"I won't be washed! I won't be washed!" screamed little Betty, kicking and slapping the maid who undressed her one night. "You'd better go and live with the pigs, dirty child," said Maria, scrubbing away at two very grubby hands. “I wish I could! I love to be dirty, --I will be dirty!" roared Betty, throwing the sponge out of the window and the soap under the table. Maria could do nothing with her; so she bundled her into bed half wiped, telling her to go to sleep right away. “I won't! I'll go and live with Mrs. Gleason's pigs, and have nothing to do but eat and sleep, and roll in the dirt, and never, never be washed anymore," said Betty to herself.
“我不要洗澡!我不要洗澡!”小贝蒂一边尖叫着,一边对那天晚上帮她脱衣服的女佣又踢又打。“你最好去和猪一起生活,你个小邋遢鬼,”玛丽亚边说边用她那双非常粗糙的手拿着海绵澡巾擦洗贝蒂的身体。“我愿意和猪一起生活!我就喜欢脏脏的,越脏越好!”贝蒂咆哮着将海绵扔出窗外,把肥皂丢到桌子底下。玛丽亚拿她一点儿办法都没有,于是大概擦了擦她的身子,就用浴巾把她裹起来放到了床上,告诉她立刻睡觉。“我不睡!我要去和格里森太太的猪一起生活,除了吃饭、睡觉、在泥里打滚,我什么都不用做,也再不用洗澡了!”贝蒂自言自语道。
She lay thinking about it and blinking at the moon for a while; then she got up very softly, and crept down the back stairs, through the garden, to the sty where two nice little pigs were fast asleep among the straw in their small house. They only
grunted2 when Betty crept into a corner, laughing at the fun it would be to play piggy and live here with no Maria to wash her and no careful mamma to keep saying, --"Put on a clean
apron3, dear!"
她躺在床上,脑海里萦绕着这个念头,眼睛一眨一眨地望着窗外夜空里的月亮。过了一会儿,她轻轻地起身,爬下屋后的楼梯,穿过花园,来到猪圈。猪圈里,两只可爱的小猪趴在稻草里睡得正香。贝蒂悄悄爬到一个角落里,两只小猪只是哼了哼。想到自己可以在这里像小猪一样欢快地生活,再也没有玛丽亚逼着她洗澡,也没有无微不至的妈妈不停地唠叨着:“宝贝儿,快穿上干净的围裙!”——她不禁哈哈大笑起来。
Next morning, she was waked up by hearing Mrs. Gleason pour milk into the trough. She lay very still till the woman was gone; then she crept out and drank all she wanted, and took the best bits of cold potato and bread for her breakfast, and the lazy pigs did not get up till she was done. While they ate and rooted in the dirt, Betty slept as long as she liked, with no school, no errands, no
patchwork4 to do.
第二天早上,她被格里森太太往水槽里倒牛奶的声音吵醒了。她静静地躺在那里,一动不动,直到格里森太太转身离开。随后,她爬了出来,开始咕咚咕咚地喝着水槽里的牛奶,大口大口地吃吃着冷土豆和面包。贝蒂饱饱地吃完了这顿早晨时,那两只懒猪还在睡梦中。当两只小猪开始扎在泥里吃早饭时,贝蒂已经又睡着了——她想睡到什么时候就睡到什么时候,不用去上学,不用完成功课,也不用学习布艺。
She liked it, and kept hidden till night; then she went home, and opened the little window in the store closet, and got in and took as many good things to eat and carry away as she liked. She had a fine walk in her nightgown, and saw the flowers asleep, heard the little birds
chirp5 in the nest, and watched the fireflies and
moths6 at their pretty play. No one saw her but the cats; and they played with her, and
hopped7 at her toes, in the moonlight, and had great fun.
她喜欢这样的生活。她白天一直躲在猪圈里。到了晚上,她会回一趟家——打开家里存储柜的小窗户,从里面取出足够多的好吃的,然后带走。她穿着睡衣,悠闲地在屋外散步,看着脚下沉睡的花朵,听着小鸟在窝里唧唧喳喳地叫,欣赏着萤火虫和飞蛾在空中翩翩起舞。没有人看到她,只有月光下的几只小猫在她的脚趾间跳来跳去,开心地陪她玩耍。
When she was tired she went to sleep with the pigs, and
dozed8 all the next day, only coming out to eat and drink when the milk was brought and the cold bits; for Mrs. Gleason took good care of her pigs, and gave them clean straw often, and kept them as nice as she could.
