格列佛游记——小人国游记-5

One morning a messenger from the emperor came to see me.

"The emperor needs your help," he said, "The people who live in Blefuscu are going to attack us. Blefuscu is an island across the sea. It is not very far away."

"Why are Lilliput and Blefuscu at war?" I asked.

"Because the people in Blefuscu break their eggs at the bigger end, and we break our eggs at the smaller end," he replied. "They don't like our way of breaking eggs. The emperor of Blefuscu wants to make us break them at the bigger end, but we don't want to."

When I heard this, I thought it was not an important matter at all. But I agreed to help them anyway.

Then I walked to the shore and looked at the harbor of Blefuscu. A great many ships were there. There were about fifty in all. They were ready to sail for Lilliput and go to war.

I had a bright idea. I came back to the capital. I met some captains of the ships and asked them how deep the sea was between the island of Lilliput and the island of Blefuscu.

They told me it was about six feet at the deepest part.

I bent some iron bars and made fifty hooks. I fastened each hook to a piece of strong rope. I walked back to the shore with the hooks and rope. I took off my shoes, stockings and coat, and walked into the sea.

In half an hour, I reached the harbor of Blefuscu, and saw their ships. When they saw me, many of the little sailors were frightened and jumped out of their ships into the water. I then fastened a hook and a rope to the front part of each ship. I tried to pull the ships away from the harbor, but they would not move.

While I was doing this, they began to shoot their arrows at me. Many of the shots hit my hands and my face. So I put on my glasses to defend my eyes from the arrows. Next, I took out my knife and cut the anchor cables. Then I waded to the middle of the sea. I took the other end of the rope and pulled. I could then draw them after me. Finally I returned safely to Lilliput.

The emperor and his men were waiting for me on the shore. When they saw me and the enemy's ships, they were very pleased. The emperor gave me the highest rank in the country.

"Go back to Blefuscu and bring some more ships," he said to me. The emperor of Lilliput wanted to conquer Blefuscu and make the people his slaves. I did not like this plan.

"I won't go there," I said. Then the emperor got angry, and he and his men went away.

Soon the emperor of Blefuscu wished to end the war. He sent some of his men to Lilliput to make peace between the countries.

Thus the war came to an end.  

有一天早上皇帝派一位信差来看我。
　　他说：『皇帝需要你的帮忙。住在布雷夫斯古的人即将攻打我们。布雷夫斯古是对海的一座岛，离此不远。』

　　我问他：『为何利力浦和布雷夫斯古的人会交战呢？』
　　他答道：『因为布国人民打蛋时打较大的那端，而我们是打较小的那端。他们不喜欢我们打蛋的方式，布国皇帝想要我们打较大的那端，但是我们不要。』

　　我听到这事时，认为那不是什幺大不了的事。但是我还是同意帮助他们。
　　然后我走到海边，看着布国海港。那里有很多船只。总共约有五十艘。他们准备航行到利力浦来作战。

　　我想到一个好主意。我回到首都后和一些船长碰面，并问他们利国和布国之间的海有多深。
　　他们告诉我最深处约六英尺。

　　我把一些铁条弄弯，做成五十个钩子。我将每个钩子绑在一条坚固的绳索上。我带着钩子和绳索回到海边，脱下鞋子、袜子和外套，然后走入海里。
　　半小时后，我扺达布国的港口，见到了他们的船只。很多小水手看到我时都吓坏了，便纷纷从船上跳入海里。然后我在每艘船头套一个钩子和绳索。我试图把船拉离港口，但那些船只一动也不动。

　　当我在拉这些船只时，他们开始用箭射我。许多箭射中了我的手和脸。
于是我戴上眼镜以保护我的眼睛，免得被箭射中。接着，我拿出了刀子切断锚的缆绳。然后我涉水到海中央，抓住绳索的另一端再拉，这时我可以把那些船拖在我后面。最后我安全返回利力浦。
　　皇帝和他的属下正在海边等我。当他们看见我及敌国的船只时，他们都很高兴。皇帝封给我全国最高的官阶。

　　皇帝对我说：『回到布国，再多拉些船只过来。』利国皇帝想要征服布国，将其人民变成自己的奴隶。我并不喜欢这样的计划。
　　我说：『我不会到那儿去。』这时皇帝很生气，便和属下离开了。

　　不久布国皇帝希望终止战争。他派他的属下到利力浦来谈和。

　　战争因此结束了。