1
HERE was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat was spotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his ears were lined with pink sateen. On Christmas morning, when he sat wedged in the top of the Boy's stocking, with a sprig of holly between his paws, the effect was charming.There were other things in the stocking, nuts and oranges and a toy engine, and chocolate almonds and a clockwork mouse, but the Rabbit was quite the best of all. For at least two hours the Boy loved him, and then Aunts and Uncles came to dinner, and there was a great rustling of tissue paper and unwrapping of parcels, and in the excitement of looking at all the new presents the Velveteen Rabbit was forgotten.
从前，有一只绒布兔，起初它真的很漂亮，胖乎乎毛茸茸的，像只真正的兔子，它的大衣上有棕白两色的波点，线头胡须看上去是那样逼真，耳朵是用粉红的贡缎缝制而成。圣诞节早晨，它挤在男孩的长袜口边，两只脚爪抱着一枝冬青，那模样再迷人不过。长袜里还有其他礼物：坚果、橘子、玩具机车、杏仁巧克力和一只装有发条的玩具老鼠，但绒布兔是里面最好的。至少有两个小时，男孩都对它爱不释手。后来，婶婶和叔叔来吃晚餐时又带来了新的礼物，于是又是遍地沙沙作响的包装纸和未拆的礼物盒，在翻寻这些新礼物的激动心情中绒布兔就被忘记了。For a long time he lived in the toy cupboard or on the nursery floor, and no one thought very much about him. He was naturally shy, and being only made of velveteen, some of the more expensive toys quite snubbed him. The mechanical toys were very superior, and looked down upon every one else; they were full of modern ideas, and pretended they were real. The model boat, who had lived through two seasons and lost most of his paint, caught the tone from them and never missed an opportunity of referring to his rigging in technical terms. The Rabbit could not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn't know that real rabbits existed; he thought they were all stuffed with sawdust like himself, and he understood that sawdust was quite out-of-date and should never be mentioned in modern circles. Even Timothy, the jointed wooden lion, who was made by the disabled soldiers, and should have had broader views, put on airs and pretended he was connected with Government. Between them all the poor little Rabbit was made to feel himself very insignificant and commonplace, and the only person who was kind to him at all was the Skin Horse.
很长一段时间里，绒布兔都住在玩具柜，或就坐在育儿室地板上，没有人惦念它。绒布兔天生害羞，又仅仅是绒布做的，所以那些昂贵的玩具压根儿瞧不上它。机械玩具们非常高傲，它们看不上任何其他玩具；它们思想前卫，宣称自己才是真正的玩具。船模已在这里度过了两个季节，大部分油漆都已剥落，但依然不忘装腔作势，也从来不放过炫耀自身先进装备的机会。绒布兔无法愿望成为任何一种模型，因为它不知道世上存在着真正的兔子，绒布兔认为所有兔子都像它一样，是绒布填充锯末做成的，同时它知道锯末既老土又廉价，所以自己永远也不可能入围现代化的高档玩具。就连蒂莫西，那只由残疾士兵制成的木关节狮子也有着宽广的眼界，装腔作势地声称自己跟政府有关系。在这些玩具中，可怜的绒布兔感到自己微不足道、毫无用处，唯一善待它的只有皮马。
The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.
皮马住在育儿室的时间比其他玩具都长，它如此衰老，就连它那件缀满补丁的棕色皮外套也已经被磨光，露出了底下的缝线，它大部分尾鬃也被拔出来，拿去穿了项链。皮马充满智慧，因为它曾看到前赴后继的机械玩具们昂首阔步地来到这里，自吹自擂、傲慢无礼，然而过不了多久，等发条断裂后，它们也就被抛开了。皮马知道它们只是玩具，永远无法变成别的东西。育儿室里的转变是异常奇妙与不可思议的，只有像皮马这样年长智慧、阅历丰富的玩具才懂得这一切。
"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
“什么是真实？”一天，在保姆娜娜整理房间前，玩具们并排躺在育儿室的炉围旁边时，小兔子问，“真实是不是意味着体内有种东西在嗡嗡作响？还有一根凸出的摇柄？”
“真实并非是指你是如何被制作出来的，”皮马说，“那是发生在你身上的事。当一个孩子爱你很久很久，不仅仅是跟你玩耍，而是真正爱你时，你就变成真实的了。”
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.
