The Heart of a Mouse 老鼠的心

The Heart of a Mouse
It was lovely to be back m Norway once again in my grandmother's fine old house. But nowthat I was so small, everything looked different and it took me quite a while to find my way around.
Mine was a world of carpets and table-legs and chair-legs and the little crannies behind large piecesof furniture. A closed door could not be opened and nothing could be reached that was on a table.
But after a few days, my grandmother began to invent gadgets¹ for me in order to make life abit easier. She got a carpenter to put together a number of slim tall stepladders and she placed one ofthese against each table in the house so that I could climb up whenever I wanted to. She herselfinvented a wonderful door-opening device made out of wires and springs and pulleys, with heavyweights dangling³ on cords, and soon every door in the house had a door-opener on it. All I had to dowas to press my front paws on to a tiny wooden platform and hey presto⁴, a spring would stretch and aweight would drop and the door would swing open.
Next, she rigged⁵ up an equally ingenious⁶ system whereby⁷ I could switch on the lightwhenever I entered a room at night. I cannot explain how it worked because I know nothing aboutelectricity, but there was a little button let into the floor near the door in every room in the house, andwhen I pressed the button gently with one paw, the light would come on. When I pressed it a secondtime, the light would go off again.
My grandmother made me a tiny toothbrush, using matchstick for the handle, and into this shestuck little bits of bristle⁸ that she had snipped⁹ off one of her hairbrushes. "You must not get any holesin your teeth," she said. "I can't take a mouse to a dentist! He'd think I was crazy!""It's funny," I said, "but ever since I became a mouse I've hated the taste of sweets andchocolate. So I don't think I'll get any holes.""You are still going to brush your teeth after every meal," my grandmother said. And I did.
For a bath-tub she gave me a silver sugar-basin, and I bathed in it every night before going tobed. She allowed no one else into the house, not even a servant or a cook. We kept entirely¹⁰ toourselves and we were very happy in each other's company.
One evening, as I lay on my grandmother's lap in front of the fire, she said to me, "I wonderwhat happened to that little Bruno."
"I wouldn't be surprised if his father gave him to the hall-porter to drown in the firebucket," Ianswered.
"I'm afraid you may be right," my grandmother said. "The poor little thing."We were silent for a few minutes, my grandmother puffing¹¹ away at her black cigar while Idozed comfortably in the warmth.
"Can I ask you something, Grandmamma?" I said.
"Ask me anything you like, my darling."
"How long does a mouse live?"
"Ah," she said. "I've been waiting for you to ask me that."There was a silence. She sat there smoking away and gazing at the fire.
"Well," I said. "How long do we live, us mice?""I have been reading about mice," she said. "I have been trying to find out everything I canabout them."
"Go on then, Grandmamma. Why don't you tell me?
"If you really want to know," she said, "I'm afraid a mouse doesn't live for a very long time.""How long?" I asked.
"Well, an ordinary mouse only lives for about three years," she said. "But you are not anordinary mouse. You are a mouse-person, and that is a very different matter.""How different?" I asked. "How long does a mouse-person live, Grandmamma?""Longer," she said. "Much longer."
"How much longer?" I asked.
"A mouse-person will almost certainly live for three times as long as an ordinary mouse," mygrandmother said. "About nine years."
"Good!" I cried. "That's great! It's the best news I've ever had!""Why do you say that?" she asked, surprised.
"Because I would never want to live longer than you," I said. "I couldn't stand being lookedafter by anybody else."
There was a short silence. She had a way of fondling me behind the ears with the tip of onefinger. It felt lovely.
"How old are you, Grandmamma?" I asked.
"I'm eighty-six," she said.
"Will you live another eight or nine years?"
"I might," she said. "With a bit of luck."
"You've got to," I said. "Because by then I'll be a very old mouse and you'll be a very oldgrandmother and soon after that we'll both die together.""That would be perfect," she said.
I had a little doze¹² after that. I just shut my eyes and thought of nothing and felt at peace withthe world.
"Would you like me to tell you something about yourself that is very interesting?" mygrandmother said.
"Yes please, Grandmamma," I said, without opening my eyes.
"I couldn't believe it at first, but apparently¹³ it's quite true," she said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"The heart of a mouse," she said, "and that means your heart, is beating at the rate of fivehundred times a minute! Isn't that amazing?"
"That's not possible," I said, opening my eyes wide.
"It's as true as I'm sitting here," she said. "It's a sort of a miracle.""That's nearly nine beats every second!" I cried, working it out in my head.
"Correct," she said. "Your heart is going so fast it's impossible to hear the separate beats. Allone hears is a soft humming sound."
She was wearing a lace² dress and the lace kept tickling¹⁴ my nose. I had to rest my head on myfront paws.
"Have you ever heard my heart humming away, Grandmamma?" I asked her.
"Often," she said. "I hear it when you are lying very close to me on the pillow at night."The two of us remained silent in front of the fire for a long time after that, thinking aboutthese wonderful things.
"My darling," she said at last, "are you sure you don't mind being a mouse for the rest of yourlife?"
"I don't mind at all," I said. "It doesn't matter who you are or what you look like so long assomebody loves you."

