《风语河岸柳》第3章 野树林(6)

They sat down for a rest and were moving on again when the Mole¹ gave a sudden cry and fell forward on his face.

他们坐下来休息了一会儿，又继续向前赶路，这时鼹鼠突然叫了起来，向前摔扒在地。

'Oh, my leg! 'he cried. 'I've hit my leg on something really hard. '

噢，我的腿！他叫道，有个好硬的东西磕了我的腿。

'Let's have a look, 'said the Rat, sitting down beside him.

让我看看，水鼠说着，坐到他的身边。

'That's a very deep cut, 'he said, surprised. 'I wonder what…'Suddenly, he got up and began to dig in the snow.

好深的一个口子，他有些吃惊地说，我想知道什么……突然他站起来，开始在雪地里挖着。

'What are you doing, Ratty?' said the Mole.

你在干什么，阿鼠？鼹鼠问。

The Rat just went on digging. Then he found something, and immediately began to dance round it excitedly.

水鼠只是不停地挖。然后他发现了什么，马上开始激动地绕着它跳舞。

'Look at this, Mole! 'he shouted. 'Just look at this! '

看这，鼹鼠！他喊道，就看这！

The Mole looked. Then he looked at his fried². 'It's a doors-craper. Why get excited about a door-scraper?'

鼹鼠看了看，然后又看看他的朋友，这是门铲，为什么对门铲这么感兴趣？

'Don't you understand, you silly animal?' cried the Rat.

你难道不懂？你这个傻蛋。水鼠叫道。

'I understand that somebody's been very careless, leaving a door-scraper lying in the middle of the Wild Wood, for other people to fall over. And when I get home----'

我知道是有人大意，把门铲乱扔在野树林中间绊人。而且当我回家时——

'Oh, dear, oh dear! 'cried the Rat. 'Just stop arguing, and dig! Or do you want to spend all night in the snow?'

噢，天哪！水鼠叫道，停止你那论调，赶快挖！难道你想在雪地里度过整个晚上？

The Mole did what he was told, although he thought his friend was going crazy. The two animals dug and dug, and after ten minutes' hard work they were successful.

鼹鼠便按吩咐干着，尽管他觉得他朋友有些疯疯傻傻。这俩朋友挖呀挖呀，经过十分钟的辛苦努力，他们终于成功了。

The Mole had thought that they were digging into a snow bank, but now he saw that there was a door under the snow. A green door, with a long bell-pull beside it, and a name on it in big letters which said:

鼹鼠原以为他们挖的是一个雪堆，但现在他看见雪下有一扇门。一扇绿色的门，旁边有一根长长的门铃拉绳，门上用大大的字体写着：

MR BADGER³

獾 先 生

The Mole fell backwards⁴ on the snow in surprise. 'Oh, Rat! 'he cried. 'How clever you are! And how stupid I am! '

鼹鼠吃惊地向后坐倒在雪地上。噢，水鼠！他叫道，你真聪明而我真是太笨了！

'Never mind all that, 'said the Rat. 'Just get up and pull on that bell, while I knock on the door. '

不要说这些了，水鼠说，赶快站起来拉那个门铃，我来敲门。

The Rat banged⁵ on the door with his stick, and the Mole pulled. And from somewhere far under the ground they could just hear the sound of a deep, slow bell.

鼹鼠便去拉门铃，水鼠则用他的棍子猛敲着门。他们能听见从地底下一个远远的地方传来的低沉悠长的门铃声。

1 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。

2 fried   

adj.油煎的；油炒的

参考例句：

• I ate everything fried.所有油炸的我都吃。
• I prefer fried peanuts.我选择炸花生。

3 badger   

v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠

参考例句：

• Now that our debts are squared.Don't badger me with them any more.我们的债务两清了。从此以后不要再纠缠我了。
• If you badger him long enough,I'm sure he'll agree.只要你天天纠缠他，我相信他会同意。

4 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

5 banged   

vt.猛击，猛撞（bang的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Two days after the accident she still looked pretty banged up. 事故过去两天后她看上去伤势仍然很重。
• I've banged into the doorpost and hurt my arm. 我撞着了门柱，把臂伤了。 来自《简明英汉词典》