英国语文第二册 第15期:猫和金丝雀

 　　LESSON 15 The cat and the canary 第十五课 猫和金丝雀

　　Here is a cat with a poor little bird in its mouth.  一只小猫嘴里叼着一只可怜的小鸟。

　　Perhaps you think it is a sparrow,  或许你会觉得这是一只麻雀，

　　that had flown down on the road to pick up a few crumbs², and was seized by this cruel cat. 飞到路边捡些面包屑吃，然后被这只凶猛的猫抓了。

　　You are wrong. This cat is the little bird's friend; and the bird is not a sparrow at all, but a pretty canary. 你错了，这只猫是这只鸟的朋友，这只鸟并不是一只麻雀，而是一只漂亮的金丝雀。

　　Come and I shall tell you the story of this picture. 过来我将会告诉你这张图画的故事。

　　A lady had a canary, so tame that it would fly about her room, 一位女士养了一只金丝雀，因为被驯服所有会在房间里面飞，

　　perch³ on her chair, hop⁴ on her finger, and eat crumbs out of her hand. 停在椅子上栖息，跳来跳去，吃它手上的面包屑。

　　The lady had also a cat, which often came into the room where the bird's cage hung. 这位女士还有一只猫，经常进入悬挂这只鸟笼子的房间。

　　But the bird was in no danger from it.  但是鸟儿却没有危险。

　　The cat had been taught,when quite a little kitten,  这只猫已经被教成了一只Hellokitty，

　　to be kind to the bird; and the two were very good friends. 对鸟儿很和善，他们两个是好朋友。

　　One day the lady went into the kitchen. Her bird was on her shoulder, and the cat came running after her. 一天这位女士进了厨房，这只鸟在她肩膀上，猫跟在她身后。

　　The canary flew down from the lady's shoulder, to pick up a crumb¹ from the floor. 这只金丝雀从她肩膀上飞到地板上捡面包屑吃。

　　What was the lady's surprise, when in a moment the cat seized the bird in its mouth, and jumped upon the kitchen table with it! 令女士惊喜的是，这只猫把鸟叼在了嘴里，跳到了厨房饭桌上。

　　The lady was in terror at first, for the safety of her bird; but she soon saw the cause of the strange conduct of her cat. 起初女士很担心鸟儿的安全，但是不久她就知道了猫奇怪举动的原因。

　　Another cat was at the kitchen door, and her own cat had seized the bird to save it from danger! 厨房门边有另外一只猫，她的猫就把鸟儿抓起来脱离危险。

　　No sooner was the stranger driven out of the house, than the lady's cat let the canary go; 很快危险救不存在了，女士的猫就把金丝雀放走了。

　　and away it flew to its mistress quite unhurt. 它安全无事的飞向了女主人那里。

1 crumb   

n.饼屑，面包屑，小量

参考例句：

• It was the only crumb of comfort he could salvage from the ordeal.这是他从这场磨难里能找到的唯一的少许安慰。
• Ruth nearly choked on the last crumb of her pastry.鲁斯几乎被糕点的最后一块碎屑所噎住。

2 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

3 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

4 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？