绿野仙踪 第92期:找寻恶女巫(13)

 　　Now the Wicked Witch had a great longing¹ to have for her own the Silver Shoes which the girl always wore.  现在，那恶女巫非常的渴望把那女孩子的一双银鞋子，据为己有。

　　Her bees and her crows and her wolves were lying in heaps and drying up, and she had used up all the power of the Golden Cap;  她的黑蜂和她的恶狼，成了她骄傲的灰烬，她已用完了金冠的魔力；

　　but if she could only get hold of the Silver Shoes, they would give her more power than all the other things she had lost.  如果能得到银鞋子，那就能够补偿她失去的一切东西，并且且有更强大的魔力。

　　She watched Dorothy carefully, to see if she ever took off her shoes, thinking she might steal them.  她细心地监视着多萝茜，看她什么时候脱掉她的鞋子，就去偷它们。

　　But the child was so proud of her pretty shoes that she never took them off except at night and when she took her bath.  但是女孩子非常珍视她美丽的银鞋子，除非在夜里，当她去洗澡的时候，她才暂时把它脱下来。

　　The Witch was too much afraid of the dark to dare go in Dorothy's room at night to take the shoes,  女巫怕黑暗，不敢在夜里到多萝茜的房间里去拿走她的银鞋子，

　　and her dread² of water was greater than her fear of the dark, so she never came near when Dorothy was bathing.  并且她怕水，这恐怕是她最害怕的了，所以当多萝茜洗澡的时候，恶女巫也害怕走过去。

　　Indeed, the old Witch never touched water, nor ever let water touch her in any way. 的确，这个老女巫从来不敢触碰过水，无论如何，也从来没有让水触碰着她。

　　But the wicked creature was very cunning³, and she finally thought of a trick that would give her what she wanted.  但是，这个恶女巫是十分狡猾的，最后她想出了一个诡计，使她得到她所要得到的东西。

　　She placed a bar of iron in the middle of the kitchen floor, and then by her magic arts made the iron invisible to human eyes.  她在厨房间地板的中央，放着一根铁条，用她的魔术，使得人类的一双眼睛看不见它。

　　So that when Dorothy walked across the floor she stumbled⁴ over the bar, not being able to see it, and fell at full length.  当多萝茜走过这地板上时，没有看见铁条，被铁条绊了一下，就直挺挺地跌下去。

　　She was not much hurt, but in her fall one of the Silver Shoes came off;  摔在铁条上面，她摔得不是很厉害，一只银鞋子脱落了；

　　and before she could reach it, the Witch had snatched⁵ it away and put it on her own skinny foot. 在她捡回来以前，却给女巫抢了去，穿在她干瘪的脚上。

　　The wicked woman was greatly pleased with the success of her trick,  那女巫因为她的阴谋得逞，大大地快活，

　　for as long as she had one of the shoes she owned half the power of their charm,  她得到了这一只银鞋子，就得到了魔力的一半，

　　and Dorothy could not use it against her, even had she known how to do so. 即使将来多萝茜懂得怎样地应用，也不能制服她了。

1 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

2 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

3 cunning   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；n.狡猾，奸诈

参考例句：

• A spy used cunning means to find out secrets.间谍使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• The fox is known for its cleverness and cunning.狐狸的机敏和狡猾是人所共知的。

4 stumbled   

v.（不顺畅地）说( stumble的过去式和过去分词 )；跌跌撞撞地走；绊脚；（说话、演奏等）出错

参考例句：

• I stumbled and sprained my ankle. 我摔了一跤，把脚脖子扭了。
• The child stumbled and fell. 孩子绊了一下，摔倒了。

5 snatched   

突然伸手拿取，攫取，抓住( snatch的过去式和过去分词 )； 抓紧时间做； 乘机获得； 夺去

参考例句：

• The boy snatched a piece of cake and ate it hungrily. 男孩抢过一块饼便贪婪地吃起来。
• The thief snatched her handbag and ran. 盗贼抢了她的手提包就跑。