精灵鼠小弟 第13期:斯图亚特和猫打赌

 Exercise

锻炼

One fine morning in the month of May when Stuart was three years old,

五月的一个晴好的早晨，已经三岁大的斯图亚特又像往常一样早早的起来，

he arose early as was his custom, washed and dressed himself, took his hat and cane¹, and went downstairs into the living room to see what was doing.

为自己洗了衣服，又戴上帽子，拿起他的手杖，跑到楼下的起居室去看别人在干什么。

Nobody was around but Snowbell, the white cat belonging to Mrs. Little.

当时除了雪球没人在场--他是利特尔太太养的一只白猫。

Snowbell was another early riser, and this morning he was lying on the rug in the middle of the room, thinking about the days when he was just a kitten.

雪球也喜欢早起，那天早上他正躺在房间中央的地毯上，回想着自己小时候的那些日子。

"Good morning," said Stuart.

"早上好，"斯图亚特说。

"Hello," replied Snowbell, sharply².

"你好，"雪球尖声回答。

"You're up early, aren't you?" Stuart looked at his watch.

"你起得很早呀，不是吗？"斯图亚特看看他的手表。

"Yes," he said, "it's only five minutes past six, but I felt good and I thought I'd come down and get a little exercise."

"是的，"他说，"现在刚刚六点过五分，可是我感觉睡够了，就想下来做一个小小的锻炼了。"

I should think you'd get all the exercise you want up there in the bathroom, banging around,

我想你喜欢在浴室里做你的那些锻炼，还喜欢到处敲来敲去的，

waking all the rest of us up trying to get that water started so you can brush your teeth.

把我们其他人都吵醒，只为打开水龙头刷你的牙。

Your teeth aren't really big enough to brush anyway.

你的牙那么小，根本不值得去刷。

Want to see a good set? Look at mine!

想看一口真正的好牙吗？我！

Snowbell opened his mouth and showed two rows of gleaming³ white teeth, sharp as needles.

雪球张开他的嘴，露出两排闪着亮光的，像针一样尖的白牙。

"Very nice," said Stuart. "But mine are all right, too, even though they're small. "

"很不错，"斯图亚特说。"但是我的牙也很好，尽管它们很小。"

As for exercise, I take all I can get. I bet my stomach muscles are firmer than yours.

至于锻炼嘛，我倒是一直在坚持做我能做的所有锻炼。所以我敢打赌，我的腹肌一定比你的更结实。

"I bet they're not," said the cat.

"我敢打赌，不是这样，"那只猫说。

"I bet they are," said Stuart. "They're like iron bands."

"我敢打赌，就是这样，"斯图亚特说。"它们就像铁一样结实。"

"I bet they're not," said the cat.

"我敢打赌，不是这样，"那只猫说。

1 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

2 sharply   

adj.锐利地，急速；adv.严厉地，鲜明地

参考例句：

• The plane dived sharply and rose again.飞机猛然俯冲而后又拉了起来。
• Demand for personal computers has risen sharply.对个人电脑的需求急剧增长。

3 gleaming   

n. 微弱的闪光, 瞬息的一现 v. 闪烁, 隐约地闪现

参考例句：

• His teeth were a gleaming flash of white against his tan. 他的牙齿在他棕褐色皮肤的映衬下白得发亮。
• Cabs and carriages, their lamps gleaming like yellow eyes, pattered by. 公共马车和私人马车嗒嗒地驶过，车灯像一双双黄色的眼睛闪闪发亮。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