第四十六篇: 黑尾巴的蓝猪 The Blue Pig with a Black Tail

“What did you mean,” Asked the second king, “by saying, ‘sending a blue pig with a black tail, or else –‘?”

第二位国王问道，“你当时说‘送我一只长着黑尾巴的蓝猪，否则——’，你那么说是什么意思？”

Both kings were so angry that they went to war with each other. They collected all their soldiers and fought with each other. Brave men were killed, and women and children died because they could get nothing to eat.

两位国王如此生气以致于（so angry that）发动了战争。他们调集所有士兵去打仗。勇敢的士兵死在战场上，女人和孩子因为没有食物而死去。

The other replied, “I haven’t one; if I had –“

另一位回答说，“我没有这样的猪，如果我有——”。

Once upon a time a certain king sent a message to another king, saying, “Send me a blue pig with a black tail, or else –“

从前有位国王给另一位国王送去一条信息，说，“给我送来一只长着黑尾巴（tail）的蓝猪，或者其他的——”

When it seemed that neither side could win the war, the kings began to talk about peace. First of all, it was necessary to explain the two messages. Each king was angry at what the other had said.

看来好像（it seemed that。）双方都不能（neither side could）打赢这场战争，于是两位国王开始谈论和平（talk about peace）。首先（first of all），有必要去解释（explain）那两条信息。两位国王都因对方所说的话而生气。

“Why,” said the first king, “I could mean only one thing. I meant that I wanted you to send me a blue pig with a black tail, or else a pig of some other color.”

“怎么，”第一位国王回答道，“我只能表示一个意思啊，我是说我希望你给我送一只黑尾巴的蓝猪，或者其他颜色的猪。”（注：or else可有两种解释，一是作为短语，译为“否则”，二是作为两个单独的单词，放在一起译为“或者其他”）

“Oh, that was all, was it? I did not get the whole of your message,” answered the second king. “What a pity! ” He added.

第二位国王回答，“哎呀！就是这个意思啊？我没有理解你信息的全部。”他补充说（add）。“真可惜（what a pity）！”

“Ah, but I must know what you meant by your reply to my message,” asked the first king. “You said, ‘I haven’t one; if I had –“‘

“嗯，但我必须知道你的回信是什么意思，”第一位国王补充道，“你说‘我没有这样的猪，即使我有——’”。

So the great war of the blue pig with the black tail was recorded in the histories of the two countries in order to prevent such a war happening again.

于是这场关于黑尾巴的蓝猪的战争被载入（was recorded）两国史册以防止（prevent）此类现象再次发生。

“Why, my answer is very clear. I meant that I hadn’t one; if I had, I should have sent it to you.”

“我的回答很清楚啊。我是说我没有那样的猪；如果有的话，我会送给你的。”

“Well, well!” said the first king, “We have been fighting about nothing. If we had only explained these things before the war started, then this bitter war must have been avoided.”

“哎呀！”第一位国王说，“我们之间的战争毫无理由。如果我们能在战争开始之前解释清楚这些事情，这场痛苦的战争（bitter war）就一定能避免（avoid）。”