美国小学英语教材2:第45课 万圣节猫咪(2)

 Suddenly the cat heard a terrible noise. 突然，它听到了喧哗声。

Before she could jump off the table, 在它跳离桌子前，

a crowd of children ran happily into the room, shouting and blowing horns¹. 一群孩子高兴地进了屋子，他们叫喊着、吹着喇叭。

Some were dressed like brownies. One was dressed like a witch², and one like a fairy. 有些人穿得像布朗尼。一个人穿得像女巫，另一个像仙女。

The black cat had never seen or heard anything like this before. 黑猫以前从未见过或听到过这样的事。

She was so frightened that she could hardly move. 它非常害怕，几乎动不了。

But when the children came running over to the table, 但当孩子们跑到桌子跟前时，

the black cat gave one big leap³ to the top of the jack-o-lantern. 黑猫大步跳到了南瓜灯的顶上。

She dug⁴ her sharp claws⁵ into him and held on with all her might. 它锋利的爪子陷入灯里，用尽全力紧紧抓着。

When the children saw a black cat in the middle of the table, 孩子们看到桌子中央的黑猫时，

they screamed and shouted with joy. 高兴得尖叫起来。

"Look, mother,"cried one boy. “妈妈，看啊，”一个男孩叫道，

"A real black cat come to our Halloween party. Did an old witch bring her?" “一只真正的黑猫来参加我们的万圣节派对了。是老巫婆带它来的吗？”

Kind little Ruth tried to coax⁶ her. "Come, poor kitty, nice kitty." she said. 善良的小露丝试图哄骗它。“过来，可怜的小猫，可爱的小猫！”她说。

But the black cat only dug her claws deeper into the jack-o-lantern. 但黑猫只是更深地抓着南瓜灯。

Her tail grew big. She humped her back up very high, and showed her teeth. 它把尾巴变大，把背弓得很高，露出了牙齿。

"Poor thing, she is afraid of the noise," said mother. “可怜的家伙啊，它害怕噪音，”妈妈说，

"Stop shouting and blowing your horns. Let us be quiet for a minute, “停止叫喊和吹喇叭。我们安静一分钟，

and perhaps we can coax her to drink some milk. Please get a saucer⁷, Ruth." 或许我们可以哄着它喝点儿牛奶。露丝，拿个碟子来。”

Ruth poured part of her cup of milk into a saucer. 露丝把她杯中的牛奶倒了一部分到碟子里。

Mother set the saucer down on the floor. "Come, kitty," she said very softly⁸. 妈妈把碟子放在地上，温柔地说：“小猫，来喝吧。”

When the black cat saw the milk, she leaped down and began to drink. 当黑猫看到牛奶时，跳下来开始喝奶。

"Poor hungry kitty!" said mother, and she began to pet the cat. “可怜的饥饿小猫啊！”，妈妈说，她开始抚摸黑猫。

No one else had ever fed and petted the black cat. 从来没有人喂过和爱抚过这只黑猫。

So when she had finished her saucer of milk, she lay down at mother's feet and went to sleep. 所以它喝完碟子里的牛奶时，躺在妈妈的脚上睡着了。

"She is a real Halloween kitty," said Ruth. "May we keep her?" “它是一只真正的万圣节猫咪，”露丝说，“我们可以养它吗？”

"Yes," said mother. "I believe she will be pretty when we wash her. “当然，”妈妈说，“我相信我们给它洗完澡时，它会很漂亮。

What shall we name her?" 我们给它起什么名？”

"Call her 'Witch'," said Ruth's brother. "That's a good name for a Halloween cat." “叫它‘Witch’吧，”露丝的哥哥说，“这很适合万圣节猫咪。”

1 horns   

n.角( horn的名词复数 )；号；角质；（蜗牛等的）触角

参考例句：

• The young goat was just beginning to grow horns. 这只小山羊刚开始长角。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The blare of horns could be heard in the distance. 可以听到远处传来的号角声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 witch   

n.巫婆，女巫；vt.施巫术，迷惑

参考例句：

• The witch changed the prince into a frog.巫婆把王子变成了青蛙。
• The heartless witch cast a spell on the poor little girl.狠心的女巫对孤苦无助的小女孩施了妖术。

3 leap   

n.跳跃，飞跃，跃进；vi.跳跃，跳过；猛然行动，迅速行动；vt.跃过，使跃过

参考例句：

• In the last few years,this art has made a big leap.近几年来，这一艺术有了新的跃进。
• Her marriage to John was a leap in the dark.她与约翰结婚是贸然行动。

4 dug   

n.动物的乳房[乳头]v.挖，掘( dig的过去式和过去分词 )；（如用铲、锨或推土机等）挖掘；挖得；寻找

参考例句：

• He dug a deep hole in the garden. 他在花园里挖了个深坑。
• We dug a deep pit in the yard. 我们在院子中挖了个深洞。

5 claws   

n.爪( claw的名词复数 )；（有壳水生动物的）螯；爪形夹具；（机械的）爪

参考例句：

• the claws of a crab 螃蟹的螯
• The lion's claws had gouged a wound in the horse's side. 狮爪在马身一侧抓了一道深口。

6 coax   

v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取

参考例句：

• I had to coax the information out of him.我得用好话套出他掌握的情况。
• He tried to coax the secret from me.他试图哄骗我说出秘方。

7 saucer   

n.茶碟，茶托，小圆盘

参考例句：

• A teacup should stand in a saucer.茶杯应放在茶托上。
• I slopped tea in the saucer.我把茶溅到了茶托里。

8 softly   

adv.柔和地，静静地，温柔地

参考例句：

• He speaks too softly for her to hear.他讲话声音太轻，她听不见。
• She breathed her advice softly.她低声劝告。