“有时候会，”以它一贯的真诚，皮马如实相告，“一旦你是真实的，就不会在意伤害了。”“那我会一下子变成真实的么，就像突然紧张那样？”小兔子问，“还是一点点地变？”“当然不会突然发生，”皮马说，“变得真实需要耗费很长一段时间，所以它通常不会发生在易碎、带有锋利边缘或被仔细深藏的人与事物身上。一般而言，在你逐渐变得真实的岁月中，你可爱的皮毛大部分都将脱落，你的眼珠会掉出，你身体连接处的缝线会慢慢松散，你会变得破旧，但这些都没关系，因为一旦你变成了真的，在那些真正懂得你的人的心目中，你就不可能是丑陋的。”“我猜，你已经是真的了？”小兔子说，但紧接着它真希望自己没说过这句话，因为它担心这话会让皮马伤心，但皮马只面露微笑。"The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."
The Rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad. He wished that he could become it without these uncomfortable things happening to him.
“是男孩的叔父使我变成了真的，”皮马说，“那是许多年前的事了，但是你一旦变成了真实的，就无法再变回去了。真实会永远存续。”
绒布兔叹了口气，它想，在那个名为“真实”的魔法发生在自己身上之前，一定还有很长时间，它渴望变得真实，想体会一下那是种怎样一种感觉，可是，要变真实就意味着也将变得破旧，失去自己的眼珠与胡须也是极可悲的，它希望自己能变真实，同时不必遭受这一连串可悲的事情。
The Skin Horse Tells His Story2
There was a person called Nana who ruled the nursery. Sometimes she took no notice of the playthings lying about, and sometimes, for no reason whatever, she went swooping about like a great wind and hustled them away in cupboards. She called this "tidying up," and the playthings all hated it, especially the tin ones. The Rabbit didn't mind it so much, for wherever he was thrown he came down soft.
One evening, when the Boy was going to bed, he couldn't find the china dog that always slept with him. Nana was in a hurry, and it was too much trouble to hunt for china dogs at bedtime, so she simply looked about her, and seeing that the toy cupboard door stood open, she made a swoop.
"Here," she said, "take your old Bunny! He'll do to sleep with you!" And she dragged the Rabbit out by one ear, and put him into the Boy's arms.
一个叫娜娜的人管理着育儿室。有时候，她毫不在意这些横七竖八躺在地板上的玩具，另一些时候，她又毫无来由地、狂风似地对玩具们进行突袭，将它们一股脑全扔进柜子，她把这叫做“整理”——所有玩具都恨透了这件事，尤其是那些马口铁玩具，但绒布兔并不在意，无论怎么扔，它柔软的身体都不会受伤。一天晚上，男孩上床睡觉时找不到平时伴他入睡的那只陶瓷狗了。娜娜很不耐烦——在本该休息的时间去找陶瓷小狗真的太麻烦了，她草草地搜寻了一下四周，发现玩具柜的门大开着，就立刻冲了过去。“那好”，她说，“就让你这只破兔子去陪他睡觉吧！”她拽着绒布兔一只耳朵把它扯出来，将它放进了男孩的臂弯。That night, and for many nights after, the Velveteen Rabbit slept in the Boy's bed. At first he found it rather uncomfortable, for the Boy hugged him very tight, and sometimes he rolled over on him, and sometimes he pushed him so far under the pillow that the Rabbit could scarcely breathe. And he missed, too, those long moonlight hours in the nursery, when all the house was silent, and his talks with the Skin Horse. But very soon he grew to like it, for the Boy used to talk to him, and made nice tunnels for him under the bedclothes that he said were like the burrows the real rabbits lived in. And they had splendid games together, in whispers, when Nana had gone away to her supper and left the night-light burning on the mantelpiece. And when the Boy dropped off to sleep, the Rabbit would snuggle down close under his little warm chin and dream, with the Boy's hands clasped close round him all night long.那天晚上，以及之后的许许多多个夜晚，绒布兔都睡在男孩的床上。起初，它觉得很不舒服，因为男孩总把它搂得紧紧的，时而翻压在它身上，时而又把它塞到了枕头下，闷得它透不过气。绒布兔异常怀念在育儿室的美好时光，以及当整间屋子一片寂静时，它曾和皮马说过的那些话，但很快它便高兴起来，因为男孩开始跟它说话了，他还用被单为它搭建了一个可爱的小窝，说那就像是真兔子所居住的地洞。当娜娜把油灯放在壁炉架上出门去吃她的晚餐后，他们就在一起做有趣的游戏，说着悄悄话。男孩睡着后，整晚都会用双臂紧紧地搂着绒布兔，而绒布兔也紧紧地依偎在他那温热小巧的下巴底下，进入梦乡。
