Mr. Fussy 挑剔先生（上） | 原版英语童话故事

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Hello everyone. I hope you are all well and had a good week.

大家好。我希望你们都很好，度过了美好的一周。

It's really wet here in England today. Yesterday was really warm, it was a nice sunny day, the sun was shinning.

今天英国这里非常潮湿。昨天真的很暖和，是个晴朗的日子，阳光灿烂。

And then last night, at about 3:00 in the morning, we had a thunder storm, and down came the rain and there was thunder and lightning which was a little bit scary.

昨晚大约凌晨3点，我们遇到了一场雷暴，接着下起了雨，又打雷又闪电，有点令人害怕。

I thought my dogs would wake up and start barking but they didn't. Phew...that means there was a bit of luck. But it was very very wet and noisy. And in today, it hasn't stopped raining all day, which is really good for the garden and all the plants and the trees.

我以为我家的狗狗们会醒来并开始吠叫，但它们没有。呼……还好如此。但天气真的非常潮湿和嘈杂。而在今天，雨一整天都没有停过，这对花园里的花花草草和所有的植物和树木都再好不过了。

And where I'm sitting at the moment, I can see a rabbit in my garden. And I think he's enjoying the rain because it's been very very hot and dry, and the rabbits don't really like that.

在我现在坐着的地方，我可以看到有一只兔子在我的花园里。我想它正在享受这场雨，因为这段时间非常非常炎热和干燥，而兔子们并不喜欢干燥炎热的天气。

I've got a lot of rabbits in my garden, running around, digging holes. They're a little bit naughty. But today is raining, uh...and I quite like the rain but after a while, it gets a bit boring because can't go outside. I did have to go outside this morning, and I ended up getting very wet, and I should have taken an umbrella.

我的花园里有很多兔子，到处跑，挖洞。它们有点调皮。但是今天下雨了，呃……我挺喜欢下雨的，但是过了一段时间后，就有点无聊了，因为不能出去。今天早上我不得不出去一趟，结果我被淋得浑身湿透了，我应该带把伞的。

But sometimes I don't mind getting a little bit wet. It's alright, it's okay. Sometimes people really don't like it at all. If you've got to go somewhere, and you've got some really nice clothes on, you don't really want to get all wet.

但有时我并不介意被弄湿一点。这没关系，不是什么大事。但有时候，人们真的一点也不喜欢被弄湿。如果你要去某个地方，而且你已经穿上了一套非常漂亮的衣服，你肯定不想被弄得全身湿透。

And that brings me on to a bit the story today, cause the person in this story one of our Mr Men that wouldn't like to get wet.

这让我想到了今天的故事，因为故事中的某个人，我们的奇先生，他不喜欢被淋湿。

And he...oh, my chair's moving. He's called Mr Fussy. And fussy is a strange word which you don't probably hearvery often. Fussiness, being fussy, means that you’d like everything to be nice and neat and tidy all the time.

而他……哦，我的椅子动了一下。他叫挑剔先生。“fussy”是一个不寻常的词，你可能不常听到。“fussiness（大惊小怪）”，“beingfussy（爱挑剔）”，是指你希望一切都很完美，任何时候都很整洁和整齐。

Well, I'd like you to have a little think about you and what you are like.

现在，我希望你想想自己，并思考下你自己的性格是怎样的。

Having a nice clean house, that's quite good isn't it? It's not very nice when our house gets a little bit messy, like Mr Messy. But, there are times when our rooms, especially our bedrooms, do get a little bit messy.

有一个漂亮干净的房子，这很好，不是吗？如果我们的房子有点乱，像邋遢先生一样的话，那就不太妙了。但是，有些时候我们的房间，特别是我们的卧室，确实有点乱糟糟的。

But somebody who is fussy, gets very angry when things aren't perfect and neat and tidy all the time. And I think, none of us really live our lives like that.

但是有些人很挑剔，当事情不完美、不整洁的时候会感到非常生气。而我认为，我们没有人能像那样生活着。

There are always times when the house gets a bit messy and a bit untidy, and sometimes if we're watching a movie and putting our feet up, then sometimes we are a little bit messy. Or sometimes when we eat little bits of food, end up on the floor - my dogs like that - that's being messy.

因为总有些时候，房子会有点乱，有点不整洁，有时如果我们在看电影，我们会把脚搭起来，那么有时我们会把房间弄得有点乱糟糟的。或者有时当我们在吃东西的时候，食物不小心落在地板上——虽然我的狗狗们喜欢这样——也会导致房间有点邋遢。

But fussy is the opposite. And sometimes if you're too fussy like Mr Fussy, life isn't much fun, because there's always a little bit of untidiness, there's always things that could be put away. Otherwise we would end up with nothing in our homes.

