童声英文版15 The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher

15 The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher
      渔夫杰里米先生的故事

Once upon a time there was a frog called Mr. Jeremy Fisher; he lived in a little damp house amongst the buttercups at the edge of a pond.

从前，有一只青蛙，叫渔夫杰里米先生。他住在一个潮湿的小房子里，房子就坐落在池塘边的金凤花丛中。

The water was all slippy-sloppy in the larder and in the back passage.
But Mr. Jeremy liked getting his feet wet;nobody ever scolded him, and he never caught a cold!
储藏室和通往房子后面的过道里到处是水，又湿又滑。
但杰里米先生喜欢把自己的脚弄湿。没有人责骂过他，他也从不感冒！

He was quite pleased when he looked out and saw large drops of rain, splashing in the pond—
看着窗外大大的雨点噼里啪啦地落在池塘里，他非常高兴。

“I will get some worms and go fishing and catch a dish of minnows for my dinner,” said Mr. Jeremy Fisher. “If I catch more than five fish, I will invite my friends Mr. Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise and Sir Isaac Newton. The Alderman, however, eats salad.”
“我要去弄些蚯蚓，钓一盘米诺鱼作为晚餐。”渔夫杰里米先生说道，“要是钓上来的鱼超过五条的话，我就请我的朋友乌龟托勒密议员先生和艾萨克·牛顿爵士来做客。不过，议员先生喜欢吃沙拉。”

Mr. Jeremy put on a macintosh, and a pair of shiny goloshes; he took his rod and basket, and set off with enormous hops to the place where he kept his boat.

杰里米先生穿上胶布雨衣和一双锃亮的雨鞋，拿上渔竿和渔篓，蹦蹦跳跳、大步流星地来到他的小船边。

The boat was round and green, and very like the other lily-leaves. It was tied to a water-plant in the middle of the pond.
小船圆圆的，绿绿的，和周围睡莲的叶子几乎一模一样。船就系在池塘中央的一株水生植物上。

Mr. Jeremy took a reed pole, and pushed the boat out into open water. “I know a good place for minnows,” said Mr. Jeremy Fisher.
Mr. Jeremy stuck his pole into the mud and fastened the boat to it.
杰里米先生拿起芦苇做的篙，把小船撑向开阔的水面。“我知道一个钓米诺鱼的好地方。”杰里米先生说道。
杰里米先生把他的篙插入泥中，把小船系在上面。

Then he settled himself cross-legged and arranged his fishing tackle. He had the dearest little red float. His rod was a tough stalk of grass, his line was a fine long white horse-hair, and he tied a little wriggling worm at the end.
接着，他盘腿坐下，整理渔具。他有一个红色的小鱼漂，非常可爱。他的渔竿是一根坚硬的草秆；渔线是一根又细又长的白色马鬃，渔线的末端绑着一只小蚯蚓，不停地蠕动着。

The rain trickled down his back, and for nearly an hour he stared at the float.
“This is getting tiresome, I think I should like some lunch,” said Mr. Jeremy Fisher.
雨点顺着他的背一滴一滴往下流。将近一个小时过去了，他一动不动地盯着鱼漂。
“这样下去，会越来越无聊。也许我该吃点午饭了。”杰里米先生说道。

He punted back again amongst the waterplants,and took some lunch out of his basket.
“I will eat a butterfly sandwich, and wait till the shower is over,” said Mr. Jeremy Fisher.
于是，他将小船撑回水生植物丛中，从篮子里拿出了一些午餐。
“我先吃一个蝴蝶三明治，等雨停了再说。”杰里米先生说道。

A great big water-beetle came up underneath the lily leaf and tweakedthe toe of one of his goloshes.
Mr. Jeremy crossed his legs up shorter, out of reach, and went on eating his sandwich.
一只巨大的水甲虫从睡莲叶子下面钻出来，夹住他一只鞋的鞋头。
杰里米先生把腿盘得更紧了，让水甲虫够不着，然后接着吃他的三明治去了。

Once or twice something moved about with a rustle and a splash amongst the rushes at the side of the pond.
“I trust that is not a rat,” said Mr. Jeremy Fisher; “Ithink I had better get away from here.”
池塘边的灯芯草里，有什么东西在游动，时不时地发出沙沙、哗哗的响声。
“我敢肯定，那不是老鼠。”杰里米先生说道，“我看，最好还是离开这个地方。”

