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。

The Eel

I don't mind eels
Except as meals.

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。
我夢到了我的頭髮梳理整潔。
然後我夢到我愛人蓬亂的頭髮。

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