Chapter 1-4

CHAPTER FOUR In which (at last!) someone actually wants the Sea Serpent to visit With Courier way out in front and Bennett and Florizella trailing behind, the three royal children made their way along the bank to meet the Countess N'Asty at the drawbridge. The Sea Serpent slid into the moat and swam beside them. The Mammoth stayed well back in the orchard, creeping from tree to tree, believing himself to be completely hidden by the trunks.

第四章 终于，真的有人盼着海怪来做客啦 信使跑在最前面，贝内特和弗洛里泽拉跟在后面，三个王室孩子沿着河岸往吊桥走，去迎接纳斯蒂伯爵夫人。 海怪滑进护城河里，挨着他们游。 猛犸象远远躲在果园里，从一棵树后面蹑手蹑脚挪到另一棵树后面，还觉得自己被树干挡得严严实实，谁都看不见他。

The Countess N'Asty had once been a famous beauty. Her hair was stiffly curled in blonde ringlets, her eyes were fierce and dark, and, when she snarled, she showed broken and chipped yellow teeth. Her face was scrunched up now in a hideous scowl and her shoulders were hunched, as if she were ready for a fight. "Hello!" said Courier pleasantly, not at all dismayed by the furious glare she turned on him. "I'm Prince Courier and this is my sister, Princess Florizella, and our friend Prince Bennett." "I know," snapped the Countess N'Asty. "I've not come here to see you. I've come to see the king and queen." "My dear parents," Courier told her smoothly. "I am sure they will be delighted to receive you. Shall I show you in? Will you leave your– er– horses out here?"

纳斯蒂伯爵夫人当年可是出了名的大美人。 她的头发烫成硬硬的金色小卷，眼睛又黑又锐利，龇牙咧嘴的时候，露出的黄牙齿缺的缺、断的断。 这会儿她整张脸皱成一团，凶巴巴地皱着眉，肩膀弓着，好像随时准备跟人干一架。 “你好呀！”信使乐呵呵地打招呼，完全没被她瞪过来的凶样子吓到。 “我是信使王子，这是我妹妹弗洛里泽拉公主，还有我们的朋友贝内特王子。” “我知道。”纳斯蒂伯爵夫人不耐烦地打断他。 “我来这儿不是找你们的。 我是来见国王和王后的。” “我亲爱的父王和母后呀，”信使语气四平八稳地说。 “他们见到您肯定特别开心。 我带您进去好不好？ 您要不要把您的——呃——马留在外面呀？”

They were not really horses– they were extremely bad-tempered large black cats that the countess had harnessed to her rackety coach. They snarled at Prince Courier until the Sea Serpent reared up from the moat and rested its long green chin on the drawbridge, looking at them with a hungry smile. Then they sat down and washed their paws of the whole business. "They can come out and meet me," the countess said. "I'm not stopping." Courier glanced up at the Good Manner Eagle circling above. "As you wish," he said. To Florizella he whispered, "Why don't the Good Manner Eagles grab her? She's so rude!" Florizella shook her head. "They gave up on her years ago."

那哪儿是马呀——是几只脾气特别坏的大黑猫，伯爵夫人把它们套在自己那辆哐当响的马车上。 它们对着信使王子龇牙咧嘴，直到海怪从护城河里直起身子，把长长的绿下巴搁在吊桥上，带着馋兮兮的笑看着它们才停下。 接着它们就坐了下来，舔着爪子，一副啥都不想掺和的样子。 “让他们出来见我就行。”伯爵夫人说。 “我就不进去了。” 信使抬头瞥了一眼在天上盘旋的礼仪鹰。 “听您的。”他说。 他凑到弗洛里泽拉耳边小声问：“礼仪鹰怎么不把她抓走呀？ 她太没礼貌了！” 弗洛里泽拉摇了摇头。 “它们好几年前就放弃管她了。”

"Most unfair," Courier said quietly. To the Countess N'Asty he said: "I'll tell them you're here. I'm sure they'll be delighted. What name shall I say?" She scowled at him. "I am the Countess Not- Nasty," she said. Bennett giggled and the Good Manner Eagle dropped down to perch on the battlement of the castle above his head. Bennett stopped giggling and tried to look very respectful. "Of course," Courier said smoothly. He crossed the drawbridge and went into the palace, as the countess turned to look at Florizella and Bennett. "In my day," she said, "princes and princesses were beautifully dressed and beautifully behaved. All the time." With the Good Manner Eagle's narrowed gaze on them, Florizella and Bennett just bowed as if they were sorry for one of them being soaked through and the other a little dusty– which they were not. "How old are you?" she asked Florizella and, without waiting for the answer, she said, "Shouldn't you have left home and be unhappily married by now?" "Unhappily married?" Florizella queried.

