haw was beginning to realize the difference between activity and productivity.

唧唧开始认识到行动和结果之间的区别。

"maybe," hem said, "we should just sit here and see what happens. sooner or later they have to put the cheese back."

"也许，"哼哼说："我们只需要坐在这里，看看到底发生什么事情。迟早他们会把奶酪再送回来的。"

haw wanted to believe that. so each day he went home to rest and returned reluctantly with hem to cheese station c. but cheese never reappeared.

唧唧希望他说的是真的。这样，他每天回家休息，然后勉强陪着哼哼去奶酪c站查看情况。但是，奶酪始终没有再出现。

by now the little people were growing weak from hunger and stress. haw was getting tired of just waiting for their situation to improve. he began to see that the longer they stayed in their cheeseless situation, the worse off they would be.

由于焦虑和饥饿，这两个小矮人已经变得有些虚弱。唧唧已经开始厌倦等待——完全被动地等着情况自己发生好转。他开始明白，他们在奶酪c站等待的时间越长，情况只会变得越糟糕。

haw knew they were losing their edge.

唧唧明白，他们正在失去自己的优势。

finally, one day haw began laughing at himself. "haw, haw, look at us. we keep doing the same things over and over again and wonder why things don't get better. if this wasn't so ridiculous, it would be even funnier."

终于，有一天，唧唧开始自己嘲笑起自己来了："唧唧呀唧唧，看看你自己吧！你居然等到每天重复同样的错误，还总是奇怪、怀疑为什么情况还没有得改善，还有什么比你这种做法更可笑呢？这如果不是荒谬，就是滑稽。"

haw did not like the idea of having to run through the maze again, because he knew he would get lost and have no idea where he would find any cheese. but he had to laugh at his folly when he saw what his fear was doing to him.

唧唧并不想再到迷宫中去奔波。他知道他可能会迷路，而且他也不知道究竟应该到哪儿去寻找新的奶酪。但当他明白正是他的恐惧感使他如此裹足不前、坐以待毙的时候，他嘲笑起自己的愚笨。

he asked hem, "where did we put our running shoes?" it took a long time to find them because they had put everything away when they found their cheese at cheese station c, thinking they wouldn't be needing them anymore.

他问哼哼："我们的运动衣和慢跑鞋放到哪能里去了？"他花了很长时间才翻出了那些动动装备。当初，他们在奶酪c站找到奶酪以后，就把鞋啊什么的都扔到一边去了，因为他们满以为再也不会需要这些玩意了。

as hem saw his friend getting into his running gear, he said, "you're not really going out into the maze again, are you? why don't you just wait here with me until they put the cheese back?"

当哼哼看到他的朋友穿上运动服时，他说："你不是真的要到迷宫中去吧？你为什么不留下来，和我一起在这里等，等着他们把奶酪送回来？"

"because, you just don't get it," haw said. "i didn't want to see it either, but now i realize they're never going to put yesterday's cheese back. it's time to find new cheese."

"因为如果这么做，我们将永远不会得到那些奶酪，"唧唧大声说："不会有人把奶酪送回来了，现在已经到了去寻找新奶酪的时候了，不要再想那些早已不存在的奶酪了！"

hem argued, "but what if there is no cheese out there? or even if there is, what if you don't find it?"

哼哼争辨说："但是如果外面也没有奶酪怎么办？或者，即使有奶酪，但你找不到，又怎么办？"

"i don't know," haw said. he had asked himself those same questions too many times and felt the fears again that kept him where he was.

"我不知道。"唧唧不耐烦地说。同样的问题，他已经问过自己多少遍了。

he asked himself, "where am i more likely to find cheese here or in the maze?"

他又感到那种使他停滞不前的恐惧感。但是马上，他又想到如果真的找到了新的奶酪呢？

he painted a picture in his mind. he saw himself venturing out into the maze with a smile on his face.

那种享受新的奶酪的喜悦再度鼓起了他的勇气。他最后问自己："你希望到哪里去找奶酪——这里还是迷宫中？"于是他的脑中出现了一幅图画，他看见自己面带微笑地在迷宫中探险。

while this picture surprised him, it made him feel good. he saw himself getting lost now and then in the maze, but felt confident he would eventually find new cheese out there and all the good things that came with it. he gathered his courage.

这样的景象让他有些惊异，他发现自己终于克服了再次进入迷宫的恐惧。他看见自己在迷宫迷了路，便仍然满怀信心地在那里寻找新奶酪，一切美好的事物都随之而来。他又重新找回了自己的勇气。

then he used his imagination to paint the most believable picture he could -- with the most realistic details -- of him finding and enjoying the taste of new cheese.

于是他尽量发挥自己的想像力，在脑海中为自己描绘了一幅他最信赖的、最具有现实感的图画——他在寻找和品尝新的奶酪。

he saw himself eating swiss cheese with holes in it, bright orange cheddar and american cheeses, italian mozzarella and wonderfully soft french camembert cheese, and…

他仿佛看见自己坐在一大堆奶酪中央，正在尽情品尝各种奶酪，像蜂窝状的瑞士奶酪、鲜黄的英国切达干酪、美国奶酪和意大利干酪，还有美国又柔软的法国卡米伯特奶酪，等等。

then he heard hem say something and realized they were still at cheese station c.

唧唧简直想入了神，直到他听到哼哼在一边嘟嚷着什么，他才意识到自己仍然还站在奶酪c站。

haw said, "sometimes, hem, things change and they are never the same again. this looks like one of those times. that's life! life moves on. and so should we."

于是唧唧转过身来对哼哼说："哼哼，有时候，事情发生了改变，就再也变不回原来的样子了。我们现在遇到的情况就是这样。这就是生活！生活在变化，日了在往前走，我们也应随之改变，而不是在原地踟蹰不前。"

haw looked at his emaciated companion and tried to talk sense to him, but hem's fear had turned into anger and he wouldn't listen.

唧唧看着他那因饥饿和沮丧而显得有些憔悴的朋友，试图给他分析一些道理。

haw didn't mean to be rude to his friend, but he had to laugh at how silly they both looked.

但是。哼哼的畏惧早已变成了气恼，他什么也听不进去。唧唧并不想冒犯他的朋友，但是，他还是忍不住要嘲笑他们自己，因为现在看起来他们真的是又狼狈又愚蠢。

as haw prepared to leave, he started to feel more alive, knowing that he was finally able to laugh at himself, let go and move on.

当唧唧准备要出发的时候，他觉得自己整个人都变得充满了活力，他挺起了胸膛，他的精神开始振作起来："让我们出发吧。"

haw laughed and announced, "it's maze time!"

唧唧大笑着宣称："这是一个迷宫的时代！"

hem didn't laugh and he didn't respond. haw picked up a small, sharp rock and wrote a serious thought on the wall for hem to think about. as was his custom, haw even drew a picture of cheese around it, hoping it would help hem to smile, lighten up, and go after the new cheese. but hem didn't want to see it.

哼哼笑不起来，他几乎没有任何反应。

唧唧拾起一块尖硬的小石头，在墙上写下一句恳切的话，留给哼哼去思考。他没有忘记自己的习惯，在这句话的周围画上奶酪的图案。唧唧希望这幅画能给哼哼带来一丝希望，会对哼哼有所启发，并促使哼哼起身去追寻新的奶酪。但是哼哼根本不想朝墙上看一眼。