木偶奇遇记 第62期:匹诺曹再被捕(1)

 　　Chapter 21

　　第21章

　　Pinocchio, as you may well imagine, began to scream and weep and beg; but all was of no use, for no houses were to be seen and not a soul passed by on the road. Night came on.

　　诸位可以想象，皮诺乔开始大哭大叫，大叫饶命。可是这都徒劳无功，因为这儿周围没有一座房子，路上也没有一个行人。这时候天黑了。

　　A little because of the sharp pain in his legs, a little because of fright at finding¹ himself alone in the darkness of the field, the Marionette² was about to faint, when he saw a tiny Glowworm flickering³ by.

　　一部分是由于他的腿太痛，一部分是由于他独自身处漆黑的田野里，木偶几乎就要昏过去了，正在这时，他看见一只闪烁的小萤火虫。

　　He called to her and said: "Dear little Glowworm, will you set me free?"

　　他马上叫住萤火虫，对它说：“亲爱的小萤火虫，你能放我自由么？”

　　"Poor little fellow!" replied the Glowworm, stopping to look at him with pity. "How came you to be caught in this trap?"

　　“可怜的孩子！”萤火虫停下来，同情地看着他回答说。“你是怎么掉入陷阱的？”

　　"I stepped into this lonely field to take a few grapes and--"

　　“我走进这块偏僻的田野，想采点葡萄吃，然后……”

　　"Are the grapes yours?" -"No."

　　“这些葡萄是你的吗？” -“不是。”

　　"Who has taught you to take things that do not belong to you?" -"I was hungry."

　　“那么，是谁教你拿别人东西的？”-“我饿了。”

　　"Hunger, my boy, is no reason for taking something which belongs to another."

　　“我的孩子，饥饿不能作为占有别人东西的理由。”

　　"It's true, it's true!" cried Pinocchio in tears. "I won't do it again."

　　“这是真的，这是真的！”皮诺乔嚎啕大哭，“下回我再不干了。”

　　Just then, the conversation was interrupted by approaching footsteps⁴.

　　正说到这里，他们被走近的脚步声打断了。

　　It was the owner of the field, who was coming on tiptoes to see if, by chance, he had caught the Weasels which had been eating his chickens.

　　来的是这块地的主人。他踮起脚尖走来看有没有抓住晚上偷吃鸡的黄鼠狼。

　　Great was his surprise when, on holding up his lantern, he saw that, instead of a Weasel, he had caught a boy!

　　当他举起灯笼，看见捉到的不是黄鼠狼而是个孩子，他惊奇极了。

1 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

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 flickering   

adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的

参考例句：

• The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
• The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

4 footsteps   

n.脚步（声），一步的距离，足迹；脚步（声）( footstep的名词复数 )；一步的距离；足迹

参考例句：

• the sound of footsteps on the stairs 楼梯上的脚步声
• Their footsteps echoed in the silence. 他们的脚步声在一片寂静中回荡着。