《风语河岸柳》第1章 河(4)

The Mole¹ had listened to all this with great interest.

鼹鼠带着极大的兴趣听完了这一切。

Now he sat back in the comfortable seat and said, 'What a wonderful day this is! Let's start at once! '

然后，他向后靠坐在那张舒服的座位上回答道：这将是多么美妙的一天！我们现在就出发吧！

But first the Rat² went into his hole, and after a while came out carrying a very large and heavy lunch basket.

但是水鼠先回到了洞里，一会儿又出来了，提着一只又大又沉的午餐篮。

This went in to the boat, under the Mole's feet, and then the Rat began to row down river.

他把篮子移进船内鼹鼠的脚下，然后开始向下游划去。

The two friends talked from time to time, but mostly the Mole just watched the river dreamily, enjoying the sounds and the smells and the sunlight³.

这俩朋友时不时地聊着天，但更多的时候，鼹鼠仅仅是神思恍惚地注视着河水，享受着自然界的音响，气味，还有阳光。

At last they turned off the big river into a little side river that came down to join it.

最后他们划离主河道转入一条与大河交汇的小支流。

The Rat stopped the boat and they got out on to a bank of soft green grass under tall willow⁴ trees.

后来水鼠把船停了下来，他们就一起上了岸。岸上高大的柳树掩映着一片松软的绿油油的草地，

It was very quiet and very peaceful.

非常安怡恬静。

The Mole sat down and looked around him. 'What a beautiful place! 'he said happily.

鼹鼠坐下来，看了看他的周围，愉快地说道：多么美丽的地方！

'Time for lunch, 'said the Rat, opening⁵ the basket. 'Come on, Mole! Let's get to work. '

该用午餐了，水鼠边说边打开篮子，快点，鼹鼠！过来准备吧。

The Mole was happy to obey, because he was very hungry indeed⁶ after all his cleaning earlier in the day.

鼹鼠高兴地服从吩咐，经过一早上的大扫除，他确实非常饿。

And what a lunch it was!

这是一顿多么丰富的午餐啊！

There were cold meats and egg sandwiches, cooked chicken and tomatoes, apples and bananas and a large cake.

有冷肉和鸡蛋三明治，有炸鸡和西红柿、苹果、香蕉，还有一大块蛋糕。

1 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。

2 rat   

n.鼠，卑鄙的人，变节者；vi.背叛，捕鼠；vt.弄蓬松，告发

参考例句：

• The rat is hated by many people.老鼠被很多人憎恶。
• He stopped up the rat holes.他塞住了那些老鼠洞。

3 sunlight   

n.日光，阳光，日照

参考例句：

• The room was flooded with warm and golden sunlight.房间充满着温暖、金色的阳光。
• In the bright sunlight she had to narrow her eyes.在强烈阳光下她必须眯着双眼。

4 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。

5 opening   

n.开始，口，穴，揭幕；adj.开始的

参考例句：

• Instead of opening the gate,we climbed over it.我们没有开门，而是从门顶上爬过去的。
• There was an opening in the wall.墙上有个洞。

6 indeed   

adv.真正地，实际上；确实，实在；当然，固然；甚至；真的

参考例句：

• I thank you very much indeed for this interview.我十分感谢您这次接见。
• I didn't mind.Indeed,I was pleased.我不在意，甚至还很高兴。