OK阅读网

爱丽丝镜中世界奇遇记
Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There

英文中文双语对照双语交替

首页目录上一章下一章

8 The White Knight

After a while the noise of the drums slowly died awayand everything became silent． Alice lifted her head andsaw that she was alone，but there，lying at her feet， was theplate on which she had tried to cut the plum-cake．

‘So I didn't dream the Lion and the Unicorn，then，’ shesaid to herself．‘But-oh dear！Perhaps we're all part of thesame dream． I do hope it's my dream， and not the RedKing's！ I don't like belonging to another person's dream．’

At this moment there was a loud shout，and a Knight in redarmour came riding through the forest towards her．Just as hereached her，the horse stopped suddenly．

‘You're my prisoner！’the Red Knight cried，as he fell offhis horse．

Alice was more worried for the Knight than for herself， buthe got up and slowly climbed back on to his horse．He began again to say，‘You're my-’， but then another shout rangthrough the forest．Alice looked round in surprise．

This time it was a White Knight．He rode up to Alice andwhen his horse stopped，he too fell off at once． He got onagain，and then the two Knights sat and looked at each othersilently．Alice watched them both，feeling very puzzled．

‘She's my prisoner，you know！’ the Red Knight said at

‘Yes， but then I came and saved her！’the White Knightreplied．

‘Well，we must fight for her，then，’said the Red Knight，and he began to put on his helmet，which was in the shape of ahorse's head．

When the White Knight had got into his helmet as well， thetwo began fighting each other very noisily．Several times oneknocked the otner off his horse，but then always fell off him-self．Alice got behind a tree，where she could watch moresafely．

‘What a noise their armour makes when they fall off！’shesaid to herself．‘And how calm the horses are！They just standthere like tables while the Knights get on and off！’

The battle ended when they both fell off at the same time．Then they shook hands and the Red Knight got on his horseand rode away．The White Knight came up to Alice．

‘I won that battle easily， didn't I？’he said．

‘I don't know，’said Alice，uncertainly．‘I don't want tobe anybody's prisoner． I want to be a Queen．’

‘So you will，when you've crossed the next brook，’ said theWhite Knight．‘I'll see you safe to the end of the wood- andthen I must go back， you know． That's the end of my move．’

‘Thank you very much，’said Alice．‘May I help you takeoff your helmet？’

It was difficult to do， but at last the helmet came off．

‘Ah， that's better，’ said the Knight．He pushed back hislong wild hair with both hands，and turned his gentle face andlarge sad eyes to Alice．

He was a very strange-looking soldier，Alice thought．Hisarmour fitted him very badly，and he had a great many thingsfastened to himself，and to the horse．There was also a smallwooden box on his back，which was upside-down.

‘I see you're looking at my little box，’the Knight said in afriendly voice．‘It's my own invention-to keep clothes andsandwiches in．You see I carry it upside-down，and then therain can't get in.’

‘But the things can get out，’ Alice said gently．‘Did youknow that the top was open？’

‘No，I didn't，’the Knight said．‘If all the things havefallen out，’he went on unhappily，‘there's no use keeping thebox．’He unfastened it as he spoke，and put it carefully on thebranch of a tree．‘Perhaps some birds will make a home in it．Now，if you're ready… What's that plate for？’

‘It was used for plum-cake，’said Alice．

‘I think we should take it with us，’the Knight said．‘It'llbe useful if we find any plum-cake．Help me to get it into thisbag．’

This took a long time to do because the bag was not reallybig enough and already had a lot of carrots in it．But at last itwas done，and they started walking through the forest．It wasa slow journey because the Knight was not a good rider． Everytime the horse stopped（which it did very often），he fell off infront．When the horse went on again， he fell off behind．Sometimes he fell off sideways as well，and Alice learnt not towalk too close to the horse．

‘Perhaps you should have a wooden horse，on wheels，’Al-ice said with a little laugh， as she helped him get back on hishorse for the seventh time．

‘Do you think so？’the Knight said seriously．‘Yes，I'll getone． One or two- several．’

As they went， the Knight told her about his many inven-tions．Alice listened with great interest，but found most ofthem hard to understand．She was thinking abut his inven-tion for turning fish eyes into buttons when she saw，to hersurprise，that they had reached the end of the forest．

‘You are sad，’the Knight said in a worried voice．‘Let mesing you a song to cheer you up．’

‘Is it very long？’ Alice asked．She felt that she had heard agreat many poems and songs that day．

‘It's long，’said the Knight，‘but it's very，very beautiful．Everybody that hears me sing it-either they cry，or-’ Hestopped suddenly．

‘Or what？’ said Alice．

‘Or they don't， you know．The song is called I'll tell youeverything I can．It's about an old， old man that I met onesummer evening long ago，while sitting on the grass．’

Years afterwads Alice could still remember very clearlythose strange moments- the Knight's gentle smile as hesang，the sunlight shining on his armour，the horse quietlymoving around， and the black shadows of the forest behind．

She stood and listened very carefully，but she did not cry．Itwas a sad song，certainly，and as the Knight came towards theend，he seemed lost in his own sad dreams．

And now，if accidentally I put

My fingers into glue，

Or try to pusn a right-hand foot

Into a left-hand shoe，

Or if I drop upon my toe

A very heavy glass，

I cry，as it reminds me so

Of that old man I used to know-

Whose face was kind，whose voice was slow，

Whose hair was whiter than the snow，

Who shook his body to and fro，

And whispered words both sad and low-

That summer evening long ago，

While sitting on the grass．

As the Knight sang the last words， he began to turn hishorse round to go back into the forest．

‘You've only a little way to go，’he said，‘down the hilland over the brook，and then you'll be a Queen．’

‘Thank you very much for coming so far，’said Alice，‘andfor the song-I liked it very much．’

‘I hope so，’the Knight said worriedly，‘but you didn't cryvery much．’

They shook hands，and then the Knight rode slowly awayinto the forest．Alice stood and watched him for a while．

‘It won't be long before he falls off again，’she said to her-self．‘Yes- there he goes！Right on his head as usual！ Buthe doesn't seem to mind a bit．’

When he had gone，Alice turned and ran down the hill．‘Now for the last brook，and to be a Queen！How grand itsounds！’A few steps brought her to the edge of the brook．

‘The Eighth Square at last！’she cried，as she jumped over and sat down to rest on the soft green grass． At once she feltsomething very heavy on her head．‘What is this on myhead？’she said．‘And how did it get there？’She lifted it off，to see what it was．

It was a golden crown．