美国语文第三册 第43期:放风筝(2)

 　　"What can it be?" said one person. “那是什么东西呀？”其中一个人说。

　　"How strange!" said another. “多么奇怪呀！”另一个人说。

　　"It can not be a comet¹; for comets have tails," said a third. “它不可能是彗星，因为彗星都有长长的尾巴，”第三个人说。

　　"Perhaps it's a big firefly," said another. “或许，它是一只大萤火虫。”又传来另外一个人的声音。

　　At last some of the men determined² to find out what this strange light was—whether it was a hobgoblin dancing in the air, or something dropped from the sky. 最后，其中几个人决定要去探个究竟，到底这个灯光是什么怪物——到底是妖怪在空中乱舞呢，还是从天上掉下来的什么东西。

　　So off they started to get as near it as they could. 于是，他们开始尽可能地慢慢靠近那个灯光。

　　While this was taking place, Ray, who had got tired of standing³, was seated in a fence corner, behind a tree. 就在人们猜测时，一直站在那里的芮感到有些疲惫，便在栅栏旁的角落里坐了下来，背靠着一棵大树。

　　He could see the men as they approached; but they did not see him. 当那些人慢慢走过来时，他能看到了人们，但是人们却看不到他。

　　When they were directly under the light, and saw what it was, they looked at each other, laughing, and said, "This is some boy's trick; and it has fooled us nicely. 当人们径直走到灯光下，看清楚了它的本来面目时，互相看看，都笑了起来，有人说：“这不过是孩子们的鬼把戏；却愚弄了我们。

　　Let us keep the secret, and have our share of the joke. 大家都保守这个秘密，和他们一起开这个玩笑吧。

　　Then they laughed again, and went back to the village; 然后，他们又笑了起来，纷纷走回村子里；

　　and some of the simple people there have not yet found out what that strange light was. 有一些头脑简单的人却还没有发现这个奇怪的光到底是什么东西。

　　When the men had gone, Ray thought it was time for him to go; so he wound up his string, picked up his kite and lantern, and went home. 人们离开后，芮也觉着是时候该回家了；于是，他收紧了风筝线，捡起风筝和灯笼回家了。

　　His mother had been wondering what had become of him. 妈妈也正在纳闷，他究竟去干什么了。

　　When she heard what he had been doing, she hardly knew whether to laugh or scold; 当她听完芮的描述，都不知道应该笑他还是该骂他了；

　　but I think she laughed, and told him that it was time for him to go to bed. 但是，我认为她笑了，而且还会告诉芮应该去睡觉了。

1 comet   

n.慧星

参考例句：

• Recently they have discovered a comet.最近他们发现了一颗彗星。
• Halley's Comet is going to come back in 2061.哈雷彗星将于2061年回归。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。