鯊魚
有多少科學家都曾寫到
鯊魚溫順象只小貓！
可我知道鯊魚：
他不急躁易怒但卻惡咬。
The Shark
How many Scientists have written
The shark is gentle as a Kitten!
Yet this I know about the shark;
His bite is worser than his bark.
And the way they feels.
熊貓
我喜歡寶貝大熊貓；
我會歡迎一隻來到我的走廊。
我從不擔心，疑惑是否
它也許不是大寶貝；
我把這樣的事留給科學家：
大寶貝—和寶貝巨人。
我只不過想要一瓶冰鎮薄荷酒
和一隻寶貝大熊貓。
The Panda
I love the Baby Giant Panda;
I’d welcome one to my veranda.
I never worry, wondering maybe
whether it isn’t Giant Baby;
I leave such matters to the scientists:
The Giant Baby—and Baby Giantists.
I simply wish a julep and a
Giant Baby Giant Panda.
貓
你得到個妻子，你得到個房子，
逐漸地你又得到一隻老鼠。
你得到一些有關老鼠的言語，
瞬間你又得到一隻小貓。
到凌晨兩點，或大約那時，
老鼠在裡面，貓在外面，
你頓時醒悟，在你的小床中，
老鼠沉默，貓卻不同。
代替小貓，你的配偶說。
你應該帶來另一隻老鼠。
The Cat
You get a wife, you get a house,
Eventually you get a mouse.
You get some words regarding mice,
You get a kitty in a trice.
By two A.M., or thereabout,
The mouse is in, the cat is out,
It dawns upon you, in your cot,
The mouse is silent, the cat is not.
Instead of Pussy, says your spouse,
You should have bought another mouse.
家禽
讓我們考慮蛋，
它們沒有腿。
雞來自蛋
但是卻有腿。
情節變的複雜；
蛋來自雞，
可它們下面沒有腿。
真是一個迷！
The Poultries
Let’s think of eggs.
They have no legs.
Chickens come from eggs
But have legs.
The plot thickens;
Eggs come from chickens,
But have no legs under’em
What a conundrum!
騾子
在騾子的世界裡
沒有統治規則。
The Mules
In the world of mules
There are no rules.
奶牛
奶牛是牛的同類；
一頭是牛叫聲，另一頭奶水。
The Cow
The cow is of the bovine ilk;
One end is moo, the other, milk.
毒蛇
每當我見到一條毒蛇
我不禁氣短大驚失色。
我不能指控這毒蛇以殺母罪，
但以殺克婁巴特拉罪如何？
(註：克婁巴特拉—公元前51年至30年埃及女王，被毒蛇咬死。)
The Asp
Whenever I behold an asp
I can’t suppress a started gasp.
I do not charge the asp with matricide,
But what about his Cleopatricide?
鸛
從我已聽到的長長的描述，
我猜想這生物是一隻鳥。
對於他我無話可說，
只是希望他已走掉。
The Stork
From long dexxxxions I have heard
I guess this creature is a bird.
I’ve nothing else of him to say,
Except I wish he’d go away.
曼哈頓猴
這猴子是
一個幻想之童；
倫理道德對他
絲毫沒用；
他的生活充滿
樂趣無窮；
他以戲弄轉變
他的批評者；
一個縫衣匠
一兩個朋黨
便能使他成為
動物園的市長。
Manhattan Monkey
The monkey is
A child of whim;
Ethics mean nothing
Much to him;
His life is full
of fun and zest;
He turns his critics
With a jest;
A tailor and
A friend or two
Could make him Mayor
of the zoo.
鳳凰
經過深入的
優生學研究
我們發現這虛構的
飛禽，鳳凰。
這最有智慧的鳥
一如既往，
拒絕其它
男性的事物和優先權，
它產一個，而不是
十個或十二個蛋，
而當它被孵化時，
自行破殼走出蛋。
The Phoenix
Deep in the study
Of eugenics
We find that fabled
Fowl, the Phoenix.
