看原版童书学英语：花婆婆
作者：沪江英语
来源：沪江英语
2012-04-25 07:30
1
Miss Rumphius
花婆婆
2
The Lupine Lady lives in a small house overlooking the sea.
花婆婆住在海边的一幢小房子里。
In between the rocks around her house grow blue and purple and rose-colored flowers.
房子的四周，开满了蓝色、紫色和粉红色的花儿。
The Lupine Lady is little and old.
花婆婆是我的姨婆，她的年纪很大，个子小小的。
But she has not always been that way. I know.
我知道她本来不是这样的。
She is my great-aunt, and she told me so.
她告诉我一些过去的事情。
Once upon a time she was a little girl named Alice, who lived in a city by the sea.
花婆婆的名字叫艾莉丝，很久以前，当她还是一个小女孩儿的时候，她住在海边的城市。
从她家门口的石阶上，可以看到码头和来来往往的大船。
Many years ago her grandfather had come to America on a large sailing ship.
很多年以前，她的爷爷就是搭乘一艘大帆船来到美国的。
3
Now he worked in the shop at the bottom of the house, making figureheads for the prows of ships, and carving Indians out of wood to put in front of cigar stores.
艾莉丝的爷爷在房子的一楼开了一家店，专门雕刻船头的人像，以及摆在烟草店门口的印第安人像。
For Alice's grandfather was an artist.
他也是个艺术家。
He painted pictures, too, of sailing ships and places across the sea.
偶尔会画一些帆船和沿海地区的风景。
When he was very busy, Alice helped him put in the skies.
当他很忙的时候，艾莉丝就帮他在画布上画几朵白云。
4
In the evening Alice sat on her grandfather's knee and listened to his stories of faraway places.
晚上，艾莉丝常常坐在爷爷的大腿上，听他说一些很远的地方所发生的事情。
When he had finished, Alice would say, "When I grow up, I too will go to faraway places, and when I grow old, I too will live beside the sea."
每次爷爷说完了故事，艾莉丝就接着说：“爷爷，我长大以后，要像你一样去很远的地方旅行。当我老了，也要像你一样住在海边。”
"That is all very well, little Alice," said her grandfather, "but there is a third thing you must do."
“很好，”爷爷笑着说，“但是，你一定要记得做第三件事。”
"What is that?" asked Alice.
“什么事？”艾莉丝问。
"You must do something to make the world more beautiful," said her grandfather.
“做一件让世界变得更美丽的事。”
"All right," said Alice. But she did not know what that could be.
“好哇！”艾莉丝答应得又快又大声。但是，她还不知道将来会做什么样的事。
In the meantime Alice got up and washed her face and ate porridge for breakfast. She went to school and came home and did her homework.
她每天起床、洗脸、吃早餐、上学、放学、做功课。
And pretty soon she was grown up.
渐渐地爱丽丝长大了。
5
Then my Great-aunt Alice set out to do the three things she had told her grandfather she was going to do.
艾莉丝决定去做她答应爷爷的三件事。
She left home and went to live in another city far from the sea and the salt air.
她离开了家乡，住在一个离海边很远的城市。
There she worked in a library, dusting books and keeping them from getting mixed up, and helping people find the ones they wanted.
她在图书馆工作，每天清理书上的灰尘，把书本排列整齐，并且帮助大家找到他们想看的书。
Some of the books told her about faraway places.
她自己也看了很多书，都是很远的地方所发生的故事。
People called her Miss Rumphius now.
这时候，大家都称呼她卢菲丝小姐。
6
Sometimes she went to the conservatory in the middle of the park.
卢菲丝有时候会到公园中央的温室里看花草。
When she stepped inside on a wintry day, the warm moist air wrapped itself around her, and the sweet smell of jasmine filled her nose.
冬天里，温暖、潮湿的空气中，散发着一股甜甜的茉莉花香。
她深深地吸了一口气：“嗯――有热带岛屿的气息，可惜不是真正的热带岛屿。”
7
So Miss Rumphius went to a real tropical island, where people kept cockatoos and monkeys as pets.