她玩累了,就会和小猪们一起睡觉。第二天从早到晚还是昏昏欲睡,只有在格里森太太带来牛奶和冷猪食时,她才会出来吃饭、喝奶。格里森太太对她的小猪非常精心,经常会给它们换干净的稻草,尽可能让它们保持非常好的状态。
Betty lived in this queer way a long time, and soon looked more like a pig than a little girl; for her nightgown got dirty, her hair was never combed, her face was never washed, and she loved to dig in the mud till her hands looked like paws. She never talked, but began to
grunt1 as the pigs did, and
burrowed9 into the straw to sleep, and
squealed10 when they crowded her, and quarrelled over the food, eating with her nose in the trough like a real pig.
贝蒂以这种奇怪的方式生活了好久,现在她看起来完全没有了小女孩的样子,跟小猪没什么区别——她的睡衣脏兮兮的,蓬头垢面,而且喜欢挖泥巴,小手看起来跟猪爪一样。她不再说话,开始像猪一样发出哼哼声;在稻草里挖个洞睡觉,被别的小猪挤到时会尖叫;吃饭时,鼻子会伸到食槽里,还会跟别的猪挣食——跟真的小猪一模一样。
At first she used to play about at night, and steal things to eat; and people set traps to catch the thief in their gardens, and the cook in her own house scolded about the rats that carried off the cake and pies out of her pantry. But by and by she got too lazy and fat to care for anything but sleeping and eating, and never left the sty. She went on her hands and knees now, and began to wonder if a little tail wouldn't grow and her nose change to a snout.
起初,她常常在晚上出去玩耍,偷些东西吃——为此,人们在自家花园里设置了抓“小偷”的陷阱;厨师经常大声责骂偷走自己家中食品柜里蛋糕和馅饼的“老鼠”。但不久以后,她已经变得太懒、太胖了,除了吃饭、睡觉,什么事也不想干,而且除了猪圈哪也不想去。她现在已经不会直立行走了,只能双膝跪地,双手趴地地爬行,甚至开始怀疑自己会不会长出一条小尾巴,鼻子会不会变长。
All summer she played be a pig, and thought it good fun; but when the autumn came it was cold, and she longed for her nice warm
flannel11 nightgown, and got tired of cold
victuals12, and began to wish she had a fire to sit by and good buckwheat cakes to eat. She was ashamed to go home, and wondered what she should do after this silly frolic. She asked the pigs how they managed in winter; but they only grunted, and she could not remember what became of them, for the sty was always empty in cold weather.
整个夏天,她都扮成一只小猪,并且乐在其中。但当秋天到来,天气变冷时,她开始怀念自己的那套好看又暖和的法兰绒睡衣,开始厌倦冰冷的食物,并且开始希望自己能够坐在火炉旁,吃着香喷喷的荞麦蛋糕。她不好意思回家,甚至不知道该如何让这次愚蠢的胡闹行动收场。她问那两头猪如何过冬,得到的回答只有哼哼声。她不记得它们身上发生了什么,因为在寒冷的天气里猪圈里总是空荡荡的。
One dreadful night she found out. She was
smuggled13 down between the great fat piggies to keep warm; but her toes were cold, and she was trying to pull the straw over them when she heard Mr. Gleason say to his boy, --"We must kill those pigs to-morrow. They are fat enough; so come and help me sharpen the big knife." "Oh, dear, what will become of me?" thought Betty, as she heard the grindstone go round and round as the knife got sharper and sharper. "I look so like a pig they will kill me too, and make me into sausages if I don't run away. I'm tired of playing piggy, and I'd rather be washed a hundred times a day than be put in a pork barrel."
