J.K.羅琳新書《The Ickabog》翻譯——第二章——原汁原味學英語

哈利波特作者J。K。羅琳，新書《The Ickabog》《艾卡伯格》

第二章

The Ickabog

The legend of the Ickabog had been passed down by generations of Marshlanders， and spread by word of mouth all the way to Chouxville。 Nowadays， everybody knew the story。 Naturally， as with all legends， it changed a little depending on who was telling it。 However， every story agreed that a monster lived at the very northernmost tip of the country， in a wide patch of dark and often misty marsh too dangerous for humans to enter。 The monster was said to eat children and sheep。 Sometimes it even carried off grown men and women who strayed too close to the marsh at night。

艾卡伯格的傳奇被麻石地人代代相傳，經口口相傳一直傳播到首都首克斯威樂。現在，每個人都知道這個傳奇故事。當然，和其他傳奇一樣，在口述傳播過程中，每個傳播者都會或多或少改動一些。然而，每一個版本都有一個共同點那就是有一個黑斑怪物住在這個國家的極北之地——煙霧迷濛的沼澤之地，那裡太危險了，從來沒有人涉足進入。據說，這黑斑怪物以小孩和綿羊為食，有時候夜裡還會帶走因迷路而太靠近沼澤成年人。

The habits and appearance of the Ickabog changed depending on who was describing it。 Some made it snakelike， others dragonish or wolflike。 Some said it roared， others that it hissed， and still others said that it drifted as silently as the mists that descended on the marsh without warning。

艾卡伯格的愛好和外貌因描述之人的不同而不同，有人說他長得像蛇，有的說像龍或者像狼。有人說他會嚎叫，也有人說他發嘶嘶聲。還有人說他能像迷霧一樣悄無聲息的飄動，沒有任何警示出現在沼澤之地。

The Ickabog， they said， had extraordinary powers。 It could imitate the human voice to lure travellers into its clutches。 If you tried to kill it， it would mend magically， or else split into two Ickabogs； it could fly， spurt fire， shoot poison – the Ickabog’s powers were as great as the imagination of the teller。

據說，艾卡伯格，有著超然的能力。它能模仿人類的嗓音來誘惑旅行者到它的圈套裡。如果你試圖殺了它，它能魔法般恢復，或者分身成兩個艾卡伯格；它可以飛，可以噴火，可以射毒——總之，艾卡伯格的能力超乎敘述者的想象。

‘Mind you don’t leave the garden while I’m working，’ parents all over the kingdom would tell their children， ‘or the Ickabog will catch you and eat you all up！’ And throughout the land， boys and girls played at fighting the Ickabog， tried to frighten each other with the tale of the Ickabog， and even， if the story became too convincing， had nightmares about the Ickabog。

整個王國的父母都會告訴他們的孩子：“當父母工作時不要離開花園，否則艾卡伯格會抓住並吃了你。”。整個國家的男孩女孩都扮演過大戰艾卡伯格，也曾試著用艾卡伯格的故事嚇唬對方，如果講述的故事很令人信服，他們會在晚上做關於艾卡伯格的噩夢。

Bert Beamish was one such little boy。 When a family called the Dovetails came over for dinner one night， Mr Dovetail entertained everybody with what he claimed was the latest news of the Ickabog。 That night， five-year-old Bert woke， sobbing and terrified， from a dream in which the monster’s huge white eyes were gleaming at him across a foggy marsh into which he was slowly sinking。

Bert Beamish波特 比姆世就是其中這樣的小男孩。一天晚上，豆文太奧一家來他家來做客。豆文太奧先生用聲稱是關於艾卡伯格最新的訊息分享給了大家。那天半夜，五歲的波特哭泣著驚恐著從噩夢中醒來，夢裡他在怪獸白色眼睛注視下慢慢地在陷入迷霧沼澤。

‘There， there，’ whispered his mother， who’d tiptoe into his room with a candle and now rocked him backwards and forwards in her lap。 ‘There is no Ickabog， Bertie。 It’s just a silly story。’

“沒事了，沒事了，”剛剛媽媽拿著蠟燭點著腳尖輕聲進來，並把他放在膝蓋上來回搖晃，輕聲安慰，“根本沒有艾卡伯格，小波特，那僅僅是個愚蠢的故事。”

