童声英文版05 The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck

05 The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck
     水坑鸭杰迈玛的故事

What a funny sight it is to see a brood of ducklings with a hen!—Listen to the story of Jemima Puddle-duck, who was annoyed because the farmer’s wife would not let her hatch her own eggs.一只母鸡领着一群小鸭子，这是多么滑稽的一幕啊！让我们听听水坑鸭杰迈玛的故事吧。水坑鸭杰迈玛很生气，因为农夫的妻子不让她自己孵蛋。

Her sister-in-law, Mrs. Rebeccah Puddle-duck, was perfectly willing to leave the hatching to some one else—"I have not the patience to sit on a nest for twenty-eight days; and no more have you, Jemima. You would let them go cold; you know you would!"

"I wish to hatch my own eggs; I will hatch them all by myself," quacked Jemima Puddle-duck.
杰迈玛的嫂子水坑鸭丽贝卡夫人很想找人替她孵蛋。
“在窝里一坐就是28 天，我可没有那个耐心。杰迈玛，你也没有。你会让蛋冷掉的。你知道，你会那样的！”
“我希望孵自己的蛋，我要靠自己孵。”水坑鸭杰迈玛说道。

She tried to hide her eggs; but they were always found and carried off.
Jemima Puddle-duck became quite desperate. She determined to make a nest right away from the farm.
她想了各种办法把她的蛋藏起来；可是，蛋每次都被人发现，并且给拿走了。
水坑鸭杰迈玛很绝望。她决定在别的地方搭个窝，远离农场。

She set off on a fine spring afternoon along the cart-road that leads over the hill.
She was wearing a shawl and a poke bonnet.
一个春天的下午，天气很好。她沿着一条通往山上的乡间车道，出发了。
她身上披着一条披肩，头上戴着一顶阔边女帽。

When she reached the top of the hill, she saw a wood in the distance.
She thought that it looked a safe quiet spot.
来到山顶，她看到远处有一片小树林。
她觉得，这个地方看起来既安静，又安全。

Jemima Puddle-duck was not much in the habit of flying. She ran downhill a few yards flapping her shawl, and then she jumped off into the air.
水坑鸭杰迈玛平时不怎么飞。她先是扇动着披肩，沿山坡往下跑了几码远，然后，才跳向空中。

She flew beautifully when she had got a good start.
She skimmed along over the tree-tops until she saw an open place in the middle of the wood,where the trees and brushwood had been cleared.
一旦飞了起来，她便越飞越好。
她掠过树梢，看到树林中间有一块空地。那里的树木和灌木都被清理得干干净净。

Jemima alighted rather heavily, and began to waddle about in search of a convenient dry nesting-place. She rather fancied a tree-stump amongst some tall fox-gloves.
But—seated upon the stump, she was startled to find an elegantly dressed gentleman reading a newspaper.
杰迈玛重重地落了下来，摇摇晃晃地四处走着，希望找到一个既方便又干燥的地方搭个窝。她看上了一个树墩，那树墩就藏在高高的指项花中。
可是，她却惊讶地发现，有一位衣冠楚楚的绅士正坐在树墩上看报呢。

He had black prick ears and sandy coloured whiskers.
"Quack?" said Jemima Puddle-duck, with her head and her bonnet on one side—"Quack?"
那位绅士长着黑色的尖耳朵和浅棕色的胡子。
“嘎嘎？”水坑鸭杰迈玛叫着，头和帽子歪向一边，“嘎嘎？”

The gentleman raised his eyes above his newspaper and looked curiously at Jemima—"Madam, have you lost your way?" said he. He had a long bushy tail which he was sitting upon, as the stump was somewhat damp.
Jemima thought him mighty civil  and handsome. She explained that she had not lost her way, but that she was trying to find a convenient dry nesting-place.
绅士从报纸上方抬起眼睛，好奇地看着杰迈玛。
“夫人，您是迷路了吗？”他问道。他正坐在自己那毛茸茸的长尾巴上，因为树墩上面有点潮湿。
杰迈玛觉得眼前的他既彬彬有礼又仪表堂堂。她解释说，自己没有迷路，只是想找个方便又干燥的地方搭个窝。

“Ah! is that so? Indeed!” said the gentleman with sandy whiskers, looking curiously at Jemima. He folded up the newspaper, and put it in his coat-tail pocket.
Jemima complained of the superfluous hen.
“Indeed! how interesting! I wish I could meet with that fowl. I would teach it to mind its own business!”
“哦，是这样吗？真的啊！”蓄着浅棕色胡子的绅士一边说着，一边好奇地打量着杰迈玛。他把报纸叠好，放进燕尾服后摆的口袋里。
杰迈玛抱怨起了那只多余的母鸡。
“真的吗？有意思！我倒想见识一下那只母鸡。我会教训教训她，让她少管闲事！”

