Chapter 3

Once, long ago in a land far away, there lived four little characters who ran through a maze¹ looking for cheese to nourish them and make them happy.

Two were mice named “Sniff³” and “Scurry⁴” and two were little people – beings who were as small as mice but who looked and acted a lot like people today.  Their names were “Hem²” and “Haw.”

Due to their small size, it would be easy not to notice what the four of them were doing.  But if you looked closely enough, you could discover the most amazing things!

Everyday the mice and the little people spent time in the maze looking for their own special cheese.

The mice, Sniff and Scurry, possessing only simple rodent⁵ brains, but good instincts, searching for the hard nibbling⁶ cheese they like, as mice often do.

The two littlepeople, Hem and How, used their brains, filled with many beliefs, to search for a very different kind of cheese- with a Capital C- which they believed would make them feel happy and successful.

As different as the mice and littlepeople were, they shared something in common; every morning, they each put on their jogging suits and running shoes, left their little homes, and raced out into the maze looking for their favorite cheese.

The maze was a labyrinth⁷ of corridors and chambers⁸, some containing delicious cheese.  But there were also dark corners and blind alleys⁹ leading nowhere.  It was an easy place for anyone to get lost.

However, for those who found their way, the maze held secrets that let them enjoy a better life.  The mice, Sniff and Scurry, used the simple, but inefficient¹⁰, trial –and-error method of finding cheese.  They ran down one corridor and if it proved empty, they turned and ran down another.

Sniff would smell out the general direction of the cheese, using his great nose, and Scurry would race ahead.   They got lost, as you might expect, went off in the wrong direction and often bumped into walls.

However, the two little people, Hem and Haw, used a different method that relied on their ability to think and learn from their past experiences, although, they would sometimes get confused by their beliefs and emotions.

Eventually in their own way, they all discovered what they were looking for – they each found their own kind of cheese one day at the end of one of the corridors in Cheese Station C.
 

 

　　从前，在一个遥远的地方，住着四个小家伙。为了填饱肚子和享受乐趣，他们每天在不远处的一座奇妙的迷宫里跑来跑去，在那里寻找一种叫做“奶酪”的黄橙橙、香喷喷的食物。

　　有两个小家伙是老鼠，一个叫“嗅嗅”，另一个叫“匆匆”。另外两个家伙则是小矮人，和老鼠一般大小，但和人一个模样，而且他们的行为也和我们今天的人类差不多。他俩的名字，一个叫“哼哼”，另一个叫“唧唧”。

　　由于他们四个实在太小了，他们在干什么当然不太会引起旁人的注意。但如果你凑近去仔细观察，你会发现许多令人惊奇不已的事情！

　　两个老鼠和两个小矮人每天都在迷宫中度过，在其中寻找他们各自喜欢的奶酪。嗅嗅、匆匆的大脑和其他啮齿类动物的差不多一样简单，但他们有很好的直觉。和别的老鼠一样，他们喜欢的是那种适合啃咬的、硬一点的奶酪。

　　而那两个小矮人，哼哼和唧唧，则靠脑袋行事，他们的脑袋里装满了各种信念和情感。他们要找的是一种带字母“C”的奶酪。他们相信，这样的奶酪会给他们带来幸福，使他们成功。

　　尽管小老鼠和小矮人的目标各不相同，但他们做的事情是差不多的。每天早上，他们会各自穿上运动服和慢跑鞋，离开他们的小房子，跑进迷宫寻找他们各自钟爱的奶酪。

　　迷宫中有许多曲折的走廊和好像蜂窝似的房间，其中的一些房间里藏着美味的奶酪，但更多的地方则是黑暗的角落和隐蔽的死胡同，任何人走进去都很容易迷路。

　　同时，这座迷宫还有一种神奇的力量，对那些找到出路的人，它能使他们享受到美好的生活。

　　两个老鼠，嗅嗅和匆匆，总是运用简单低效的反复尝试的办法找奶酪。他们跑进一条走廊，如果走廊里的房间都是空的，他们就返回来，再去另一条走廊搜寻。没有奶酪的走廊他们都会记住。就这样，很快地他们从一个地方找到另一个地方。嗅嗅可以用他那了不起的鼻子嗅出奶酪的大致方向，匆匆则跑在前面开路。然而迷宫太大太复杂，如你所料，他们经常会迷路，离开正道走错了方向，有时甚至还会撞到墙上。

　　而两个小矮人，哼哼和唧唧，则运用他们思考的能力，从过去的经验中学习。他们靠复杂的脑筋，搞出了一套复杂的寻找奶酪的方法。

　　哼哼和唧唧的方法比他们的老鼠朋友要高效，因此他们走进死胡同和碰壁的情况要比小老鼠们少得多。他们也为此而时常沾沾自喜很是得意，甚至有些看不起低智商的老鼠朋友。然而有时候，人类复杂的头脑所带来的复杂感情也会战胜他们理性思维，使他们看问题的眼光变得黯淡起来。这也使得他们在迷宫中的生活更加复杂化，也更具有挑战性了。

　　但是不管怎样，这四个家伙——嗅嗅和匆匆，哼哼和唧唧，都以他们各自的方式不懈地追寻着他们想要得到的东西。最后，终于有一天，在某个走廊的尽头，在奶酪C站，他们都找到了自己想要的奶酪。

　　这里真是一个天堂，四个小家伙被眼前的情景惊呆了，无数各式各样的奶酪堆积如山，闪着诱人的光亮。四个小家伙呆了半晌，然后疯了般地冲进奶酪堆，开始狂欢。

1 maze   

n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑

参考例句：

• He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
• She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。

2 hem   

n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制

参考例句：

• The hem on her skirt needs sewing.她裙子上的褶边需要缝一缝。
• The hem of your dress needs to be let down an inch.你衣服的折边有必要放长1英寸。

3 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

4 scurry   

vi.急匆匆地走；使急赶；催促；n.快步急跑，疾走；仓皇奔跑声；骤雨，骤雪；短距离赛马

参考例句：

• I jumped on the sofa after I saw a mouse scurry by.看到一只老鼠匆匆路过,我从沙发上跳了起来。
• There was a great scurry for bargains.大家急忙着去抢购特价品。

5 rodent   

n.啮齿动物；adj.啮齿目的

参考例句：

• When there is a full moon,this nocturnal rodent is careful to stay in its burrow.月圆之夜，这种夜间活动的啮齿类动物会小心地呆在地洞里不出来。
• This small rodent can scoop out a long,narrow tunnel in a very short time.这种小啮齿动物能在很短的时间里挖出一条又长又窄的地道来。

6 nibbling   

v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的现在分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬

参考例句：

• We sat drinking wine and nibbling olives. 我们坐在那儿，喝着葡萄酒嚼着橄榄。
• He was nibbling on the apple. 他在啃苹果。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。

8 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

9 alleys   

胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径

参考例句：

• I followed him through a maze of narrow alleys. 我紧随他穿过一条条迂迴曲折的窄巷。
• The children lead me through the maze of alleys to the edge of the city. 孩子们领我穿过迷宫一般的街巷，来到城边。

10 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。