《风语河岸柳》第6章 癞蛤蟆地冒险经历(4)

'I'm a poor unhappy washerwoman, 'he began.

我是个可怜的不走运的洗衣婆，他开始讲道。

But the barge¹-woman, Toad² quickly discovered, was a most unpleasant³ person.

但他很快发现，这个女人是世界上最不友善的人。

She came up to Toad and looked hard at his face under his bonnet⁴.

她走到蛤蟆跟前，死死盯着无边帽下蛤蟆的脸。

'Washerwoman indeed! You're a fat lazy little toad, that's what you are! 'she said rudely. 'Get off my barge! 'And she actually pushed Toad off the barge into the canal⁵.

好一个洗衣婆！你是一只又肥又懒的小癞蛤蟆，这才是你的真面目！她粗暴地说着。滚出我的船！同时她就真地把癞蛤蟆推入了运河。

Toad swam to the bank and climbed out.

癞蛤蟆游到岸边爬了上来。

He was wildly angry.

他气得要发疯。

How could he punish this rude and terrible person? Then he saw the horse which was pulling the barge, and an idea came to him.

怎样才能治治这个粗鲁可恶的老妇人？后来他看见了那只正拉着驳船的马，立刻计上心头。

Two minutes later he was riding the horse across the fields away from the canal.

两分钟后，他骑在马上穿过田野离开了运河。

Behind him, the barge-woman was shouting and screaming angrily.

船婆在他身后气愤地又喊又叫。

Toad rode on, laughing at his own great cleverness.

癞蛤蟆骑着向前，为他自己伟大的聪明之举开怀大笑。

Later that morning he met a man with a caravan⁶, who was cooking over a fire in a field.

那天早上，他还遇见了一位驾大篷车的人，他正在野地火堆上烧东西吃。

Toad sold him the barge-woman's horse for a good price and a hot breakfast.

癞蛤蟆开了一个好价把老妇人的马卖给他并享受了一顿热乎乎的早餐。

He ate and ate until he was almost too full to move.

他吃呀吃呀直到撑得几乎不能动。

But he still had a long way to go to get home, so he got up and went on.

但他想到仍有很长的路要赶，便站起来又出发了。

The sun was shining brightly, his clothes were dry again, and the new coins made a pleasant sound in his pocket.

太阳明晃晃地照着，他的衣服又干了，新得的硬币在他口袋里发出令人愉悦的声音。

He took off the bonnet, which was too hot, and began to think about all his adventures and escapes.

他觉得太热便摘下了帽子，开始回顾着他所有冒险和逃跑的经历。

'Ho, ho! 'he said to himself.

嚯，嚯他自言自语道：

'What a clever Toad I am! How brave! How intelligent! No problem is too difficult for Toad!

我是多么聪明的蛤蟆！多么勇敢！多么机智！没有什么事能难倒我蛤蟆！

'He began to sing a song about himself as he walked along, although there was no one to hear it.

尽管没有谁能听到，他还是边走边唱着赞美自己的歌。

It was perhaps the most boastful song that any animal ever sang.

这也许是所有动物曾唱过的最最自夸的歌：

1 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

2 toad   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆

参考例句：

• Both the toad and frog are amphibian.蟾蜍和青蛙都是两栖动物。
• Many kinds of toad hibernate in winter.许多种蟾蜍在冬天都会冬眠。

3 unpleasant   

adj.使人不愉快的，使人厌恶的，煞风景的

参考例句：

• A very unpleasant thing has happened.一件令人很不愉快的事发生了。
• The kind advices are often unpleasant to the ear.好言常常不入耳。

4 bonnet   

n.无边女帽；童帽

参考例句：

• The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
• She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。

5 canal   

n.运河；水道；管；沟渠；vt.开运河

参考例句：

• South America is joined to North America by a canal.南美洲和北美洲由一条运河连在一起。
• The ship is sailing towards Europe through the Suez Canal.这条船正通过苏伊士运河驶往欧洲。

6 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。