And so time went on, and the little Rabbit was very happy–so happy that he never noticed how his beautiful velveteen fur was getting shabbier and shabbier, and his tail becoming unsewn, and all the pink rubbed off his nose where the Boy had kissed him.日子一天天过去，绒布兔很快乐——太过快乐，以致它竟没有注意到它那美丽的绒布已变得越来越破旧。它尾巴上的缝线脱落了，它鼻子粉红的绒毛也被磨得光秃秃的，那是男孩经常亲吻的地方。Spring came, and they had long days in the garden, for wherever the Boy went the Rabbit went too. He had rides in the wheelbarrow, and picnics on the grass, and lovely fairy huts built for him under the raspberry canes behind the flower border. And once, when the Boy was called away suddenly to go out to tea, the Rabbit was left out on the lawn until long after dusk, and Nana had to come and look for him with the candle because the Boy couldn't go to sleep unless he was there. He was wet through with the dew and quite earthy from diving into the burrows the Boy had made for him in the flower bed, and Nana grumbled as she rubbed him off with a corner of her apron.春天来了，他们成日在花园里玩。男孩走到哪儿，就把绒布兔带到哪儿。绒布兔有时在独轮车里，有时又被摆在草地上野餐，男孩还为它搭了一间可爱的小屋，就在花栅旁边的覆盆子丛下。某天，男孩突然被叫去吃茶点，绒布兔被留在了草地上，直到暮色昏暗。还好娜娜端着蜡烛出来找它了，因为男孩没有它的陪伴就无法入睡。绒布兔坐在小男孩用鲜花为它铺成的小床上，浑身被露水浸透，沾满了泥土，娜娜一边抱怨，一边用围裙角将它擦拭干净。"You must have your old Bunny!" she said. "Fancy all that fuss for a toy!"The Boy sat up in bed and stretched out his hands."Give me my Bunny!" he said. "You mustn't say that. He isn't a toy. He's REAL!"When the little Rabbit heard that he was happy, for he knew that what the Skin Horse had said was true at last. The nursery magic had happened to him, and he was a toy no longer. He was Real. The Boy himself had said it.That night he was almost too happy to sleep, and so much love stirred in his little sawdust heart that it almost burst. And into his boot-button eyes, that had long ago lost their polish, there came a look of wisdom and beauty, so that even Nana noticed it next morning when she picked him up, and said, "I declare if that old Bunny hasn't got quite a knowing expression!"“你就稀罕这破兔子！”娜娜说，“为了这个玩具翻天覆地！”“把我的兔子给我！”他说，“你不能这么说，它不是玩具，它是真的！”绒布兔听了好快乐，因为它知道，皮马所言终于变成了现实。那个育儿室的魔法终于发生在自己身上了，它不再是一个玩具，它是真实的，那男孩亲口说的。那天夜里，绒布兔幸福得几乎无法入睡，它那小小的锯末心脏激动得就快爆炸了，它那双靴扣做的眼睛早已失去光泽，却变得既美丽又充满智慧，以至在第二天早晨，娜娜也注意到了，她捡起它时嚷道：“我敢肯定，这破兔子脸上有种非同寻常的表情！”3
That was a wonderful Summer!Near the house where they lived there was a wood, and in the long June evenings the Boy liked to go there after tea to play. He took the Velveteen Rabbit with him, and before he wandered off to pick flowers, or play at brigands among the trees, he always made the Rabbit a little nest somewhere among the bracken, where he would be quite cosy, for he was a kind-hearted little boy and he liked Bunny to be comfortable. One evening, while the Rabbit was lying there alone, watching the ants that ran to and fro between his velvet paws in the grass, he saw two strange beings creep out of the tall bracken near him.那是个美妙的夏天！
男孩家附近有一片森林，在六月里的那些悠长傍晚，男孩喜欢在茶点后，带着绒布兔去那里玩耍。当他想在林中散步、采摘野花或者玩捉土匪游戏时，他就会在蕨叶丛中给绒布兔做一个小窝，这个善良的孩子想让自己的小兔子在那里感觉舒适。一天傍晚，绒布兔独自躺在小窝里，注视着草地上的蚂蚁在自己的绒布脚掌之间来回奔跑，它突然看到两个奇怪的东西从一旁高高的蕨叶丛里蹿了出来。
They were rabbits like himself, but quite furry and brand-new. They must have been very well made, for their seams didn't show at all, and they changed shape in a queer way when they moved; one minute they were long and thin and the next minute fat and bunchy, instead of always staying the same like he did. Their feet padded softly on the ground, and they crept quite close to him, twitching their noses, while the Rabbit stared hard to see which side the clockwork stuck out, for he knew that people who jump generally have something to wind them up. But he couldn't see it. They were evidently a new kind of rabbit altogether.
