“As you all know,” resumed the dove, “the reason we have chosen to live together is to try to create a peaceful place, a place of harmony. As you are also aware, we have not been so successful as we had hoped. In recent months there has been an increase of quarrelling, of fighting, rudeness and resentment, one animal to another, and now we must try to find a solution to these problems. 

“正如大家所知，”鴿子接下去說，“我們選擇住在一起的理由就是要設法創建一個和平的家園，一個沒有爭鬥的地方。可是大家也知道我們並沒有象我們希望的那樣成功。近幾個月來 我們彼此之間的爭吵， 打架，粗魯，和怨恨越來越多。今天我們非找出解決這些問題的方法不可。

Humans, of course, have never found a way to live in peace. In fact, they are constantly at war with each other somewhere in the world. However, I think that Emily, though she is still a child, may have some ideas on the subject to share with us. I have noticed that she is a thoughtful, observant person, and so I call upon her to speak to this assembly. Emily, please step forward.”  

當然, 人類也還沒有找到一個和平相處的辦法。事實是他們一直在彼此幹仗，不是在世界上的這個地方就是在那個地方。不過我覺得愛米麗對這個話題可能有不少的想法可以跟我們分享，儘管她還是個孩子。我注意到她是一個既有思想又觀察入微的人，所以我請她來給我們講一講。愛米麗，請到前面來。”

Emily was astonished. How could the dove possibly have known her private thoughts? However, here was an opportunity to speak about her quest for a place where harmony prevailed, and she was not about to refuse it. Perhaps she did indeed have some ideas worth speaking about, even some thoughts on how to achieve harmony, though the prospect of facing such an enormous throng made her very nervous. 

愛米麗驚奇無比：這隻鴿子怎麼會知道她私下裡的想法？不過，這一路她都在尋覓一個處處和諧的地方，這倒是一個可以讓她把這段經歷講出來的好機會，她可不會推辭掉。也許她確實有些想法值得說一說，甚至那些關於如何達成和諧的想法。只是想着要面對這麼一大群動物，她還是感到很緊張。 

Standing up, Emily began to make her way towards the dove, who waited, seated serenely on her perch, at the end of the hall. Emily’s progress was slow, for she had to pass through the throng of animals, large and small, who sat, stood, lay, curled and lounged all around her. She was fearful that she might accidentally step on the tail of a lion or squash a vole underfoot. She was also afraid of being stepped on—accidentally, of course—perhaps by a heavy hippo or a nervous camel. As she moved along, Emily found herself walking, quite upright, under an elephant, and then between the splayed legs of a giraffe. Eventually she reached the end of the hall and climbed onto a low platform beneath the dove’s perch.  

愛米麗站起來，朝着安詳地棲在大堂末端等候的鴿子走去。愛米麗得慢慢走，因為她必須穿過一大群動物：大的小的、坐的站的、躺的卷的和懶洋洋靠着的—全在她四周圍着。她怕失足踩中獅子的尾巴，或者踩扁一隻田鼠。她也怕自己被踩—當然是無意地—要麼被一頭笨重的河馬要麼被一頭緊張的駱駝。走了一會兒，愛米麗才發覺自己筆挺地先是走在大象底下，然後又走在長頸鹿叉開的四腿之間。最後她抵達大堂末端，爬上一個低低的在鴿子的棲木之下的講台。 

“I don’t quite know how to begin,” whispered Emily. “This is the first time anyone has asked me to speak to a group of, of, oh dear…” and she stopped. “Usually,” she went on, trying hard to control her nervousness, “I’m told to stop talking, especially when I ask too many questions, so…”  

“我不知道該怎麼開始，”愛米麗低聲道。“這是頭一次別人請我對一群···一群···說話，我的天啦···”她停了一會。“平時，”她極力控制着自己的緊張，繼續道：“人們都叫我停嘴，尤其是當我問題問得太多的時候，所以······”

“Speak up!” bellowed a baboon, “I can’t hear a blessed word you’re saying!” 

“說大聲一點！”一隻狒狒吼道， “你說的神聖之言我一個字都聽不見！”

The dove bent towards Emily and touched her encouragingly on the shoulder with the tip of her wing.  

鴿子向愛米麗欠了欠身，用她翅膀末端鼓勵性地碰了愛米麗的肩膀一下。

“Well,” said Emily in a louder voice, determined to see this through. “I’ll tell you what I think. When I first came to the door of Harmony House, I was so pleased to see the name written on a board above it. It seemed that my dream of finding a place where people lived together in peace had come true. But it didn’t take long for me to find that I had been mistaken.” 

