Paula Moore

Once upon a time， there was a forest fire in a big forest. All the littleanimals that lived there ran as fast as they could to get away from the hotflames1. Many animals had to find new homes. Some of them went to otherforests， some of them went to parks， and some of them had to make their littlehomes in the yards of people.

從前，一個大森林里發(fā)生了一場森林火災(zāi)。所有生活在那里的小動物都以最快的速度逃走了，以躲避熾熱的火焰。許多動物不得不尋找新的家園。它們中有一些去了其他森林，有些去了公園，還有一些不得不在人類的院子里安家。

Far， far away from the fire was a house where three little children lived. Theirnames were Thomas， Kathy， and Carrie. They all went to school. But on a Saturdayin September， and they had been playing all morning. Now it was lunchtime. Theywere hungry. They asked their mom if they could have lunch， and she said，“Whydont you have a picnic in the yard？”

離大火很遠(yuǎn)的地方有一所房子，里面住著三個小孩。他們的名字是托馬斯、凱西和卡麗。他們都要上學(xué)，但在九月的一個星期六，他們玩了一上午?，F(xiàn)在是午飯時間，他們餓了。他們問媽媽可不可以吃午飯，她說：“你們?yōu)槭裁床辉谠鹤永镆安湍?？?/p>

Mom told them to put a picnic cloth on the green grass near the bushes. Whilethey were doing that， she would make some celery sticks2， carrot sticks， peanutbutter and jelly3 sandwiches.

媽媽叫他們在灌木叢附近的綠草地上鋪一塊野餐布。當(dāng)他們鋪布的時候，她會做一些芹菜條、胡蘿卜條、花生醬和果醬三明治。

When the kids had spread4 out the picnic cloth， they ran into the kitchen andasked if lunch was ready. Mom told them to take the carrot sticks and plates out tothe cloth， and to take their drinks， too. So Thomas， Kathy and Carrie took thesethings out to the cloth and arranged5 them carefully. Then they ran as fast as theycould back to the kitchen and said to Mom，“What else have you made so far？”Shesaid， “Ive got your celery sticks cut up now—run these out to your picnic cloth.”

So the three kids ran out fast to add these to the carrots on their plates.

孩子們鋪好野餐布后跑進(jìn)廚房，問午餐準(zhǔn)備好了沒。媽媽讓他們把胡蘿卜條和盤子拿出去放在布上，還有他們的飲料。于是，托馬斯、凱西和卡麗把這些東西拿出去放在野餐布上，仔細(xì)擺放好。然后他們以最快速度跑回廚房，對媽媽說：“到目前為止，你還做了什么？”她說：“我已經(jīng)把芹菜條給你們切好了，現(xiàn)在把這些拿去放到野餐布上去?！庇谑侨齻€孩子飛快地跑了出去，把它們和盤子里的胡蘿卜放到一起。

But when they got to the cloth， something was wrong. Where were the carrotsticks？ They were all gone！ Kathy said， “Well， lets leave the celery sticks here andsee what happens！ ”

但當(dāng)他們走到野餐布那里時，覺得有點(diǎn)不對勁。胡蘿卜條哪里去了？它們都不見了！凱西說：“嗯，我們把芹菜條放在這里，看看會發(fā)生什么！”

Then they ran as fast as they could back to Mom. They told her that someone hadstolen6 the carrot sticks. She said， “Youre kidding！ ”And they said， “Come on！ Wellshow you！ ”Mom hurried out with them to the picnic cloth. But now， not only were thecarrot sticks missing， but the celery sticks were gone， too！

然后他們盡可能快地跑回媽媽身邊。他們告訴她有人偷了胡蘿卜條。她說：“你們在開玩笑吧！”他們說：“來吧，我們證明給你看！”媽媽趕緊和他們出去來到野餐布那里。但現(xiàn)在，不僅胡蘿卜條不見了，芹菜條也不見了！

Mom said， “Well， your drinks are still out here. Lets get your sandwiches. Goand eat them out here and maybe something will turn up.”So Thomas， Kathy andCarrie sat down to their picnic and they ate their sandwiches. Of course， while theysat there， they couldnt help but look around for the celery and carrot thief7.