绒布兔觉得它们与自己十分相似，但它们有着异常柔软的绒毛，并且是全新的，它们的做工一定非常考究，因为在它们身上看不到针线的痕迹。跳跃时，它们以一种奇特的方式改变着身体的形状，忽而变得又长又细，忽而又变得又短又胖，压根儿不像永远都一个样的绒布兔。紧接着，它们轻轻降落在草地上，抽动着鼻子，小心翼翼地向绒布兔靠近。绒布兔使劲盯着它们，想看看它们身上到底安没安带发条的摇柄，因为它知道人们通常是用这种东西使玩具们蹦跳起来的，但它没有找到。很显然，它们是一种全新的兔子。Summer Days
They stared at him, and the little Rabbit stared back. And all the time their noses twitched."Why don't you get up and play with us?" one of them asked."I don't feel like it," said the Rabbit, for he didn't want to explain that he had no clockwork."Ho!" said the furry rabbit. "It's as easy as anything," And he gave a big hop sideways and stood on his hind legs."I don't believe you can!" he said."I can!" said the little Rabbit. "I can jump higher than anything!" He meant when the Boy threw him, but of course he didn't want to say so."Can you hop on your hind legs?" asked the furry rabbit.野兔们的鼻子始终抽动着，一直盯着绒布兔，绒布兔也盯着它们。
“你为什么不跳起来跟我们一起玩儿？”其中一只野兔问。
“我不喜欢。”绒布兔说，因为它不愿解释说自己没有发条。
“嗨呀！”毛茸茸的野兔大笑，“跳和所有事情一样简单，”说着它侧身猛地一跳，然后用后腿站着。
“我不信你会跳！”野兔接着说。
“我可以！”绒布兔说，“我能跳得比任何东西都高！”它的意思是小男孩能够将它抛得很高，但它当然不愿说出实情。
“你能用你的后腿跳吗？” 毛茸茸的野兔问。
That was a dreadful question, for the Velveteen Rabbit had no hind legs at all! The back of him was made all in one piece, like a pincushion. He sat still in the bracken, and hoped that the other rabbits wouldn't notice."I don't want to!" he said again.But the wild rabbits have very sharp eyes. And this one stretched out his neck and looked."He hasn't got any hind legs!" he called out. "Fancy a rabbit without any hind legs!" And he began to laugh."I have!" cried the little Rabbit. "I have got hind legs! I am sitting on them!""Then stretch them out and show me, like this!" said the wild rabbit. And he began to whirl round and dance, till the little Rabbit got quite dizzy."I don't like dancing," he said. "I'd rather sit still!"But all the while he was longing to dance, for a funny new tickly feeling ran through him, and he felt he would give anything in the world to be able to jump about like these rabbits did.真是个糟糕的问题，因为绒布兔根本没有后腿！它的后腿是和身子是缝成一片的，就像一块针插垫。绒布兔静静地坐在蕨叶丛里，希望其他野兔们都别再注意它。
但那只野兔有一双犀利的眼睛，此刻它伸长脖子仔细瞧了瞧。
“它没有后腿！〞野兔嚷嚷起来：“多奇怪呀，一只没后腿的兔子！”它开始大笑。
“我有！”绒布兔哭喊着，“我有后腿！我正坐在后腿上呢！”
“那把它们伸出来让我瞧瞧，就像这样！”野兔说完就开始转着圈跳舞，直到绒布兔感到头晕目眩。
其实绒布兔十分渴望跳舞。忽然间一个新奇的念头自它脑海刺痒地一闪而过——它想，假如自己也能像那些野兔们一样蹦蹦跳跳的话，它甘愿付出一切。The strange rabbit stopped dancing, and came quite close. He came so close this time that his long whiskers brushed the Velveteen Rabbit's ear, and then he wrinkled his nose suddenly and flattened his ears and jumped backwards."He doesn't smell right!" he exclaimed. "He isn't a rabbit at all! He isn't real!""I am Real!" said the little Rabbit. "I am Real! The Boy said so!" And he nearly began to cry.Just then there was a sound of footsteps, and the Boy ran past near them, and with a stamp of feet and a flash of white tails the two strange rabbits disappeared."Come back and play with me!" called the little Rabbit. "Oh, do come back! I know I am Real!"那只奇异的野兔停止了舞蹈，来到绒布兔面前。这次，它与绒布兔贴得那么近，它那长长的胡须都快碰到绒布兔的耳朵了，紧接着野兔突然皱起鼻子，压平耳朵，向后蹦开了。
