牛津书虫系列《牙齿和爪子》Chapter2 附中英双语文本

'Were there any sheep in the palace gardens？' asked Cyril．
“皇宫的花园里有羊吗？”西里尔问。
'No，' said the bachelor，'there were no sheep．'
“没有，”单身男人说，“没有羊。”
'Why weren't there any sheep？'asked Cyril at once．
“为什么没羊呢？”西里尔马上问。
The aunt gave a little smile， and waited with interest for the bachelor's answer．
姑妈轻轻一笑，满有兴趣地等着单身男人的回答。
'There were no sheep in the king's gardens，' explained the bachelor， 'because the king's mother had once had a dream． In her dream a voice said to her，“Your son will be killed by a sheep，or by a clock falling on him．” Thst is why the king never kept a sheep in his gardens or a clock in his palace．'
单身男人解释说，“国王的花园里没有羊是因为国王的母亲曾经做过一个梦。在梦里一个声音对她说，'你的儿子会被羊杀死，或者被掉下的钟砸死。'所以国王从不在花园里养羊，从不在皇宫里放钟。”
The aunt thought secretly that this was a very clever answer， but she stayed silent．
姑妈暗自想这是个很聪明的回答，但她没说话。
'Was the king killed by a sheep， or by a clock？ asked the bigger girl．
“国王是被羊杀死的还是被钟砸死的？”大女孩问。
'He is still alive，' said the bachelor calmly，'so we don't know if the dream was true or not． But， although there were no sheep， there were lots of little pigs running around everywhere．'
“他还活着，”单身男人平静地说。“因此我们不知道梦是真的还是假的。但是，虽然没有羊，有很多小猪在里面四处跑。”
'What colour were the pigs？ asked the smaller glrl．
“猪是什么颜色？”小女孩问。
'Black with white faces， white with black faces， all balck， grey and white， and some were all white．'
“黑猪长着白脸，白猪长着黑脸，都是黑色、灰色和白色相间的，有一些是纯白色的猪。”
The bachelor stopped for a moment， while the children's imaginations took in these wonderful pictures． Then he went on again．
孩子们正想像着这些奇妙的图画时，单身男人停顿了片刻，然后他又继续讲；
'Bertha was sorry that there were no flowers in the palace gardens． She had promised her aunts that she would not pick any of the kind king's flowers． She wanted very much to be good and to keep her promise． So she was very cross when she found that there were no flowers to pick．'
“皇宫花园里没有花，伯莎觉得很不高兴。她向姑妈保证过她不会摘善良的国王的花。她很想表现好，信守诺言，因此当发现无花可摘时她很生气。”
'Why weren't there any flowers？'
“为什么没花？”
'Because the pigs had eaten them all，' said the bachelor immediately．' The gardeners had told the king that he couldn't have pigs and flowers， because pigs eat flowers． So the king decided to have pigs，and no flowers．'
“因为猪把花都吃了，”单身男人立刻说。“园丁告诉过国王他不能既有猪又有花，因为猪吃花。于是国王决定养猪，不种花。”
The children thought that this was an excellent idea．
孩子们想这是个好主意。
'Most people choose flowers，' said Cyril． He looked very pleased．'But of course， pigs are much better than flowers．'
“大多数人选择花，”西里尔说。他很高兴。“可是猪当然比花好得多。”
'There were lots of other wonderful things in the palace gardens，'the bachelor continued． 'There were lakes with gold and blue and green fish in them． There were trees with beautiful birds that could talk and say clever things．There were also birds that could sing popular songs．
“皇宫的花园里还有很多其它好东西，”单身男人继续讲。“湖里有金色、蓝色和绿色的鱼。树上有会说话、会讲聪明事情的鸟。还有会唱流行歌曲的鸟。
'Well， on the first Friday afternoon in May， Bertha came to the king's gardens， the king's soldiers saw her beautiful white dress and her three medals for goodness， and they opened the doors to the gardens at once．
“好啦，5月第一个星期五的下午，伯莎来到国王的花园。国王的士兵看见了她漂亮的白裙和她的三枚好品行奖章，于是他们马上打开了通往花园的门。
'Bertha walked up and down and enjoyed herself very much． As she walked along， the three medals on her beautiful white dress clinked against each other． She heard them clinking， and she thought：“I'm here in these lovely gardens because I am the Best Child in the World．”She felt pleased and happy and very， very good．