媽媽說：“好吧，你們的飲料還在外面。拿上你們的三明治，去外面吃吧，也許會有什么轉(zhuǎn)機(jī)?！庇谑?，托馬斯、凱西和卡麗坐下來野餐，吃起了三明治。當(dāng)然，坐在那里時，他們還是忍不住四下尋找那個偷芹菜和胡蘿卜的小偷。

They were just about to finish eating when Carrie looked over at the bushes andsaw something moving. She softly said， “Shshsh！ ”to Thomas and Kathy.“Theressomething wiggling8 over there！ See the bushes moving？”So everyone sat very still，and a little brown animal came to edge9 of the bushes and looked at them. It was arabbit. Quietly it went back into the bushes.

他們快吃完的時候，卡麗看向灌木叢，看到有什么動靜。她悄悄地對托馬斯和凱西說：“噓！那邊有東西在晃動！看到灌木叢在動了嗎？”于是大家都坐在那里一動不動，一只棕色的小動物來到灌木叢邊，看著他們。那是一只兔子，它悄悄地回到灌木叢里去了。

“I have an idea，”said Thomas. “Lets get more celery and carrots， and see ifthat rabbit is the thief. Well put them at the edge of the bushes， and watch from thewindow.”

“我有個主意?！蓖旭R斯說，“我們再去弄些芹菜和胡蘿卜，看看那只兔子是不是那個小偷。我們把它們放在灌木叢邊，然后從窗戶那里觀察?！?/p>

They quietly went back into the house and took more celery and carrots. Theycarefully put them down near the bushes and walked back to the house. As theywatched， the little rabbit came out and put some vegetables in his mouth and carriedthe rest of them back into the bushes. Mom had watched， too， and she said that shehad never seen a rabbit in the yard before. She thought that maybe because of theforest fire， he needed to look for a new home.

他們悄悄地回到房子里，又拿了一些芹菜和胡蘿卜。他們小心翼翼地把它們放在灌木叢附近，然后走回了房子。在他們的注視下，那只小兔子出現(xiàn)了，它往嘴里塞了一些蔬菜，然后把剩下的帶回了灌木叢中。媽媽也看到了，她說以前從來沒有在院子里見過兔子。她想，也許是因?yàn)槟菆錾执蠡?，它需要尋找一個新家。

“Maybe we can keep feeding this rabbit， and he will stay here for a long time，”

said Mom. That is just what they did in the following days. It turned cooler and whenwinter came， they didnt see the rabbit. Sometimes they would take food out to theedge of the bushes， and sometimes the food would disappear10， and other times itjust stayed there. All winter they worried about the rabbit.

“也許我們可以繼續(xù)喂這只兔子，它就會在這里待很長時間?！眿寢屨f。這正是他們在接下來的日子里所做的。天氣轉(zhuǎn)涼了，當(dāng)冬天來臨時，他們沒有看到那只兔子。有時他們會把食物放到灌木叢的邊緣，有時食物會消失，而其他時候食物沒有被動過。整個冬天他們都在擔(dān)心那只兔子。

They waited for the rabbit day after day and spring came. In early April， whenthe trees had just a few leaves， Thomas， Kathy， and Carrie took the food out to thebushes as usual. After a while， the little rabbit came out and took it. Whatever hehad done during the winter， he was OK now！

他們?nèi)諒?fù)一日地等候那只兔子，直到春天到來。四月初，當(dāng)樹上剛長出幾片葉子時，托馬斯、凱西和卡麗像往常一樣把食物帶到灌木叢那兒。過了一會兒，那只小兔子跳出來拿走了食物。不管它在冬天做了什么，現(xiàn)在它平安無事！

The kids went on feeding him. One day， the little rabbit came out to get hisfood， and he had four little rabbits with him！ Their rabbit was a mommy rabbit！ Sofrom that time on， year after year， there was always a little rabbit family that lived inthe bushes.

孩子們繼續(xù)喂養(yǎng)它。一天，小兔子出來拿它的食物，還帶著四只小兔子！他們的兔子居然是一只兔媽媽！于是從那時起，年復(fù)一年，灌木叢里一直住著一個兔子小家庭。

Notes

1. flame 火焰；火舌

2. celery stick 芹菜梗

3. jelly? 常涂于面包上的果醬

4. spread? 展開；打開；鋪開

5. arrange 整理；布置

6. steal? 偷竊；盜竊

7. thief? 賊；小偷；偷竊犯

8. wiggle 使……扭動；擺動

9. edge 邊；邊緣

10. disappear 消失；不見