绿野仙踪 第51期:送命的罂粟花田(4)

 They now came upon more and more of the big scarlet¹ poppies, and fewer and fewer of the other flowers; 他们就跑到了茂盛的深红色罂粟花丛中，别的花儿愈来愈少了；

and soon they found themselves in the midst of a great meadow of poppies. 没多久他们发觉自己已经走在大罂粟花田中了。

Now it is well known that when there are many of these flowers together their odor is so powerful that anyone who breathes it falls asleep, 也许他们都不知道，如果许多这种花生长在一起时，它们的香气多么浓烈，谁呼吸了都要昏昏地睡去，

and if the sleeper² is not carried away from the scent³ of the flowers, he sleeps on and on forever. 如果这个睡着的人，不能远离这些花儿，就要永远地睡着了。

But Dorothy did not know this, nor could she get away from the bright red flowers that were everywhere about; 多萝茜当然也不知道，也没有从这炽红色的花丛中走开；

so presently her eyes grew heavy and she felt she must sit down to rest and to sleep. 所以她的眼皮立刻沉重起来，她想坐下来休息，并且要睡觉了。

But the Tin Woodman would not let her do this. 然而铁皮人阻止了她。

"We must hurry and get back to the road of yellow brick before dark," he said; and the Scarecrow agreed with him. 他说：“我们一定要在天黑以前，赶回到黄砖路上，”稻草人也支持他。

So they kept walking until Dorothy could stand no longer. 所以他们用劲跑着，一直跑到多萝茜再也站不起来，

Her eyes closed in spite of herself and she forgot where she was and fell among the poppies, fast asleep. 她的眼睛不由自主地闭了起来，她便倒在罂粟花中睡熟了。

"What shall we do?" asked the Tin Woodman. 铁皮人问：“我们将怎么办？”

"If we leave her here she will die," said the Lion. “假如她继续睡下去，她恐怕会死的，”狮子说。

"The smell of the flowers is killing⁴ us all. I myself can scarcely keep my eyes open, and the dog is asleep already." “这些花的香气，我们也不能抗拒。现在我还能够张开眼睛，那狗也睡着了。”

It was true; Toto had fallen down beside his little mistress. 那是真的，托托早已躺在它的小主人的旁边睡着了。

But the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, not being made of flesh, were not troubled by the scent of the flowers. 但是稻草人和铁皮人，不是血肉做的身体，也就不会受香气的困扰。

1 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

2 sleeper   

n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺

参考例句：

• I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
• But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。

3 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。