she says they weren't apples, but instead that they were chestnuts

她说它们不是苹果，而是栗子。

I said I was innocent since I had not eaten any chestnuts

我说我是无辜的，因为我没有吃过任何栗子

but the Serpent informed her that "chestnut" could also have a figurative meaning

但蛇告诉她，"栗子"也可以有比喻的意思

she says a chestnut can be an aged and mouldy joke

她说栗子可能是一个陈年和发霉的笑话

I turned pale at this definition

我对这个定义变得苍白

because I have made many jokes to pass the weary time

因为我开了很多玩笑来打发疲惫的时间

and some of them my jokes could have been of the chestnut variety

其中一些我的笑话可能是栗子品种

but I had honestly supposed that they were new jokes when I made them

但老实说，当我制作它们时，我以为它们是新笑话

She asked me if I had made any jokes just at the time of the catastrophe

她问我是否在灾难发生时开过什么玩笑。

I was obliged to admit that I had made a joke to myself

我不得不承认我自嘲地开了个玩笑。

although I did not make the joke aloud

虽然我没有大声开玩笑

this was the joke I was thinking to myself:

这是我对自己开的玩笑：

I was thinking about the waterfalls

我在想瀑布

"How wonderful it is to see that vast body of water tumble down there!"

"看到那片浩瀚的海水滚落在那里，真是太好了！"

Then in an instant a bright thought flashed into my head

然后一瞬间，一个明亮的念头闪过我的脑海。

"It would be a great deal more wonderful to see the water tumble up the waterfall!"

"如果能看到瀑布上的水翻滚，那就太好了！"

I was just about to die from laughing when all nature broke loose

我正要笑死时，所有的大自然都崩溃了。