Part 3 Ogden Nash to His Daughters
第三部分 奧格登·納什致女兒
February 6, 1939
1939年二月六號
My sweet girls,
我可愛的女兒們:
I wish so that you were here with us. the next time we must surely bring you along. so remember to practice your manners and (learn to eat all sorts of food. Paris is full of children. There are lots of parks, and every park is full of boys and girls on bicycles and roller skates, or playing football and other games all day long. Also, I think everybody in Paris has a dog, but none of them are as pretty as Spangle. A beautifu1 river, the Scine, runs right through the middle of the city, and Mummy and I have already counted 22 bridges that cross it. Don't you think that you could have fun here? The French children are very polite, as everyone is in France, and I am sure you would enjoy playing with them; so, Linell, you must pay great attention to your French teacher and learn very fast, in order to be able to understand well when you come here. You might teach Isabel some of what you learn, too.
真希望你們能和我們一起在這里,下次我們一定會帶上你們的,所以記住要做到有禮有節,還要學會吃各種各樣的食物。巴黎到處都是孩子,公園眾多,而且每個公園里整天都有許多男孩和女孩在騎自行車、滑旱冰,或者踢足球和玩其他的游戲。我還覺得巴黎的每個人都有一條狗,不過沒有一條狗像斯潘格那樣漂亮。美麗的塞納河正好從城市中間穿過。我和媽媽已經數過了,河上橫跨著22座橋。你們難道不覺得你們在這里會感到非常有趣嗎? 就像每個法國人一樣,法國孩子非常有禮貌,我相信你們會非常喜歡和他們一起玩耍的; 所以,利內爾,你必須全神貫注地傾聽法語教師講課,快快地學習法語知識,以便你來這里后能更好地理解法文,你也可以教伊莎貝爾一些你所學到的內容。
There are many, many interesting things to see here. Paris is a very old city, and today Mummy and I saw a beautiful building, that was started by the Romans more than 1600 years ago. It is called Cluny. We have also been to the Louvre,a museum now full of the most beautiful paintings and statues; but years ago the kinds and queens of France used to live there, until the French people got angry with them and chopped off their heads.
這里有許許多多有趣的東西可看。巴黎是一座非常古老的城市。今天我和媽媽看了一處非常美麗的建筑。它是1600多年前由羅馬人開始建造的,它的名字叫克盧尼。我們還去參觀了盧浮宮,這個博物館里現在掛滿了美妙絕倫的繪畫,擺滿了最令人嘆為觀止的雕塑。但是許多年以前,法國歷代國王和王后都曾住在那里,直到后來法國人民憤怒起義,砍掉了他們的頭。
This afternoon we went to a beautiful cathedral on an island in the middle of the river. It is called the Cathedral of tre Dame, which means the cathedral of Our Lady the Virgin. It is more than 900 years old, and so high that you can hardly see the top. The windows are of gorgeous stained glass, red and blue and yellow and green and purple, so that they cast light like a rainbow on the walls. A very good king of France who lived 700 years ago and later became Saint Louis was buried there. Tell Delia that we offered a candle to the Virgin Mary for each of you there, and that we are bringing her back a rosary from there also. Mummy and I climbed the tower later. We were very tired when we got to the top, but it was interesting. Some hideous stone gargoyles were looking right into our faces, so we looked down at Paris lying at our feet, and it was beautiful. We could see miles of river, at the bridges and the lovely old buildings.
今天下午,我們去看了一座美麗的教堂,它座落在塞納河中央的一個島上,名為巴黎圣母院,意思是"我們的圣母教堂"。教堂已有900多年的歷史,巍峨聳立,高得幾乎看不到它的頂部。窗戶用精美的彩色玻璃建造而成,有紅色、藍色、黃色、綠色和紫色,玻璃投射在墻面上的光就像彩虹一樣。700年前曾經有一位非常善良的法國皇帝,他后來成為圣路易,他就理在那兒。告訴迪莉婭,我們在那里替你們每個人給圣母瑪利亞獻了一支蠟燭,并且我們會給她帶回一串那里的念珠,我和媽媽后來爬上了高塔。當我們爬到塔頂時,感到非常累,但卻有趣極了。一些奇形怪狀的石刻滴水嘴正對著我們,我們便俯視腳下的巴黎,它十分美麗。我們能看到數英里長的河流、河上的橋以及可愛的占老建筑。
I think you would like the French trains. We rode on one from Le Havre to Paris just like the one that Gaston et Josephine took when they were leaving for America. When the engine whistles it says "tweet tweet" instead of "toot toot", and the porters are very polite. You would like the boat, too. There is a little theatre where there are puppet shows for children every afternoon, and there is plenty of room to run and play on the decks. Sometimes, when the wind blows hard and the sea is rough, the boat joggles a little bit, but that is good fun, like being in a swing.
我想你們一定會喜歡法國的火車。我們乘火車從哈佛爾到巴黎,那列火車與加斯東和約瑟芬他們去美國時乘坐的火車很相似,引擎拉響時,發出的不是"嘟嘟"聲,而是"吱吱"的聲音,車上服務員們都彬彬有禮。你們也會喜歡這里的船的。船上有一個小劇院,每天下午給孩子們表演木偶劇,而且甲板上有一足夠的空間讓孩子們奔跑玩耍。有時候,風刮得很厲害。海浪洶涌,船會微微搖晃,這非常有趣,就像在蕩秋千一樣。
I must tell you that whenever you walk along the banks of the Seine you see dozens of old men fishing with long, long poles. I don't think they ever catch anything, but they have a lovely time thinking about what they might catch just supposing there were any fish there. We'll try it when you come here with us; perhaps we'11 catch the first fish ever to be caught there.
我還要告訴你們,無論什么時候沿著塞納河河岸行走,你們都能看到許多老人拿著很長很長的魚竿在那里垂釣。我并不認為他們會釣到什么,但是假設河里真的有魚,他們想著自己可能釣到的東西,他們會過得很愉快。等你們一起來這兒的時候,我們也去試一試吧,也許我們將釣到這里有史以來的第一條魚。
I adore you both, my darlings, and don't forget me
我愛你們倆,親愛的,不要忘記我。
Daddy
爸爸