但“挑剔”则正好相反。有时如果你像挑剔先生那样太挑剔，生活就没有什么乐趣了，因为我们总会有不太整洁的时候，总有些东西是可以收拾起来的。否则我们的家就会什么都没有。

If we wanted everything to be really clean and tidy, we wouldn't ever have lots of books which sometimes get a bit dusty, you can see them behind me, and you wouldn't have things like guitars - I think you might be able to see those - and other things, because we'd want everything to always be neat and tidy. I don't think it would be much fun.

如果我们希望一切都非常干净整洁，我们就不会有很多书，这些书有时会沾上灰尘，你可以在我身后看到它们，在房间里，你也不会有像吉他这样的东西。在我身后你应该能看到它们——以及其他东西，因为我们希望所有的东西总是整齐划一的。但我不认为那会有什么乐趣可言。

So MrFussy is very fussy, he likes everything to be perfect. So let's have a look at our story today. Mr Fussy. I like this story, it's one of my favorites of the Mr Men stories, it makes me laugh a little bit. But I wouldn't want to be like Mr Fussy.

所以挑剔先生是非常挑剔的，他喜欢一切都很完美。所以来看看我们今天的这个故事吧。挑剔先生。我喜欢这个故事，这是我最喜欢的奇先生故事之一，我感到它有些好笑。但是我不想成为像挑剔先生那样的人。

And this book, you can just see here, was written a long time ago. 1976. So I was 5 years old when this book was written, so it's a long time ago, not that far off, 50 years ago.

而这本书，你可以在绘本上看到，它是在很久以前写成的。1976年。所以在这本书写成的时候我才5岁，所以那是一个很久远的时间了，但也没有那么远，大概在50年前。

Mr Fussy...I wonder whether we're going to see his home, his house, like we have with the other stories.

挑剔先生……我不知道我们是否会看到他的家，他的房子，就像我们在其他故事能看到别的奇先生的房子一样。

Last time we had Mr Greedy and he had quite a big house, didn't it? I wonder what Mr Fussy's house is going to look like, and what it's going to be like. I think you can probably guess.

上次我们看到了贪吃先生的房子，他的房子相当大，不是吗？我想知道挑剔先生的房子会是什么样子，会变成什么样子。我想你大概能猜到的。

 ////故事正文开始////

「Mr Fussy was fussy about everything. Absolutely everything had to be neat and tidy and in its proper place. 」

「挑剔先生对一切都很挑剔。所有的东西都必须整齐划一，必须摆放在固定的位置上。”

「Mr Fussy spent all day and every day rearranging his furniture, and making sure the flowers grew in straight line in his garden, and trying to find specks of dust where there couldn't possibly be specks of dust, because he spent all his time making sure there weren't any specks of dust.」

「挑剔先生每天都忙着花上一整天的时间重新摆放他的家具，确保花园里的花朵长在一条直线上，并试图在不可能有灰尘的地方找到灰尘，他花了所有的时间来确保一尘不染，所以根本看不见有任何的灰尘。」

Oh dear.That doesn't sound like a fun way to spend your day. All day cleaning, making sure your flowers grow in a straight line. I didn't think I want to live like that.

哦，天哪。这听起来不像是一个有趣的度过一天的方式。一整天都在打扫，确保你的花长在一条直线上。我不认为我想过这样的生活。

「One fine morning, Mr Fussy was having a breakfast. He was very fussy about what heate. He opened the marmalade pot. 」

「一个晴朗的早晨，挑剔先生正在吃早餐。他对自己吃的东西也非常挑剔。他打开橘子酱罐。」

「“Ugh!” he exclaimed. “It's got bits in it!” 」

「“呃！”他惊呼道，“这里面有橘子皮碎片！”」

「And he spent the rest of the morning separating the bits from the marmalade. Or, if you prefer, the marmalade from the bits.」

「然后他花了一上午的时间把这些橘子皮碎片从橘子酱中分离出来。或者，如果你愿意的话，也可以说是清理橘子皮碎片里的果酱。」

「“Fussy old fusspot.” people used to call him.」

「人们都叫他“挑剔的老家伙”。」

So marmalade is a bit like a jam, and we call it a preserve, something that we put on our toast in the morning for breakfast.

所以橘子酱有点像果酱。我们称它为“preserve”，是我们在早上吃早餐时放在吐司上的一种东西。

Jam is often made of strawberries and raspberries. Marmalade isalways made of oranges and the little bits of the peal of the orange go into marmalade, that's what gives it its taste.

“jam”通常是由草莓和覆盆子制成的。而“marmalade”总是由橘子制成，橘子皮的小碎片会被放入橘子酱，它的味道来源于此。

But Mr Fussy doesn't like these little bits of orange peal in his marmalade. He doesn't think it looks neat and tidy. Therefore, he spent most of his time taking out the little bits so that the marmalade looks all neat and tidy. But it wouldn't taste very nice.

