‘What are you thinking of?' ‘I beg your pardon,' said Alice very humbly: ‘you had got to the fifth bend, I think?' Le ruego me disculpe", dijo Alice muy humildemente: ¿habías llegado a la quinta curva, creo? 失礼しました」アリスはとても謙虚に言った:第五カーブまで行っていたと思いますが」。 — Прошу прощения, — очень скромно сказала Алиса. — Вы, кажется, добрались до пятого поворота? ‘I had not !' cried the Mouse, sharply and very angrily.

‘A knot!' said Alice, always ready to make herself useful, and looking anxiously about her. ‘Oh, do let me help to undo it!' ‘I shall do nothing of the sort,' said the Mouse, getting up and walking away. ‘You insult me by talking such nonsense!' ‘I didn't mean it!' pleaded poor Alice. ‘But you're so easily offended, you know!' — Но ведь ты так легко обижаешься! The Mouse only growled in reply.

‘Please come back and finish your story!' Alice called after it; and the others all joined in chorus, ‘Yes, please do!' but the Mouse only shook its head impatiently, and walked a little quicker.

‘What a pity it wouldn't stay!' 残ってくれないなんて残念だ!」。 sighed the Lory, as soon as it was quite out of sight; and an old Crab took the opportunity of saying to her daughter ‘Ah, my dear! Let this be a lesson to you never to lose your temper!' これを教訓として、決して短気を起こしてはならない!』。 ‘Hold your tongue, Ma!' — Придержи язык, ма! said the young Crab, a little snappishly. ‘You're enough to try the patience of an oyster!' お前は牡蠣の忍耐力を試すのに十分だ!』。 «Ты достаточно, чтобы испытать терпение устрицы!» ‘I wish I had our Dinah here, I know I do!' said Alice aloud, addressing nobody in particular. — сказала Алиса вслух, ни к кому конкретно не обращаясь. ‘She'd soon fetch it back!' — Она скоро вернет его! ‘And who is Dinah, if I might venture to ask the question?' said the Lory.

Alice replied eagerly, for she was always ready to talk about her pet: ‘Dinah's our cat. And she's such a capital one for catching mice you can't think! И она так ловит мышей, что вы себе представить не можете! And oh, I wish you could see her after the birds! Why, she'll eat a little bird as soon as look at it!' This speech caused a remarkable sensation among the party. Это выступление произвело в партии необыкновенный фурор. Some of the birds hurried off at once: one old Magpie began wrapping itself up very carefully, remarking, ‘I really must be getting home; the night-air doesn't suit my throat!' Einige der Vögel eilten sofort davon: eine alte Elster begann, sich sorgfältig einzuwickeln, und bemerkte: "Ich muss wirklich nach Hause, die Nachtluft tut meinem Hals nicht gut! and a Canary called out in a trembling voice to its children, ‘Come away, my dears! It's high time you were all in bed!' On various pretexts they all moved off, and Alice was soon left alone.

‘I wish I hadn't mentioned Dinah!' she said to herself in a melancholy tone. ‘Nobody seems to like her, down here, and I'm sure she's the best cat in the world! Oh, my dear Dinah! I wonder if I shall ever see you any more!' And here poor Alice began to cry again, for she felt very lonely and low-spirited. И тут бедная Алиса снова заплакала, ибо ей было очень одиноко и грустно. In a little while, however, she again heard a little pattering of footsteps in the distance, and she looked up eagerly, half hoping that the Mouse had changed his mind, and was coming back to finish his story.