“它闻起来不太对劲儿！”野兔喊道，“它不是兔子！它不是真的！”
“我是真的！〞绒布兔说，“我是真的！那个男孩说的！”它急得快要大哭。
就在那时从不远处传来一阵脚步声，男孩从它们旁边跑了过去，于是这两只奇异的野兔双腿一跺，白尾巴一闪，瞬间消失在森林里。
“回来跟我玩吧！”，绒布兔大声喊道，“噢回来吧！我知道我是真的！”
Summer Days
But there was no answer, only the little ants ran to and fro, and the bracken swayed gently where the two strangers had passed. The Velveteen Rabbit was all alone.
"Oh, dear!" he thought. "Why did they run away like that? Why couldn't they stop and talk to me?"
For a long time he lay very still, watching the bracken, and hoping that they would come back. But they never returned, and presently the sun sank lower and the little white moths fluttered out, and the Boy came and carried him home.
但没有回答，仅有小小的蚂蚁在地上来回奔忙。在那两只奇异生物跑过的地方，蕨叶轻轻地摇摆着。绒布兔感到锥心的孤独。
“哦，天！”它想，“为什么它们要像那样跑开？为什么不留下来跟我说说话？”
很长一段时间里，绒布兔都静静躺在原地注视着蕨叶丛，盼望着那两只野兔回来，可它们再也没有回来。很快，太阳西沉，白色的小蛾飞了出来。男孩走过来，把绒布兔带回家去了。4
Weeks passed, and the little Rabbit grew very old and shabby, but the Boy loved him just as much. He loved him so hard that he loved all his whiskers off, and the pink lining to his ears turned grey, and his brown spots faded. He even began to lose his shape, and he scarcely looked like a rabbit any more, except to the Boy. To him he was always beautiful, and that was all that the little Rabbit cared about. He didn't mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magic had made him Real, and when you are Real shabbiness doesn't matter.时光如梭，绒布兔已经变得很旧也很破了，但男孩一如既往地爱它，他深切的爱使它的胡须脱落、耳朵粉红的衬里发黑、棕色的斑点褪色，绒布兔甚至已经失去形状，除了男孩，别人都快要认不出它是只兔子了，但在男孩心里，它永远那么美丽，这是绒布兔真正关切的事，它不在乎自己在他人眼中的样子，因为那个育儿室魔法使它变成了一只真正的兔子，而一旦变成了真的，破与旧就都无关紧要了。
And then, one day, the Boy was ill.His face grew very flushed, and he talked in his sleep, and his little body was so hot that it burned the Rabbit when he held him close. Strange people came and went in the nursery, and a light burned all night and through it all the little Velveteen Rabbit lay there, hidden from sight under the bedclothes, and he never stirred, for he was afraid that if they found him some one might take him away, and he knew that the Boy needed him.然而有一天，男孩病了。
他脸色发红，在睡梦中说着胡话。他小小的身体是那样滚烫，以致当他紧搂着绒布兔时，它感觉自己几乎要燃起来了。一些陌生人在育儿室里来回穿梭，灯整夜整夜地亮着，绒布兔藏在床单下面，静静躺着一动不动，它害怕一旦被人发现就会被带走，它知道在这时候，男孩最需要它。
It was a long weary time, for the Boy was too ill to play, and the little Rabbit found it rather dull with nothing to do all day long. But he snuggled down patiently, and looked forward to the time when the Boy should be well again, and they would go out in the garden amongst the flowers and the butterflies and play splendid games in the raspberry thicket like they used to. All sorts of delightful things he planned, and while the Boy lay half asleep he crept up close to the pillow and whispered them in his ear. And presently the fever turned, and the Boy got better. He was able to sit up in bed and look at picture-books, while the little Rabbit cuddled close at his side. And one day, they let him get up and dress.
