美国小学英语教材4:第11课 与鹧鸪一家在一起的一天(2)

 　　Mother Partridge did not wait for the fox to reach the spot where her twelve little ones were hiding. 鹧鸪妈妈没有等狐狸来到12个小宝宝的藏身之地。

　　This wise mother flew straight toward the beast and dropped a few yards to one side of him. 这位聪明的妈妈径直向狐狸飞去，在离他几码远的一边落了下来。

　　Then she flung herself on the ground, flopping¹ as though lam, 然后她扑倒在地，就像受伤了一样重重地摔倒在地上——

　　oh, so lame², and whining³ like a puppy. 哎呀，伤得很严重——她像小狗一样地哀叫。

　　By pretending that she was lame, she was going to lead Mr. Fox away from her babies, 她假装受伤，打算把狐狸先生引开，远离她的小宝宝们，

　　and then fly away from him herself. 然后自己从他身边飞走。

　　Delighted to see a partridge beside him, the fox sprang at the bird. 看见身边有一只鹧鸪，狐狸很高兴，立马向她扑去。

　　But when he was almost sure he had caught her, 但是，当他几乎确信自己已经抓住她的时候，

　　she flopped⁴ just a foot or so out of his reach. 她一跌一撞地飞出一英尺左右，他够不着她了。

　　He followed with another jump and would have caught her this time surely, 狐狸跟着她又跳了一下，并且确信这次抓住她了。

　　but somehow a little tree came between them, 但是一棵小树挡在它们中间，

　　and the partridge dragged herself away and hid behind a log. 鹧鸪拖着身子走开了，接着藏在一根原木后面。

　　He snapped his jaws⁵ and bounded over the log, 他拍打着爪子，跳过原木，

　　while she made another forward jump and tumbled down a bank. 当她再往前跳时，摔到了河岸上。

　　The eager fox almost caught her tail, 焦急的狐狸几乎抓住了她的尾巴，

　　but, strange as it seemed, the faster he ran and leaped, the faster she seemed to go. 但奇怪的是，他跑得、跳得越快，她似乎走得也越快。

　　To the fox it was more than surprising! 狐狸非常惊讶！

　　He could hardly believe that in five minutes he, the swift-footed fox, 他几乎不敢相信，5分钟之内，脚步灵活的他

　　had not caught a bird whose wing appeared to be injured. 竟然没有抓住一只翅膀看起来受伤的鸟。

　　Mother Partridge seemed to get stronger as the fox followed swiftly. 在狐狸迅速地追赶下，鹧鸪妈妈好像越来越强壮。

　　After a quarter of a mile of racing⁶, that was all away from Taylor's Hill, 追出了1/4英里后，们完全离开了泰勒山，

　　the bird suddenly rose with a whirr and flew off to some thick bushes that lay at quite a distance from the hill. 那只鸟突然呼呼地飞了起来，飞到了离小山挺远的一片浓密的灌木丛里。

　　Then the fox knew that he had been made a fool of, and walked away. 这时，狐狸知道自己被耍了，就走了。

　　Mother Partridge flew back to the little fuzz-balls she had left hidden in the woods. 鹧鸪妈妈飞回到她藏在树林里的小绒球们那里。

　　She went to the very grass-blade she had last stepped on. 她来到她最后停留的草叶上。

　　There she stood for a moment, pleased at the perfect stillness of her children. 她在那里站了一会儿，为孩子们能够完全一动不动地待在那里而感到高兴。

　　Even at her step not one of them stirred. 即使听到她的脚步声，它们也没有一个乱动的。

　　The little fellow on the chip only closed his eyes a tiny little bit harder, till the mother said: 在木片上的小家伙只是把眼睛闭得更紧了，直到妈妈说：

　　"K-reet!"(Come, children!) At once every hiding-place gave up its little baby partridge. “咯-瑞特！”（嗨，孩子们！）小鹧鸪们立刻一个一个从藏身的地方冒了出来。

　　The wee fellow on the chip opened his eyes and, with a sweet little "peep, peep," ran to his mother. 趴在木片上的小家伙睁开眼睛， “唧唧，唧唧！”他一边叫着一边向妈妈跑去。

　　Then all the other tiny balls of down joined in the peeping, and were very happy. 这时，所有其他小绒球们也一起唧唧地叫起来，都非常开心。

1 flopping   

n.贬调v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的现在分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• The fish are still flopping about. 鱼还在扑腾。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• What do you mean by flopping yourself down and praying agin me?' 咚一声跪下地来咒我，你这是什么意思” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

2 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

3 whining   

n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚

参考例句：

• That's the way with you whining, puny, pitiful players. 你们这种又爱哭、又软弱、又可怜的赌棍就是这样。
• The dog sat outside the door whining (to be let in). 那条狗坐在门外狺狺叫着（要进来）。

4 flopped   

v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• Exhausted, he flopped down into a chair. 他筋疲力尽，一屁股坐到椅子上。
• It was a surprise to us when his play flopped. 他那出戏一败涂地，出乎我们的预料。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

6 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。