老鼠的心
回到挪威，重新住到我姥姥舒适的老屋里，真是太好了。但现在我变得那么小，什么东西都变了样，过了好些日子我才习惯过来。我如今的世界是地毯、桌子腿、椅子腿、一件件大家具后面的冷僻小角落。门关上了我打不开，桌子上的东西我一样也够不到。
但是几天以后，我姥姥开始给我陆续想出了一些办法，让我生活得方便些。她叫来木匠做了几个细长梯子，屋里每张桌子旁边放一个，这样我要上桌子就可以爬梯子上去了。她还亲自发明了一个很出色的开门装置，材料是铁丝、弹簧和滑轮，有个很重的锤子吊在绳子上。屋内每扇门上很快便都装上了一个。我只是用前爪把一个活动的木头按钮一按，说时迟那时快，弹簧松开，锤子落下，门就打开了。
接着她发明了一个同样巧妙的装置，使我在夜间进房间时能随时开亮电灯。我没法告诉你们这装置是怎么做的，因为我对电这玩意儿一无所知，但屋里每个房间的每道门附近都有一个小按钮装在地板上，我只要用一个爪子把按钮轻轻按一下，灯就亮了，按第二次灯又灭掉。
我姥姥给我做了一个小牙刷，牙刷柄是火柴杆，在头上插上她从自己那把用来刷头发的刷子上拔下来的一些刷毛。“你的牙齿可不能有蛀洞，”她说，“我不能带你去看牙科医生！他会以为我疯了！”
“真滑稽，”我说，“自从变成老鼠以来，我一直讨厌糖果和巧克力的味道。因此我想，我的牙齿不会有蛀洞的。”
“但是你吃完饭还是得刷刷牙。”我姥姥说。我照办了。
她给我一个银质糖缸做洗澡盆，我每天晚上上床以前都洗个澡。她不让任何人进屋，仆人和厨师也不用。我们完全两个人过日子，相互做伴，其乐融融。
一天晚上，在炉火前面，我躺在我姥姥的膝盖上，她对我说：“我不知道小布鲁诺怎么样了。”
“即使他父亲把他交给看门人放到消防桶里去淹死，我也不会觉得奇怪。”我回答说。
“恐怕你说得对，”我姥姥说，“那可怜的小东西。”
我们沉默了几分钟。我姥姥吸着她的黑雪茄，我暖洋洋地舒舒服服打着盹。
“我可以问你个问题吗，姥姥？”我说。
“爱问什么就问吧，我的宝贝。”
“老鼠可以活多久？”
“啊，”她说，“我一直在等你问我这句话。”
一阵沉默。她坐在那里吸雪茄，看着炉火。
“你说呢，”我说，“我们老鼠可以活多久？”
“我正在读关于老鼠的书。”她说，“我想知道关于老鼠的所有事情。”
“那你说啊，姥姥。你为什么不告诉我？”
“如果你真想知道，”她说，“恐怕老鼠活不了很久。”
“有多久？”我问道。
“一只普通老鼠只活三年，”她说，“但你不是一只普通老鼠。你是一个老鼠人，这完全不同。”
“怎么不同？”我问道，“一个老鼠人可以活多久，姥姥？”
“很久，”她说，“年头长得多。”
“长多少？”我又问。
“一个老鼠人活的时间几乎可以肯定比一只普通老鼠长三倍，”我姥姥说，“大概是九年。”
“好！”我叫道，“好极了！这是我听到的最好的消息！”
“你为什么这样说？”她感到奇怪，问道。
“因为我不想活得比你久，”我说，“别人照顾我，我可受不了。”
又是短暂的沉默。她用一根手指的指尖抚弄我的耳背。我觉得很舒服。
“你多大岁数了，姥姥？”我问道。
“八十六岁。”她说。
“你会再活八九年吗？”
“会的，”她说，“只要运气好。”
“你得活，”我说，“因为到那时我将是只很老的老鼠，你是一位很老的姥姥。再过不久，我们就一起死掉。”
“那就功德圆满了。”她说。
说完这番话，我又打了一会儿盹。我只是闭上眼睛，什么也不想，便感到天下安宁。
“你想要我告诉你一件关于你的非常有趣的事吗？”我姥姥说。
“想，请你说吧，姥姥。”我闭着眼睛说道。
“起先我不相信，但这显然是真的。”她说。
“什么事啊？”我问道。
“老鼠的心，”她说，“也就是你的心，每分钟跳五百次！这不是很奇怪吗？”
“那不可能。”我睁大眼睛说。
“这和我这会儿坐在这里一样真实，”她说，“这是一个奇迹。”
“那就是每秒钟几乎跳九下！”我心算了一下后说道。
“正确。”她说，“你的心跳得这么快，不可能听到个别的一下一下心跳，只听到一片轻轻的嗡嗡声。”
她正穿着一件花边裙子，花边弄得我鼻子痒痒的。我只好把头靠在前爪上。
“你听到过我的心嗡嗡响吗，姥姥？”我问她。
“常听到，”她说，“夜里你在枕头上紧靠着我睡的时候，我听到的。”
然后我们两个在炉火前面沉默了很久，想着这些了不起的事情。
“我的宝贝，”她最后说，“你真不在乎以后一直做老鼠吗？”
“我根本不在乎，”我说，“只要有人爱你，你就不会在乎自己是什么，或者自己是什么样子。”

