廣東珠海市斗門區(qū)第二實驗小學(xué) 歐雪瑩 譯注

He hadjourneyeda long way,and was very tired.It seemed like a dream when he stood up after a sleep in the field,and looked over the wall,and saw the garden,and the flowers,and the children playing all about.He looked at the long road behind him,at the dark wood and thebarrenhills—it was the world to which hebelonged.He looked at the garden before him,at the big house,and theterrace,and the steps that led down to the smoothlawn—it was the world which belonged to the children.

他走了很遠的路，已經(jīng)很累了。他在田野里睡了一覺，然后站起身來，望著墻，看到了花園、鮮花和孩子們在四處玩耍，這就像是一場夢。他看著身后長長的路，看著黑暗的樹林和貧瘠的山丘——這是他所屬的世界。他看著面前的花園、大房子、露臺和通向平坦草坪的臺階——這是屬于孩子們的世界。

“Poor boy,” said the elder child,“I will get you something to eat.”

“可憐的孩子，”大孩子說，“我會給你弄點吃的?！?/p>

“But where did he come from?” the gardener asked.

“但是，他是從哪里來的？”園丁問道。

“We do not know,” the child answered,“But he is very hungry,and Mother says we may give him some food.”

“我們不知道，”孩子回答,“但是他很餓，媽媽說我們可以給他一些食物?！?/p>

“I will take him some milk,” said the little one,in one hand she carried amugand with the other she pulled along her little brokencart.

“我給他拿些牛奶，”小家伙說道。她一只手拿著一個杯子，另一只手拉著她的破小推車。

“But what is he called?” asked the gardener.

“可是，他叫什么名字？”園丁問。

“We do not know,” the little one answered,“But he is very thirsty,and we give him some milk.”

“我們不知道，”小家伙回答道，“但是他很渴，我們給了他一些牛奶?！?/p>

“Where is he going?” asked the gardener.

“他要去哪里？”園丁問。

“We do not know,” the children said,“but he is very tired.”

“我們不知道，”孩子們說，“但他很累?！?/p>

When the boy had rested well,he got up saying,“I must not stay any longer.” And he turned to go on his way.

男孩休息好后，他站起來說 ：“我不能再在這待下去了?！比缓螅D(zhuǎn)身就趕路了。

“What have you to do?” the children asked.

“你要做什么？”孩子們問道。

“I am one of the ‘crew’,and must help to make the ‘world’ go round,” he answered.

“我是‘乘務(wù)員’之一，必須幫助‘世界’運轉(zhuǎn)?！彼卮鸬馈?/p>

“Why do we not help too?”

“為什么我們幫不上忙？”

“You are the ‘passengers’.”

“你們是‘乘客’?！?/p>

“How far have you to go?” they asked.

“你還得走多遠？”他們問道。

“Oh,a long way!” he answered,“On and on until I can touch the sun.”

“哦，還有很長的路！”他回答道，“一直走，直到我能觸摸到太陽?！?/p>

“Will you really touch it?” they said,awestruck.

“你真的會觸摸到太陽嗎？”他們敬畏地說道。

“I dare say I shall tire long before I get there,” he answered sadly.“Perhaps without knowing it,though,I shall reach it in my sleep,” he added.But they hardly heard the last words,for he was already far off.

“我敢說，在我到達那里之前，我會很累的?！彼瘋鼗卮?。他補充道：“也許在我不知道的情況下，我會在睡夢中夠到它。”但他們幾乎聽不到最后一句話，因為他已經(jīng)走遠了。

“Why did you talk to him?” the gardener said,“He is just a working boy.”

“你為什么和他說話？”園丁說，“他只是一個童工?！?/p>

“And we do nothing! It was very good of him to notice us,” they said,humbly.

他們謙恭地說：“我們什么也沒做！他能注意到我們真是太好了。”

“Good!” said the gardenerin despair.“Why,between you and him there is a great difference.”

“很好！”園丁絕望地說，“唉，你們和他之間有很大的不同?！?/p>

“There was only a wall,” they answered.“Who set it up?” they askedcuriously.

“我們之間僅僅隔著一堵墻，”他們回答?！笆钦l修建這堵墻的？”他們好奇地問道。

“Why,the builders,of course.Men set it up.”

“哦，當(dāng)然是建筑工。是人建造的?！?/p>

“And who will pull it down?”

“誰會把它推倒呢？”

“It will not want any pulling down,” the gardener answeredgrimly,“Time will do that.”

“它不需要任何外力就會倒，”園丁冷漠地回答，“時間會做到的。”

As the children went back to their play,they looked up at the light towards which the boy was journeying.

當(dāng)孩子們回去玩的時候，他們抬頭看著那道光，那個男孩正迎光而去。

“Perhaps we too shall reach it some day,” they said.

“也許有一天我們也會觸摸到太陽的?！彼麄冋f。

Notes:

journeyv.旅行

barrenadj.貧瘠的

belongv.屬于

terracen.露臺

lawnn.草坪

mugn.杯子；大缸

cartn.小推車

crewn.乘務(wù)員

awestruckadv.敬畏地

humblyadv.謙卑地

in despair 處于絕望

curiouslyadv.好奇地

grimlyadv.冷漠地