Mr. Jeremy shoved the boat out again a little way, and dropped in the bait. There was a bite almost directly; the float gave a tremendous bobbit!
“A minnow! a minnow! I have him by the nose!” cried Mr. Jeremy Fisher, jerking up his rod.
杰里米先生再次把小船推向水面，把鱼饵放进水里。
鱼饵刚一进水，就有东西咬钩了，鱼漂猛地抖了一下。
“米诺鱼！米诺鱼！我钩住他的鼻子了！”杰里米先生高声叫着，连忙往上拉渔竿。

But what a horrible surprise! Instead of a smooth fat minnow, Mr. Jeremy landed little Jack Sharp the stickleback, covered with spines!
可是，令他大吃一惊的是，杰里米先生钓上来的并不是一条滑溜肥美的米诺鱼，而是浑身长满硬刺的小棘鱼，名叫杰克·夏普！

The stickleback floundered about the boat, pricking and snapping until he was quite out of breath. Then he jumped back into the water.
小棘鱼在船上使劲地挣扎着，又刺又咬，直到上气不接下气。然后，他又跳回了水里。

And a shoal of other little fishes put their heads out, and laughed at Mr. Jeremy Fisher.
这时，一大群别的小鱼纷纷从水里探出头来，嘲笑杰里米先生。

And while Mr. Jeremy sat disconsolately on the edge of his boat—sucking his sore fingers and peering down into the water—a much worse thing happened; a really frightful thing it would have been, if Mr. Jeremy had not been wearing a macintosh!
杰里米先生闷闷不乐地坐在船边，一边吸吮着酸疼的手指，一边紧盯着水下的动静。突然，一件更可怕的事情发生了。要是杰里米先生没有穿雨衣的话，后果简直不堪设想！

A great big enormous trout came up—kerpflop-p-p-p! with a splash—and it seized Mr. Jeremy with a snap, “Ow! Ow! Ow!”—and then it turned and dived down to the bottom of the pond!

一条巨大的鳟鱼一下跳出水面。伴随着哗啦啦的响声，水花四溅。它一口咬住了杰里米先生。在杰里米先生“哎哟！哎哟！哎哟！”的叫喊声中，鳟鱼猛一转身，潜入了池塘底部！
But the trout was so displeased with the taste of the macintosh, that in less than half a minute it spat him out again; and the only thing it swallowed was Mr. Jeremy's goloshes.

谁知道，鳟鱼根本不喜欢雨衣的味道。不一会儿就把杰里米先生吐了出来，只把他的雨鞋吞了下去。

Mr. Jeremy bounced up to the surface of the water, like a cork and the bubbles out of a soda water bottle; and he swam with all his might to the edge of the pond.
杰里米先生蹭地一下蹿出水面，就像从汽水瓶中喷出来的软木塞和气泡一样。他使出浑身力气，游到了池塘边上。

He scrambled out on the first bank he came to,and he hopped home across the meadow with his macintosh all in tatters.
他慌不择路地爬上岸来，穿过草地，一路跳着回了家。此时，他的雨衣已经破烂不堪了。

“What a mercy that was not a pike!” said Mr. Jeremy Fisher. “I have lost my rod and basket; but it does not much matter, for I am sure I should never have dared to go fishing again!”
“谢天谢地，那不是一条梭鱼！”渔夫杰里米先生说道，“我把渔竿和渔篓都弄丢了。不过没关系，反正我这辈子再也不敢去钓鱼了！”

He put some sticking plaster on his fingers, and his friends both came to dinner. He could not offer them fish, but he had something else in his larder.
杰里米先生在手指上贴好胶布，这时，他的两个朋友都过来吃饭了。他没法用鱼招待客人。不过，储藏室里毕竟还有别的东西嘛。
 

Sir Isaac Newton wore his black and gold waistcoat.
艾萨克·牛顿爵士穿了一件黑黄相间的马甲。

And Mr. Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise brought a salad with him in a string bag.

乌龟托勒密议员先生带来了一个网兜，里面装着沙拉。

And instead of a nice dish of minnows—they had a roasted grasshopper with ladybird sauce;which frogs consider a beautiful treat; but I think it must have been nasty!
虽然吃的不是美味的米诺鱼，但是他们却吃到了烤蚱蜢，还可以蘸着瓢虫酱吃。对青蛙来说，这已经是再好不过的美食了。只是，在我看来，这些东西的确有点难以下咽啊！