King of the Pumpkins 南瓜王

高齐云选译

“Deep in the middle of the woods，” said my mother， “is the place where the king of the pumpkins lives.” “But pumpkins live in fields1， not in forests，” I said to my mother. She wouldnt listen to me. “Im telling you，” she said， “the king of the pumpkins lives in the middle of the woods and the woods that he lives in are the woods right next to our house， the woods you can see out of the window over there.” She pointed2 with her hand to the woods that were just outside the window behind our house. “He doesnt live in a field like the other pumpkins，” mother went on， “because hes not an ordinary pumpkin. Hes the King Pumpkin.”

“森林深处，”我母亲说，“是南瓜王生活的地方。”“但南瓜生活在田野里，而不是森林里，”我对母亲说，她不听我的。“我告诉你，”她说，“南瓜王住在树林里面，他住的树林就是我们家旁边的树林，你可以从那边的窗户看到的那片树林。”她用手指了指我们家后窗外的树林。“他不像其他南瓜那样生活在田野里。”母亲接着说，“因为他不是一个普通的南瓜。他是南瓜王。”

I shut up and believed her， like you do when youre a kid. Firstly， I knew that it wasnt worth3 fighting with my mother. She always won4. Secondly， when youre a kid， you always believe what grown-ups tell you， no matter how stupid5 it is. Like Santa Claus and stuff like that. Kids always believe it， even though they know its stupid. Still， I wanted to go and find the king of the pumpkins， partly because I was bored， partly because I was curious6， and also—of course—because I wanted to know if my mother really was talking nonsense7 or not.

我閉上嘴，决定相信她，就像你小时候那样。首先，我知道这不值得和我妈妈争论，她总是赢。其次，当你还是个孩子的时候，你总是相信大人告诉你的事，不管这有多傻，像圣诞老人之类的。孩子们总是会相信，即使他们知道这很愚蠢。尽管如此，我还是决定去找南瓜王，一方面是因为我很无聊，另一方面是因为我很好奇。当然了，也因为我想知道妈妈是不是真的在胡说八道。

Mother often talked nonsense， I have to say that. There was the time she told me that the moon was made of cheese. I knew that was nonsense. Then there were all the stories she told me. Stories about frogs， princesses， princes and shoes. Stories about donkeys and unicorns8， gnomes9 and elves， magic mirrors and magic cooking pots. Stories about why the stars are exactly the way they are， why the river that runs through our town has the name that it has， stories about where the sun comes from， why the sky is so far away and why the elephant has a long trunk10. Some of these stories， I think， might have been true. I was never sure， and it was difficult to find out. This time， though， with this story about the king of the pumpkins， it was going to be easy to find out if she was telling the truth or not.

妈妈经常胡说八道，我必须得这么说。有一次，她告诉我月亮是奶酪做的。我知道那是胡说八道。还有她给我讲的所有故事，关于青蛙、公主、公主和鞋子的故事，关于驴和独角兽，侏儒和精灵，魔镜和魔法锅的故事，关于星星为什么是这样的故事，为什么流经我们城镇的河流会叫现在那个名字，关于太阳从哪里来的故事，为什么天空那么遥远，为什么大象有一个长长的鼻子。其中有些故事，我想有可能是真的。我从不确定，而且很难弄明白是不是真的。不过，这一次关于南瓜王的故事，就很容易弄清她说的是不是真的了。……