‘B-but Mr Dovetail said sheep have g-gone missing！’ hiccoughed Bert。

“但。。但是豆文太奧先生說有羊都丟…丟失了！”波特哽咽道。

‘So they have，’ said Mrs Beamish， ‘but not because a monster took them。 Sheep are foolish creatures。 They wander off and get lost in the marsh。’

“那些羊確實丟了，但不是因為怪獸抓走了，而是因為羊是愚蠢的生物，他們閒逛在沼澤裡迷路了。” 比姆世太太說到。

‘B-but Mr Dovetail said p-people disappear， too！’

“可…可豆文太奧先生說有人也丟失了呢！”

‘Only people who’re silly enough to stray onto the marsh at night，’ said Mrs Beamish。 ‘Hush now， Bertie， there is no monster。’

“只有足夠蠢的人才會在夜裡迷失在沼澤，”比姆世太太說到，“聽著，小波特，根本沒有怪物的。”

‘But Mr D-Dovetail said p-people heard voices outside their windows and in the m-morning their chickens were gone！’

“可是豆…豆文太奧先生說有人在他們窗外聽到怪聲，第二天早上，他們的雞都丟失了”

Mrs Beamish couldn’t help but laugh。

比姆世太太禁不住笑了起來。

‘The voices they heard are ordinary thieves， Bertie。 Up in the Marshlands they pilfer from each other all the time。 It’s easier to blame the Ickabog than to admit their neighbours are stealing from them！’

“他們聽到的聲音其實就是普通的小偷，小波特，在麻石地，他們一直相互偷盜，對於他們來說，歸咎於艾克伯格比承認他們鄰居在偷東西要簡單的多。”

‘Stealing？’ gasped Bert， sitting up in his mother’s lap and gazing at her with solemn eyes。 ‘Stealing’s very naughty， isn’t it， Mummy？’

“偷？”波特鬆了口氣，坐在媽媽的膝蓋上望著媽媽的眼睛嚴肅的說“偷是很壞的，是吧，媽媽？”

‘It’s very naughty indeed，’ said Mrs Beamish， lifting up Bert， placing him tenderly back into his warm bed and tucking him in。 ‘But luckily， we don’t live near those lawless Marshlanders。’

“確實非常壞”比姆世太太說著，抱起了波特，溫柔的把他放進了溫暖的被窩並蓋好“幸運的是，我們離無法無天的麻石地人很遠。”

She picked up her candle and tiptoed back towards the bedroom door。

她拿起蠟燭踮著腳輕聲向臥室門走去。

‘Night， night，’ she whispered from the doorway。 She’d normally have added， ‘Don’t let the Ickabog bite，’ which was what parents across Cornucopia said to their children at bedtime， but instead she said， ‘Sleep tight。’

“晚安，晚安”她輕聲在門口說到。通常，比姆世太太會在說晚安後會加一句不要讓艾卡伯格咬哦，這句話整個國家的父母都會在他們孩子臨睡前說的，但這次她說了別的：“睡個好。”

Bert fell asleep again， and saw no more monsters in his dreams。

波特很快就睡著了，夢裡怪物沒有再出現。

It so happened that Mr Dovetail and Mrs Beamish were great friends。 They’d been in the same class at school， and had known each other all their lives。 When Mr Dovetail heard that he’d given Bert nightmares， he felt guilty。 As he was the best carpenter in all of Chouxville， he decided to carve the little boy an Ickabog。 It had a wide， smiling mouth full of teeth and big， clawed feet， and at once it became Bert’s favourite toy。

碰巧的是豆文太奧先生和比姆世太太是很好的朋友，他們曾是一個班級，彼此相互熟悉。當豆文太奧先生聽說了他的故事帶波特帶來了噩夢，他非常愧疚。因豆文太奧在首都是最好的木匠，於是他決定給小波特做個艾卡伯格木偶——它有著大大的微笑的嘴巴，露出滿口的牙齒，並有著大大的爪子。它一度成為波特最喜愛的玩具。

If Bert， or his parents， or the Dovetails next door， or anybody else in the whole kingdom of Cornucopia had been told that terrible troubles were about to engulf Cornucopia， all because of the myth of the Ickabog， they’d have laughed。 They lived in the happiest kingdom in the world。 What harm could the Ickabog do？

如果波特，或者他的父母，或者鄰居豆文太奧一家，或者整個國家的任何一人被告知因為艾卡伯格，恐怖的麻煩將會席捲Cornucopia（考紐考皮亞）。他們會開懷大笑。因為他們生活在世上最幸福的國家，艾卡伯格能做出什麼傷害？