中級 愛麗絲夢游仙境

Chapter Nine: Who Stole the Tarts?

The King and the Queen were sitting on the throne. The Knave of Hearts

was standing in front of them. There were two soldiers near the Knave. It was the Knave of Hearts' trial.

'I must be in a courtroom. Here's the judge with his wig and gown and that's the jury,' thought Alice, Looking at the twelve animals and birds in the jury-box.

Alice sat down. When everybody was ready the King, who was the judge,said: 'Read the accusation!'

The White Rabbit read from a big roll of paper:

'The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts

All on a summer day:

The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts,And took them all away!'

'Off with his head!' cried the Queen.

'But we must have some witness first!' cried the White Rabbit.

'Call the first witness!' said the King.

The first witness was the Hatter. He had his tea in one hand and bread and butter in the other hand.

'I am sorry about this but I was having my tea when they called me,' said the Hatter.

'When did you begin your tea?' asked the King.

'March the fourteenth, I think,' answered the Hatter.

'The fifteenth,' said the March Hare.

'The sixteenth,' added the Dormouse.

'Write that down!' said the King, 'and take off your hat.'

'It isn't mine,' said the Hatter.

'You stole it, didn't you?' inquired the King.

'No, your Majesty, I didn't,' replied the Hatter. He was very frightened.

'I sell hats, you see. I'm a Hatter,' he said.

'Let's continue now. What did you see?' asked the King.

'Well, your Majesty, I was having my tea when the March Hare said ...'

'I didn't!' protested the March Hare.

'I mean ... the Dormouse said.'

The Dormouse didn't protest. He was asleep, so the Hatter went on. 'Well,I cut more bread and butter.'

'But what did the Dormouse say?' inquired the King.

'I can't remember,' replied the Hatter.

'You must remember or I'll cut off your head!' threatened the King. The Hatter was shaking with fear.

'Please, your Majesty, I'm a poor man. Let me go!' cried the Hatter.

'Cut off his head!' ordered the Queen.

The Hatter ran away so quickly that the executioner couldn't catch him.

Alice felt very strange. 'This courtroom seems so small. Perhaps I'm growing again!' Alice thought.

'Next witness!' the King called out.

The next witness was the Duchess' cook. When she entered the courtroom she had a pepper pot so everybody started to sneeze.

'Tell us what you know,' said the King. 'Your Majesty, you must ask her questions,' said the White Rabbit.

'That's right. Well, let's see, what are tarts made of?' asked the King.

'Pepper, of course,' answered the cook.

'Next witness!' said the King.

The White Rabbit looked at his paper and read out the name:

'ALICE!'

Chapter Ten: The End of the Trial

'Here I am!' cried Alice. She stood up in such a hurry that she knocked over the jury box.

'I'm very sorry!' said Alice picking up the jury animals as quickly as she could.

'What can you tell us about this?' asked the King.

'Nothing,' answered Alice.

'That's very important,' said the King.

'You mean unimportant, your Majesty,' said the White Rabbit.

'Of course, that's what I meant ... unimportant,' replied the King.

The jury was very busy writing down what the witness said. Some of them wrote 'unimportant' others wrote 'important'. The King was writing in his book, too. After a while he shouted: 'Silence! I have an important rule for you. Listen!' Everybody was silent.

'Rule Forty-two: All people more than a mile tall must leave the courtroom,' declared the King.

Everybody looked at Alice.

'I'm not that tall,' said Alice.

'Of course you are,' said the King.

'You're more than two miles tall,' added the Queen.

'I won't leave. It's not a real rule. You've just invented it,' protested Alice.

'It's the oldest rule in the book,' said the King.

'Then it should be Number one and not Number Forty-two,' replied Alice.

The King didn't know what to say. He looked at the jury and asked: 'What do you think?'

'Cut off his head!' said the Queen pointing at the Knave of Hearts.

'Sentence first and then verdict,' protested the White Rabbit.

'You should ask him if he's guilty first,' suggested Alice.

'Keep quiet!' said the Queen.

'I won't! You're just a pack of cards!' replied Alice.

When Alice said this, the cards flew up into the air and then down upon her.