“好吧，”愛米麗大聲道，下定決心要堅持到底。“我來告訴你們我怎麼看。我剛到和諧之家門口的時候，看到門上面的牌子上寫着的屋名，我真是高興壞了。我以為我尋找一個大家和平共處的樂園的美夢真就實現了。可是很快我就發現我錯了。”

There began a muttering of discontent from the animals. “Who does she think she is, anyway?” Emily heard a mongoose whisper to its neighbour. “Stuck up and very pleased with herself, I’d say,” responded a hedgehog, its bristles bristling. “Oh do shut up, and let her finish,” shouted a hyena. “Yes, do,” gobbled a turkey, shaking its wattles in annoyance. 

從動物那裡傳來一陣咕咕噥噥的不滿聲。“真是的，她以為她是誰？”愛米麗聽到一隻黃鼠狼對它的鄰居這樣說。“我說她可是真會自高自大自我欣賞呵，”一隻鬃毛直豎的刺蝟也附和着。“閉嘴，讓她說完，”一隻鬣狗大叫。“是呀，讓她說完，”一隻火雞也咯咯地叫，不滿地搖晃着它脖子上的肉綬。

Emily held up her hands for silence, and began again. 

愛米麗舉起雙手請大家肅靜，然後繼續說下去。

“As I was saying, my first impressions of this house were not good.  Before I had a chance to knock on the door, it was opened by an owl who asked me a question and couldn’t wait for me to answer before slamming the door in my face. So, in my opinion, if you want to live in harmony, the first thing you have to have is patience—give the other person time to answer when you ask a question.”  

“正如我剛才所說，我開頭對你們的印象並不好。當時我還沒來得及敲門，一隻貓頭鷹就把門打開了。它問了我一個問題，可是沒等我回答就砰然把門向我迎面摔來。所以照我看來，如果你們要和睦相處，第一個件事就是你們要有耐心—你問人家一個問題，你得給人家時間來回答才是。”

“Right on!” called three or four voices. Emily straightened her shoulders, and prepared to continue.

“對極了！”三、四個聲音叫了起來。愛米麗直了直肩膀，繼續說下去：

“After that disappointing encounter, I had begun to turn away when I heard a small pattering sound. The door opened again, and there were two gerbils. I was pleased. Now perhaps I could have a proper conversation. But no, all they did was quarrel, say the same thing over again, and interrupt each other. This got us nowhere. So, the second thing to think about if you want to live in harmony, is to listen to each other, to say what you have to say without repeating what has already been said, and never to interrupt.  

“經過了那場令人沮喪的相遇之後，我正要掉頭走開，卻聽到了一陣噼里啪啦的響聲。門再被打開，是兩隻沙鼠。我很高興，覺得這次也許會有一次恰當的對話。可是並非如此：兩隻沙鼠只會爭吵，不斷重複同樣的話，而且老是打斷對方。這樣做毫無結果。所以你們若想生活得和諧，第二就是要聆聽對方，說你們要說的話，不要重複，更不要打岔。” 

Another important point is to speak the truth. Those gerbils lied. They said I had knocked on the door when I had not.”  

“另一個要點是說真話。那兩隻沙鼠撒了謊。我沒敲門但他們硬說我敲了門。”

This remark provoked a disturbance at the front of the hall. There came a squeaking and a shuffling and a grabbing of tails. It was quickly suppressed, however, by a cat and a canary, who physically parted the gerbil sisters—for it was they—before the fur began to fly.

這句話引起了大堂前端的一陣騷動：又是尖叫，又是推來推去，又是抓尾巴。不過這些很快就給壓下去了，是一隻貓和一隻金絲雀拼命把沙鼠姐妹分開的—因為就是她們在動—否則得有一場大戰。

Then Emily had a sudden thought. So many strange and unexpected things had happened to her, was it not possible that the gerbils had heard a knock on the front door?  She had noted the lack of a knocker, and had wondered how she was to summon someone to the door. Perhaps her very act of wanting had caused a knock to be heard in the kitchen, which is what the gerbils had said. 

然後愛米麗突然有了一個念頭。在她身上已經發生了這麼多奇怪的意料之外的事情，難道沒有可能那兩隻沙鼠真的聽到了敲門聲嗎？當時她留意到門是沒有扣環的，想着怎樣叫人來開門。也許她的那個念頭真就引發了足以在廚房聽到的敲門聲，恰如兩隻沙鼠所說的那樣。

“I think I may have spoken without thinking,” confessed Emily. “Another rule of living in harmony might be to always check carefully before making accusations, just in case you are mistaken. The gerbils may have heard a knock after all.”

“我想我剛才說話可能沒經過大腦，”愛米麗坦承。“另外一個和睦相處的原則就可能是在指控別人以前永遠先小心查核清楚，以防萬一自己錯了。兩位沙鼠很可能真的聽到了敲門聲。”