在一个恐怖的夜晚,她被人偷偷地抱到了那两头大肥猪之间。这样,她感觉暖和多了,但还是觉得脚趾很冷,于是她尝试着用稻草盖住脚趾。此时,她听到格里森先生对他的儿子说:“我们明天必须宰了这几头猪。他们已经够肥了,来帮我磨下宰猪刀吧。”“哦,天哪,我是不是要倒霉了?”贝蒂心想,刀子在磨刀石上反复摩擦时发出的声音在她耳边响起。“我看起来跟猪一样,他们也会杀了我的,然后把我做成香肠。我必须想办法逃走。我已经厌倦了扮成小猪的生活,我宁愿每天洗一百次澡,也不想被放进猪肉桶。”
So she lay trembling till morning; then she ran through the garden and found the back door open. It was very early, and no one saw her, for the cook was in the shed getting wood to make her fire; so Betty slipped upstairs to the nursery and was going to whisk into bed, when she saw in the glass an ugly black creature, all rags and dirt, with
rumpled14 hair, and a little round nose covered with mud.
于是,她躺在那里,打着哆嗦,一直忍到第二天早晨。然后,她穿过花园,发现后门是打开的。因为还很早,厨师正在棚子里拾柴生火,没有人看到她。于是,她溜到楼上的儿童房内。正打算冲到床上时,她从镜子里看到了一个灰头土脸,破衣烂衫,头发凌乱,圆圆的鼻头上粘着泥巴的丑陋生物。
"Can it be me?" she said. "How
horrid15 I am!" And she could not spoil her nice white bed, but hopped into the bathtub and had a good scrubbing. Next she got a clean nightgown, and brushed her hair, and cut her long nails, and looked like a tidy little girl again. Then she lay down in her
cosy16 crib with the pink cover and the lace curtains, and fell fast asleep, glad to have clean sheets, soft blankets, and her own little pillow once more.
“这可能是我吗?”她说。 “我怎么会变得这么可怕!”她不愿意弄脏了自己漂亮的白色小床,于是跳进了浴缸,开始用力擦洗自己的身体。洗完澡后,她穿上了一身干净的睡衣,梳理了自己的头发,剪掉了长长的指甲,让自己重新变成了一个干净整洁的小女孩。然后,她躺在自己舒适的床上,盖上粉红色的被子,挂上花边窗帘,进入了梦乡——再次有干净的床单、柔软的毯子和自己的小枕头,这一切都让她非常高兴。
"Come, darling, wake up and see the new frock I have got for you, and the nice
ruffled17 apron. It's Thanksgiving day, and all the cousins are coming to dinner," said her mamma, with a soft kiss on the
rosy18 cheek. Betty started up, screaming, --"Don't kill me! Oh, please don't! I'm not a truly pig, I'm a little girl; and if you'll let me run home, I'll never
fret19 when I'm washed again." "What is the dear child afraid of?" said mamma, cuddling her close, and laughing to see Betty stare wildly about for the fat pigs and the
stuffy20 sty.
“起床啦,宝贝儿!快醒醒,看看我为你准备的好看的新衣服,还有漂亮的皱边围裙。今天是感恩节,堂兄弟姐妹们都会来家里吃晚餐。”她妈妈边说边轻轻地吻了一下她玫瑰色的面颊。贝蒂突然尖叫起来:“不要杀我!请不要杀我!我不是真的猪,我是一个小女孩。如果您放我回家,我保证以后会好好洗澡。”“哟,这位小朋友在担心什么啊?”妈妈说,然后将她紧紧抱在怀里,笑着看小贝蒂恶狠狠地盯着密不透风的猪圈和里面的肥猪。
She told her mother all about the queer time she had had, and was much surprised to hear mamma say, -- “It was all a dream, dear; you have been safely asleep in your little bed ever since you slapped poor Maria last night." "Well, I'm glad I dreamed it, for it has made me love to be clean. Come, Maria, soap and scrub as much as you like, I won't kick and scream ever anymore," cried Betty, skipping about, glad to be safe in her pleasant home and no longer a dirty, lazy piggy girl.
贝蒂把自己的奇怪经历告诉了妈妈,然后非常惊讶地听妈妈说:“这只不过是一场梦,宝贝儿。昨晚你打了可怜的玛利亚后,一直安全地睡在你的小床上。”“原来是这样啊。我很高兴做了这个梦,因为它让我爱干净了。来吧,玛丽亚,肥皂、澡巾随你用。以后你帮我洗澡时,我再也不踢你,再也不大喊大叫了!”贝蒂喊道,然后开始在屋子里蹦蹦跳跳。在这舒适的家里,她感觉无比的幸福、无比的安心——她再也不愿意做那个又脏又懒的猪猪女孩了。