# ■ 6 Humpty Dumpty

But the egg got larger and larger， and more and morelike a person. Then Alice saw that it had eyes and anose and a mouth，and she realized that it was HUMPTYDUMPTY himself.

‘It must be him，’she said to herself．‘There he is， sittingon a high wall，and he looks just like an egg．’

He was sitting very still and seemed to be asleep，so Alicestood and repeated to herself the words of the song：

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall；

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall．

All the King's horses and all the King's men

Couldn't put Humpty together again．

‘Don't stand there talking to yourself，’said HumptyDumpty suddenly，opening his eyes．‘Tell me your name.’

‘My name is Alice-’

‘That's a stupid name！’said Humpty Dumpty.‘What doesit mean？’

‘Must a name mean something？’Alice asked，puzzled.

‘Of course it must，’Humpty Dumpty said with a shortlaugh．‘My name means the shape I am-and a very goodshape it is， too. With a name like yours， you could be almostany shape．’

‘Why do you sit out here all alone？’said Alice，not wishingto argue.

‘Because there's nobody with me！’ cried Humpty Dumpty．‘Did you think I didn't know the answer to that？Come，let'shave some intelligent conversation now．’

Alice tried to think of something intelligent to say， butcouldn't．‘What a beautiful belt you're wearing！’she said，suddenly noticing it．

‘That's better，’said Humpty Dumpty，looking pleased．‘Yes，it was a present from the White King and Queen．Theygave it to me for an unbirthday present．’

Alice looked puzzled．‘What is an unbirthday present？’

‘A present when it isn't your birthday，of course．’

Alice thought about this．‘I like birthday presents best，’ shesaid at last．

‘You don't know what you're talking about！’cried HumptyDumpty．‘How many days are there in a year？’

‘Three hundred and sixty-five，’said Alice．

‘And how many birthdays have you？’

‘One．’

‘And if you take one from three hundred and sixty-five，what is left？’

‘Three hundred and sixty-four， of course．’

‘So there's only one day when you can get birthdaypresents，’said Humpty Dumpty，‘but three hundred and six-ty-four days when you can get unbirthday presents！There'ssuccess for you！’

‘I don't know what you mean by “success”，’Alice said．

Humpty Dumpty smiled．‘Of course you don't-until I tellyou．I meant “there's a clever idea for you！”’

‘But“success” doesn't mean “a clever idea”，’Alice argued．

‘When I use a word，’Humpty Dumpty said，looking downhis nose at Alice，‘it means just what I choose it to mean-neither more nor less．’

‘But can you make words have different meanings？’askedAlice．

‘Words are difficult things，I agree，’said HumptyDumpty．‘But you have to be strong with them．Give them or-ders．Tell them to obey you．They must work hard，and dowhat they're told！’ He banged his hand excitedly on the wallas he spoke．

‘You seem very clever with words，Sir，’said Alicepolitely，hoping to calm him．She was worried about himfalling off the wall．

Humpty Dumpty looked pleased．‘I can explain mostwords，and get them to do what I want，’he said．‘Some ofthem are like suitcases， you know．They've got several mean-ings packed up in them．Take poems，for example．One shortpoem can carry as many meanings as five people's luggage.’

‘Somebody repeated a poem to me earlier today，’saidAlice．‘It was Tweedledee，I think．’

‘Oh，I can repeat any number of poems，if you like，’saidHumpty Dumpty．

‘Well， not just at the moment，’Alice said quickly，hopingto stop him from beginning．

‘This piece was written specially for you，’Humpty Dump-ty went on，not listening to her．‘It will amuse you．’

‘Thank you，’said Alice sadly． She could not refuse to lis-ten，she thought，if the poem was specially written for her．

In winter，when the fields are white，

I sing this song for your delight-

‘But I don't sing it，’he explained．

‘Yes，I can see that，’Alice said．

‘If you can see me singing or not singing， you've better eyesthan most people，’ said Humpty Dumpty．Alice was silent，and he went on．

In spring， when woods are getting green，

I'll try and tell you what I mean.

‘Thank you very much，’ said Alice．

In summer， when the days are long，

Perhaps you'll understand the song.

In autumn， when the leaves are brown，

Take pen and ink and write it down．

‘I will，if I can remember it so long，’said Alice．

‘Don't go on saying things，’Humpty Dumpty said．‘They're not sensible， and I forget where I am.’

I sent a message to the fish；

I told them‘This is what I wish.’

The little fishes of the sea，

They sent an answer back to me．

The little fishes’answer was

‘We cannot do it，Sir，because-’

‘I'm afraid I don't understand，’said Alice.

‘It gets easier as it goes on，’ Humpty Dumpty replied.

But the poem went on for a long time， and Alice thought itgot harder，not easier，to understand. Then Humpty Dumptysuddenly stopped， and there was a long silence.

‘Is that all？’Alice asked politely．

‘That's all，’said Humpty Dumpty．‘Goodbye.’

Alice waited a minute，but Humpty Dumpty closed his eyesand did not speak again. So she got up， said‘goodbye’， andquietly walked away．

‘What an extraordinary person！’she said to herself as shewalked．‘I don't think I ever met-’She never finished whatshe was saying，because at that moment a heavy crash shookthe forest from end to end.