那段日子漫长而乏味，因为男孩太虚弱了，不能和它玩耍，绒布兔整天没事做，觉得很烦闷，但它忍耐着，期待男孩恢复健康后，他们要一起去花园，像从前那样跟花朵和蝴蝶玩耍，在长满了覆盆子的灌木丛里做精彩的游戏，它做好了各式各样有趣的计划，当男孩半梦半醒时，它爬到他枕边，对着他耳朵悄悄讲给他听。很快，男孩的烧退了，身体逐渐恢复如初，他已经能坐在床上看图画书了，每当这时，绒布兔就紧紧依偎在他身旁。然而某天，大人们让男孩从床上起来，并换好衣裳。
It was a bright, sunny morning, and the windows stood wide open. They had carried the Boy out on to the balcony, wrapped in a shawl, and the little Rabbit lay tangled up among the bedclothes, thinking.
The Boy was going to the seaside tomorrow. Everything was arranged, and now it only remained to carry out the doctor's orders. They talked about it all, while the little Rabbit lay under the bedclothes, with just his head peeping out, and listened. The room was to be disinfected, and all the books and toys that the Boy had played with in bed must be burnt.
那是个晴朗的早晨，窗户大大地敞开。大人们用围巾裹着男孩，把他带到了阳台上，而绒布兔待在皱巴巴的床单上，仍思量着它的计划。第二日，男孩就要去海边了。大人们已准备好了他要带去的每一样东西，只剩执行医生的嘱托了。他们与医生交谈时，绒布兔就躺在床单下，把头露在外面观望、聆听。医生说房间需要消毒，男孩在床上翻过的书和玩过的玩具必须全部烧掉。Anxious Times
"Hurrah!" thought the little Rabbit. "To-morrow we shall go to the seaside!" For the boy had often talked of the seaside, and he wanted very much to see the big waves coming in, and the tiny crabs, and the sand castles.Just then Nana caught sight of him."How about his old Bunny?" she asked."That?" said the doctor. "Why, it's a mass of scarlet fever germs!–Burn it at once. What? Nonsense! Get him a new one. He mustn't have that any more!"And so the little Rabbit was put into a sack with the old picture-books and a lot of rubbish, and carried out to the end of the garden behind the fowl-house. That was a fine place to make a bonfire, only the gardener was too busy just then to attend to it. He had the potatoes to dig and the green peas to gather, but next morning he promised to come quite early and burn the whole lot.“万岁！〞绒布兔心想，“明天我们就要去海边了！”因为男孩常说起海边，所以它非常想去看看那起伏的海浪、小小的螃蟹以及沙子修建的城堡。“那个？”医生说，“啊，那上面爬满了猩红热病菌！得立刻烧掉！什么？胡闹！给他一个新的，孩子不能再和这只兔子玩了！”于是，绒布兔被塞进口袋，和旧图画书以及许多垃圾一起被扔去了鸡舍后的园子——焚烧垃圾的好去处。只是园丁太忙了，暂时顾不上处理它们，他正在挖马铃薯，还得采摘豌豆，不过他答应第二天一大早就来烧这堆东西。
5
That night the Boy slept in a different bedroom, and he had a new bunny to sleep with him. It was a splendid bunny, all white plush with real glass eyes, but the Boy was too excited to care very much about it. For to-morrow he was going to the seaside, and that in itself was such a wonderful thing that he could think of nothing else.夜里，男孩被带去另一间卧室睡觉，并且已有了一只新兔子作伴。那是只华丽的兔子，全身覆满白色绒毛，配以两颗逼真的玻璃眼珠，但男孩太兴奋了，根本没注意到这些，明天就要去海边了，这太棒了，他没心思想别的事。
And while the Boy was asleep, dreaming of the seaside, the little Rabbit lay among the old picture-books in the corner behind the fowl-house, and he felt very lonely. The sack had been left untied, and so by wriggling a bit he was able to get his head through the opening and look out. He was shivering a little, for he had always been used to sleeping in a proper bed, and by this time his coat had worn so thin and threadbare from hugging that it was no longer any protection to him. Near by he could see the thicket of raspberry canes, growing tall and close like a tropical jungle, in whose shadow he had played with the Boy on bygone mornings. He thought of those long sunlit hours in the garden–how happy they were–and a great sadness came over him. He seemed to see them all pass before him, each more beautiful than the other, the fairy huts in the flower-bed, the quiet evenings in the wood when he lay in the bracken and the little ants ran over his paws; the wonderful day when he first knew that he was Real. He thought of the Skin Horse, so wise and gentle, and all that he had told him. Of what use was it to be loved and lose one's beauty and become Real if it all ended like this? And a tear, a real tear, trickled down his little shabby velvet nose and fell to the ground.
