美国语文第二册 第40期:妈妈的礼物

 LESSON 44 第四十四课

wore  穿着

green  绿色

joke  笑话

Jessie  杰西

presents 礼物

jolly¹  快活

deal  交易

trim²  修剪

expect  期待

leggings  打底裤

MAMMA'S PRESENT 妈妈的礼物

Jessie played a good joke on her mamma.  杰西和妈妈开了一个玩笑，

This is the way she did it. 她的玩笑是这么开的。

Jessie had gone to the woods with Jamie and Joe to get green branches to trim up the house for Christmas.  为了庆祝圣诞节，杰西、杰米和乔去树林里捡来绿色枝叶装扮房子。

She wore her little cap, her white furs, and her red leggings. 她戴着小帽子，穿着白皮衣和红袜子。

She was a merry little girl, indeed; but she felt sad this morning because her mother had said,  其实她是一个快乐的小女孩，但今天早上她觉得很难过，因为妈妈说：

"The children will all have Christmas presents, but I don't expect any for myself. We are too poor this year." “孩子们会得到圣诞礼物，但我自己不想要。我们今年太穷了。”

When Jessie told her brothers this, they all talked about it a great deal.  当杰西把这件事告诉哥哥时，他们都在谈论着这件事。

"Such a good, kind mamma, and no Christmas present! It's too bad." “我们的妈妈是个多么善良的好妈妈呀！但她没有圣诞礼物。这太糟糕了。”

"I don't like it," said little Jessie, with a tear in her eye. “我不想这样。”小杰西一边说，眼泪一边在眼睛里打转。

"Oh, she has you," said Joe. “噢，可她有你。”乔说。

"But I am not something new," said Jessie. “但我没有新的东西。”杰西说。

"Well, you will be new, Jessie," said Joe, "when you get back. She has not seen you for an hour." “可你是新的，杰西。”乔说，“当你回家时，她得有一个小时没见到你呢。”

Jessie jumped and laughed.  杰西又笑又跳。

"Then put me in the basket, and carry me to mamma, and say, 'I am her Christmas present.'" “一会儿把我放进篮子里，然后把我递给妈妈，之后就说：‘我是她的圣诞礼物’。”

So they set her in the basket, and put green branches all around her.  于是，他们把杰西放进篮子里，在她身边铺上了绿色的枝叶。

It was a jolly ride.  对杰西来说，这个小窝太棒了。

They set her down on the doorstep, and went in and said, "There's a Christmas present out there for you, mamma." 然后，他们把她放在门口的台阶上，进屋说：“妈妈，外面有份送给您的圣诞礼物。”

Mamma went and looked, and there, in a basket of green branches, sat her own little laughing girl. 妈妈于是走出去看。在装满绿色枝叶的篮子里，正坐着自己正在微笑的小女儿。

"Just the very thing I wanted most," said mamma. “这正是我最想要的好东西。”妈妈说。

"Then, dear mamma," said Jessie, bounding³ out of her leafy nest,  “亲爱的妈妈，”杰西一边说一边跳出她的小绿窝：

"I should think it would be Christmas for mammas all the time, for they see their little girls every day." “我觉得每一天对天下妈妈们来说都是圣诞节，因为她们每天都能见到自己的小女儿。”

1 jolly   

adj.快乐的，高兴的；adv.很；vt.劝服，哄

参考例句：

• That day they got together and had a jolly time.那天他们聚在一起热闹了一番。
• She was a jolly,kindhearted woman.她是个整天乐呵呵心地善良的女人。

2 trim   

vt.修剪；装饰；n.修剪；adj.修长的；整齐的

参考例句：

• We shall have to trim our spending down to fit our income.我们只得削减开支以使收支平衡。
• You must trim your costs if you want to make bigger profits.如果你想获得更大的利润，就必须削减开支。

3 bounding   

v.跳( bound的现在分词 )；弹回；向上弹；向上跳

参考例句：

• The little horse is bounding. 小马在跳跃。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Big rocks were bounding down. 巨石从上面滚下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》