“太不公平了。”信使小声嘟囔。 他对着纳斯蒂伯爵夫人说：“我这就去告诉他们您来了。 他们肯定特别高兴。 我该怎么报您的名字呀？” 她恶狠狠地瞪着他。 “我是诺特- 娜斯蒂伯爵夫人。”她说。 贝内特笑出了声，礼仪鹰立刻落下来，停在他头顶上方的城堡城垛上。 贝内特马上不笑了，努力摆出一副特别恭敬的样子。 “好的呀。”信使语气顺畅地说。 他走过吊桥进了王宫，这时候伯爵夫人转过头看向弗洛里泽拉和贝内特。 “我那个时候呀，”她说，“王子公主穿得漂漂亮亮的，举止也规规矩矩。 从来都是这样。” 礼仪鹰正眯着眼睛盯着他们，弗洛里泽拉和贝内特只好鞠了一躬，装作为他们里一个浑身湿透、另一个沾了点灰而抱歉——其实他们根本不觉得有啥好抱歉的。 “你多大了？” 她问弗洛里泽拉，还没等人家回答，她又说：“你这个年纪不是该离开家，过上不幸福的婚姻生活了吗？” “不幸福的婚姻生活？” 弗洛里泽拉疑惑地问。

"In my day you went to a princess-choosing ball, you got married and you lived unhappily ever after. That was how we did it in Never-Ever-Land. That was my home. It was called Never-Ever-Land for short. It's real name was "Really hope it's only once upon a time, can't stand it to happen twice, but wish it was Never-Ever-Land."" "And don't you live there now?" Bennett asked. "In Never-Ever-Land?" Countess N'Asty gave a little growl and the bad- tempered cats glanced at her to see if they were all going to be asked to scratch someone. "I got thrown out," she said crossly. "What for?" Florizella hardly dared to ask. "Being too nasty," she admitted. "I upset everyone. I picked on everyone. I didn't just bully little kids, I was mean to important big people too. So they threw me out and I moved to the Shady Side of the Mountain, where I live in Great Ill-humour and Grumpiness." "Oh, that's a shame," Florizella said. "I'm so sorry." The countess showed no gratitude for the sympathy. "Great Ill-Humour and Grumpiness is the name of the town," she said. "You can keep your

“我那时候，你去个选公主的舞会，结个婚，之后就永远过着不开心的日子。 我们永无乡当年就是这样的。 那是我的家乡。 大家平时都简称它叫永无乡。 它的全名是‘真希望这事儿只发生一次，千万别来第二次，但愿永远都别再有乡’。” “那你现在不住在那儿了吗？” 贝内特问。 “不住在永无乡了？” 纳斯蒂伯爵夫人低低吼了一声，那些坏脾气的猫都扭头看她，想知道是不是要让它们去挠人。 “我被赶出来了。”她气呼呼地说。 “为什么呀？” 弗洛里泽拉问的时候都有点不敢喘气。 “因为我太讨人嫌了。”她倒是直说了。 “我把所有人都得罪了。 我谁都要挤兑。 我不光欺负小孩子，连那些有头有脸的大人物我也不给好脸色。 所以他们把我赶出来了，我就搬到了山的背阴面，住在‘气急败坏暴跳如雷镇’。” “哦，太遗憾了。”弗洛里泽拉说。 “我真替你难过。” 伯爵夫人一点都不领这份同情的情。 “‘气急败坏暴跳如雷’是镇子的名字。”她说。 “你还是留着你的

sympathy for yourself. I love it there. Everyone is in a bad mood in Great Ill-Humour. The only people who are more miserable than us in Great Ill-Humour are those who live in Grumpiness." "How are they in the Slough of Despond?" Bennett asked, making a little joke. "Stuck," she replied bluntly. The Mammoth sidled up behind Florizella and rested his trunk on her shoulder. "I wike it here," he whispered. "We won't go there, will we?" They were relieved to see Courier crossing the drawbridge, leading the king and queen, with Samson, the wolf who lived in the palace like a pet dog, trotting behind them. "Good morning, Countess N'Asty," the queen said. She was wearing her best crown, as she always did when she had an unpleasant visitor. Behind her the king looked stern and dignified. "This drawbridge is a mess," the countess said, without even saying hello. She waved a hand at the Mammoth, the Sea Serpent, the soaking-wet prince, the scruffy princess and the little prince with his perfectly curled golden hair. "And this lot! What on earth d'you think they look like?"

就是自怨自艾嘛。 我可喜欢这儿了。 在“大坏脾气国”，所有人的心情都糟透了。 在“大坏脾气国”，唯一比我们更惨的，就是住在“暴躁鬼领地”的家伙。" "那“绝望泥潭”里的人过得怎么样呀？" 班尼特开了个小玩笑，随口问道。 "还困在那儿呗。"她直截了当地回答。 猛犸象悄悄溜到弗洛里泽拉身后，把鼻子搭在她肩膀上。 "我喜翻这儿，"他小声嘟囔着。 "我们不会去那种地方的，对不对？" 看到库里尔领着国王和王后走过吊桥，大家都松了口气，那只像宠物狗一样住在王宫里的狼参孙，正小步跟在他们后面。 "早上好啊，纳斯蒂伯爵夫人。"王后开口打招呼。 她戴着自己最精致的王冠，每次要见不讨喜的访客时，她总会这么打扮。 她身后的国王看上去神情严肃，威严庄重。 "这吊桥乱得不成样子。"伯爵夫人连句问候都没有，一开口就挑刺。 她朝猛犸象、海蛇、浑身湿透的王子、邋里邋遢的公主，还有留着一头完美金色卷发的小王子挥了挥手。 "还有这帮人！ 你们到底觉得他们像什么样子？"