一
They went to sea in a sieve, they did;
In a sieve they went to sea:
In spite of all their friends could say,
On a winter's morn, on a stormy day,
In a sieve they went to sea.
And when the sieve turned round and round,
And every one cried, "You'll all be drowned!"
They called aloud, "Our sieve ain't big;
But we don't care a button, we don't care a fig:
In a sieve we'll go to sea!"
Far and few, far and few,
Are the lands where the Jumblies live:
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue
And they went to sea in a sieve.
他们乘着只滤网舟出海去呀,出海去;
乘着只滤网舟呀,出海去:
不管他们的朋友们怎样说,
在一个冬日早晨,狂风大作,
他们乘着只滤网舟呀,出海去。
滤网舟在海里翻了又滚不停下,
大伙儿见了都喊:“他们快要淹死啦!”
他们回答道:“我们的船儿虽不大,
但我们丝毫都不怕:
乘着只滤网舟呀,我们出海去!”
小小世界,世界小小,
小精灵居住的土地越来越少:
他们手儿蓝呀,脑袋绿,
乘着只滤网舟呀,出海去。
二
They sailed away in a sieve, they did,
In a sieve they sailed so fast,
With only a beautiful pea-green veil
Tied with a ribbon, by way of a sail,
To a small tobacco-pipe mast.
And every one said who saw them go,
"Oh! won't they be soon upset, you know?
For the sky is dark, and the voyage is long;
And, happen what may, it's extremely wrong
In a sieve to sail so fast."
Far and few, far and few,
Are the lands where the Jumblies live:
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue;
And they went to sea in a sieve.
他们乘着只滤网舟去远航呀,去远航;