泰西50轶事(十一)：哥坦的其他聪明人 江铭辉 五梦网
泰西50轶事(Fifty Famous Stories Retold)，是永恒的短篇故事，它收集的故事：包括浩瀚历史的著名英雄和他们的罗曼史，故事内容有勇气、毅力和情感。故事人物包括拿破仑、罗宾汉，乔治华盛顿、成吉思汗等人。这些故事都是老少咸宜的故事，我将它逐篇翻译，并配合图画，供大家欣赏。
泰西50轶事 (十一)：哥坦的其他聪明人
原文及翻译如下：
Other Wise Men of Gotham
哥坦的其他聪明人
ONE day, news was brought of Gotham that the king was coming that way, and that he would pass through the town. This did not please the men of Gotham at all.
一天，有消息传到哥坦，说国王将要经过这条路，并穿过这个城镇。这对哥坦人来说真不是一件好事情。
They hated the king，for they knew that he was a cruel, bad man. If he came to their town, they would have to find food and lodging for him and his men; and if he saw anything that pleased him, he would be sure to take it for his own. What should they do?
他们憎恨国王，因为他们知道他是个残暴的恶人。如果他来到了他们的城镇里，他们必须要为他和他的随员提供精美的膳食和住宿，而且他看到任何他喜欢的东西，他一定据为己有，他们将怎么办呢？
They met together to talk the matter over.
“Let us chop down the big trees in the woods，so that they will block up all the roads that lead into the town,”said one of the wise men.
“Good,”said all the rest.
So they went out with their axes, and soon all the roads and paths tothe town were filled with logs and brush. The king s horsemen would have a
hard time of it getting into Gotham.
他们集合在一起来讨论这个事情。
“让我们把树林里的大树砍倒，这样便会堵塞所有通往城镇里的的道路。”其中一个聪明人说。
“好极了！”其余的人都说道。
于是他们带着斧头出发了，很快所有通往这城镇的道路都被木头和树枝覆堵塞了。国王的马队将很难进入哥坦城。(图1)
图1：很快所有通往这城的道路都被木头堵塞了。国王的马队将很难进入哥坦城。
They would either have to make a new road, or give up the plan altogether, and go on to some other place.
When the king came, and saw that the road had been blocked up, he
was very angry.
“Who chopped those trees down in my way?”he asked of two country lads that were passing by.
“The men of Gotham,”said the lads.
“Well,”said the king, “go and tell the men of Gotham that I shall send my sheriff into their town, and have all their noses cut off.”
The two lads ran to the town as fast as they could, and made known
what the king had said.
他们要么开辟一条新路，不然放弃他们的计划到别的地方去。
当国王来到这里，看到道路都被堵死了，非常生气。
“谁砍这些树挡住了我的去路？”他问两个从旁经过的乡下小孩。
“是哥坦人，”小孩们说。
“好啊，”国王说，“去告诉哥坦人，我要派我的郡长到他们的城镇里，把他们的鼻子都割下来。”
这两个小孩拼命地跑回城镇里，把国王的话通知给大家。
Everybody was in great fright. The men ran from house to house，
carrying the news, and asking one another what they should do.
每个人都十分恐惧。人们挨家挨户地奔走相告，大家相问应该怎么办。
“Our wits have kept the king out of the town,”said one; “and so now“our wits must save our noses.”
我们已经用智慧阻止了国王进城，”有一个人说，“现在我们必须用智慧拯救我们的鼻子。”
“True, true!”said the others.“But what shall we do?”
Then one, whose name was Dobbin, and who was thought to be the wisest of them all, said, “Let me tell you something. Many a man has been punished because he was wise, but I have never heard of any one being harmed because he was a fool. So, when the king’s sheriff comes, let us all act like fools.”
“不错！不错！”其他人说，“但是现在我们该怎么办呢？”
接着，他们当中一个被公认为最聪明的，名叫多宾的人说：“让我来告诉你们一些吧。许多人因为聪明而受到惩罚，可我还没听说过有人因为傻而被伤害的。所以，当国王的郡长到来时，我们都装成傻瓜吧。
“Good, good!”cried the others.“We will all act like fools.”
It was no easy thing for the king’s men to open the roads; and while they were doing it, the king grew tired of waiting, and went back to London.