The wisest bird
As ever was,
Rejecting other
Mas and Pas,
It lays one egg,
Not ten or twelve,
And when it’s hatched,
Out pops itselve.
章魚
告訴我，啊章魚，我懇求你，
那些東西是腿，還是手臂？
我對你倍感好奇，章魚；
如果我是你，我會用我們稱呼自己。
The Octopus
Tell me, O Octopus, I begs,
is those things arms, or is they legs?
I marvel at thee, Octopus;
If I were thou, I’d call me Us.
螞蟻
那螞蟻通過不懈的辛勞勤奮
已使得它自己傑出輝煌。
那又怎樣？
如果你被裝滿了蟻酸
難道還會平靜安詳？
The Ant
The ant has made himself illustrious
Through constant industry industrious.
So what??
Would you be calm and placid
If you were full of formic acid?
杜鵑
杜鵑過着放蕩不羈的生活，
它們不能作為丈夫和老婆，
因而它們冷嘲熱諷
詆毀每個人的婚姻生活。
The Cuckoo
Cuckoos lead Bohemian lives,
They fail as husbands and as wives,
Therefore they cynically disparage
Everybody else's marriage.
鴨子
瞧那隻鴨子。
它並不蠢笨。
少了個笨蛋。
它呱呱亂叫。
它特別喜歡
一個水坑或池塘。
當它進食或飲水，
屁股翹起朝上。
The Duck
Behold the duck.
It does not cluck.
A cluck it lacks.
It quacks.
It is specially fond
Of a puddle or pond.
When it dines or sups,
It bottoms ups.
鰻魚
我不在意鰻魚
除了作為膳食。
和它們感覺的方式。
The Eel
I don't mind eels
Except as meals.
And the way they feels.
白蟻
一些最初的白蟻敲擊木頭並品嘗，
然後發覺味道好香！
而那就是你的遠親
今天砍穿客廳地板的原因。
The Termite
Some primal termite knocked on wood
And tasted it, and found it good!
And that is why your Cousin May
Fell through the parlor floor today.
鴕鳥
鴕鳥漫遊巨大的撒哈拉沙漠。
它脖子細細嘴巴寬。
它有那麼高高頎長的腿，
我高興它坐下來產蛋。
The Ostrich
The ostrich roams the great Sahara.
Its mouth is wide, its neck is narra.
It has such long and lofty legs,
I'm glad it sits to lay its eggs.
細菌
一個巨大的生物是細菌
雖說小於厚臉皮的人。
他習慣居住的地方
就在人類的內里縱深。
他孩子般地自鳴得意
常常高興給人們怪病頑疾。
我的乖乖，你是否感覺體弱
你大概就含有一個細菌。
The Germ
A mighty creature is the germ,
Though smaller than the pachyderm.
His customary dwelling place
Is deep within the human race.
His childish pride he often pleases
By giving people strange diseases.
Do you, my poppet, feel infirm?
You probably contain a germ.
模範丈夫
當你塗了太多口紅
他告訴你
而當你的臀突阻卡
幫你穿上緊身褡。
The Perfect Husband
He tells you when you've got on
too much lipstick
And helps you with your girdle
when your hips stick.
我的夢
這是我的夢，
它是我自己的夢，
我夢到了它。
我夢到我的頭髮梳理整潔。
然後我夢到我的愛人弄亂它。
My Dream
This is my dream,
It is my own dream,
I dreamt it.
I dreamt that my hair was kempt.
Then I dreamt that my true love unkempt it.
熒火蟲
熒火蟲的光焰
是沒有學名的東西
我想不出什麼比它
周圍帶着一種未知的光亮
飛在一個人後面更可怕。
The Firefly
The firefly's flame
Is something for which science has no name
I can think of nothing eerier
Than flying around with an unidentified glow on a
person's posteerier.
蒼蠅
上帝以其智慧造了蒼蠅
然後卻忘了告訴我們為什麼。
The Fly
God in his wisdom made the fly
And then forgot to tell us why.
---By Ogden Nash(1902-1971)
Translated by 金舟
