美国小学英语教材4:第77课 便鞋比赛(3)

 "All the ricksha men say tomorrow will be clear," said Father. “所有黄包车夫都说明天会变晴。”父亲说。

"I hope so, for already I have used six pairs of straw¹ sandals and lost them all. “希望如此，因为我已经穿了六双草鞋，全都丢了，

And Mother needs them to burn in the stove." 你母亲需要把这些草鞋放在炉子里烧。”

Chinese ricksha men wear straw sandals on their feet. 中国黄包车夫脚上穿的是草鞋。

In sunny weather, when the sandals get worn² out or broken, the ricksha men take them off and leave them in the streets. 在阳光明媚的日子里，当脚上的鞋破旧不堪时，黄包车夫就会把鞋脱下，丢在街上。

Then boys and girls of families who are very poor gather them to take home for fuel. 然后那些家境贫寒的男孩和女孩们就会把这些鞋收集在一起，带回家做燃料。

So Ting Fang³ said, "Too bad, Father, too bad! If the sun shines tomorrow, 于是方廷说：“太糟糕了，父亲，太糟糕了！如果明天天气好，

I will go out and bring in many of the old sandals that the men have lost. 我要出去，把丢的旧草鞋带回家，

When they are dry, Mother will have plenty of fuel to burn," 鞋干了，母亲就有足够的燃料。”

This is a kind of game that poor children in China play after the rain. 这是中国贫困孩子雨后玩的一种游戏。

They all go out and gather old, wet sandals from the muddy⁴ streets and bring them home. 他们都出去，从泥泞的街道上捡起又旧又湿的草鞋带回家。

They have a race, and the boy or girl who brings home the most sandals wins. 他们比赛，草鞋带回家最多的男孩或女孩获胜。

THE RACE STARTS 比赛开始

Early the next morning when the rain had stopped and the sun came out, Mother said to Ting Fang, 第二天一早，雨停了，太阳出来了，妈妈对方廷说:

" You'd better be starting to find sandals for the fire, son. “儿子，你最好开始找草鞋生火，

Take the big rope to string the sandals on and bring many home to Mother. 拿着大绳好把草鞋穿起来，带回家给我，

Be sure to bring some home by noon, so they will have time to dry before supper, 中午一定要带一些草鞋回家，这样晚饭前就有时间晒干了，

for I have nothing to burn tonight for a fire." 因为今晚没有什么东西可烧。”

1 straw   

n.稻草，麦杆，吸管；adj.用稻草做的，用来作稻草的，麦杆色的，无价值的，象稻草人的，非正式民意测验所发现的

参考例句：

• The old peasant is twisting pieces of straw into a rope.这位老农民正把稻草搓成绳子。
• May I have a straw for my drink?给我一根喝饮料的吸管好吗？

2 worn   

adj.用旧的，疲倦的；vbl.wear的过去分词

参考例句：

• The child's trousers have worn through at the knees.孩子裤子的膝盖处磨破了。
• My shoes are worn out.我的鞋子穿坏了。

3 fang   

n.尖牙，犬牙

参考例句：

• Look how the bone sticks out of the flesh like a dog's fang.瞧瞧,这根骨头从肉里露出来，象一只犬牙似的。
• The green fairy's fang thrusting between his lips.绿妖精的尖牙从他的嘴唇里龇出来。

4 muddy   

adj.泥泞的，污的，肮脏的；vt.使污浊，使沾上泥污

参考例句：

• The road is very muddy.这条路非常泥泞。
• They passed a muddy track through the forest.他们穿过森林的泥泞小路。