但是挑剔先生不喜欢橘子皮的这些小碎片在他的橘子酱中。他认为这看起来不整齐。因此，他花了大部分时间把这些小碎片拿出来，使橘子酱看起来整齐划一。但是它的味道就会变得不是很好了。

“Fussy old fusspot.” people used to call him. A fusspot is a sort of fun way of calling somebody who is fussy. What we call them, “Stop being such a fusspot, making a fuss.” “Oh, I don't like this marmalade. It's got bits in!” “Well, just eat it.”

“挑剔的老家伙”，人们常常这样称呼他。“fusspot”是一种有趣的称呼，用来称呼那些挑剔的人。“别再这么吹毛求疵了，大惊小怪的”“哦，我不喜欢这个橘子酱。里面有果皮碎片！”“拜托，直接吃了吧。”

「Then Mr Fussy wentinto his garden. And spent the rest of the day straightening out all the blades of grass on his lawn! Fussy old fusspot!」

「然后挑剔先生走进了他的花园里。然后花了一天的时间把草坪上的所有草叶整理得直挺挺的。这个挑剔的老家伙！」

What a waste of time! If I had to do that in my garden, it would take me avery very long time, hours and hours and hours.

多么浪费时间啊！如果我要在我的花园里这样做，那将花费我非常非常长的时间，要花费掉好几个小时。

But grass is growing. We walk on the grass. Imagine having to try to straighten all the different blades, that's the little piece of grass that sticks up, the little blade, imagine spending all day, making sure that they're all straight, and not bent or curved over.

但草的生长不会暂停。而且我们会在草地上行走。想象一下，要试图把所有不同的叶片拉直，就是那一小片伸出来的草，那小小的叶片，想象一下，得花上一整天的时间确保它们都是直的，而不是卷曲或者弯了的。

What a waste of time! Fussy old fusspot!

多么浪费时间啊!挑剔的老家伙！

「That evening Mr Fussy was in his kitchen (ironing his shoelaces) when he heard a crash outside. 」

「那天晚上，挑剔先生正在他的厨房里熨烫他的鞋带，他听到外面传来一阵撞击声。」

「“Oh! What’s to do?” he murmured to himself, and hurried outside to investigate.」

「“哦！出什么事了？”他喃喃自语，赶紧跑到外面去查看。」

So investigate is to go and find out what is happening.

“investigate”的意思是去弄清楚发生了什么。

And he says here, “What's to do?” meaning “What is that going on?”

以及他在这里说道：“What's to do?” 意思是“What is that going on?（这是怎么回事？）”

“What’s to do.” It's a funny phrase that we sometimes hear. What’s to do.What is going on.

“What’s to do（发生什么事了）”是一个我们时常能听到的一个有趣短语。“What’s to do”、“What is going on”。

Oh, I'm about to ask what is going on because you can probably hear my dogs’ barking. And that's because there's somebody atthe front door. And although it's really rather annoying sometimes, my dogs’ barking, I wouldn't want to be like Mr Fussy.

哦，我正要问发生了什么，因为你可能听到我的狗在吠叫。那是因为有人在我家前门经过。虽然有时我的狗狗的叫声真的很烦人，但我不想成为挑剔先生那样的人。

“Oh I can't have that noise!” because I can't help it when my dogs bark. And there's lots of things that happen we can't do anything about, but if we're too fussy we wouldn't enjoy our lives, would we?

"哦，我不能有这种噪音！"当我的狗吠叫的时候，我无法控制它。还有很多事情发生时我们无能为力，但如果我们太挑剔，我们就不会享受我们的生活，不是吗？

Oh dear, this doesn't look like Mr Fussy! This is somebody else. Shall we find out who it is?

哦，天哪，来了一个不像是挑剔先生的人！这是另一个人。我们来看看他到底是谁吧？

「There, with a broken gatein one hand, an old battered suitcase in the other, and a sheepish grin...」

「在那里，一个人一手拿着一扇撞破了的花园门，一手拿着一个破旧的手提箱，脸上带着羞涩的笑容……」

Now, sheepish means when you do something a bit wrong, andrather go “Sorry!”, you (go) “Sorry...” You smile.

“sheepish”的意思是当你做错了一些事情，与其和别人正色道歉，你反而带着羞涩的笑容，说道：“对不起……”

「...a sheepish grin on his face, stood an untidy person. Mr Clumsy!」

「……脸上带着羞涩的笑容，一个不脏兮兮的家伙站在他面前。是笨拙先生! 」

Now if you are clumsy, you are always knocking things over, breaking things, making a mess.

如果你是一个“clumsy”的人，意思是你总是会把东西打翻，打破东西，弄得一团糟。

「“Whoops!” he said, holding up the garden gate. “Oh, it came off in my hand!”」

「“哎哟哟！”笨拙先生一边叫着，一边把花园门举了起来，“哦，它被我弄坏了！”」

「“Who,” spluttered Mr Fussy, looking in horror at the garden gate, “are you?”」

「“你……”挑剔先生看着他的花园门，气急败坏地问道，“你是谁？”」

【未完待续……】