木偶奇遇记 第19期:卖掉课本

 On he ran, and louder grew the sounds of pipe and drum: pi-pi-pi, pi-pi-pi, pi-pi-pi . . .zum, zum, zum, zum.

他越往前跑，吹笛子和敲鼓的声音就越清楚：的的的，的的的，的的的……咚，咚，咚，咚。

Suddenly, he found himself in a large square,

转眼他就来到了一个大广场，

full of people standing¹ in front of a little wooden building painted in brilliant colors.

那里人山人海，都围着一个涂着鲜艳的色彩的小木棚。

"What is that house?" Pinocchio asked a little boy near him.

“这房子是什么玩竟儿？”皮诺乔问他旁边的一个小孩。

"Read the sign and you'll know."

“你就念一下海报吧，上面都写明白了，你一念就知道。”

"I'd like to read, but somehow I can't today."

“我很想念，可今天我不知为何不会念。”

"Oh, really? Then I'll read it to you.

“哦！真的吗？那我来念给你听。

Know, then, that written in letters of fire I see the words: GREAT MARIONETTE² THEATER.

你看见海报上那几个火红的大字没有，这几个字写的是：木偶大戏院……”

"When did the show start?"

“表演什么时候开始的？”

"It is starting now."

“这会儿才开场，”

"And how much does one pay to get in?"

“门票多少钱，”

"Four pennies."

“四便士。”

童话故事 木偶奇遇记

Pinocchio, who was wild with curiosity³ to know what was going on inside,

皮诺乔非常想知道里面在演什么，

lost all his pride and said to the boy shamelessly:

于是放下了所有的自尊，不害臊地跟刚才对话的孩子说：

"Will you give me four pennies until tomorrow?"

“借给我四便士行吗，明天还你？”

"I'd give them to you gladly," answered the other, poking⁴ fun at him,

“我很想借给你，”那孩子开玩笑地回答说，

"but just now I can't give them to you."

“可今天我正好不能借。”

"For the price of four pennies, I'll sell you my coat."

“四便士，我把我这件外套卖给你。”

"If it rains, what shall I do with a coat of flowered paper? I could not take it off again."

“花纸做的外套，我要来干吗？雨落到上面，我脱也脱不下来了。”

"Do you want to buy my shoes?"

“你想买我的鞋子吗？”

"They are only good enough to light a fire with."

“它们唯一的用处就是拿来生火了。”

"What about my hat?"

“那我的这顶帽子呢？”

"Fine bargain, indeed! A cap of dough⁵! The mice might come and eat it from my head!"

“确实很便宜！但一顶面团做的帽子！耗子可要到我头上来吃帽子了！”

Pinocchio was almost in tears.

皮诺乔几乎要哭了。

He was just about to make one last offer, but he lacked the courage to do so.

他还有最后一样东西想说出来，可又不敢说。

He hesitated, he wondered, he could not make up his mind.

他犹豫着，左思右想，还是拿不定主意。

At last he said: "Will you give me four pennies for the book?"

最后他还是说了：“你肯给我四便士，买了我这本书吗？”

"I am a boy and I buy nothing from boys,"

“我是个孩子，不向孩子买东西，”

said the little fellow with far more common sense than the Marionette.

对方那个小家伙回答他说，这个家伙比他这个木偶有头脑多了。

"I'll give you four pennies for your A-B-C book," said a ragpicker who stood by.

“这本识字课本四便士我买，”站在旁边的一个拾破烂的的叫起来。

Then and there, the book changed hands.

就这样，书当场卖掉了。

And to think that poor old Geppetto sat at home in his shirt sleeves,

想想那位可怜的杰佩托吧，他如今在家，卖了他的外套，

shivering⁶ with cold, having sold his coat to buy that little book for his son!

光穿着衬衫，冷得索索发抖，就为的给儿子买这么本识字课本！

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 marionette   

n.木偶

参考例句：

• With this marionette I wish to travel through the world.我希望带着这个木偶周游世界。
• The development of marionette had a great influence on the future development of opera.木偶戏的发展对以后的戏曲有十分重要的影响。

3 curiosity   

n.好奇心，新奇的事物，珍品

参考例句：

• He gave in to curiosity and opened my letter.他抑制不住好奇心，拆开了我的信。
• The children are dying of curiosity to see what's in the parcel.孩子们出于好奇，迫不及待地想看看包裹中是什么东西。

4 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

5 dough   

n.生面团；钱，现款

参考例句：

• She formed the dough into squares.她把生面团捏成四方块。
• The baker is kneading dough.那位面包师在揉面。

6 shivering   

adj.颤抖的v.（因寒冷，害怕等）颤抖，哆嗦( shiver的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was shivering with cold. 冻得他哆嗦开了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was so cold that he kept shivering. 他冻得直哆嗦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》