因此，卢菲丝来到了一座真正的热带小岛，岛上的人把猴子和鹦鹉当作宠物。
She walked on long beaches, picking up beautiful shells.
她在海边散步，捡一些美丽的贝壳。
One day she met the Bapa Raja, king of a fishing village.
有一天，她遇见了渔村的村长百瑞加。
"You must be tired," he said. "Come into my house and rest."
“你一定累坏了。”村长说，“来我家谢谢吧。”
So Miss Rumphius went in and met the Bapa Raja's wife.
于是，卢菲丝到了村长的家，认识了村长太太。
The Bapa Raja himself fetched a green coconut and cut a slice off the top so that Miss Rumphius could drink the coconut water inside.
百瑞家剥开绿色的椰子，请她喝椰子汁。
Before she left, the Bapa Raja gave her a beautiful mother-of-pearl shell on which he had painted a bird of paradise and the words, "You will always remain in my heart."
她离开时，还送她一个漂亮的珍珠贝，上面刻着一只天堂鸟和一行字：“我永远记得你。”
"You will always remain in mine too," said Miss Rumphius.
她感动地说：“我也会永远记得你。”
8
My great-aunt Miss Alice Rumphius climbed tall mountains where the snow never melted.
卢菲丝到处去旅行，她爬过高高的雪山。
She went through jungles and across deserts.
走过沙漠，穿过热带丛林。
She saw lions playing and kangaroos jumping.
她还看到正在游戏的狮子，跳跃的袋鼠。
And everywhere she made friends she would never forget.
每经过一个地方，她都结交了一些难忘的好朋友。
Finally she came to the Land of the Lotus-Eaters, and there, getting off a camel, she hurt her back.
最后，她来到东方的一个小国家，她在骑骆驼的时候，不小心摔了下来，她的背部受伤了。
"What a foolish thing to do," said Miss Rumphius. "Well, I have certainly seen faraway places. Maybe it is time to find my place by the sea."
“唉！我真是笨手笨脚！”她说：“算了，我已经走过那么多地方，也许我应该做第二件事，到海边找个房子住下来。”
And it was, and she did.
于是，她果真在海边找了个房子住了下来。
9
From the porch of her new house Miss Rumphius watched the sun come up; she watched it cross the heavens and sparkle on the water; and she saw it set in glory in the evening.
卢菲丝从新房子的走廊上，可以看见太阳生起来，横过天空，然后慢慢地落入海中。
She started a little garden among the rocks that surrounded her house, and she planted a few flower seeds in the stony ground.
新房子的前面围了一些石头，她在石头中间，开辟了一座花园。
Miss Rumphius was almost perfectly happy.
当她撒下花种子的时候，心里非常快乐。
"But there is still one more thing I have to do," she said. "I have to do something to make the world more beautiful."
“对了！我答应过爷爷，要做一件让世界变得更美丽的事。”
But what?
但是，做什么好呢？
"The world already is pretty nice," she thought, looking out over the ocean.
这世界已经够美了！”她常常望着大海，不停地想着这个问题。
10
The next spring Miss Rumphius was not very well.
第二年春天，卢菲丝过得并不好。
Her back was bothering her again, and she had to stay in bed most of the time.
她背部的伤又发作了，大部分的时间，她都躺在床上。
The flowers she had planted the summer before had bloomed in spite of the stony ground.
她在去年夏天撒下的种子，不知不觉地已经开花了。
She could see them from her bedroom window, blue and purple and rose-colored.
她从卧室的窗口望出去，可以看到蓝色、紫色和粉红色的花朵，轻轻地摇曳着。
"Lupines," said Miss Rumphius with satisfaction.
“鲁冰花！”她非常满意地对自己说。
"I have always loved lupines the best. I wish I could plant more seeds this summer so that I could have still more flowers next year."
“我最喜欢这种花了，希望今年夏天，我可以下床去撒更多的种子，那么，明年就会开出更多的鲁冰花了。”
But she was not able to.
但是，她一直躺着，没有办法下床……
11
After a hard winter spring came.
