牛津书虫系列《星际动物园》Chapter1 附中英双语文本

'Why？'I spoke like a small child．
“为什么？”我孩子似地说道。
'Because we are lonely．Because there is nothing in the Galaxy except us．You know all that，Hummy．'
“因为我们孤独。因为除了我们，银河系就没有其他东西了。这些你都知道的，蜂儿。”
The dressing-robot made me a wedding dress—we have robots for everything like that．The dress was white and covered me all over except for my eyes．
机器人裁缝给我做了一套婚纱——我们做什么都有机器人。婚纱是白的，除了眼睛，把我全罩住了。
My father took my arm．
爸爸挽着我的胳膊。
Buff was waiting with my mother．I saw his eyes through the eye-holes of his wedding suit．They were small mean eyes．
牛子和我妈妈在一起等着。我通过他结婚礼服的眼洞看见了他的眼睛。一双刻薄的小眼睛。
'Hello，Kate，'he said．
“你好，虫子，”他说。
My father said，'Her name is Hummingbird．'
我爸爸说道：“她的名字叫蜂鸟。”
'I know，I know，'Buff said．
“我知道，我知道，”牛子说。
'How did you find me？'I asked Buff．
“你怎么找到我的？”我问牛子。
'I had a small camera，'he answered．'I took a photo of your eyes．Did you know that everybody's eyes are different？Nobody has eyes like yours．'
“我有个小照相机，”他回答，“我给你的眼睛照了张像。难道你不知道每个人的眼睛都不同吗？没有人长着和你一样的眼睛。”
I turned to my father．'Listen to him！Can't you see how horrible he is？Please don't make me marry him．'
我转向爸爸：“听他说的话！您难道看不出他有多坏吗？求您别让我嫁给他。”
My father didn't say anything．He couldn't help me．
我爸爸没说话。他帮不了我。
You can say no if a man asks you to marry him on Remembering Night．But you must have a very special reason．A reason that the Star Council will accept．If you are doing work that is important for the Galaxy，the Council will usually accept that as a good reason．
怀旧夜里，男人向你求婚你可以拒绝。但你要有非同寻常的理由，一个星际理事会能接受的理由。如果你正在为银河系做重要的工作，理事会一般会认为这是可以接受的正当理由。
I couldn't think of anything like that．But it was something to hope for…if I could escape．
我想不出任何这种理由。可这只能是痴心妄想……我要是能逃跑该多好。
I was afraid．I didn't want to run away and never see my family again．
我害怕。我不愿逃跑，不愿将来永远见不到我的家人。
Some neighbours arrived，and the wedding began immediately．
几个邻居到了，于是婚礼马上开始。
Buff stood next to me and held my hand．His hand was large and a little wet．How I hated him！
牛子站在我身边，抓着我的手。他的手很大，有点湿。我恨死他了！
My father picked up the Book of Remembering．He read，'In the beginning there were millions of planets in the Galaxy but there was only life on one．That was the planet Earth．People and animals lived together．But people polluted Earth．It became too hot for animals to live．They died．All the animals died．So people left Earth and never returned to that planet．Their hearts were empty when they left Earth，empty today，empty forever…'
爸爸拿起《往事追忆》。他读道：“开始的时候，银河系有数以百万计的行星，但只有一颗行星上有生命，那就是地球。人类和动物生活在一起。但人类污染了地球。它变得太热了，动物无法生存。它们死了。所有的动物都死了。所以，人类离开了地球，再也没有回到那颗行星。他们离开地球的时候，心里空荡荡的，今天仍是空荡荡的，永远空荡荡的……”
Buff was still holding my hand．
牛子还抓着我的手。
My father spoke again．'Buffalo，will you take my daughter Hummingbird to be your wife for one year，in the name of Earth and the animals？'
爸爸又说话了：“水牛，以地球和动物的名义，你愿意娶我的女儿让她做你一年妻子吗？”
Buff answered，'I will．'
牛子答道：“我愿意。”
My father turned to me．'Hummingbird，will you take this man Buffalo to be your husband for one year，in the name of Earth and the animals？'
我爸爸转向我：“蜂鸟，以地球和动物的名义，你愿意嫁给水牛让他做你一年的丈夫吗？”
That's when I ran．
就在这时候我跑开了。
I let the wedding dress fall off me．I ran fast．They ran afterme but I could run much faster without the wedding dress．I got to our robot spaceship，jumped into it and said，'Take off．'
我把婚纱扯了下来。我跑得很快。他们追我，但我没穿婚纱，跑得比他们快得多。我跑上我们的智能飞船，跳了上去，说道：“起飞。”