They were indeed a queer-looking party that assembled on the bank--the birds with draggled feathers, the animals with their fur clinging close to them, and all dripping wet, cross, and uncomfortable.
集合在岸上的這一大群，確實稀奇古怪——羽毛濕了的鳥、毛緊貼著身子的小動物等等，全都是濕淋淋的，橫躺豎臥的，顯得很狼狽。

The first question of course was, how to get dry again: they had a consultation about this, and after a few minutes it seemed quite natural to Alice to find herself talking familiarly with them, as if she had known them all her life. Indeed, she had quite a long argument with the Lory, who at last turned sulky, and would only say, 'I am older than?you, and must know better'; and this Alice would not allow without knowing how old it was, and, as the Lory positively refused to tell its age, there was no more to be said.
重要的是：怎樣把身上弄干，對這個問題，他們商量了一會兒。過了幾分鐘，愛麗絲就同它們混熟了，好像老相識似的。你瞧，愛麗絲已經(jīng)同鸚鵡辯論了好長時間了，最后鸚鵡生氣了，一個勁兒地說：“我比你年齡大，也就肯定比你知道得多?！笨蓯埯惤z不同意這點，因為愛麗絲壓根兒不知道它的年齡，而鸚鵡又拒絕說出自已的年齡，她們就再沒話可說了。

At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among them, called out, 'Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I'LL soon make you dry enough!' They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with the Mouse in the middle. Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, for she felt sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon.
最后，那只老鼠——它在它們中間好像很有權(quán)威似的——喊道：“你們?nèi)孔?，聽我說，我很快就會把你們弄干的！”他們立即都坐下了，圍成一個大圈，老鼠在中間，愛麗絲焦急地盯著它，她很清楚，如果濕衣服不能很快干的活，她會得重感冒的。

'Ahem!' said the Mouse with an important air, 'are you all ready? This is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! "William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soonsubmitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria--"'
“咳，咳！”老鼠煞有介事地說：“你們都準(zhǔn)備好了嗎？下面是我要說的最干巴巴的故事了，請大家安靜點。‘征服者威廉的事業(yè)是教皇支持的，不久就征服了英國，英國人也需要有人領(lǐng)導(dǎo)，而且已經(jīng)對篡權(quán)和被征服都習(xí)慣了。梅西亞和諾森勃列亞（海西亞Mercia和諾森勃利亞Northumbria是英國的兩個古國。）的伯爵埃德溫和莫卡……

'Ugh!' said the Lory, with a shiver.
“啊！”鸚鵡打著哆嗦。

'I beg your pardon!' said the Mouse, frowning, but very politely: 'Did you speak?'
“請原諒！”老鼠皺著眉頭說，但仍然很有禮貌地問：“你有什么話嗎？”

'Not I!' said the Lory hastily.
“我沒有啥說的！”鸚鵡急忙答道。

'I thought you did,' said the Mouse. '--I proceed. "Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him: and even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable--"
“我以為你有話要說哩！”老鼠說，“我繼續(xù)講，這兩個地方的伯爵埃德溫和莫卡都宣告支持威廉，甚至坎特伯雷的愛國大主教斯蒂坎德也發(fā)現(xiàn)這是可行的……”

'Found WHAT?' said the Duck.
“發(fā)現(xiàn)什么？”鴨子問。