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For as to the elves, having sought them in vain among foxglove leaves and bells,
至于那些小精靈們，我在毛地黃葉子與花冠之間，
under mushrooms and beneath the ground-ivy mantling old wall-nooks, I had at length made up my mind to the sad truth,
在蘑菇底下和爬滿老墻角落的長春藤下遍尋無著之后，終于承認這悲哀的事實：
that they were all gone out of England to some savage country where the woods were wilder and thicker, and the population more scant.
他們都己逃離英國到某個原始的鄉間去了，那兒樹林更荒涼茂密，人口更為稀少。
Whereas, Lilliput and Brobdignag being, in my creed, solid parts of the earth's surface.
而我虔信，小人國和大人國都是地球表面實實在在的一部份。
I doubted not that I might one day, by taking a long voyage, see with my own eyes the little fields,
我毫不懷疑有朝一日我會去遠航，親眼看一看一個王國里小小的田野、
houses, and trees, the diminutive people, the tiny cows, sheep, and birds of the one realm.
小小的房子、小小的樹木；看一看那里的小人、小牛、小羊和小鳥們。
And the corn-fields forest-high, the mighty mastiffs, the monster cats, the tower-like men and women, of the other.
目睹一下另一個王國里如森林一般高聳的玉米地、碩大的猛犬、巨大無比的貓以及高塔一般的男男女女。
Yet, when this cherished volume was now placed in my hand, when I turned over its leaves,
然而，此刻當我手里捧著這本珍愛的書，一頁頁翻過去，
and sought in its marvellous pictures the charm I had, till now, never failed to find — all was eerie and dreary.
從精妙的插圖中尋覓以前每試必爽的魅力時，我找到的只是怪異和凄涼。
The giants were gaunt goblins, the pigmies malevolent and fearful imps, Gulliver a most desolate wanderer in most dread and dangerous regions.
巨人成了憔悴的妖怪，矮子淪為惡毒可怖的小鬼，而格列佛則已是陷身于險境的孤獨的流浪者了。
I closed the book, which I dared no longer peruse, and put it on the table, beside the untasted tart.
我不敢往下看了，合上書，把它放在桌上一口未嘗的小烘餅旁邊。
Bessie had now finished dusting and tidying the room, and having washed her hands, she opened a certain little drawer,
貝茜現在打掃和整理完了房子，然后洗完手后打開一個裝滿華美絲綢碎片的小抽屜，
full of splendid shreds of silk and satin, and began making a new bonnet for Georgiana's doll.
開始給喬治安娜的洋娃娃做個新帽子。
meantime she sang. Her song was: “In the days when we went gipsying, a long time ago.”
還一邊唱到：在很久很久以前的日子里，我們像吉卜賽人一樣流浪。
I had often heard the song before, and always with lively delight, for Bessie had a sweet voice, — at least, I thought so.
我以前常聽這首歌，而且總覺得它歡快悅耳，因為貝茜的嗓子很甜，至少我認為如此。
But now, though her voice was still sweet, I found in its melody an indescribable sadness.
而此刻，雖然她甜蜜的嗓子依舊，但歌里透出了一種難以言喻的悲哀。
Sometimes, preoccupied with her work, she sang the refrain very low, very lingeringly.
有時，她干活出了神，把迭句唱得很低沉，拖得很長。
“A long time ago” came out like the saddest cadence of a funeral hymn.
一句“很久很久以前”唱出來，如同挽歌中最哀傷的調子。
She passed into another ballad, this time a really doleful one.
她接著又唱起一首民謠來，這回可是真的哀怨凄惻了。
