薛濤 夏盛

大嘴巴怪是個小妖怪，他媽媽才是大妖怪。他隨媽媽在山上待很久了，都待煩了，也不知道自己幾歲了。他擔(dān)心這么待下去會老得快。變成一個小老頭兒多沒意思啊。

Big Mouths mother is a big monster， while he himself is only a small one. Big Mouth and his mother had lived on a mountain his whole life but he was bored. He did not know how old he was， and he worried that staying in the mountains all day he would grow old very soon. How tedious it would be to live ones life like an old man！

他去問媽媽：“我?guī)讱q了，我是不是都快70歲了？”

媽媽笑他，“咱們妖怪沒有年齡，反正你還是小孩，離70歲可遠(yuǎn)著呢。”

He went to ask his mother， “How old am I？ Am I 70 years old？”

His mother laughed and said， “We don't have ages like humans. Anyway you are still a child.You are far from 70 years old！”

大嘴巴怪高興了一會兒。那天中午，他又待不住了，就跳出窗子，跑到山下來了。

Big Mouth was happy for a while， but at noon， he grew restless once again. He jumped out of the window and ran down the hill. He couldnt resist the temptation.

山下有個小鎮(zhèn)。大嘴巴怪藏在一堆花草里打量著這個奇怪的世界：怎么這地方的人都長小小的嘴巴呢？

There was a small town at the foot of the hill. Big Mouth hid behind a bush and watched the strange place with wonder： what a queer place！ Everyone has such a small mouth！

大嘴巴怪想不明白，就從花草里跳出來，追上一個小男孩，想問個究竟。

“喂，你們的嘴巴可真小，天天吃面條嗎？”

He couldnt understand this so he jumped out from the bush， and caught up with a boy on the road. He wanted an answer to his question.

“Hey！ What a small mouth you have！ Do you all only eat noodles？”

小男孩聽見有聲音喊他，一回頭，卻看見一個大嘴巴怪愣愣地站在那里，嚇得“哇”的一下哭著跑了，跑得遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)的。大嘴巴怪不自在地站在那里，不知該怎么辦。說心里話，他沒想到結(jié)果會是這樣?？墒撬氩坏降氖逻€在后頭呢。全鎮(zhèn)所有的小孩都嚇得抱著腦袋往警察局跑，往大人身邊跑。這還不算，他們晚上還做了有關(guān)他的噩夢。這些，他在月亮的反光里全看見了。

The boy heard a voice behind him， and when he turned his head he saw a big-mouthed monster standing there！ He was so scared that he cried out， and ran away at once， leaving Big Mouth on the side of the road， feeling awkward， not knowing what to do next. This was not what Big Mouth had expected， but stranger things were to follow. The boys in town rushed to the police department， or stayed close to their parents， and when they slept， their nightmares held the shadow of the big mouth monster. Big Mouth saw all this in the reflection of the Moon.

在那些夢里，他是個可怕的角色。他親眼看見有個小孩被他嚇得跑掉了被子，拼命往媽媽懷里鉆，還說著：“大嘴巴怪來了，他來了……”看到這些，大嘴巴怪傷心極了，他折下一片大芭蕉葉子，把月亮罩住了。

He was a monster in the boysdreams. He saw a boy kick off his quilt and cry while clinging to his mother， “Mom！ Mom！ Here comes the big-mouthed monster ！”Very sad to see this， Big Mouth broke off a basho leaf and covered the Moon.

大嘴巴怪毛手毛腳推醒了媽媽。

“難道我們是不受歡迎的人嗎？”

媽媽點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭，但同時又說：“你別有心理負(fù)擔(dān)，慢慢會適應(yīng)的……”

He shook his mother brashly and woke her up.

“Mom， are we bad ones and not welcome？”

His mother nodded but then said， “Never mind， this is what we are.”

從此，大嘴巴怪有好幾天沒再下山。他知道自己不討人喜歡，不討人喜歡主要是因?yàn)樽约旱淖彀吞筇珖樔?。他認(rèn)為嘴巴大小與說話多少有關(guān)。他懷疑他媽媽的嘴巴就是因?yàn)檎f話太多才變大的，然后又遺傳給了他。于是他生下時還沒說半句話就是個大嘴巴了。為這他有點(diǎn)兒恨媽媽了。也為這個緣故，他不肯開口說話了。

From that day on， Big Mouth stayed in the mountains. He knew he was not welcome and the main reason was his big mouth. He thought he had a big mouth because he talked too much. Mother talks too much so she has a big mouth too. And she passed that big mouth on to me. That is why I became a big mouth even when I barely said anything. Big Mouth was embarrassed by who he was and upset with his mother for making him this way. He seldom speak now.

過了7天，大嘴巴怪估計嘴巴差不多該粘到一起了，于是他又下山了，緊閉嘴巴站在小鎮(zhèn)的大街上。恰巧這時一頭小肥豬從這兒經(jīng)過。小肥豬一見大嘴巴怪站在那里，撒開四條腿就跑，邊跑還邊告訴小羊小兔他們：“大嘴巴怪來吃咱們的肉來了，快跑吧！”

Seven days passed. Big Mouth guessed his lips should be“glued”together by now， so he went down the hill again. He stood on the street， his mouth fast closed. A little pig passed by. He took off running when he saw Big Mouth， yelling at the sheep and rabbits that Big Mouth was coming for their meat. Run！ He said， Run！

大嘴巴怪哭著離開小鎮(zhèn)，一口氣跑上了山。

這時他媽媽正在吃午飯，午飯是一只烤全豬。

Big Mouth cried and left town. He ran all the way up the mountain to his home.