“好极了，好极了！”其他人都叫了起来，“我们都装傻。”
要国王的部下打通道路真不是一件容易的事，当部下们还在开路的时候，国王已等得不耐烦回伦敦去了。
But very early one morning, the sheriff with a party of fierce soldiers rode through the woods, and between the fields, toward Gotham. Just before theyreached the town, they saw a queer sight. The old men were rolling big stones up the hill, and all the young men were looking on, and gruntingvery loudly.
可是在一个清晨，那郡长带着一队凶恶的士兵骑着马穿过树林，踏过田野，向着哥坦城前进。就在他们快要到达城里之前，他们看到一件奇怪的事。老人们正在把大石头滚上山去，而所有的年轻人都站在旁边观望大声呐喊(图2)。
图2：老人正在把大石头滚上山去，而所有的年轻人都站在旁边观望大声呐喊
The sheriff stopped his horses, and asked what they were doing.
“We are rolling stones uphill to make the sun rise,”said one of the old men.
“You foolish fellow!”said the sheriff. “Don’t you know that the sun will rise without any help?”
“Ah! will it?”said the old man. “Well, I never thought of that. How wise you are!”
“And what are you doing?”said the sheriff to the young men.
“Oh, we do the grunting while our fathers do the working,”they
answered.
郡长勒住他的马，问他们在做什么。
“我们正在把石头滚到山上去，好让太阳升起来，”其中一个老人说。
“你们这些傻瓜！”郡长说，“难道你们不知道太阳无需借助任何力量，自然就会升起吗？”
“啊，真的吗？”一个老人说，“很好，我们从没想过。你真聪明啊！”
“那你们又在做什么呢？”郡长问那些年轻人。
“噢，当我们的父辈工作时，我们就在旁边呐喊助威啊！”他们回答道。
“I see,”said the sheriff. “Well, that is the way the world goes everywhere.”And he rode on toward the town.
“我明白了，”郡长说，“这里的人以为全世界都这么做的。”他又骑着马向城里走去。
He soon came to a field where a number of men were building a stone wall.
“What are you doing?”he asked.
“Why, master,”they answered,“there is a cuckoo in this field, and we are building a wall around it so as to keep the bird from straying away.”
“You foolish fellows,”said the sheriff. “Don,t you know that the bird will fly over the top of your wall, no matter how high you build it?”
“Why, no,”they said.“We never thought of that. How very wise
you are!”
很快他到了一片田野，那儿有许多人在筑一道石头墙。(图3)
“你们在做什么啊？”他问。
“噢，长官，”他们答道，“田里有一只杜鹃，我们筑一道墙把它围起来，它就跑不了了。”
“你们这些傻瓜！”郡长说，“难道你们不知道，无论砌得多高，鸟都可以从墙头上飞出去吗？”
“哎呀，不错，”他们说，“我们怎么从来没想到这一点。你真聪明啊！”
图3：郡长很快的到了一片田野，那儿有许多人在筑一道石头墙。
The sheriff next met a man who was carrying a door on his back.
“What are you doing?”he asked.
“I have just started on a long journey,”said the man.
“But why do you carry that door?”asked the sheriff.
“I left my money at home.”
然后，郡长官又遇到一个人，背上扛着一扇门。(图4)
“你在干什么？”他问。
“我正要开始一段长途旅行，”这个人回答。
“但你为什么背着那扇门？”郡长官又问。
“我把钱放在家里。”
图4：郡长官又遇到一个人，背上扛着一扇门。
“Then why didn’t you leave the door at home too?”
“I was afraid of thieves; and you see, if I have the door with me, they Can’t break it open and get in.”
“You foolish follow!”said the sheriff. “It would be safer to leave the door at home, and carry the money with you.”
“那你为什么不把门也留在家里呢？”
“我怕有贼啊。你看，如果我把门带在身边，他们就不能破门而入了。”
“真蠢啊！”郡长说，“你应该把门留在家里，把钱带在身上，
这样会更安全。”
“Ah, would it, though?”said the man. “Now, I never thought of that. You are the wisest man that I ever saw.”
“啊，真是这样的，”这个人说，“可我竟然没有想到这一点。你是我见过的最聪明的人。”
Then the sheriff rode on with his men; but every one that they met was doing some silly thing.
“Truly I believe that the people of Gotham are all fools,”said one of
the horsemen.
“That is true,”said another.“It would be a shame to harm such simple people.”
