我是暴暴熊

在奇遇島上離公主的城堡不遠的地方，有一個名叫禮儀國度的小地方。這是一個溫柔又文雅的國度，甚至可以說是一個彬彬有禮的地方。就連風兒吹過樹木和小草時發出的沙沙聲，也像是在有禮貌地說著“謝謝”和“不客氣”似的。

這裏的所有居民都非常講禮貌：跳來跳去的小兔子們要麽打著領結，戴著大禮帽，要麽穿著漂亮的長裙子，戴著有花邊的遮陽?帽。

On the island of Serendipity, not far from the princess’s castle, was a land called Amenity. Amenity was a gentle place. A proper place, if you would, where the Please Trees rustled in the breeze that blew the pollen from the Urwelcome Weeds.

It was a polite land where bunnies hopped about in bow ties and top hats as others rustled about in lace shawls and bonnets.

這兒住著一隻奶黃兔，她不僅特別講禮貌，而且很注意保持各種文靜的好習慣。比如，她總是帶著一塊手絹兒，想打噴嚏的時候就用它遮住自己的小鼻子。看到玫瑰花開得正好，奶黃兔也隻會湊過去輕輕聞一聞，從來不隨隨便便把花朵摘下來。如果她不小心打了個嗝兒，她就會彬彬有禮地說一聲“不好意思”。

奶黃兔是禮儀國度裏所有動物的好榜樣，大家都為她感到驕?傲。

One of the bunnies that lived here was called Buttermilk. She was very polite and her manners were impeccable. She always carried a hanky to stifle her sniffles and she only smelled, never picked, the roses that grew in great profusion.

Buttermilk was the pride of all and the essence of Amenity as she politely said, “Excuse me,” if she hiccoughed or burped.

每天下午三點一刻，禮儀國度所有的動物都會暫時擱下手上的活計，圍著鋪了花邊桌布的圓木和樹樁一起坐下來。動物們喝著用蒲公英泡的茶，吃著澆了焦糖的煎餅和撒滿糖霜的脆餅幹。

他們會客氣地聊聊天氣，或者貓頭鷹在月光明媚的夜晚會不會飛行這樣的瑣事。禮儀國度看起來就是這麽文雅、這麽和氣。

可是，這裏不是所有事情都那麽完美，也不是所有動物都會講禮貌。每天下午剛到三點一刻，動物們剛剛擺好舒服的桌椅準備喝茶，暴暴熊就來了。

Every afternoon at a quarter of three, all of the polite creatures that lived in Amenity stopped their busy bodies and gathered about stumps and logs draped with lace-edged doilies. There they would sip a bit of dandelion tea and munch upon caramel crumpets and sugar crumb cookies.

They would politely speak of the weather or whether the owl would fly that moonlit night. Ah, all seemed perfectly polite in the land of Amenity.

But all was not perfect in Amenity, nor were all the creatures polite.For every afternoon at a quarter of three, just as tea was set and made cozy for drinking, there came the Grumpling.

暴暴熊是一隻粗魯又沒禮貌的大熊，他的個子大得嚇人，長著擰成一團的粗眉毛和又寬又方的大下巴。他亂糟糟的皮毛一綹一綹地粘在一起，因為他從來沒有好好梳理過。暴暴熊的脖子上胡亂圍著一條又髒又破的圍巾，上麵沾滿了樹葉和髒東西，甚至有吃飯時掉的飯渣。當暴暴熊踏著咚咚響的大步子走來走去的時候，這條破圍巾就耷拉在他的背後，垂在地上拖來拖去。

The Grumpling was an uncivilized bear of monstrous proportions,with a jutting jaw and a knitted brow. His hair seemed cast of wire and never, never was combed or parted. He wore about his neck a tattered scarf that was rarely tied properly, if at all. The scarf, stuck here and there with bits of leaves and smudges of last night’s supper, always trailed behind him as he stomped down the trail.

