When she was in good humor, she could admire the bright polish of its sides and the rich border of beautiful faces that ran all around it.
如果她的心情大好,她会欣赏侧面的明亮抛光,以及布满美丽脸庞的边缘。
Or, if she happened to be ill-tempered, she could give it an angry push, or kick it with her naughty little foot.
如果她的心情不好,她会生气地推动盒子,或者用淘气的小脚丫踢它。
And many a kick did the mischievous box receive, you may be sure!
这个淘气的盒子遭受了多少踢打,你应该心里有数。
But certain it is if it had not been for the box, little Pandora would not have known half so well how to spend her time as she now did.
确定的是,如果不是为了盒子,小潘多拉一定不太清楚该如何度过时光。
GUESSING WHAT WAS IN THE BOX
猜猜盒子里面是什么
For it was really an endless employment to guess what was inside. What could it be, indeed?
猜猜里面是什么真是无止境的工作,里面会是什么呢?
Just imagine, my little hearers, how busy your wits would be if there were a great box in the house,
想象一下我的小听众们,如果你家有一个大盒子,你又会如何绞尽脑汁去想,
which you might suppose contained something new and pretty for your Christmas or New Year's gifts.
你或许会认为里面是为圣诞或新年准备的华丽礼物。
Do you think that you should be less curious than Pandora? If you were left alone with the box,
你认为你不会像潘多拉那样好奇吗?如果你和盒子单独在一起,
might you not feel a little tempted to lift the lid? But you would not do it. Oh, fie! No, no!
你难道没有打开盖子的冲动?或许你不会这么做,呸呸,不!不!
Only, if you thought there were toys in it, it would be so very hard to let slip an opportunity of taking just one peep!
如果你认为里面是玩具,那很难让你错过这个偷看一次的机会!
I know not whether Pandora expected any toys; for none had yet begun to be made, probably, in those days,
潘多拉想的一定不是玩具,当时那个时代还没有制造过任何事物,
when the world itself was one great plaything for the children that dwelt upon it.
在当时,整个世界就是一个巨大的玩物,供孩子们沉侵其中。
But Pandora was certain that there was something very beautiful and valuable in the box,
但潘多拉确定的是,里面一定是非常美丽和宝贵的东西,
and therefore she felt just as anxious to take a peep as any little girl would have felt.
所以她渴望偷看的想法是每个小女孩都会有的。
On this particular day, however, her curiosity grew so much greater than it usually was that at last she approached the box.
在这个特殊的一天,她的好奇心比平常都要强烈,她向盒子走去。
She was more than half determined to open it, if she could. Ah, naughty Pandora!
她很想打开这个盒子,如果她可以的话,哦,淘气的潘多拉。
First, however, she tried to lift it. It was heavy; much too heavy for the slender strength of a child like Pandora.
首先,她试图打开盖子,很沉,像潘多拉这样的孩子,她们没有那么大的力量。
She raised one end of the box a few inches from the floor, and let it fall again with a loud thump.
她将盒子的一端打开了几英寸,之后又重重地放下了。
A moment afterwards she almost thought that she heard something stir inside the box.
过了一会,她几乎听到了盒子里面发出的骚乱。