《风语河岸柳》第7章 重返蛤蟆宅第(7)

And,now, ' said the Badger¹, after breakfast the next morning, 'we must have a Victory Party. Toad², you must write and invite all our friends for tonight. '

现在，第二天早餐后，獾开口道，我们应该举行一个庆功宴会。癞蛤蟆，你应该写些请柬邀请我们所有的朋友今晚来这儿。

'What—me do all the work?' said Toad crossly, 'Why…'He suddenly stopped, then said, ' Yes, of course. I'll do every-thing. I'll plan the party, and the singing and—'

什么——我干这所有的活？癞蛤蟆生气地说，为什么……他突然停下来，然后说道：是的，当然。我将照办，安排一个派对，又唱又——

'Oh no, ' said the Rat, 'You're not going to sing any of your songs. '

噢，不，水鼠打断道，你不要再唱你的那些歌了。

'Not just one little song?' asked Toad miserably³.

一首都不行吗？癞蛤蟆伤心地问道。

' No, Toady⁴. You know very well that your songs are all about you and how clever you are. They're just one long boast! '

不行，阿癞。你很了解你的歌全是关于你自己，还有你是多么聪明之类的。那仅仅是些冗长的吹牛皮罢了！

' Come on now, Toad, ' said the Badger kindly⁵.

好了，蛤蟆，獾和善地说。

'You know that you have to change your ways and become a sensible animal.

你知道你得改变你的行事方式，成为一只理智的动物。

Why not begin now?

为什么不从现在开始呢？

What better moment could there be, on your return to Toad Hall?'

如今你重新返回蛤蟆宅第，还有比现在更好的时刻吗？

Toad looked at his three friends' serious faces.

癞蛤蟆看着三位朋友严肃的表情，

For a long while he seemed to be thinking deeply. At last he spoke⁶.

很长时间，他似乎沉浸在思考中。最后他开口了。

'My friends, you are right, ' he said sadly.

我的朋友，你们是对的，他难过地说道，

'And I am wrong.

我错了，

From today, I will be a very different Toad. You will never be ashamed of me again. '

从今天开始，我将洗心革面，你们将不再会为我感到羞耻了。

The party was a great success.

晚会非常成功。

Everyone wanted to hear about the battle, and there was a lot of noisy talking and laughing.

每个人都想听听那次袭击，大家在那儿说着，笑着，吵吵嚷嚷的。

But Toad was not at all noisy.

但是癞蛤蟆一点也不吵。

He moved quietly round the room, making sure that everyone had enough to eat and drink.

他在房间里静静地转悠着，保证大家都有足够的食品和饮料。

He said very little about the battle, only, 'Oh, it was Badger's clever plan. And the Mole⁷ and the Rat did all the hard fighting.

关于那次战斗，他只谈了一点点：哦，那是獾的妙计，鼹鼠和水鼠的英勇作战。

His three friends watched him with their mouths open in surprise-which pleased Toad very much.

他的三位朋友张大嘴巴吃惊地看着他—这让癞蛤蟆非常开心。

Towards the end of the evening, some of the younger animals started banging on the table and shouting, ' Toad! Song! Mr Toad' s Song! ' But Toad only shook his head gently, and immediately began a quiet conversation with Otter⁸, asking in an interested voice about his children.

晚宴临近尾声时，一些年轻的动物开始敲着桌子叫着：蛤蟆！唱歌！唱首蛤蟆先生的歌！但是癞蛤蟆只是轻轻地摇了摇头，很快又转过去静静地和水獭聊天，还很感兴趣地问着他孩子们的情况。

He was indeed a different Toad!

他确实是改变了！

1 badger   

v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠

参考例句：

• Now that our debts are squared.Don't badger me with them any more.我们的债务两清了。从此以后不要再纠缠我了。
• If you badger him long enough,I'm sure he'll agree.只要你天天纠缠他，我相信他会同意。

2 toad   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆

参考例句：

• Both the toad and frog are amphibian.蟾蜍和青蛙都是两栖动物。
• Many kinds of toad hibernate in winter.许多种蟾蜍在冬天都会冬眠。

3 miserably   

adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地

参考例句：

• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
• It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 toady   

v.奉承；n.谄媚者，马屁精

参考例句：

• He flung it in my teeth that I was a toady.他责备我是个马屁精。
• Arrogance has no defense against a toady.傲慢防不了谄媚者。

5 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。

8 otter   

n.水獭

参考例句：

• The economists say the competition otter to the brink of extinction.经济学家们说，竞争把海獭推到了灭绝的边缘。
• She collared my black wool coat with otter pelts.她把我的黑呢上衣镶上了水獭领。