茵梦湖中英文版 Immensee:四The Children1

The Children
转眼间向他跑过来一个模样儿可爱的小姑娘。她叫伊莉莎白，看上去五岁光景；他自己年龄则比她大一倍。小姑娘脖子上围着条红绸巾，把她那双褐色的眼睛衬托得更加好看。
“莱因哈德，”她嚷着，“咱们放假啦！放假啦！今天一整天不上学，明天也不上学。”
Before very long the dainty form of a little maiden advanced toward him. Her name was Elisabeth, and she might have been five years old. He himself was twice that age. Round her neck she wore a red silk kerchief which was very becoming to her brown eyes.
"Reinhard!" she cried, "we have a holiday, a holiday! No school the whole day and none to-morrow either!"
莱因哈德把已经夹在胳膊底下的石板飞快往门后一搁，两个孩子随即冲进房前的花园，穿过园门，奔到野外的草地上去了。
这突如其来的假日真令他俩喜出望外。莱因哈德在伊莉莎白的帮助下，已用草皮在这里搭起一间小屋子，他俩打算在里边度过夏天的黄昏；不过目前还缺少坐的板凳。莱因哈德马上动手干起来；钉子、锒头和必需的木板反正是准备好了的。Reinhard was carrying his slate under his arm, but he flung it behind the front door, and then both the children ran through the house into the garden and through the garden gate out into the meadow. The unexpected holiday came to them at a most happily opportune moment.

It was in the meadow that Reinhard, with Elisabeth\'s help, had built a house out of sods of grass. They meant to live in it during the summer evenings; but it still wanted a bench. He set to work at once; nails, hammer, and the necessary boards were already to hand.
这其间，伊莉莎白却顺着土堤走去，一边走一边捡野锦葵环形的种子，把它们兜在自己的围裙中，以备将来串项链什么的。莱因哈德尽管敲弯了不少钉子，到底还是把板凳做出来了；当他大功告成后跑到外边阳光灿烂的草地上时，小姑娘已经走在离他远远的草地的另一端。
While he was thus engaged, Elisabeth went along the dyke, gathering the ring-shaped seeds of the wild mallow in her apron, with the object of making herself chains and necklaces out of them; so that when Reinhard had at last finished his bench in spite of many a crookedly hammered nail, and came out into the sunlight again, she was already wandering far away at the other end of the meadow.