美国小学英语教材4:第215课 谁来做五月女王(2)

"Well," said the Hyacinth good-naturedly,

“好吧，”风信子温和地说道，

"it would be fine to have a May party, no matter who is May Queen.

“无论谁做五月女王，举行五月派对都挺好。

But who is to decide for us?

但是，谁来为我们做决定呢？

Shall we let Jack-in-the-Pulpit decide?

让天南星来决定好吗？

We might ask the Lilies-of-the-Valley.

我们或许可以问一下铃兰。

They are so sweet they would never choose one of their own family."

他们太可爱了，决不会从自己的家族中选择。”

"Why couldn't the Bluebird be May Queen?" asked the Violet, who loved her.

“为什么知更鸟不能做五月女王？”喜爱知更鸟的紫罗兰问。

"I think," said the Easter Bunny, coming suddenly out from behind his log,

“我觉得，”复活节小兔突然从木垛后面跳出来说，

"that we could choose a better May Queen than anyone you have named.

“我们可以选个比你们说的更好的五月女王。

The May Queen should be someone as happy as the birds;

五月女王应该像鸟儿一样快乐，

someone whom everybody loves; and someone as fresh and beautiful as the flowers."

人见人爱，像鲜花一样清新美丽。”

"Caw! Caw!" croaked¹ the Raven².

“哇！哇！” 乌鸦呱呱地叫。

"Where will you find anyone in all the world like that?"

“在哪能找到这样的人呢？”

Suddenly a little Child came running lightly through the wood.

突然，一个小孩子轻轻地跑过树林。

She sang as she came, and her song was a song of the May sky,

她唱着歌跑来，那是首描述五月天空的歌，

and her laugh was like the sound of the rippling³ spring brook⁴.

她的笑声就像潺潺的泉水之声。

A little Elf was hiding in the fern.

一个小精灵藏在蕨类植物里。

Suddenly he stole out and whispered to Jack-in-the-Pulpit:

突然，他偷偷溜出来，低声对天南星说：

"The little Child is the best Queen of May."

“那个孩子是最好的五月女王。”

"Crown the little Child!" cried Jack-in-the-Pulpit.

“为那个孩子加冠！”天南星喊道。

"Crown her! Crown her Queen of the May!" cried all the flowers, till the trees shook with laughter.

“给她加冠！给五月女王加冠！”所有花朵都喊着，树木在笑声中晃动。

1 croaked   

v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说

参考例句：

• The crow croaked disaster. 乌鸦呱呱叫预报灾难。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• 'she has a fine head for it," croaked Jacques Three. “她有一个漂亮的脑袋跟着去呢，”雅克三号低沉地说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

2 raven   

n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的

参考例句：

• We know the raven will never leave the man's room.我们知道了乌鸦再也不会离开那个男人的房间。
• Her charming face was framed with raven hair.她迷人的脸上垂落着乌亮的黑发。

3 rippling   

起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的

参考例句：

• I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
• The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。

4 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。