绿野仙踪 第57期:田鼠皇后(5)

 The Scarecrow and the Woodman now began to fasten the mice to the truck, using the strings¹ they had brought. 接着稻草人和铁皮人就用田鼠们带来的绳子，把它们联结在大车上。

One end of a string was tied around the neck of each mouse and the other end to the truck.  绳子的一端，缠在每一只田鼠的颈里，另外一端则紧紧缚在大车上。

Of course the truck was a thousand times bigger than any of the mice who were to draw it;  当然，卡车比任何一只拉动卡车的老鼠都要大一千倍；

but when all the mice had been harnessed², they were able to pull it quite easily.  倘若所有的田鼠装配好了，它们就能轻快地拉动它了。

Even the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman could sit on it, and were drawn³ swiftly⁴ by their queer⁵ little horses to the place where the Lion lay asleep. 即使稻草人和铁皮人坐在上面，这些貌似弱小的小马们，也能轻松地拉到狮子所熟睡的地方去。

After a great deal of hard work, for the Lion was heavy, they managed to get him up on the truck.  狮子的身体是沉重的，它们费了很大的劲儿才把它弄上了大车。

Then the Queen hurriedly gave her people the order to start, for she feared if the mice stayed among the poppies too long they also would fall asleep. 于是皇后焦灼地对它的老百姓发出“拉！”的命令，因为它也担心田鼠们在罂粟花田里待得太久了，同样会醉倒的。

At first the little creatures, many though they were, could hardly stir⁶ the heavily loaded truck;  开始，虽然小动物们数量众多，也很难拉动承载着狮子的卡车，

but the Woodman and the Scarecrow both pushed from behind, and they got along better.  铁皮人和稻草人在卡车后面推，情况有所好转，

Soon they rolled the Lion out of the poppy bed to the green fields, 不久，它们才吃力地把狮子拉出了送命的花床运到绿色的田野，

where he could breathe the sweet, fresh air again, instead of the poisonous scent⁷ of the flowers. 在绿色的田野上，狮子又能呼吸到甜美、新鲜的空气，而不是有毒的花香味。

1 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

2 harnessed   

给（马等）装上挽具( harness的过去式和过去分词 )； 治理，利用

参考例句：

• That horse has never been harnessed to a cart. 那匹马没驾过车。
• The Yellow River has been harnessed. 黄河已被治理。

3 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

4 swiftly   

adv.快地，迅速地

参考例句：

• He came in swiftly and placed the child in my arms.他匆忙走进来把孩子放到我怀里。
• The police must be able to react swiftly in an emergency.警方在面对紧急情况时必须能迅速作出反应。

5 queer   

adj.奇怪的，异常的，不舒服的，眩晕的

参考例句：

• I heard some queer footsteps.我听到某种可疑的脚步声。
• She has been queer lately.她最近身体不舒服。

6 stir   

n.感动(激动，愤怒或震动)，搅拌，骚乱；vt.激起，惹起，搅和；vi.挪动，活动，离开，搅拌，激动

参考例句：

• Give the soup a stir.把汤搅拌一下。
• Don't stir up trouble between them.不要在他们之间惹麻烦。

7 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。