男孩睡着了，当他梦见海滩时，绒布兔正躺在鸡舍的角落里，在一堆图画书中间，它感到很孤单。口袋没有扎起来，绒布兔只要扭动身体，就能把头探出来向外张望，它冷得发抖。之前，它在温暖舒适的床上睡惯了，它的外套又被男孩的拥抱磨损得那么单薄、破烂，已不再保暖。绒布兔身旁，是一丛丛又高又密的覆盆子枝条，如同热带雨林，从前的早晨，它总和男孩一起在这荫凉下玩耍，它想起花园里那些阳光明媚的日子——他们曾如此快乐——一阵巨大的伤感向它袭来，一件件往事从绒布兔眼前掠过，一幕比一幕美好：那花床上可爱的小屋，那树林中静谧的夜晚，当它躺在蕨叶丛里的时候，蚂蚁穿梭在它的脚掌间。还有，在那美妙的日子里，它第一次知道了它是真实的。它想起了睿智温柔的皮马，想起了皮马对它说过的每一句话。变得真实又有什么意义呢？长久地被爱，而后失去美丽，最后，一切竟以这种方式结束。一滴眼泪，一滴真正的泪水从它眼中滚出，慢慢滑过它破旧的绒布鼻子，跌落在地。
And then a strange thing happened. For where the tear had fallen a flower grew out of the ground, a mysterious flower, not at all like any that grew in the garden. It had slender green leaves the colour of emeralds, and in the centre of the leaves a blossom like a golden cup. It was so beautiful that the little Rabbit forgot to cry, and just lay there watching it. And presently the blossom opened, and out of it there stepped a fairy.She was quite the loveliest fairy in the whole world. Her dress was of pearl and dew-drops, and there were flowers round her neck and in her hair, and her face was like the most perfect flower of all. And she came close to the little Rabbit and gathered him up in her arms and kissed him on his velveteen nose that was all damp from crying.紧接着，一件奇异的事发生了，在眼泪落下的地方，升起了一朵花，一朵神秘的花，与花园中的任何一朵都不一样，伴着纤长、带翡翠色泽的叶片，碧叶间有着一朵金杯状的花蕾。花儿太美了，使得绒布兔忘记了哭泣，只躺在那儿注视着它，不一会儿，那朵花慢慢展开，从里面走出来一名仙子。
她是全世界最可爱的仙子，她的裙子上挂着珍珠和露珠；她的脖子和头顶都挂满与缀满了鲜花；她的脸庞是最完美的一朵花。仙子走近绒布兔，将它揽进臂弯，吻了吻它那被泪水浸透的绒布鼻子。
The Fairy Flower
"Little Rabbit," she said, "don't you know who I am?"The Rabbit looked up at her, and it seemed to him that he had seen her face before, but he couldn't think where.
绒布兔看着她，觉得自己似乎见过她，却又想不起是在何处。"I am the nursery magic Fairy," she said. "I take care of all the playthings that the children have loved. When they are old and worn out and the children don't need them any more, then I come and take them away with me and turn them into Real.""Wasn't I Real before?" asked the little Rabbit."You were Real to the Boy," the Fairy said, "because he loved you. Now you shall be Real to every one."
