美国小学英语教材3:第111课 布莱德诺克的小棕仙(6)

 　　And the young people of the town were not lonely. Oh, no.  小镇里的年轻人也不感到孤单了。他们绝对不会的。

　　People came from everywhere, because they wanted to see the strange little man. 各地的人都来到了这里，因为他们想见见这个奇怪的小人儿。

　　But no grown people ever saw him. 但成年人没有一个见过他。

　　If they went ten times a day to the barn¹ in which he stayed, they would not find him. 即使他们到他待的谷仓天去10次也找不到他。

　　The bowl that held his porridge was always empty in the morning, but no one ever saw the brownie eating his supper. 到了早上，盛粥的碗总是空的，但没有人看到过小棕仙吃晚饭。

　　Little children were the only ones who saw him. 只有小孩子们见过他。

　　And, oh, how he loved them! And they loved him just as much. 啊，他真的是太爱他们了！他们也同样喜欢他。

　　A little while before bedtime² they would gather around him in some quiet corner near the old mill³. 睡觉前的一小会儿，他们会在老磨坊附近的某个安静的角落里，聚在他身旁。

　　Then the older people would hear wonderful, low, sweet music. 然后，大人们就会听到神奇的音乐声，那声音低沉而甜美。

　　It was Aiken-Drum, singing the songs of his own land to the happy children. 那是艾肯·德拉姆在给这些快乐的孩子们唱着自己家乡的歌曲。

　　Why Aiken-Drum Left Blednock 艾肯·德拉姆离开布莱德诺克的原因

　　The brownie might be in Blednock yet, helping⁴ people with their work; but someone forgot what the little man had said, in his strange song: 小棕仙或许会在布莱德诺克待一阵子，帮助人们干活儿，但是有人却忘了这个小人儿在他的歌里唱的:

　　"A bite to eat, a bed on hay⁵ “给点儿吃的，给张草床，

　　You may give; but nothing pay. “您能给点儿，别无他求。”

　　You see, a brownie loves to give; he will not work for pay. But someone forgot this. 看，一个小棕仙喜欢奉献，不求回报。但是，有人忘了这一点。

1 barn   

n.谷仓，饲料仓，牲口棚

参考例句：

• That big building is a barn for keeping the grain.那幢大房子是存放粮食的谷仓。
• The cows were driven into the barn.牛被赶进了牲口棚。

2 bedtime   

n.就寝时间

参考例句：

• It's your bedtime. Go upstairs and go to bed.到睡觉的时间了，上楼去睡觉。
• If you go to bed now,I've read you a bedtime story.假使你现在就上床睡觉，我就念个睡前故事给你听。

3 mill   

n.磨坊，碾磨机；制造厂，工厂；vt.磨，碾

参考例句：

• The rice mill was wrecked by the enemy bombing.碾米厂遭到了敌机的轰炸。
• The farmer took his grain to the mill.这个农民把谷子送到磨房。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 hay   

n.(用作饲料或覆盖的)干草

参考例句：

• Cows feed on hay.奶牛以干草为生。
• They usually keep the hay in the barn.他们通常将干草存放在谷仓中。