21 The Heart of a Mouse

The Heart of a Mouse It was lovely to be back in Norway once again in my grandmother's fine old house. But now that I was so small, everything looked different and it took me quite a while to find my way around. Mine was a world of carpets and table-legs and chair-legs and the little crannies behind large pieces of furniture. A closed door could not be opened and nothing could be reached that was on a table. But after a few days, my grandmother began to invent gadgets for me in order to make life a bit easier. She got a carpenter to put together a number of slim tall stepladders and she placed one of these against each table in the house so that I could climb up whenever I wanted to. She herself invented a wonderful door-opening device made out of wires and springs and pulleys, with heavy weights dangling on cords, and soon every door in the house had a door-opener on it. All I had to do

老鼠是可爱的心回到挪威再次在我的祖母的老房子。 但现在我太小了，一切看起来都不一样了，我花了很长时间才找到我的路。 我的世界充满了地毯、桌腿、椅腿和大件家具后面的小缝隙。 关着的门打不开，桌上的东西也够不着。 但几天后，我的祖母开始为我发明小玩意，为了让生活更容易一点。 她找了一个木匠，把一些又细又高的梯子拼在一起，在家里的每张桌子上都放了一个梯子，这样我就可以随时爬上去了。 她自己发明了一种奇妙的开门装置，用电线、弹簧和滑轮做成，绳子上挂着重物。不久，家里的每扇门上都装了一个开门器。 我所要做的

was to press my front paws on to a tiny wooden platform and hey presto, a spring would stretch and a weight would drop and the door would swing open. Next, she rigged up an equally ingenious system whereby I could switch on the light whenever I entered a room at night. I cannot explain how it worked because I know nothing about electricity, but there was a little button let into the floor near the door in every room in the house, and when I pressed the button gently with one paw, the light would come on. When I pressed it a second time, the light would go off again.

就是把我的前爪压在一个小木平台上，然后，弹簧就会伸展，重物就会掉下来，门就会打开。 接下来，她又安装了一个同样巧妙的系统，让我可以在晚上进入房间时打开灯。 我无法解释它是如何工作的，因为我对电一无所知，但房子里每个房间门边的地板上都有一个小按钮，当我用一只爪子轻轻地按下按钮时，灯就会亮起来。 当我第二次按它时，灯又灭了。

My grandmother made me a tiny toothbrush, using a matchstick for the handle, and into this she stuck little bits of bristle that she had snipped off one of her hair-brushes. 'You must not get any

我的祖母用一根火柴棒做了一把小牙刷，把她从梳子上剪下来的毛塞进牙刷里。 “你不能买

holes in your teeth,' she said. 'I can't take a mouse to a dentist! He'd think I was crazy!' 'It's funny,' I said, 'but ever since I became a mouse I've hated the taste of sweets and chocolate. So I don't think I'll get any holes.' 'You are still going to brush your teeth after every meal,' my grandmother said. And I did. For a bath-tub she gave me a silver sugar-basin, and I bathed in it every night before going to bed.

“你牙齿上有洞，”她说。 “我不能带老鼠去看牙医!”他会认为我疯了!“真有趣，”我说，“自从我变成老鼠以后，我就讨厌糖果和巧克力的味道。” 所以我觉得不会有洞。“你还是要在每顿饭后刷牙，”我奶奶说。 我照做了。她给了我一个银质的糖盆当澡盆，我每晚睡觉前都用它洗澡。

She allowed no one else into the house, not even a servant or a cook. We kept entirely to ourselves and we were very happy in each other's company. One evening, as I lay on my grandmother's lap in front of the fire, she said to me, 'I wonder what happened to that little Bruno.' 'I wouldn't be surprised if his father gave him to the hall-porter to drown in the fire-bucket,' I answered. 'I'm afraid you may be right,' my grandmother said. 'The poor little thing.' We were silent for a few minutes, my grandmother puffing away at her black cigar while I dozed comfortably in the warmth.

她不允许任何其他人进屋，甚至连仆人和厨子也不允许。 我们完全不跟别人来往，在彼此的陪伴下我们都很快乐。 一天晚上，我躺在火炉前祖母的腿上，她对我说:“我不知道那个小布鲁诺发生了什么事。“如果他父亲把他交给看门人，让他在火桶里淹死，我一点也不奇怪，”我回答。 “恐怕你是对的，”祖母说。 “可怜的小东西。”我们沉默了几分钟，祖母吸着她的黑雪茄，而我则在温暖中舒适地打着盹。

'Can I ask you something, Grandmamma?' I said. 'Ask me anything you like, my darling.' 'How long does a mouse live?' 'Ah,' she said. 'I've been waiting for you to ask me that.' There was a silence. She sat there smoking away and gazing at the fire. 'Well,' I said. 'How long do we live, us mice?' 'I have been reading about mice,' she said. 'I have been trying to find out everything I can about them.'

“我能问你一件事吗，奶奶?”我说。 “你爱问我什么就问什么，亲爱的。“老鼠能活多久?”“啊，”她说。 "我一直在等你问我这个问题呢。"一阵沉默。 她坐在那里不停地抽烟，凝视着炉火。 “嗯，”我说。“我们这些老鼠能活多久?”“我读过关于老鼠的书，”她说。 “我一直在尽力了解他们的一切情况。”