'Wake up, Alice!'

Alice opened her eyes and saw her sister's face, the river and the green fields.

'I had a strange dream,' said Alice. She told her sister about the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat and the cruel Queen.

Alice's sister kissed her and said: 'Let's go home dear. We'll have some tea.'

Alice got up and walked home thinking of those strange creatures in that land of wonders on a beautiful, sunny afternoon.

化身博士

Part Seven: Henry Jekyll's Statement

Mr Utterson put down Dr Lanyon's letter. He picked up the paper from Dr Jekyll's laboratory, and began to read. This is what he read:

I, Henry Jekyll, was born in 18 -. I had money, I was intelligent, and I liked to work. My future seemed happy and rich.

When I was young I wanted to be respected ②bymyfriends.Ipretended to be a very serious man. I was not like other young men, who drink together and enjoy themselves. I enjoyed myself, but I kept my pleasures a secret from others. In public I was a good man—privately, I was a bad one.

I studied science, and I became certain that all human beings are like me. Everyone has two parts—a good part, and an evil part. No one can be happy because these two parts of nature fight against each other. In my studies I tried to separate these two parts. I wanted to create two identities.

One identity would be for the good part of myself. The other identity would be for the evil part. I thought each identity would be happy: the good part would be completely good, and the evil part would be completely evil.

I worked for many years to find out how to create these new identities .

I bought some special powders from a chemist in the city. Then, one night I mixed the powders together. I drank the mixture, and immediately I felt ill. Suddenly I was a different man. I looked at myself in the mirror. I was younger and smaller, and I was completely wicked. Nothing was important to me, except pleasure. I had become Edward Hyde! I drank another glass of the mixture, and Edward Hyde disappeared—instantly I became Dr Jekyll again!

I could now change whenever I wanted. The well-known and respected Dr Jekyll could become Edward Hyde. Edward Hyde could do things that the good doctor was not allowed to do. I began to like the new identity I had created for myself.

At first Edward Hyde was happy just to enjoy himself, but soon he began to do terrible things. Dr Jekyll was often terrified ①bythethingsthatHyde did. The doctor could do nothing.

Jekyll and Hyde were different people.

Soon I realised that Edward Hyde was dangerous. He might do something that would damage the doctor's reputation . I remember the night when Hyde walked over the body of the little girl. When he had to find money to pay the girl's family, he came to the doctor's house. I decided to give Hyde a separate bank account, and to give him his own house. I prepared the will which you disliked so much, Utterson. I thought I was safe.

About two months before the murder of Sir Danvers Carew, a strange thing happened. I took the powders as usual, and became Edward Hyde. I went out into the city, and returned home to sleep. When I woke up, I knew something was wrong.

Then I looked at my hands. Dr Jekyll's hands are large, but the hands I saw were small. Then I understood: they were Edward Hyde's hands! I had gone to bed as Henry Jekyll and had woken up as Hyde! I ran to the laboratory, and took some more of the mixture. In a few minutes I was Dr Jekyll again. Soon I understood that Hyde was stronger than Dr Jekyll. It became difficult to change back from Hyde to Dr Jekyll.

Sometimes the powders did not work. I knew that I must choose between the two identities. I decided to be Dr Jekyll. For two months I followed my choice. I worked, I saw my friends, and I began to be happy again. But every day I thought about Hyde. I missed his life of pleasures—I missed the excitement of being Hyde.

One day I drank the powders again. This time, when Hyde came, he was angry. That was the night that he murdered Sir Danvers Carew. Hyde enjoyed the violence of the murder, but he was afraid of the police. He came back to the laboratory, and drank the powders.

I, Henry Jekyll, remembered what Hyde had done. I was terrified. I swore that I would never take the powders again.

Edward Hyde was finished forever!

For a while I lived as Dr Jekyll. I worked, I saw my friends, I thought I was safe from Hyde. One day I went to the park. I sat there, thinking about my life.

'I am a good man,' I told myself. I looked at the people around me. 'I am a better man than most of them,' I thought.

At that instant , I suddenly felt ill: then I felt a change in myself. I looked down - I had become Hyde once more!