Brian J.Stover　楊舟

Young George was a rabbit. Not justany rabbit you understand. George was arainbow rabbit.

Georges fur was composed1 of themost beautiful colors of the rainbow， and hetruly loved to display2 his beauty.

George the rainbow rabbit lived in aburrow3 on the lane4 under a rather largeoak tree， along with his rather large family.

George had three brothers and foursisters， each of whose fur was a combinationof the most beautiful blacks， browns andwhites， but none of them could top5 thebeauty of their brother George， the rainbowrabbit. Unfortunately， George knew exactlyhow attractive he was， and he flaunted6 hisbeauty whenever possible， and often， in themost annoying ways. Georges friends wereconsiderably7 less beautiful than he was， orso George thought， anyway.

年輕的喬治是只兔子。不是你所了解的任何一種兔子。喬治是一只彩虹兔。

喬治的皮毛是由彩虹最漂亮的顏色組成的，他真的很喜歡展示他的美貌。

彩虹兔喬治和他的大家庭住在一棵相當(dāng)大的橡樹下小路邊的一個(gè)洞里。

喬治有三個(gè)兄弟和四個(gè)姐妹，每一個(gè)的皮毛都是最漂亮的黑色、棕色和白色的組合，但沒有一個(gè)比得上他們的兄弟彩虹兔喬治的美貌。不幸的是，喬治知道自己有多好看，他在任何可能的時(shí)候都常常以最讓人惱火的方式炫耀自己的美貌。喬治的朋友們遠(yuǎn)不如他漂亮，至少喬治是這么想的。

George often wandered up and down thelane so that his friends， who he felt were notas beautiful， could see him， and compliment8him on his beauty.

One day as he strolled the lane， William， avery handsome gopher9 whose fur was com -prised 10 of the prettiest shades of brown，popped11 out of his hole and noticed his friendGeorge with the beautiful rainbow colored fur.

William was a good-natured12 gopher， andhe kindly complimented George on his beauty.“My goodness George， your fur certainly looksquite beautiful today，”smiled William.

“Oh， I know！ And Im sorry you cannotbe as beautiful as I，”said George. That actuallymade William feel rather badly， becauseWilliam felt that he was beautiful，too.

“I may not be as beautiful as George，”William thought，“but I think Im beautiful inmy own way.”

George continued down the lane withouta care in the world， because after all， he wasbeautiful. Martin， a sociable and good lookingcrow13 whose feathers were comprised of the?most beautiful shades of black， also noticedGeorge and his beauty. Martin， who sat atopan old tree stump14， decided that on this， themost beautiful of days， he would complimentGeorge， whose fur was comprised of the mostbeautiful colors of the rainbow.

喬治經(jīng)常在小路上徘徊，以便讓那些他覺得沒他漂亮的朋友們能看到他，并稱贊他的美貌。

一天，當(dāng)他在小路上散步時(shí)，非常英俊的地鼠威廉，從洞里跳出來。他的皮毛由最漂亮的棕色組成。他注意到了他有著漂亮彩虹色皮毛的朋友喬治。

威廉是一只性情溫和的地鼠，他親切地稱贊喬治的美貌?！拔业奶彀?，喬治，你的毛皮今天看起來真漂亮。”威廉笑著說。

“哦，我知道！我很抱歉你不能像我一樣漂亮?！眴讨握f。這實(shí)際上讓威廉感到很難過，因?yàn)橥X得自己也很漂亮。

“ 我可能沒有喬治那么好看?！蓖?，“但我自己覺得我很漂亮?！?/p>

喬治毫不在意地繼續(xù)走在小路上，因?yàn)楫吘顾芷?。馬丁是一只善于交際、長得很好看的烏鴉，他的羽毛由最漂亮的黑色組成。他也注意到了喬治和他的美貌。棲息在一根老樹樁上的馬丁決定，在這個(gè)最美好的日子里，他要贊美皮毛由彩虹最漂亮的顏色組成的喬治。

“Good golly George， you sure lookbeautiful today！ ”crowed Martin.

“Oh yes， I am the most beautifulcreature on earth， and I am so sorry that youcannot be as beautiful as I， but I cannot helpthat.”Martin quickly became unhappy， onthis the most beautiful of days. “Well， Ialways thought that I was beautiful in my ownway，”said Martin to himself， as he flew off inbewilderment15.

Continuing on， George began to thinkhimself even more beautiful because after all，so many others also noticed his beauty.

Nancy hopped into the lane. She was alovely little tree frog whose skin wascomprised of the most beautiful shades ofgreen， and she too noticed George and hisbeautiful colors.