“But as to a nest—there is no difficulty: I have a sackful of feathers in my wood-shed. No, my dear madam, you will be in nobody’s way. You may sit
there as long as you like,” said the bushy long-tailed gentleman.
He led the way to a very retired, dismal-looking house amongst the fox-gloves.
It was built of faggots and turf, and there were two broken pails, one on top of another, by way of a chimney.
“至于搭个窝嘛，那倒不难。我有一袋羽毛，就在木棚里。没事，亲爱的夫人，您不会妨碍任何人。只要您喜欢，您爱孵多久，就孵多久。”这位长着毛茸茸的长尾巴的绅士说道。
说着，他在前面带路，来到一处十分僻静、又有点阴暗的房子。那房子就掩映在指项花中。
房子是用枝条和草皮建造的。两只破水桶叠放在一起，当作烟囱用。

"This is my summer residence; you would not find my earth—my winter house—so convenient,"said the hospitable gentleman.
There was a tumble-down shed at the back of the house, made of old soap-boxes. The gentleman opened the door, and showed Jemima in.
“这是我夏天的住处。不过，我的地穴——我是说，我冬天的住处——可没这么方便。”热情好客的绅士说道。
屋子后面有一间摇摇欲坠的木棚，是用旧肥皂箱建成的。绅士打开门，请杰迈玛进去。

The shed was almost quite full of feathers—it was almost suffocating; but it was comfortable and very soft.
Jemima Puddle-duck was rather surprised to find such a vast quantity of feathers. But it was very comfortable; and she made a nest without any
trouble at all.
木棚里几乎到处都是羽毛，多得让人快喘不过气来。但这的确是既舒适又柔软。
水坑鸭杰迈玛看到这么多羽毛，大吃一惊。可是，这里实在太舒服了。她轻轻松松地便在里面搭了个窝。

When she came out, the sandy whiskered gentleman was sitting on a log reading the newspaper—at least he had it spread out, but he was looking over the top of it.
杰迈玛出来时，蓄着浅棕色胡子的绅士正坐在一根原木上看报纸——至少，他是把报纸打开了，可他却正从报纸的上面往外看呢。

He was so polite, that he seemed almost sorry to let Jemima go home for the night. He promised to take great care of her nest until she came back
again next day.
He said he loved eggs and ducklings; he should be proud to see a fine nestfulin his wood-shed.
他待人太有礼貌了，让杰迈玛回家过夜似乎都让他感到过意不去。他答应，在她第二天回来之前，会替她好好照看她的窝。
他说，他很喜欢鸭蛋，也很喜欢小鸭子。他说，要是自己的木棚里能有满满一窝蛋，他会感到十分自豪。

Jemima Puddle-duck came every afternoon;she laid nine eggs in the nest. They were greeny white and very large.
水坑鸭杰迈玛每天下午都会来这里。她一共生了九个蛋，个个都是浅绿色的，而且个头很大。

The foxy gentleman admired them immensely.He used to turn them over and count them when Jemima was not there.
At last Jemima told him that she intended to begin to sit next day—“and I will bring a bag of corn with me, so that I need never leave my nest until the eggs are hatched. They might catch cold,” said the conscientious Jemima.
狐狸模样的绅士非常喜欢这些蛋。杰迈玛不在的时候，他常常把鸭蛋翻过来覆过去，数了又数。
终于有一天，杰迈玛告诉他说，她打算从第二天开始孵蛋了。“我会带上一袋子玉米。这样，在小鸭子孵出来之前，就不用挪窝了，因为鸭蛋会着凉的。”尽职尽责的杰迈玛说道。

“Madam, I beg you not to trouble yourself with a bag; I will provide oats. But before you commence your tedious sitting, I intend to give you a treat. Let us have a dinner-party all to ourselves!”
“夫人，我恳请您不要费心带玉米了，我会为您提供燕麦的。在您开始漫长乏味的孵蛋生活之前，我想好好款待您一下。今晚，我们举办一场宴会吧，就我们俩！”

"May I ask you to bring up some herbs from the farm-garden to make a savoury omelette? Sage and thyme, and mint and two onions, and some
parsley. I will provide lard for the stuff—lard for the omelette," said the hospitable gentleman with sandy whiskers.
“可否请您从农场的菜园里带一些香草，用来做美味的煎蛋卷？如鼠尾草、百里香、薄荷、两个洋葱和香芹。我这里有猪油，做填料时——我的意思是——做蛋卷时可以用。”蓄着浅棕色胡子、热情好客的绅士说道。