一到下午三點一刻，暴暴熊就會準時出現。他雖然不喝茶，卻會把所有的餅幹、煎餅和三明治都吃光，連喝過茶後清口用的薄荷糖也不放過。要不是桌布是用紗線織成的，實在是沒辦法消化，他大概就要連桌布一起吃下去了。

吃掉所有茶點後，暴暴熊隻會生氣地抱怨吃的東西太少。他用髒兮兮的圍巾擦擦嘴，打一個響得能嚇跑樹上的小鳥的響嗝兒，然後嘟嘟囔囔地轉身就走，連一句“謝謝”或者“再見”也不說。

但是，禮儀國度的動物們並不會說什麽，因為他們都太文雅、太和氣了。他們隻會平靜地給自己倒一杯茶，就好像什麽事情都沒有發生過一樣，雖然很糟糕的事情確確實實已經發生了。

He always showed up at a quarter of three, and though he never drank the tea, he would eat the cookies—all of the cookies— and crumpets, finger sandwiches and after-tea mints. He probably would have eaten the doilies, but they were made of yarn and hardly digestible, even for the Grumpling.

When finished, he would grumble about not having had enough to eat, and wipe his mouth on his scarf. Then, without a “thank you” or a“by your leave”, he would belch a rumbling belch that shook birds from the trees, and off he would grump down the trail.

None of the creatures of Amenity said anything, so polite were they. They would calmly pour their tea and pretend as if nothing had happened at all—although a lot happened indeed.

有一天，奶黃兔終於受不了了。前一天晚上，她在廚房裏烤了好久，才做出來一大堆又香又脆的甜餅，香得讓人忍不住流口水，但暴暴熊一把就把它們填進大嘴巴了。她還烤了許多小餅幹，做了兩三個精致漂亮的小蛋糕，可是暴暴熊一口就把這些點心吃光了。隻是吃掉的話還不要緊，但暴暴熊不僅不會說“奶黃兔小姐，這些點心做得好吃極了”，甚至一句簡單的“謝謝”也不會說，這才是讓奶黃兔生氣的地方。實際上，奶黃兔簡直氣得要死。她下定了決心，一定要讓這個壞脾氣的家夥學會懂禮貌。

One day Buttermilk had finally taken all that she could take.It was bad enough that she had baked and baked the night before, making a dozen or more of the most scrumptious crumpets, the mouthwatering kind, only to see the Grumpling stuff them all in his mouth.It was bad enough that she had made batches of cookies and two or three delightful little cakes, only to find that the Grumpling had eaten them all in one single bite. But when he didn’t say “thank you” or even“they tasted great, Miss Buttermilk, ma’am,” Buttermilk got angry,downright mad, if you please. She decided right then and there to tame that ill-mannered beast if it was the last thing she did.

奶黃兔一邊想著，一邊飛快地跑回了自己的家。她把圍裙緊緊地係在腰上，開始忙碌起來。因為奶黃兔突然想到，從來沒有誰專門為暴暴熊準備一桌像樣的茶點，也沒有誰想到喝茶的時候叫上暴暴熊。所以，如果她做好自己最拿手的點心，正式邀請暴暴熊喝茶的話，那麽他一定會表現得文雅起來的。

奶黃兔先是烤了許多特別的脆皮甜餅，然後把金雀花的種子、燕麥和麥麩磨成細細的麵粉，加上莓子和果醬，用模子把麵團切得圓圓的，送進爐子裏烤成餅幹。

She rushed home to her burrow and there, after tying her apron of ruffly ruffles firmly around her waist, she whisked and whipped this and that the whole night through. For Buttermilk realized that nobody had ever formally set a tea table for the Grumpling, or even actually invited him for that matter. She would bake the best of the best and invite the Grumpling for tea. Surely then he would be polite.

She stirred up a batch of her most special crisp crumbly crumpets and popped them in the oven. She ground broom seeds, oat and bran into a fine flour that she mixed with button berries and marmalade. All of this was plopped into biscuit molds and this, too, was popped into the oven.