郡长和他的部下骑着马继续前进，可是他们所遇到的每一个人都在做着愚蠢的事。
“真的，我确信哥坦人都是傻瓜，”其中一个骑兵说。
“一点也不错，”另一个说，“伤害那么蠢的人是可耻的。”
“Let us ride back to London, and tell the king all about them,”said the sheriff.
“让我们骑回伦敦吧，把有关他们的事都告诉国王。”郡长说。
“Yes, let us do so,”said the horsemen.
So they went back, and told the king that Gotham was a town of fools;
and the king laughed, and said that if that was the case, he would not harm them, but would let them keep their noses.
“是啊，就这么办吧，”骑兵说。
于是他们回去告诉国王，哥坦是一个愚人城。国王听了哈哈大笑，
并说如果真是那样，他就不去伤害他们，就让他们留着自己的鼻子吧。
哥坦简介：
哥坦城是一个虚构的城市，因此哥坦人到底是聪明还是笨的，到现在一直有不同的讲法。
早期哥坦村的人，人们给他的是高智慧的人，但也有人叫它是愚人村，如此二极化，可见哥坦村的人是不简单的人物。
有关讲到哥坦的人很聪明，据说是约翰国王打算穿越哥坦村去旅行。当时在英国，任何国王要通过的地方都要打通成为快速的大道，但哥坦人不想有一条快速大道通过他们的村庄。当国王的信使到达时，哥坦人假装低能。（他们真的这样做吗？）。无论信使到哪里，他们看到村民尽做一些荒唐的事。约翰国王看了这份报告，决定不经过哥坦村，另外寻找住的地点，因此歌坦村的聪明人吹嘘，“我们认为来到这里的傻瓜必比住在这里的傻瓜还多”
根据1874年版的布朗特说，约翰王的使者“看到了一些居民费力的用一盆水要淹死一只鳗鱼，有些人受雇拖着一辆二轮车，车的上面放着一个大谷仓，说要遮住照在树林的太阳，一些人正将奶酪从山上滚下来，他们认为这是他们拿到诺丁汉出售的方法，一群人被雇用包围栖息在巢里的杜鹃，但这只杜鹃正栖息在一棵灌木上，前面就有一个人站在那里。
总之，这些人都是受雇于想说服国王使者的人，假装哥坦村都是愚人，因此后来出现了一句老谚语，“智者”或“傻瓜”的哥坦村。”
这个城市是“智者”或“傻瓜”的谜，早在十五世纪也提到“愚笨的高坦”，在十六世纪更以高坦的疯子作笑柄的的故事印出。
愚昧在每个国家都可看到，除了哥坦外，在英国还有许多其他著名的地方。诸如：有科格索尔(Coggeshall)，埃塞克斯(Essex)，人民奥斯威克(Austwick )的粗野人，约克郡(Yorkshire)，戈登(Gordon)的傻瓜，贝里克郡(Berwickshir)。
回忆哥坦的聪明人，最受欢迎的流行童谣是：三个水手的故事，歌词是：
英文是：
Three wise men of Gotham,
They went to sea in a bowl,
And if the bowl had been stronger,
My song had been longer.
中文翻译：
三个聪明的哥坦人，乘坐一只木碗出海去远航，若不是那木碗非常坚固，我的这首歌会更长。(图5)
这首韵歌，被印出在1765年出版的鹅妈妈的旋律中，从此以后出现了众多的文集。
这首韵歌导致了哥坦成为纽约市的绰号，这个名字第一次出现后，提醒人民哥坦居民的大智若愚，华盛顿·欧文(Washington Irving) 在他的大杂烩论文（ 1807 ）给纽约命名为哥坦。但最著名的，是鲍勃·凯恩(Bob Kane)虚拟新泽西州的哥坦市是蝙蝠侠的家。哥坦市开始建造房子的目的，是给犯罪的疯子住的，罗宾读到一本日记，讲述了哥坦市是如何得到它的名字，他说“对于它，是根据英国的一个村庄的名字命名的，把它称作“哥坦”，因为大家的观念，哥坦人是丧失一切智慧的人。“
对于诺丁汉郡的哥坦市和纽约市的哥坦之间的关连作响应，纽约市的前市长朱利安尼(Rudolph Giuliani)，说“很高兴有这个机会承认把两地的文化和历史联系起来”
在DC的漫画“阿甘(Arkham)的蝙蝠侠”小丑特别背诵“智者哥坦市”的韵诗，说哥坦是一个不简单的城市。
总之哥坦人到底是智者或是笨伯，永远是一个谜。