绿野仙踪 第55期:田鼠皇后(3)

 

One by one the mice came creeping back, and Toto did not bark again,  田鼠都爬了回来，托托不再吠了，

although he tried to get out of the Woodman's arms,  仍在铁皮人的手臂挣扎着，

and would have bitten him had he not known very well he was made of tin.  甚至咬他，它忘了他是铁皮做的。

Finally one of the biggest mice spoke¹. 后来其中一只最大的田鼠开口了。

"Is there anything we can do," it asked, "to repay² you for saving the life of our Queen?" 它问道：“你救出我们皇后的性命，我们怎么报答你呢？”

"Nothing that I know of," answered the Woodman;  “我想不起有什么事可做，”铁皮人回答说；

but the Scarecrow, who had been trying to think,  稻草人也在思索着，

but could not because his head was stuffed with straw, said, quickly,  但是他想不出，因为他的头是稻草填塞的，只好信口说到：

"Oh, yes; you can save our friend, the Cowardly Lion, who is asleep in the poppy bed." “啊，有一件事情，你们去救出那只胆小的狮子，它是我们的伙伴儿，它睡倒在罂粟花的田地里。”

"A Lion!" cried the little Queen. "Why, he would eat us all up." “一只狮子！”小皇后叫着说；“不可思议，它会把我们全都吃掉的。”

"Oh, no," declared the Scarecrow; "this Lion is a coward³." “啊，没关系，”稻草人断然地说；“它是个胆小鬼。”

"Really?" asked the Mouse. 一只田鼠问：“真的吗？”

"He says so himself," answered the Scarecrow,  “是它自己告诉我们的，”稻草人回答说。

"and he would never hurt anyone who is our friend. If you will help us to save him I promise that he shall treat you all with kindness." “它决不会伤害谁，它是我们的朋友。况且你们帮助我们救它，我保证它将会和善而友好地对待你们。”

"Very well," said the Queen, "we trust you. But what shall we do?" “那太好了，”皇后说，“我们相信你。但是我们能做些什么呢？”

"Are there many of these mice which call you Queen and are willing to obey you?" “你是这些田鼠的皇后，是不是所有田鼠都听从你的命令？”

"Oh, yes; there are thousands," she replied. “当然，是的；我们还有很多老百姓呢，”她回答说。

"Then send for them all to come here as soon as possible, and let each one bring a long piece of string." “那么，请你尽快地昭唤他们到这里来，并且让它们每一个都带着一根长绳子。” 

1 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。

2 repay   

v.偿还，报答，还钱给

参考例句：

• I feel honor bound to repay the money I borrowed.我觉得有责任归还我借的钱。
• I must repay her for her kindness.我必须报答她的恩惠。

3 coward   

n.懦夫，胆小鬼

参考例句：

• The newspapers had unjustly labelled him as a coward.那家报纸不公正地称他为懦夫。
• I was basically a dreadful coward.从根本上说，我非常胆小怕事。