幸福的家庭
这是一则小品，具有深刻的讽刺意义，最初发表在《新的童话》里。被人养着当作食物的蜗牛，“坐井观天”，认为“世界上再也没有比我们这儿（公馆院子里的牛蒡树丛）更好的地方了”。“我们很想到公馆里去被烹调一下，然后被放到银盘子里去。我们的祖先们都是这样，你知道这是一种光荣！”有不少人的思想境界大致与这差不多。
THE largest green leaf in this country is certainly the burdockleaf.If you hold it in front of you，it is large enough for an apron，and if you hold it over your head，it is almost as good as an umbrella，it is so wonderfully large.A burdock（burdock n.［植］牛蒡属）never grows alone，where it grows，there are many more，and it is a splendid sight，and all this splendor is good for snails.The great white snails，which grand people in olden times used to have made into fricassees，and when they had eaten them，they would say，“O，what a delicious dish！”For these people really thought them good，and these snails lived on burdockleaves，and for them the burdock was planted.
这个国家里最大的绿叶子，当然要属牛蒡的叶子了。如果你拿一片搁在你的肚皮上，那么它就像一条围裙，因为它是出奇的宽大。如果你把它放在头上，那么它就可以像一把伞那么好用。牛蒡从来不单独地生长，不，向来长着一棵牛蒡的地方，你一定能找到好几棵。这是它最可爱的一点，而这一点对蜗牛说来再好不过。在古时候，这些白色的大蜗牛被很多大人物做成“碎肉”，他们边吃边说着：“啊，味道真好！”因为他们认为蜗牛的味道很美。这些蜗牛都依靠牛蒡叶子活着，因此人们才种牛蒡。
There was once an old estate where no one now lived to require snails，indeed，the owners had all died out，but the burdock still flourished，it grew over all the beds and walks of the garden—its growth had no check—till it became at last quite a forest of burdocks.Here and there stood an apple or a plumtree，but for this，nobody would have thought the place had ever been a garden.It was burdock from one end to the other，and here lived the last two surviving snails（snail n.蜗牛，迟钝的人v.捉蜗牛，缓慢移动）.They knew not themselves how old they were，but they could remember the time when there were a great many more of them，and that they were descended from a family which came from foreign lands，and that the whole forest had been planted for them and theirs.They had never been away from the garden，but they knew that another place once existed in the world，called the Dukes Palace Castle，in which some of their relations had been boiled till they became black，and were then laid on a silver dish，but what was done afterwards they did not know.Besides，they could not imagine exactly how it felt to be boiled and placed on a silver dish，but no doubt it was something very fine and highly genteel（genteel adj.上流社会的）.Neither the cockchafer，nor the toad，nor the earthworm，whom they questioned about it，would give them the least information，for none of their relations had ever been cooked or served on a silver dish.The old white snails were the most aristocratic（aristocratic adj.贵族的，贵族化的，贵族政治的）race in the world，—they knew that.The forest had been planted for them，and the noblemans castle had been built entirely that they might be cooked and laid on silver dishes.
曾经有一所古代的公馆，住在里面的人已经不再吃蜗牛了。所以蜗牛都死光了，不过牛蒡依然长得很茂盛，毫无阻碍地生长着。这植物在小径上和花畦上长得非常茂盛。使得这地方几乎成了一个牛蒡森林。要不是这儿那儿有几株苹果树和梅子树，谁也想不到这是一个花园。处处都是牛蒡，在它们中住着最后的两个蜗牛遗老。连它们自己都不知自己究竟有多大年纪。不过它们记得很清楚：它们的数目曾经是很多很多，并且都属于一个从外国迁来的家族，整个森林就是由于它们和它们的家族而发展起来的。它们从来没有离开过这花园，不过却听说过这个世界上还有一所什么叫做“公馆”的东西，它们在那里被烹调着，直到变成黑色，最后被盛在一个银盘子里。不过接着会怎样，它们一点也不知道。此外，它们也很难想像，烹调完了以后盛在银盘子里，到底是一种什么感觉。那一定很美，特别美！它们请教过小金虫、癞蛤蟆和蚯蚓，可是一点道理也问不出来，因为它们谁也没有被烹调过或盛在银盘子里面过。世界上最有身份的人物要算那对古老的白蜗牛了。它们知道森林便是为了它们而存在的，公馆也是为了使它们能被烹调和放在银盘子里面而存在的。
They lived quite retired and very happily，and as they had no children of their own，they had adopted a little common snail，which they brought up as their own child.The little one would not grow，for he was only a common snail，but the old people，particularly the mothersnail，declared that she could easily see how he grew，and when the father said he could not perceiveperceive vt.察觉v.感知，感到，认识到it，she begged him to feel the little snails shell，and he did so，and found that the mother was right.
它们过着安静与幸福的生活。因为它们自己没有孩子，所以就收养了一个普通的小蜗牛。它们把它当作亲生孩子一样抚养。不过这小东西长不大，因为它不过是一个普通的蜗牛而已。可是这对老蜗牛——尤其是妈妈——宣称她能轻易地看出它在长大。假如爸爸看不出的话，她让他摸摸它的外壳。他每摸一下就发现妈妈说的话是对的。
One day it rained very fast.“Listen，what a drumming there is on the burdockleaves，turn，turn，turn，turn，turn，turn！”said the fathersnail.
有一天雨下得非常大。“请听牛蒡叶子上的响声——咚咚咚！咚咚咚！”蜗牛爸爸说道。
“There come the drops，”said the mother，“they are trickling down the stalks.We shall have it very wet here presently.I am very glad we have such good houses，and that the little one has one of his own.There has been really more done for us than for any other creature，it is quite plain that we are the most noble people in the world.We have houses from our birth，and the burdock forest has been planted for us.I should very much like to know how far it extends，and what lies beyond it.”
“这就是我所说的雨点，”蜗牛妈妈说，“它顺着梗子滴下来了！你可以看到，很快这儿就会变得很潮湿了！我非常高兴，有我们自己的房子，小家伙也有他自己的。我们的优点比任何别的生物都要多。一眼就能看出，我们是世界上最高贵的人！我们一出生就有房子住，而且这一堆牛蒡林全是为我们而种植的——我倒很想知道它到底有多大，在它的外面还有些什么别的东西！”