《不要嘲笑长颈鹿》

No one would argue that Giraffe andBird are an odd pair. Spat, scrap, and squabble—— they almost always get on each othersnerves.

大家都说小鸟和长须鹿是一对奇怪的组合。吵吵嚷嚷，打打闹闹——他们好像总喜欢惹对方生气。

The funny thing is, you rarely seethem apart.

有趣的是，他们却很少分开。

Take this morning, for example

就说今天早晨吧。

The bird wakes up extra early andperforms his chirpiest song.

小鸟起了个大早，大声唱起了欢快的歌。

The sound of the bird chirpinginspires the giraffe to clear his long phlegmy throat.

被吵醒的长颈鹿很不高兴，开始使劲儿清嗓子。

The sound of the giraffe clearinghis throat sparks the bird to flutter around the giraffe's sensitive neck.

这声音太“悦耳”了，小鸟忍不住绕着长颈鹿敏感的脖子“ 翩翩起舞”。

To escape the flurry of flutteringthe ticklish giraffe breaks into a trot.

怕痒的长颈鹿只得小跑着逃走。

When the bird sees the giraffe trot,he can't help but race after him.

小鸟见状，顺势和长颈鹿开始了赛跑。

When the giraffe senses the birdswoop after him, he scrambles to go faster than his legs will allow.

发现小乌紧追不舍，长颈鹿铆足了力气越跑越快，脚步却开始踉跄。

It doesn't take long before...

结果没跑几步就.....

…all that hurrying leaves them bothvery thirsty.

刚才的一番打闹让两个小家伙口干舌燥。

At the pond the water is much lowerthan usual.

池塘里的水位比平时要低得多。

The bird doesn't notice.

小鸟没有注意到。

He tosses the water in the air andenjoys a refreshing drink.

他开心地用翅膀拍起水花，美美地喝了一顿。

The giraffe does notice.

长劲鹿注意到了。

He stands at the water's edge andties to figure out a way to quench his thirst without getting his hooves wet.

他不知所措地站在水边， 既想喝水，又怕把蹄子弄湿。

First, the giraffe reaches down andstretches out his flexible tongue as far as he can.

首先，长颈鹿伸下身，尽可能地伸出灵活的舌头。

This gets him a cackle from theflamingo, but no water.

可是他不仅没喝到水，还引来了火烈鸟的一阵嘲笑。

Next, he extends his neck, stretchesout his tongue，and squats down as low as he can.

接着，长颈鹿继续伸长脖子和舌头，尽可能地往下蹲，可还是一滴水都没喝到。

This gathers a howl from the hippo,some cheeps from the bird, but still no water.

长颈鹿滑稽的姿势让河马和小鸟也跟着笑了起来。

Last, he sticks out his tail torbalance, extends his neck, and does the splits. Finally he can feel water on the tip of his tongue!

为了保持平衡，长颈鹿翘起尾巴，使劲儿抻着脖子，努力把腿分得更开。他感觉自己马上就能喝到水了!

That's when the zebra joins in…

可是斑马偏偏在这时过来捣乱....

He guffaws, the flamingo cackles,the hippo howls, and the bird cheeps!

他“嘿嘿嘿”地笑了起来，引得大家跟着笑成一团。

All the cackles, howls, guffaws, andcheeps make the giraffe nervous.

周围的嘲笑声让长颈鹿紧张极了。

When the giraffe is nervous hisknees tremble.

他的膝盖开始发抖。

He trembles and reaches, andtrembles and reaches, until…

他颤颤巍巍地尝试了几次，终于支撑不住…

The only thing louder than thegiraffe hitting the water is the roar of laughter from the four hecklers.

巨大的落水声也没能盖过周围的阵阵哄笑。

No one but the bird notices thegiraffe slink away, still thirsty, but too embarrassed to stick around.

除了小鸟，没人注意到长颈鹿默默地走开了。长颈鹿觉得好尴尬，虽然他还是很口渴，但他真的不想留在那儿了。

The giraffe finds a nearby puddle.His ears are droopy, his eyes are misty, and his nose is sniffly as he laps atthe muddy water.

长颈鹿在湖边找到一个小泥坑，委屈地舔着里面的泥水。他的耳朵沮丧地耷拉着，眼眶里眼泪汪汪的，鼻子也一抽一抽的，马上就要哭出来了。

The bird is sorry to see the giraffeso unhappy. He has some thinking to do. How can he make things right?

看到长颈鹿这么难过，小鸟内疚极了。他陷入了思考––该怎么做才能弥补自已的错误呢?

“Come with me, Giraffe. I have aplan.”

长颈鹿，跟我来，我有个好主意。

Back at the pond, the zebra spotsthe giraffe first.

两个小家伙回到池塘，斑马头一个发现了长颈鹿。

Well, that's all it takes for thegiraffe's knees to tremble.

可怜的长颈鹿膝盖又开始发抖。

Just when he is about to slink awayagain, out pops the bird...

正当他准备偷偷溜走的时候，小乌却突然蹦了出来.....

Everyone laughs.

大家都笑了。

Even the giraffe laughs.

长颈鹿也忍不住笑了。

The silly-looking bird makes thegiraffe feel better about looking silly.

小鸟傻乎乎的样子让长颈鹿心里好受多了，他觉得自己刚才也许没那么可笑。

Anyone can see that the bird lovesthe attention, but at least everyone has a laugh...

谁都能看出来，小鸟并不介意大家的关注，甚至还有些享受。不过至少小家伙们都很开心.....

...and the giraffe finally has adrink.

长颈鹿也终于可以开怀畅饮。

Best of all, the giraffe isn'tafraid to get his hooves wet anymore.

最棒的是，长颈鹿再也不怕弄湿自己的蹄子啦。