1 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

2 lace   

n.饰带，花边，缎带；v.结带子，饰以花边

参考例句：

• She let a piece of lace into her dress.她在衣服上镶了一块花边。
• The bride is wearing a wedding dress made of lace.新娘穿一件蕾丝婚纱。

3 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

4 presto   

adv.急速地；n.急板乐段；adj.急板的

参考例句：

• With something so important,you can't just wave a wand and presto!在这么重大的问题上，你想挥动一下指挥棒，转眼就变过来,办不到！
• I just turned the piece of wire in the lock and hey presto,the door opened.我把金属丝伸到锁孔里一拧，嘿，那门就开了。

5 rigged   

adj.作弊的，非法操纵的v.给（船、桅杆）装配帆及索具( rig的过去式和过去分词 )；用临时替代材料迅速搭起；（用不正当手段）操纵；垄断

参考例句：

• He said the election had been rigged. 他说选举被人操纵了。
• They complained that the election had been rigged. 他们投诉这次选举被人操纵。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 ingenious   

adj.设计独特的，巧妙的，善于创造发明的

参考例句：

• Try to think of unusual and ingenious solutions.尽量想想不同寻常的、巧妙的解决方法。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

7 whereby   

adv.靠什么，靠那个

参考例句：

• Whereby shall we know her?我们靠什么认出她呢？
• Whereby I saw that he was angry.由那一点我看出他生气了。

8 bristle   

v.（毛发）直立，气势汹汹，发怒；n.硬毛发

参考例句：

• It has a short stumpy tail covered with bristles.它粗短的尾巴上鬃毛浓密。
• He bristled with indignation at the suggestion that he was racist.有人暗示他是个种族主义者，他对此十分恼火。

9 snipped   

v.剪( snip的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He snipped off the corner of the packet. 他将包的一角剪了下来。 来自辞典例句
• The police officer snipped the tape and untied the hostage. 警方把胶带剪断，松绑了人质。 来自互联网

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 puffing   

v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He was puffing hard when he jumped on to the bus. 他跳上公共汽车时喘息不已。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe. 父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 doze   

v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐

参考例句：

• He likes to have a doze after lunch.他喜欢午饭后打个盹。
• While the adults doze,the young play.大人们在打瞌睡，而孩子们在玩耍。

13 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

14 tickling   

反馈，回授，自旋挠痒法

参考例句：

• Was It'spring tickling her senses? 是不是春意撩人呢？
• Its origin is in tickling and rough-and-tumble play, he says. 他说，笑的起源来自于挠痒痒以及杂乱无章的游戏。