冬天过去，春天又来了。
Miss Rumphius was feeling much better.
她的身体好多了。
Now she could take walks again.
可以出门散散步。
One afternoon she started to go up and over the hill, where she had not been in a long time.
有一天下午，她慢慢地走到山坡上，她很久没来这里了。
"I don't believe my eyes!" she cried when she got to the top.
当她登上山顶，忍不住惊喜地说：“我真不敢相信自己的眼睛。”
For there on the other side of the hill was a large patch of blue and purple and rose-colored lupines!
原来，那里开满了一大片蓝色、紫色和粉红色的鲁冰花。
"It was the wind," she said as she knelt in delight.
“一定是风儿！”她高兴地蹲下来看着花朵。
"It was the wind that brought the seeds from my garden here! And the birds must have helped!"
“一定是风和小鸟儿，从我的花园里把种子带到这里。”
Then Miss Rumphius had a wonderful idea!
忽然，她想到了一个很棒的点子。
12
She hurried home and got out her seed catalogues.She sent off to the very best seed house for five bushels of lupine seed.
她立刻回家，写信去定购了一大包鲁冰花种子。
All that summer Miss Rumphius, her pockets full of seeds, wandered over fields and headlands, sowing lupines.
整个夏天，她的口袋里装满了种子，她一面散步，一面撒种子。
She scattered seeds along the highways and down the country lanes.She flung handfuls of them around the schoolhouse and back of the church. She tossed them into hollows and along stone walls.
她把种子撒在公路和乡间的小路边，撒在学校附近、教堂后面，撒在空地和高墙下面，只要她经过的地方，她就不停地撒种子，这里撒一点儿，那里撒一点儿……
Her back didn't hurt her any more at all.
她的背部一点儿也不痛了，每天都高兴地出去撒种子。
Now some people called her That Crazy Old Lady.
大家都叫她：“又老又疯的怪婆婆。”
13
The next spring there were lupines everywhere.
第二年春天，那些种子几乎同时开花了！
Fields and hillsides were covered with blue and purple and rose-colored flowers.
原野上、山坡上开满了蓝色的、紫色的和粉红色的鲁冰花。
They bloomed along the highways and down the lanes.
它们沿着公路和乡间小路盛开着。
Bright patches lay around the schoolhouse and back of the church.
明亮地点缀在教室和教堂后面。
Down in the hollows and along the stone walls grew the beautiful flowers.
连空地上和高高的石墙下面，都开满了美丽的鲁冰花。
Miss Rumphius had done the third, the most difficult thing of all!
她终于完成了第三件事，也是最困难的一件事！
14
15
My Great-aunt Alice, Miss Rumphius, is very old now. Her hair is very white.
我的姨婆现在非常老了，她的头发也白了。
Every year there are more and more lupines.
可是，她还是不停地种花，每年都开出更多更美的鲁冰花。
Now they call her the Lupine Lady.
现在，大家都喊她：“花婆婆。”
Sometimes my friends stand with me outside her gate, curious to see the old, old lady who planted the fields of lupines.
我常常和朋友站在篱笆外面，好奇地看着她种花。
When she invites us in, we come slowly.
她邀请我们进屋子里的时候，我们总是轻轻地、慢慢地。
We think she is the oldest woman in the world.
朋友们都认为她是世界上最老的一位老婆婆。
Often she tells us stories of faraway places.
她常说一些很远的地方所发生的故事。
"When I grow up," I tell her, "I too will go to faraway places and come home to live by the sea."
有一次，我告诉她：“等我长大以后，要像你一样去很远的地方旅行。当我老了，也要像你一样住在海边。”
"That is all very well, little Alice," says my aunt, "but there is a third thing you must do."
“很好，”花婆婆摸摸我的头说，“但是，小艾莉丝，你一定要记得做第三件事。”
"What is that?" I ask.
“什么事？”
"You must do something to make the world more beautiful."
“做一件让世界变得更美丽的事。”
"All right," I say.
“好哇！”我答应得又快又大声。
16
But I do not know yet what that can be.
但是，我还不知道将来会做什么样的事！
17
