Wilbur next tried one of the lambs.
威尔伯接下来试试看问一只小羊羔。
"Will you please play with me?" he asked.
“你能跟我玩吗?”它问道。
"Certainly not," said the lamb.
“当然不能,”那小羊羔说,
"In the first place, I cannot get into your pen,
“第一,我没法到你的圈里去,
as I am not old enough to jump over the fence.
我还没大到能跳过围栏。
In the second place, I am not interested in pigs. Pigs mean less than nothing to me."
第二,我对猪没兴趣。对我来说,猪的价值比零还要少。”
"What do you mean, less than nothing?" replied Wilbur.
“比零还要少,你这话是什么意思?”威尔伯应道,
"I don't think there is any such thing as less than nothing.
“我不认为有什么东西会比零还要少。
Nothing is absolutely the limit of nothingness. It's the lowest you can go.
零就是零,什么也没有,这已经到了极限,
It's the end of the line. How can something be less than nothing?
少到了极限,怎么能有东西比零还要少呢?
If there were something that was less than nothing, then nothing would not be nothing, it would be something
如果有什么东西比零还要少,那么这零就不能是零,一定要有些东西
even though it's just a very little bit of something.
哪怕只是一丁点东西。
But if nothing is nothing, then nothing has nothing that is less than it is."
如果零就是零,那就没有什么东西比它还要少。”
"Oh, be quiet!" said the lamb. "Go play by yourself! I don't play with pigs."
“噢,别说了!”小羊羔说,“你自个儿去玩吧!反正我不跟猪玩。”