■ 6 胖墩兒

但雞蛋越變越大，越變越像個人。愛麗絲看見他有眼，有鼻，有嘴巴。她才知道那原來就是胖墩兒。

她自言自語道：“肯定是他。他就坐在一堵高牆上，外表像個雞蛋。”

他紋絲不動地坐在那兒，好像是睡著了。愛麗絲就站在那兒，口裡背誦著一首歌詞：

胖墩兒坐在牆上，

胖墩兒摔下重傷。

國王的駿馬、騎士，

再不能將他拼上。

胖墩兒突然睜開眼睛說：“別站在那兒自言自語。告訴我你的名字。”

“我叫愛麗絲--”

胖墩兒說：“那是個蠢名字！是什麼意思？”

“名字都得有意思？”愛麗絲不解地問道。

“那當然。”胖墩兒笑了一下說：“我的名字說明了我的體形--我的體形多好。像你那個名字，你幾乎什麼體形都能用。”

愛麗絲不想爭辯，就問：“你怎麼一個人坐在這兒？”

“那是因為沒有人與我在一起！”胖墩兒大聲叫道，“你認為我不能回答你那個問題？好了，讓我們談些更明智的話題吧。”

愛麗絲試圖想些明智的話題講講，但就是想不起來。“你腰上的皮帶多漂亮！”她突然發現了這點，就說了。

胖墩兒面有悅色，說：“這話題好多了，這是白方國王與王后送我的禮物，是件非生日禮物。”

愛麗絲迷惑不解，“非生日禮物到底是什麼？”

“那當然是你非生日那天送你的禮物。”

愛麗絲想了想，最後說：“我還是最喜歡生日禮物。”

“你在講些什麼呀！一年有多少天？”胖墩兒叫嚷道。

愛麗絲說：“365天。”

“其中有多少天是你的生日？”

“一天。”

“那麼365天減去1天剩多少？”

“當然是364天。”

胖墩兒便說：“這麼講你只有一天能收到生日禮物。但其他364天都能收到非生日禮物，你就‘成功’了！”

“我不明白你說‘成功’指的是什麼？”愛麗絲問。

胖墩兒笑了笑，“我不告訴你，你當然不曉得，我指的是‘給你個聰明的主意！’”

“但‘成功’沒有‘聰明主意’的意思呀。”愛麗絲爭辯說。

胖墩兒不理會愛麗絲，說：“我用一個詞兒，我要它什麼意思，那詞兒就是什麼意思。”

“但你可以叫詞兒具有另外的意思嗎？”愛麗絲問。

胖墩兒說：“我同意，用詞兒是件不容易的事。但你得對它們顯示你的威力。給它們發號施令。要它們遵從你。它們必須好好幹，對你百依百順！”他說著，激動地將手重重地在牆上拍了一下。

“你好像對詞兒很有些辦法，先生。”愛麗絲很有禮貌地說，希望使他平靜下來。她擔心胖墩兒從牆上摔下來。

胖墩兒面帶悅色，說：“我能解釋大多數的詞兒，並叫它們為我服務。有些詞兒像皮箱，裡面有好幾種意思。譬如詩歌，一首短詩的意思可以像五個人的行李一樣豐富。”

愛麗絲說：“今天早些時候，有人給我背誦了首詩。我想那是特威帝吧。”

“哦，只要你不厭煩，我背誦多少首詩都可以。”胖墩兒說。

愛麗絲馬上搶著說：“哦，現在不必了。”希望他別開始背。

胖墩兒並不聽她，繼續說：“這首是專門為你寫的。它將給你帶來快樂。”

“謝謝！”愛麗絲沮喪地說。她想：如果這首詩是專門為她寫的，她就不能不洗耳恭聽。

冬日裡田野白雪皚皚，

我唱起這首歌，只為你開懷--

他解釋說：“但我不唱歌。”

“是的，這我明白。”愛麗絲應道。

胖墩兒說：“如果你能看出我是否在唱歌，那麼你的眼力比大部分人都要好。”愛麗絲沉默著，於是他又背：

春天裡樹木鬱鬱蔥蔥，

我要設法告訴你我的意思。

愛麗絲說：“非常感謝。”

夏日裡炎炎日長，

也許你會懂得我的歌唱。

秋天枝葉枯黃，

拿起筆墨永記不忘。

“我會的，如果我能把它長久記住的話。”愛麗絲說。

胖墩兒說：“別說了，你說的話不明智。我忘了講到哪兒了。”

我給魚兒捎個信；

告訴它們“這是我的心願。”

大海里的小魚兒，

給了我一個迴音。

小魚兒的迴音是

“先生，這事我們做不了，因為--”

愛麗絲說：“恐怕我理解不了。”

“越往後聽，就變得越簡單了。”胖墩兒說。

詩歌又背了好長時間，可是愛麗絲覺得理解起來越來越難，而不是越來越容易了。胖墩兒突然停住，隨後是長久的沉默。

愛麗絲客氣地問：“背完了？”

“背完了，再見！”胖墩兒答。

愛麗絲等了一會兒，但胖墩兒閉上眼，不再說話。她站了起來，道了“再見”，輕輕地走開了。

“這真是個非常奇特的人！”她一邊走，一邊自言自語，“我想我從未見過--”但話只講了半截，因為就在那時，強烈的撞擊聲震動了整個森林。