第二天下午，一到三點一刻，奶黃兔就在暴暴熊的必經之路上擺好了自己的桌子。她鋪上幹淨的花邊桌布，放上精巧的小三明治和甜甜的金雀花餅幹，又擺上了自己最好的茶壺、盤子和茶杯。她放了兩套餐具，一套給自己，另一套給暴暴熊。奶黃兔甚至在暴暴熊的位置上放了一張漂亮的邀請函，是用手工剪出花邊的白紙做成的，上麵用優美的花體字寫著他的名字。

準備妥當後，奶黃兔端端正正地在桌邊坐了下來，等著愛惹麻煩的暴暴熊出現。很快，她就聽見了一陣盤子亂撞的響動，暴暴熊已經開始粗魯地大吃其他桌上精心準備的點心了。

不一會兒，這個野蠻的大家夥就到了奶黃兔的桌邊。可是，他剛吃了一兩口，奶黃兔就突然站起身來對他說：“不好意思，暴暴熊先生，你為什麽不像個紳士一樣坐下來和我一起喝茶呢？”

The very next day at a quarter of three, Buttermilk set up for tea right in the middle of the trail from whence would come the Grumpling.She laid down her fresh lace doilies and upon them she set her best tea cozy, saucer and cups. She laid out dainty little sandwiches and the sweet biscuits of broom seed. She set two places at her table; one for the Grumpling and one for herself. At the Grumpling’s plate she set a formal invitation which she had written in the finest of cursive lettering on linen paper with hand-cut frills.

When all was set and ready, she sat down prim and proper and waited for the scrubby lout himself—the Grumpling. It wasn’t long before she heard saucers rattling and saw crumbs flying as the Grumpling fed himself rudely on others’ polite food.

It was but a moment before the crude beast was upon her table, ready to ravage her food. He had only taken a bite or two before she rose and said, “Excuse me, Mr. Grumpling, sir, but won’t you sit down and enjoy tea with me like a gentleman should?”

臉上沾滿果醬的暴暴熊愣住了。“哩唆熟麽？”他說話的時候嘴裏還塞得滿滿的，點心渣噴了奶黃兔一身。

“我剛才說的是，”奶黃兔和氣而嚴肅地回答，“我邀請你和我一起喝茶。你應該像紳士一樣坐下來，用文雅禮貌的方式繼續吃喝，不然我就不讓你吃我的甜餅了。”

暴暴熊呆呆地看著奶黃兔，實在是驚訝極了。

The Grumpling just looked at her with jam on his face and muttered,“Whazzafrashur?” As he spoke, Buttermilk was showered with a spray of crumpet crumbs and cookie bits.

“I said,” she said firmly but primly, “that you have been invited and you shall sit down like a gentleman and sip tea in a civilized manner or you shan’t eat any more of my crumpets.”

The Grumpling looked at her, shocked was he.

然後，暴暴熊輕蔑地搖了搖頭，繼續埋頭大吃起來。這次他連桌布和邀請函都吃下去了！就在他狼吞虎咽的時候，奶黃兔勇敢地站到小路中間，擋住了暴暴熊的路。

“你可真是個粗魯無禮的家夥，還不講道理！”她一邊說，一邊氣得用腳爪敲著鋪滿石子的路麵。

鼻尖沾著果醬的暴暴熊粗魯地打了個大大的響嗝兒，大搖大擺地準備離開，但奶黃兔就是不給他讓路。

“如果你不對我道歉，或者至少說一句‘謝謝你的點心’的話，我是不會讓開的！”奶黃兔堅定地說。

但暴暴熊隻是漫不經心地從她身邊闖了過去，蠻橫地把小兔子擠到了一邊。

Then he shook his head in a disdainful way and proceeded to eat all there was to eat, including the invitation, and this time he even ate the doilies! As he ate, Buttermilk stood boldly in the center of the path.

“You rude, inconsiderate beast,” she said, as her foot tapped in a staccato manner on the cobbled path.

The Grumpling just looked at her with a bit of jam still on his nose and belched the rudest burp. Then he started on his way as was his wont, but Buttermilk refused to move.

“I will not move from this spot until you apologize and at least say‘thank you!’” she said, daring him to pass.

Without a thought, without a care, the Grumpling roughly brushed past the poor little rabbit, rudely bumping her out of the way.