“天哪，喬治，你今天看起來真漂亮！”馬丁高興地說。

“哦，是的，我是世界上最漂亮的生物，我很抱歉你不能像我一樣漂亮，但我沒有辦法?！痹谶@最美好的日子里，馬丁很快就變得不開心了?！斑?，我自己一直認(rèn)為我很漂亮?！碑?dāng)馬丁困惑地飛走時(shí)，他對(duì)自己說。

就這樣繼續(xù)著，喬治開始覺得自己更漂亮了，因?yàn)楫吘蛊渌芏嗳艘沧⒁獾搅怂拿烂病?/p>

南希跳上了小路。她是一只可愛的小樹蛙，她的皮膚由最漂亮的綠色組成。她也注意到了喬治和他漂亮的顏色。

“Goodness George， dont you lookbeautiful today！ ”croaked16 Nancy.

“Well， of course I am，”acknowledged17George. “Everyone can see how beautiful Iam， and Im sorry that you cannot be asbeautiful as I， but I cannot help that.”Georges response left Nancy feeling ratherlow， and as she hopped away she thought toherself， “I may not be quite as beautiful asGeorge， but Im special too， arent I？”

At the end of the lane was aplayground where the youngsters18 of theforest gathered to play. On this the mostbeautiful of days， William Gopher， MartinCrow and Nancy Tree Frog entered theplayground feeling about as low as theypossibly could.

“Whats wrong with you two？”askedMartin Crow. “Well， to tell you the truth， Idont feel very good about myself today，”croaked Nancy.“And I dont feel very goodabout myself either，” sighed William.“Something George said to me earlier todaymade me feel pretty miserable19.”

“Same here，”croaked Nancy.

“天哪，喬治，你今天看起來真漂亮！”南希呱呱叫道。

“我當(dāng)然漂亮?！眴讨纬姓J(rèn)說，“每個(gè)人都能看到我有多漂亮，我很抱歉你不能像我一樣美，但我沒有辦法。”喬治的回答讓南希感到相當(dāng)沮喪。當(dāng)她跳走時(shí)，她心里想：“我可能沒有喬治那么漂亮，但是我也很特別，不是嗎？”

小路的盡頭是一個(gè)游樂場，森林里的小動(dòng)物們聚集在這里玩耍。在這最美好的日子里，地鼠威廉、烏鴉馬丁和樹蛙南希走進(jìn)了游樂場，感到前所未有地低落。

“你們倆怎么了？”烏鴉馬丁問道。“好吧，說實(shí)話，我今天自我感覺不太好?！蹦舷＿蛇傻卣f?！拔乙沧晕腋杏X不太好?！蓖畤@了口氣，“喬治今天早些時(shí)候?qū)ξ艺f的話讓我感到很難受?！?/p>

“我也是?！蹦舷＿蛇山械?。

“Thats what happened to me too，”William said. Then he thought for a moment.“Perhaps from now on we should just ignoreGeorge the not so beautiful rainbow rabbit，”he suggested.

So on that day it was agreed， there wouldbe no more compliment to George the not sobeautiful rainbow rabbit.

The next day， George was feelingexceptionally20 beautiful， and he went for ahop down the lane so that others might admirehis beauty. George came across WilliamGopher and he strolled21 closer so that itwould be easier for William to compliment himon his beauty. But William ignored George，and refused to notice Georges beautiful fur.“Well， that is strange，”thought George.“Hedidnt notice me.” So George hopped on，thinking it weird that he went unnoticed onthis the most beautiful of days， particularlysince he considered himself the most beautifulof all creatures on this earth.

Soon， George came upon Martin Crow.“Iwill make my beauty extremely obvious toMartin，”thought George， so he hopped right in?front of Martin.“Hello， Martin，”said George.Martin ignored him. He flew away withoutspeaking a word to George or complimentinghim on his beauty. George was beginning tofeel a little bit upset， but he continued on.He thought it strange that he was beingignored by two friends who at the very leastshould have acknowledged him as being themost beautiful creature on earth.

“那也是我的遭遇?！蓖f。然后他想了一會(huì)兒?！耙苍S從現(xiàn)在起，我們應(yīng)該忽略喬治這只不那么漂亮的彩虹兔?！彼ㄗh道。

因此，在那一天，人們一致同意不再贊美并不那么漂亮的彩虹兔喬治了。

第二天，喬治覺得自己異常漂亮，然后他沿著小路跳了跳，這樣其他人就可以欣賞到他的美貌了。喬治遇到了地鼠威廉，他走近他，這樣就更容易讓威廉稱贊他的美貌。但是威廉不理喬治，拒絕去看喬治漂亮的皮毛。“這很奇怪。”喬治想，“他沒有注意到我。”于是喬治繼續(xù)向前跳，覺得奇怪的是，在這最美好的日子里，他沒有被人注意到，尤其是他認(rèn)為自己是地球上最漂亮的生物。