“我是育儿室里的魔法仙子，”她说，“我护佑着孩子们喜爱的每一个玩具，当玩具们老了、旧了，孩子们不再需要它们了，我就来带走它们，把它们变成真的。”“对那个男孩来说，你是真的，”仙子说，“因为他爱你。现在，对每个人来说，你都将是真实的了。”And she held the little Rabbit close in her arms and flew with him into the wood.It was light now, for the moon had risen. All the forest was beautiful, and the fronds of the bracken shone like frosted silver. In the open glade between the tree-trunks the wild rabbits danced with their shadows on the velvet grass, but when they saw the Fairy they all stopped dancing and stood round in a ring to stare at her."I've brought you a new playfellow," the Fairy said. "You must be very kind to him and teach him all he needs to know in Rabbit-land, for he is going to live with you for ever and ever!"魔法仙子紧紧抱着绒布兔，飞进了森林。月亮升起来了，遍地银辉，森林如此美丽，丛丛蕨叶闪烁着霜冻似的银白色光芒。林间的一块空地上，野兔们正跟随自己的影子在丝绒般的草地上跳舞，它们看见仙子后便停了下来，围成一个圈注视着她。
“我给你们带来了一个新朋友，”仙子说，“你们必须友好地待它，把它应当知道的那些关于兔子王国的知识都传授给它，因为它要永远同你们生活在一起了！”
And she kissed the little Rabbit again and put him down on the grass.
"Run and play, little Rabbit!" she said.
再一次，她亲吻了绒布兔，并将它放上草地。
“去跑吧，玩吧，小兔子！”她说。
But the little Rabbit sat quite still for a moment and never moved. For when he saw all the wild rabbits dancing around him he suddenly remembered about his hind legs, and he didn't want them to see that he was made all in one piece. He did not know that when the Fairy kissed him that last time she had changed him altogether. And he might have sat there a long time, too shy to move, if just then something hadn't tickled his nose, and before he thought what he was doing he lifted his hind toe to scratch it.
但绒布兔仍静静地坐着，一动不动，因为当它看到所有野兔围着它跳舞时，它突然记起了自己的后腿，它不想让野免们看到它的后腿是和整个身子缝在一起的。绒布兔不知道，仙子在最后一次亲吻它时已将它彻底改变了。绒布兔在原地坐了好长时间，害羞得一动不动，不一会儿，有什么东西弄得它的鼻子痒痒的，它忍不住抬起自己的后腿，用脚趾挠了挠鼻头。The Fairy Flower
And he found that he actually had hind legs! Instead of dingy velveteen he had brown fur, soft and shiny, his ears twitched by themselves, and his whiskers were so long that they brushed the grass. He gave one leap and the joy of using those hind legs was so great that he went springing about the turf on them, jumping sideways and whirling round as the others did, and he grew so excited that when at last he did stop to look for the Fairy she had gone.
He was a Real Rabbit at last, at home with the other rabbits.
绒布兔突然发现它有后腿了！身上破旧的绒布不见了，取而代之的是棕色的皮毛——柔软、闪亮，它的耳朵能自己抖动，胡须长到可以拂扫草地。绒布兔高兴地一跃而起，后腿腾空的感觉是那样美妙，它在草地上蹦跳着，还时不时侧身跃起或像其他野兔那样绕着圈奔跑。绒布兔实在太过激动，待它最终停下来寻找仙子时，她早已消失无踪。绒布兔终于成了一只真正的兔子，与其他所有兔子在一起。6
Autumn passed and Winter, and in the Spring, when the days grew warm and sunny, the Boy went out to play in the wood behind the house. And while he was playing, two rabbits crept out from the bracken and peeped at him. One of them was brown all over, but the other had strange markings under his fur, as though long ago he had been spotted, and the spots still showed through. And about his little soft nose and his round black eyes there was something familiar, so that the Boy thought to himself:"Why, he looks just like my old Bunny that was lost when I had scarlet fever!"But he never knew that it really was his own Bunny, come back to look at the child who had first helped him to be Real.At Last! At Last!
秋天过去后冬天也悄然而逝，然后春天又一次来临。在一个温暖晴朗的日子，那个男孩又来到屋后的树林。他正玩耍着，两只兔子从蕨叶丛中跳出来，并悄悄地打量他。这两只兔子都是棕色的，但其中一只兔子的皮毛有些特殊——似乎很久前在它身上有过斑点，而此刻这些斑点在皮毛下依旧隐约可见，它那柔软的小鼻子和圆圆的黑豆眼看上去也如此熟悉。男孩心想：“啊，它看上去好像我早先那只旧旧的绒布兔，我在得猩红热时丢失的那只！”
但他永远不会知道，这正是他那只绒布兔。现在，它回来探望他，探望那个首次将它变得真实的孩子。
the end
THE
Velveteen Rabbit
OR
HOW TOYS BECOME REAL
by Margery Williams
Illustrations by William Nicholson
DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY, INC.
Garden City New York