可憐的奶黃兔忍不住流下了眼淚。她已經盡了自己的全力，辛辛苦苦地烤了那麽多點心，準備了最漂亮的桌子，但暴暴熊還是那麽粗魯、那麽沒禮貌。奶黃兔不停地哭啊哭啊，實在是失望極了。

不過，暴暴熊並沒有像以前一樣一走了之。一聽到小兔子的抽泣聲，他就立刻停了下來，飛快地跑回了奶黃兔坐著的地方。

他一邊尷尬地用兩隻大腳在地上來回蹭著，一邊用很小的聲音嘟囔道：“呃，那個，奶黃兔小姐，你可別哭呀！對不起，我沒想傷害你的。”

Poor, poor Buttermilk. She had tried so hard. She had baked and baked and set the nicest table, but still the Grumpling was as rude as he could be. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as she cried and cried, so frustrated was she.

But the Grumpling didn’t go on as he had in the past. He stopped fast in his tracks as the little bunny was racked with sobs.

He stomped back to where she sat in the moss, and while shuffling from one foot to the other, mumbled, “Oh, uh, well, don’t cry, Miss Buttermilk, ma’am. I am sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

這句道歉的話讓森林高興地發出了沙沙的響聲，因為這是暴暴熊第一次做出有禮貌的事情。他彎下身子，用圍巾上唯一幹淨的地方替奶黃兔擦幹了眼淚。

“是這樣的，奶黃兔小姐，我隻是不知道怎麽做才是講禮貌，誰都沒有教過我，也沒有誰會請我一起喝茶。我不是故意讓你傷心的。”這時候，奶黃兔才突然明白，暴暴熊並不是故意不講禮貌的。如果他不知道什麽是好、什麽是壞，那他怎麽可能知道什麽是文雅、什麽是粗魯呢？想清楚這一點後，奶黃兔看待暴暴熊的眼光就不太一樣了。

暴暴熊幫奶黃兔從地上站了起來。小兔子溫和地問他：“如果有人願意幫助你，那麽你願意學著變得文雅起來，用禮貌的方式和禮儀國度的大家相處嗎？”

“哎呀，我當然願意了。”暴暴熊用低低的聲音答道。

奶黃兔牽著他的手，帶著他沿石子路回到了自己的兔子小窩。

And the forest rang with his apology, for it was the first polite thing the Grumpling had ever done. He reached down, and with the only clean spot on his scarf, he wiped away her tears.

“You see, ma’am, I just don’t know how to be polite. Nobody ever showed me, and I never have been invited. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”It was then and only then that Buttermilk realized that the Grumpling didn’t mean to be impolite. For how could one be impolite when one didn’t know right from wrong. She began to see the Grumpling in a new polite light.

The Grumpling helped her to her feet and Buttermilk asked courteously,“If someone would help you, would you be willing to learn the polite way, the right way, to carry yourself in the land of Amenity?”

“Oh, yes ma’am, ” said he in a low, rumbling voice.

Hand in hand, they set off down the cobbled path to Buttermilk’s burrow in the woods.

暴暴熊和奶黃兔很快就成了好朋友。奶黃兔教他什麽時候該說“請”，什麽時候該說“謝謝”；告訴他餐巾應該攤在大腿上，而不是圍在脖子下麵。她還用肥皂和漂白粉把他的髒圍巾洗得幹幹淨淨，又用熨鬥熨得平平整整。現在暴暴熊甚至學會了用圍巾打領結，喝下午茶的時候，這麽做實在是最文雅、最得體的了。

如果我們願意花時間教，那麽，哪怕是最粗魯的人也會改變的。

From that day forward, Buttermilk and the Grumpling were the fastest of friends. She taught him how to lay his napkin on his lap and not to wrap it around his neck. She taught him how and when to say“please” and “thank you”. She even washed his scarf with soap and bleach, pressed it flat and pleated it. The Grumpling even learned to tie it in a rakish way, a polite and proper sort of thing to do when you have tea at a quarter of three.

For in the rudest of people there is always convention, if we would only take time to teach it.

多講禮貌，

友善待人，

你就永遠不用擔心，會變成“暴暴熊”啦！

AS YOU LIVE AND AS YOU GROW IN THE LAND OF AMENITY

BE POLITE AND GRACIOUS, TOO,AND YOU NEVER WILL

A GRUMPLING BE.