《风语河岸柳》第2章 宽敞的公路(6)

The Toad¹ never answered a word, so they went to see what was the matter with him.

癞蛤蟆不答一句话，因此他们走过去看看他是怎么了。

They found him sitting in the middle of the road, with a dreamy smile on his face and happily whispering², 'Poop-poop! '

只见他坐在公路中间，脸上挂着梦幻似的微笑，嘴里愉快地嘟哝着，扑扑-扑扑！

The Rat shook him, not very gently. 'Are you coming to help us, Toad?' he asked crossly.

水鼠用力地摇着他，你能不能过来帮帮我们，癞蛤蟆？他生气地问。

'Oh, what happiness! 'whispered³ Toad to himself. 'The real way to travel! The only way to travel! Here one minute-miles away in seconds! Wonderful! Poop-poop! '

噢，多么幸福！癞蛤蟆自言自语道，旅行的真正方式！旅行的唯一方式！刚才在这儿，几秒钟后就在数里之外！太棒了！扑扑-扑扑！

'Oh, do stop being so silly, Toad! 'cried the Mole⁴.

噢，不要犯傻了，癞蛤蟆！鼹鼠叫道。

'And I never knew! 'the Toad went on dreamily.

而我竟不知道！癞蛤蟆仍然魂牵梦萦似地继续着，

I never dreamt! What clouds of dust will fly up behind me as I drive like the wind! I've finished with silly old caravans⁶ for ever. Poop-poop! '

我从未梦想过！当我风驰电掣似地驾车时，多少尘雾将在我身后扬起！那辆可笑的愚蠢的大篷车将永远消失。扑扑-扑扑！

'What are we going to do with him?' the Mole asked the Water Rat.

我们将拿他怎么办？鼹鼠问水鼠。

'Nothing, 'replied the Rat. 'There's nothing that we can do.

没办法，水鼠回答道，我们什么也帮不了。

I know Toad. When he gets a new idea into his head, he al ways goes crazy at first.

我了解癞蛤蟆，当他有了新的想法时，刚开始他总是有些疯狂。

He'll be like this for some days now. Come on, we'll have to do everything by ourselves. '

他像这样还得过一些日子。过来，我们得自己干完这一切。

They had to leave the caravan⁵ in the ditch⁷ and walk to the nearest town, five or six miles away.

他们不得不将大篷车先留在沟里，步行到五、六英里以外最近的城镇。

There they asked some body to take care of the horse, and found somebody who agreed to fetch the broken caravan.

在那儿，他们叫人照看灰马，又找了个愿意取回破车的人。

Then they caught a train to a station near Toad Hall, took Toad home, went down to the boat, and then at last they sat down to a late supper in Rat's comfortable little home by the river.

然后他们坐火车到蛤蟆宅第附近的车站，把癞蛤蟆送回家后，他们坐上船，最后终于坐在了水鼠舒服的河边小屋吃迟到的晚餐。

The next day was a lazy one.

第二天是慵懒的一天。

In the evening the Mole was sitting on the river bank fishing, when the Rat, who had been to visit friends, came to find him.

傍晚时分鼹鼠坐在河岸钓鱼，水鼠拜访朋友回来后找到了他。

'Heard the news?' the Rat said. 'Everybody's talking about it, all along the river bank. Toad went up to town by an early train this morning.

水鼠对他说：听到消息了吗？河岸边的每个人都在谈论这件事。

And he has ordered a large and very expensive motor-car. '

癞蛤蟆今早搭头班火车去了城镇，订购了一辆非常昂贵的大汽车。

1 toad   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆

参考例句：

• Both the toad and frog are amphibian.蟾蜍和青蛙都是两栖动物。
• Many kinds of toad hibernate in winter.许多种蟾蜍在冬天都会冬眠。

2 whispering   

adj.耳语的，爱拨弄是非的v.低声说( whisper的现在分词 )；私语；小声说；私下说

参考例句：

• They were whispering endearments to each other. 他们彼此低声倾吐着爱慕之情。
• He could hear whispering and scuffling on the other side of the door. 他能听见门那边的低语声和窸窸窣窣的走动声。

3 whispered   

adj.耳语的，低语的v.低声说( whisper的过去式和过去分词 )；私语；小声说；私下说

参考例句：

• She sidled up to me and whispered something in my ear. 她悄悄走上前来，对我耳语了几句。
• His ill luck has been whispered about the neighborhood. 他的不幸遭遇已在邻居中传开。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

6 caravans   

（可供居住的）拖车（通常由机动车拖行）( caravan的名词复数 )； 篷车； （穿过沙漠地带的）旅行队（如商队）

参考例句：

• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles that are pulled by horses. 旧式的吉卜赛大篷车是由马拉的涂了颜色的木质车辆。
• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles. 旧时的吉普赛大篷车是涂了颜色的木质车辆。

7 ditch   

n.沟，沟渠，渠道

参考例句：

• With the blind leading the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.如果瞎子替瞎子带路的话，那么两方肯定会掉到沟里。
• The water in the ditch is not very clean.沟里的水不很清洁。