不一會(huì)兒，喬治遇到了烏鴉馬丁?！拔視?huì)讓馬丁一看便知我的美貌?！眴讨蜗?，于是他跳到了馬丁面前?！澳愫茫R丁?！眴讨握f。馬丁不理他。他沒有對(duì)喬治說一句話，也沒有贊美他的美貌，就飛走了。喬治開始感到有點(diǎn)沮喪，但他繼續(xù)向前跳。他覺得奇怪的是，他被兩個(gè)朋友忽視了，他們至少應(yīng)該承認(rèn)他是世界上最漂亮的。

George noticed Nancy hopping throughthe lane and he called out“， Hi，Nancy！ ”But she continued hopping down the path，totally ignoring his beauty. George didntunderstand.“I am beautiful today， arentI？”thought a worried George.

George， who by now felt very disap -pointed on this the most beautiful of days，hopped on down to the playground， where hesaw that William Gopher， Martin Crow andNancy Tree Frog were all playing together.

George had a sad look on his face ashe hopped over to his friends.

“Why are you all ignoring me？”heasked them.

喬治注意到南希正蹦跳著穿過小路，他喊道：“嗨，南希！”但她繼續(xù)沿著小路蹦蹦跳跳，全然不顧他的美貌。喬治不明白。“我今天很漂亮，不是嗎？”煩惱的喬治想。

現(xiàn)在對(duì)這最美好的日子感到非常失望的喬治跳到游樂場上，看到地鼠威廉、烏鴉馬丁和樹蛙南希都在一起玩。

喬治跳到朋友身邊時(shí)，臉上露出傷心的表情。

“為什么你們都不理我？”他問他們。

“You may be comprised of the mostbeautiful colors of the rainbow，” crowedMartin，“but lately you are not nice inside.”

“It doesnt matter if were not asbeautiful as you， because each of us isbeautiful in our own way. But you George，have been acting like one rude andconceited22 little rabbit.”

“Beauty is， as beauty does， George，”said Nancy Tree Frog. “If you treat othersbadly， and act as if youre better thaneverybody else， pretty soon nobodys goingto think you are beautiful at all！ ”

“But if you were the plainest little rabbiton the face of the earth， it still wouldnt matterto any of us，”said Martin.“We care aboutwhats on the inside， not whats on theoutside！ ”

“Sharing kind words and thoughtfulactions and respecting our feelings is whatstruly beautiful，”explained William.

George realized how badly he had hurthis friends feelings.

“Theyre right，”thought George.

“你可能是由彩虹中最漂亮的顏色組成的?！瘪R丁叫道，“但最近你內(nèi)心并不美好?！?/p>

“如果我們不如你漂亮，這無關(guān)緊要，因?yàn)槲覀兠總€(gè)都有自己獨(dú)特的美。但喬治你一直表現(xiàn)得像一只無禮自大的小兔子?！?/p>

“美麗是一種行為表現(xiàn)，喬治?！睒渫苣舷Ｕf，“如果你對(duì)別人不好，表現(xiàn)得好像你比別人都好，很快就沒有人會(huì)認(rèn)為你很漂亮了！”

“但如果你是地球上最普通的小兔子，那對(duì)我們?nèi)魏稳藖碚f都無關(guān)緊要?！瘪R丁說，“我們關(guān)心的是內(nèi)在的東西，而不是外在的東西！”

“分享善意的話語和周到的行動(dòng)，以及尊重我們的感受，才是真正美好的東西?！蓖忉尩?。

喬治意識(shí)到他深深傷害了朋友們的感情。

“他們是對(duì)的?！眴讨蜗?。

“Im so sorry，”he told them. “Ill domy best to never be rude or act conceitedagain，”he promised. Then George cocked hishead and took a good long look at his friends.“Have I mentioned how beautiful each of youlooks to me today？”he asked.

Martin， William and Nancy smiled.

“Ah， come on， George，”they said.“Letsall go and play.”

And it was beautiful.

On this， the most beautiful of days！

“我非常抱歉?！彼嬖V他們。

“我會(huì)盡我最大的努力，不再無禮或自大?！彼兄Z道。然后，喬治抬起腦袋，仔細(xì)打量了他的朋友們。

“我有沒有說過你們今天看起來有多漂亮？”他問。

馬丁，威廉和南希笑了。

“啊，來吧，喬治。”他們說，“我們都去玩吧。”

這很美好。

在這最美好的日子里！

（英語原文選自院the-office.com）