“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，”鸽子接下去说，“我们选择住在一起的理由就是要设法创建一个和平的家园，一个没有争斗的地方。可是大家也知道我们并没有象我们希望的那样成功。近几个月来 我们彼此之间的争吵， 打架，粗鲁，和怨恨越来越多。今天我们非找出解决这些问题的方法不可。

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.”  

当然, 人类也还没有找到一个和平相处的办法。事实是他们一直在彼此干仗，不是在世界上的这个地方就是在那个地方。不过我觉得爱米丽对这个话题可能有不少的想法可以跟我们分享，尽管她还是个孩子。我注意到她是一个既有思想又观察入微的人，所以我请她来给我们讲一讲。爱米丽，请到前面来。”

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. 

爱米丽惊奇无比：这只鸽子怎么会知道她私下里的想法？不过，这一路她都在寻觅一个处处和谐的地方，这倒是一个可以让她把这段经历讲出来的好机会，她可不会推辞掉。也许她确实有些想法值得说一说，甚至那些关于如何达成和谐的想法。只是想着要面对这么一大群动物，她还是感到很紧张。 

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.  

爱米丽站起来，朝着安详地栖在大堂末端等候的鸽子走去。爱米丽得慢慢走，因为她必须穿过一大群动物：大的小的、坐的站的、躺的卷的和懒洋洋靠着的—全在她四周围着。她怕失足踩中狮子的尾巴，或者踩扁一只田鼠。她也怕自己被踩—当然是无意地—要么被一头笨重的河马要么被一头紧张的骆驼。走了一会儿，爱米丽才发觉自己笔挺地先是走在大象底下，然后又走在长颈鹿叉开的四腿之间。最后她抵达大堂末端，爬上一个低低的在鸽子的栖木之下的讲台。 

“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…”  

“我不知道该怎么开始，”爱米丽低声道。“这是头一次别人请我对一群···一群···说话，我的天啦···”她停了一会。“平时，”她极力控制着自己的紧张，继续道：“人们都叫我停嘴，尤其是当我问题问得太多的时候，所以······”

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

“说大声一点！”一只狒狒吼道， “你说的神圣之言我一个字都听不见！”

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

鸽子向爱米丽欠了欠身，用她翅膀末端鼓励性地碰了爱米丽的肩膀一下。

“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，”爱米丽大声道，下定决心要坚持到底。“我来告诉你们我怎么看。我刚到和谐之家门口的时候，看到门上面的牌子上写着的屋名，我真是高兴坏了。我以为我寻找一个大家和平共处的乐园的美梦真就实现了。可是很快我就发现我错了。”

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. 

从动物那里传来一阵咕咕哝哝的不满声。“真是的，她以为她是谁？”爱米丽听到一只黄鼠狼对它的邻居这样说。“我说她可是真会自高自大自我欣赏呵，”一只鬃毛直竖的刺猬也附和着。“闭嘴，让她说完，”一只鬣狗大叫。“是呀，让她说完，”一只火鸡也咯咯地叫，不满地摇晃着它脖子上的肉绶。

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

爱米丽举起双手请大家肃静，然后继续说下去。

“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.”  

“正如我刚才所说，我开头对你们的印象并不好。当时我还没来得及敲门，一只猫头鹰就把门打开了。它问了我一个问题，可是没等我回答就砰然把门向我迎面摔来。所以照我看来，如果你们要和睦相处，第一个件事就是你们要有耐心—你问人家一个问题，你得给人家时间来回答才是。”

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

“对极了！”三、四个声音叫了起来。爱米丽直了直肩膀，继续说下去：

“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.  

“经过了那场令人沮丧的相遇之后，我正要掉头走开，却听到了一阵噼里啪啦的响声。门再被打开，是两只沙鼠。我很高兴，觉得这次也许会有一次恰当的对话。可是并非如此：两只沙鼠只会争吵，不断重复同样的话，而且老是打断对方。这样做毫无结果。所以你们若想生活得和谐，第二就是要聆听对方，说你们要说的话，不要重复，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.”  

“另一个要点是说真话。那两只沙鼠撒了谎。我没敲门但他们硬说我敲了门。”

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.

这句话引起了大堂前端的一阵骚动：又是尖叫，又是推来推去，又是抓尾巴。不过这些很快就给压下去了，是一只猫和一只金丝雀拼命把沙鼠姐妹分开的—因为就是她们在动—否则得有一场大战。

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. 

然后爱米丽突然有了一个念头。在她身上已经发生了这么多奇怪的意料之外的事情，难道没有可能那两只沙鼠真的听到了敲门声吗？当时她留意到门是没有扣环的，想着怎样叫人来开门。也许她的那个念头真就引发了足以在厨房听到的敲门声，恰如两只沙鼠所说的那样。

“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.”

“我想我刚才说话可能没经过大脑，”爱米丽坦承。“另外一个和睦相处的原则就可能是在指控别人以前永远先小心查核清楚，以防万一自己错了。两位沙鼠很可能真的听到了敲门声。”