“我得承认，主要是因为这样好的交情我才在那儿住下来。他让我在他的手中，在他的臂上乱跑；让我钻进他的袖子里去，让我在他的胡子里爬；他还把我叫做他的亲爱的朋友。我忘记了我在这个广大世界里旅行的任务，我忘记了放在地板裂缝里的香肠栓——它还藏在那儿。我希望住下来，因为如果我离开了，这位可怜的犯人就没有什么朋友了——像这样活在世界上就太没有意义了！我待下来了，可是他却没有待下来。在最后的一次，他跟我说得很伤心，给了我比平时多一倍的面包和乳饼皮，用他的手对我飞吻。他离去了，再也没有回来。我不能更多地知道他的故事。
“The jailer took possession of me now.He said something about soup from a sausage skewer，but I could not trust him.He took me in his hand certainly，but it was to place me in a cage like a treadmill.Oh how dreadful it was！I had to run round and round without getting any farther in advance，and only to make everybody laugh.The jailers granddaughter was a charming little thing.She had curly(curly adj.卷曲的，卷毛的，弯曲的，(木材)有皱状纹理的)hair like the brightest gold，merry eyes，and such a smiling mouth.
“‘香肠栓熬的汤！’看守说——我现在到他那儿去了，但是我不能信任他。的确，他也把我放在他的手里，不过他却把我关进一个笼子里——一部踏车里去了。这真可怕！你在里面转来转去，一步也不能向前走，只是叫大家笑你！看守的孙女是一个可爱的小东西。她的卷发是那么金黄，她的眼睛是那么快乐，她的小嘴老是在笑。
“‘You poor little mouse，’said she，one day as she peeped into my cage，‘I will set you free.’She then drew forth the iron fastening，and I sprang out on the windowsill，and from thence to the roof.Free！Free！that was all I could think of；not of the object of my journey.
“‘你这个可怜的小耗子！’她说，同时偷偷地向我的这个笼子里看。她把那根铁插销抽掉了，于是我就跳到窗板上，然后从那儿再跳到屋顶上的水笕里去。自由了！自由了！我只能想这件事情，我旅行的目的现在顾不到了。
“It grew dark，and as night was coming on I found a lodging in an old tower，where dwelt a watchman and an owl.I had no confidence in either of them，least of all in the owl，which is like a cat，and has a great failing，for she eats mice.One may however be mistaken sometimes，and so was I，for this was a respectable and welleducated old owl，who knew more than the watchman，and even as much as I did myself.The young owls made a great fuss about everything，but the only rough words she would say to them were，‘You had better go and make some soup from sausage skewers.’She was very indulgentindulgent adj.纵容的and loving to her children.Her conduct gave me such confidence in her，that from the crack where I sat I called out‘squeak’.This confidence of mine pleased her so much that she assured me she would take me under her own protection，and that not a creature should do me harm.The fact was，she wickedly(wickedly adv.坏透地，不愉快地，顽皮地)meant to keep me in reserve for her own eating in winter，when food would be scarce.
“天很黑，夜到来了。我藏进一座古老的塔里面去。这儿住着一个守塔人和一只猫头鹰。这两位我谁也不能信任，特别是那只猫头鹰。这家伙很像猫子，有一个喜欢吃耗子的大缺点。不过人们很容易看不清真相，我就是这样。这家伙是一个非常有礼貌、非常有教养的老猫头鹰。她的知识跟我一样丰富，比那个守塔人还要丰富。一些年轻的猫头鹰对于什么事情都是大惊小怪；但她只是说：‘不要弄什么香肠栓熬汤吧！’她是那么疼爱她的家庭，她听说的最厉害的话也不过是如此。我从他的行为获得对他的信任，我从我躲藏的小洞里叫了一声：‘吱！’我对她的信任使她非常高兴。她答应保护我，不准任何生物伤害我。她要把我留下来，留待粮食不足的冬天给她自己受用。
“Yet she was a very clever ladyowl，she explained to me that the watchman could only hoot with the horn that hung loose at his side，and then she said he is so terribly proud of it，that he imagines himself an owl in the tower，wants to do great things，but only succeeds in small，all soup on a sausage skewer.Then I begged the owl to give me the recipe for this soup.‘Soup from a sausage skewer，’said she，‘is only a proverb amongst mankind，and may be understood in many ways.Each believes his own way the best，and after all，the proverb(proverb n.谚语)signifies nothing.’
“无论从哪方面讲，她都算是一个聪明人。她证明给我看，说守塔人只能‘吹几下’挂在他身边的那个号角，他为此就觉得了不起，以为他就是塔上的猫头鹰！他想要做大事情，但是他却是一个小人物——香肠栓熬的汤！我要求猫头鹰给我做这汤的食谱。于是她就解释给我听。‘香肠栓熬的汤，’她说，‘只不过是人间的一个成语罢了。每人对它有自己不同的体会：各人总以为自己的体会最恰当，不过事实上这整个的事儿没有丝毫意义！’
