03 The Inside of the World
03世界的内部
When I was a very little boy I was very inquisitive. At least that's what my nurse called me.One day when I was walking with her along the city pavements, I asked:“Jane, what's under the pavement?” “Oh, just dirt,” she replied. “And what is under the dirt?” “Oh, more dirt,” she replied. “Well, what' sunder that?” I asked. I wasn't satisfied. “Oh, nothing-I don't know—why are you always so inquisitive?” she asked.
小时候就是个非常好奇的孩子，至少我的保姆是这样说的。一天她带我一起走在城市的人行道上，我问她：“简，人行道下面是什么？”“哦，就是泥土。”她回答说。“那泥土下面呢？”“哦，更多的泥土。”她回答说。“嗯，那再下面是什么呢？”我不满意这个回答，又问她。 “哦，什么都没有—我不知道—你为什么总是这么好奇呢？”她问我。
I knew there must be something underneath that, and I just wanted to know what it was—I was just inquisitive. I had heard that the place bad boys went when they died was down under the ground somewhere—a big cave, perhaps—and I wanted to know if that were so. And then I had heard that all the way through on the other side of the World Chinamen lived, head down, and walked upside down like flies on the ceiling. I wanted to find out if that were so too. So I made up my mind I'd dig down through the World; down, down, down, till I came through on the other side, and then I'd know. I was a very little boy, you see. With a tin shovel I started a hole in the back yard behind the grapevines, where no one would know what I was doing. I wanted to keep it a secret until I had dug all the way through. Day after day I worked, digging up first soft ground—that was easy—then I got down to solid ground; that was hard. I had a hole which I could stand in up to my waist.
我想那下面一定有东西，我就是想知道那到底是什么东西—我很好奇。我曾听说坏孩子死了之后会到地下的一个什么地方—也许是个大洞—我想知道是不是那样。我还听说绕着地球直到走到另一面是中国人住的地方，人们都是头朝下，倒过来走路的，就像苍蝇趴在天花板上一。我想看看到底是不是那样。于是我下定决心要自己挖通世界；向下一直挖，一直挖，一直挖到世界的另一面，那时我就知道了。要知道我当时很小，我开始用一把铁锹在后院葡萄藤后面挖了个洞，没人知道我在那儿干什么。我想在我彻底挖通之前保守秘密。我一天又一天地干着，先挖到软软的土层—那很容易，然后我挖到了坚硬的土，很难挖。我挖出了一个齐腰深的坑。
Then one evening my father asked, “What's that hole in the back yard?” My secret was out.
后来有天晚上，爸爸问我：“后院里那个坑是怎么回事？”我的秘密被发现了。
He didn't laugh when I told him— at least out loud—but he asked me if I knew how far I'd have to dig.
当我告诉他的时候他并没有笑我—至少没有大声笑出来—但他问我知不知道我得挖多深才能挖得通。
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