Jemima Puddle-duck was a simpleton: not even the mention of sage and onions made her suspicious.
She went round the farm-garden, nibbling off snippets of all the different sorts of herbs that are used for stuffing roast duck.
水坑鸭杰迈玛确实有点傻，就连人家让她带鼠尾草 和洋葱过来，也丝毫没有引起她的怀疑。
她在农场菜园里转来转去，轻轻咬下了烤鸭所需的各种各样的香草填料。

And she waddled into the kitchen, and got two onions out of a basket.
The collie-dogKep met her coming out, “What are you doing with those onions? Where do you go every afternoon by yourself, Jemima Puddle-duck?”
Jemima was rather in awe of the collie; she told him the whole story.
之后，她一摇一摆地来到厨房，从篮子里拿出了两个洋葱。
牧羊犬凯普见她出来，问道：“你拿那些洋葱干什么？你每天下午一个人都去哪儿了，杰迈玛？”
杰迈玛对牧羊犬一向充满敬畏之情，便把事情的来龙去脉告诉了他。

The collie listened, with his wise head on one side; he grinned when she described the polite gentleman with sandy whiskers.
牧羊犬静静地听着，聪明的脑袋歪向一边。当杰迈玛说到那位蓄着浅棕色胡子、彬彬有礼的绅士时，他咧开嘴笑了。

He asked several questions about the wood, and about the exact position of the house and shed.
Then he went out, and trotted down the village. He went to look for two fox-hound puppies who were out at walk with the butcher.
他问了些与那片小树林有关的问题，又问了房子和木棚的具体位置。
接着，牧羊犬出去了，沿着村庄一路小跑。他去找那两只猎狐犬了，他们那时正和屠夫一起散步呢。

Jemima Puddle-duck went up the cart-road for the last time, on a sunny afternoon. She was rather burdened with bunches of herbs and two onions in a bag.
She flew over the wood, and alighted opposite the house of the bushy long-tailed gentleman.
那是一个晴朗的下午，水坑鸭杰迈玛最后一次走在乡间车道上。袋子里的几捆香草和两个洋葱让她步履沉重。
她飞过小树林，在那长着粗长尾巴的绅士的房子对面落了下来。

He was sitting on a log; he sniffed the air, and kept glancing uneasily round the wood. When Jemima alighted he quite jumped.
他正坐在原木上，嗅着空气，眼睛一直在小树林周围紧张地打转。杰迈玛刚一落地，他就嗖地一下跳了起来。

“Come into the house as soon as you have looked at your eggs. Give me the herbs for the omelette. Be sharp!”
He was rather abrupt. Jemima Puddle-duck had never heard him speak like that.
She felt surprised, and uncomfortable.
“看一眼你的蛋，然后马上到我屋里来。把做煎蛋卷用的香草给我。麻利点！”
他的语气很生硬。水坑鸭杰迈玛可从来没听过他用那种口气说话。
她很吃惊，也很不自在。

While she was inside she heard pattering feet round the back of the shed. Some one with a black nose sniffed at the bottom of the door, and then
locked it.
Jemima became much alarmed.
进了木棚以后，杰迈玛听到棚子后面有啪哒啪哒急促的脚步声。一个长着黑鼻子的家伙在门下面嗅来嗅去，随后就把门锁上了。

杰迈玛顿时惊恐万分。

A moment afterwards there were most awful noises—barking, baying1, growls and howls, squealing and groans.
And nothing more was ever seen of that foxywhiskered gentleman.
不一会儿，传来了非常可怕的声音 —— 吠叫声、咆哮声、吼叫声、哀号声、尖叫声，还有呻吟声。
那位蓄着狐狸胡须一样的绅士再也没有出现过。

Presently Kep opened the door of the shed, and let out Jemima Puddle-duck.
Unfortunately the puppies rushed in and gobbled up all the eggs before he could stopthem.
这时，凯普打开木棚的门，把水坑鸭杰迈玛放了出来。不幸的是，另外两只猎狐犬冲了进来。凯普还没来得及阻拦，他们就三下五除二，把鸭蛋吃了个精光。

He had a bite on his ear and both the puppies were limping.
Jemima Puddle-duck was escorted home in tears on account of those eggs.
牧羊犬的一只耳朵被咬了一口，两只猎狐犬也都一瘸一拐的。
水坑鸭杰迈玛在大家的护送下回家了。她想到蛋都没了，泪水洒了一路。

She laid some more in June, and she was permitted to keep them herself: but only four of them hatched.
Jemima Puddle-duck said that it was because of her nerves; but she had always been a bad sitter.
六月份，她又下了一些蛋。这次，所有的蛋都让她自己孵。可是，只有四只鸭蛋孵出了小鸭子。
水坑鸭杰迈玛说，这都是因为她太紧张的缘故；可话又说回来，说到孵小鸭，她可从来就不是一个称职的妈妈。