His mother had their lunch of roasted pig ready when he arrived.

“媽媽，我們?yōu)槭裁捶且匀思业娜饽?？?/p>

“我們總不至于要吃自己的肉吧？”

“那會很疼是吧？”

“當(dāng)然很疼了?！彼麐寢尪⒘怂谎邸Ｋ@個兒子怪念頭太多了。

“Mom， must we eat other s meat？”

“Why， we can not eat our meat， right？”

“But would it hurt？”

“Of course it hurts.”She stared at her son. What can he be thinking？ He says the strangest things these days.

“那我們就不能改吃草嗎？山上有的是草啊！”

“你應(yīng)該適應(yīng)吃肉，咱們妖怪歷來是吃肉的?！眿寢尣荒蜔┝?，“你不吃肉怎么做妖怪呢？你想改吃草，我不能答應(yīng)你！”

“可是我堅決改吃草了！”大嘴巴怪認(rèn)真地說。

“你不會喜歡吃的，不信你去試試吧！”媽媽一口啃下一塊豬肉，香噴噴嚼著。

“Cant we change our diet？ We can eat grass！ So many grasses on the mountain！”

“You should get used to eating meat. We all do.” Mama grew impatient. “How can one be a monster without eating meat？ Change our diet？What a laugh?。俊?/p>

“But I really want to eat grass now，”said Big Mouth seriously.

“You wont like it. Go try it ！”Mom said， eating her delicious pork.

那頓飯，大嘴巴怪真的從山坡上拔來一把草，放在面前，然后一根一根嚼著。吃了很長時間，總算吃飽了。打那以后，大嘴巴怪真的改吃草了。說實(shí)話，他不喜歡那種東西。但他挺住了。

Big Mouth pulled up a bunch of grass and put it before him. He ate them one by one. He ate for a long time and at last he was full. From then on， he only ate grass for food. To tell the truth， he did not like the flavor but he hung in there.

大嘴巴怪又站在小鎮(zhèn)中了，他怯怯地瞟著孩子們和小動物們。

那個曾被嚇哭的小男孩站在高處對小孩兒們說：“我說各位，怎么樣，讓他做我們的朋友吧。你們看，他長得不那么嚇人了。”

那個曾被他嚇跑的小豬對所有的小動物說：“同意吧，他已經(jīng)改吃草啦……”

Now Big Mouth again was in the town. He stole a glance at the children and the animals.

The boy who was once scared to tears said to other children， “Lets make Big Mouth our friend. You see， he is not as scary as before.”

The little pig said to other animals， “Yes， he has changed his diet！”

可是大家依舊沉默不語，一只小羊說出其他小孩兒和小動物們共同的顧慮，他說：“人們都說妖怪的心是黑的。我們可不跟黑心的妖怪交朋友……”

大嘴巴怪再也堅持不住了，他咧開大嘴大哭著跑開了。他身后那個小男孩和小肥豬遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地跟著。他們想安慰大嘴巴怪。

But others still kept silent. A sheep spoke for them， “People say a monsters heart is black， I dont want to make friends with a black-hearted one.”

Big Mouth couldnt stand it any longer. He cried， with his big mouth wide open. The little boy and the pig followed him at a distance， trying to comfort him.

大嘴巴怪剛跑上山坡就找到一塊帶尖的石頭，劃開了自己的胸膛，再用手一掏他把自己的心掏了出來。他興奮地扭回頭，想對山下喊：“你們看啊，它是紅的?！钡蓻]喊出來，舉著的手也軟軟地垂了下來，他倒在了山坡上，接著慢慢閉上眼睛。在最后一刻，他拼命把一個念頭帶走了：我要設(shè)法告訴他們，他們錯了……

Big Mouth ran up the hill and found a sharp-edged stone. He cut his breast open with it， and took out his heart. He looked down the hill and cried， “Hey， my heart is red！”Before he could complete the sentence he fell to the ground. At the last moment， he thought to himself， “I must find a way to tell them that they had me all wrong.”

第二天早上，全鎮(zhèn)的小孩兒和小動物們都聽說了有關(guān)大嘴巴怪的事。他們都后悔了。他們一齊擠上山坡，不過已經(jīng)看不見大嘴巴怪那顆心了。山坡上，在大嘴巴怪倒下的地方長出了一棵草莓，那上面，掛著一顆又紅又大的草莓果！

The next morning， all the boys and animals in town heard about what happened to Big Mouth. They felt ashamed and regretful. They climbed up the hillside， but they couldnt find Big Mouth and his heart. But right in the spot where Big Mouth died， there sprouted a plant with a beautiful strawberry hanging on it.

有個小女孩兒問大家：“那就是他的……”

大家都沒有回答，默默地看著。后來，他們戀戀不舍地走下了山坡，當(dāng)他們走到山腳再看那個山坡時，整個山坡都紅遍了。

他們都明白，那個大嘴巴怪在告訴他們有關(guān)他自己的一切。

A girl asked， “Is it his...？”

Nobody answered. Everyone looked in silence. Later they went down the hill reluctantly. When they looked back， they saw the whole hillside was carpeted in strawberry plants！

They all knew that it was Big Mouth telling them who he really was .