《风语河岸柳》第4章 与獾先生相遇(4)

'I thought I'd find you here all right, 'said the Otter¹ happily.

我想我会在这儿见到你们安安全全的，水獭高兴地说，

'Everybody along the river bank has been so worried about you.

河岸边的每个人一直都很担心你们。

Rat² never came home last night, and nor did Mole³; something terrible has happened, they said.

他们说，水鼠昨晚没回家，鼹鼠也没有，一定发生了什么可怕的事。

But if anyone's in trouble, Badger⁴ usually gets to hear about it, so I came straight here this morning.

但是，只要有人遇到麻烦，獾常常能听说点什么的，因此我今早就直接过来了。

And oh my, didn't the Wild Wood look grand⁵, with the snow everywhere and the red sun coming up, shining through the black trees!

噢，野树林是不是看起来很壮观，到处都是积雪，红红的太阳升起来，透过茂密的树林照射下来！

Halfway⁶ here I met one of those silly rabbits.

半路上我碰到一只傻野兔，

He told me that Mole had lost his way last night, and that They were out and chasing⁷ him all over the wood.

他说昨晚鼹鼠迷了路；‘他们’出来，满树林里追赶他。

I'd like to meet one of Them myself this morning, and tell them what I think. '

我今早倒愿意碰见‘他们’中的一个，然后告诉他我是怎么想的。

'Weren't you at all—um－afraid? asked the Mole, remembering how frightened he had been.

难道你—一点也不害怕？想起他吓得半死，鼹鼠不禁问道。

'Afraid?'The Otter laughed and showed this strong white teeth.

害怕？水獭笑起来，露出他那坚硬的白齿，

'I don't think any of them would argue with me. Here, Mole, be a good fellow⁸ and fry⁹ me some eggs.

我想他们中还没谁敢和我作对吧。好了，鼹鼠，好伙计，给我煎些蛋。

I'm terribly hungry, and I've got a lot to talk about with Ratty here. Haven't seen him for weeks. '

我饿得很，而我现在有许多话要和阿鼠说，几个星期没见他了。

Breakfast was almost finished when the Badger entered, looking sleepy.

早餐几乎结束了，獾才睡眼惺松地走了进来。

'It's nearly time for lunch, 'he said. 'Stay and have some with us, Otter.

马上该用午餐了，他说道，留下和我们一块吃些吧，水獭。

You must be hungry this cold morning. '

早上这么冷你一定很饿吧。

The hedgehogs were sent home, the breakfast things were cleared away, and soon the four animals sat down to lunch together.

豪猪被送回家了，早餐的用品也被清理干净，不久这四只动物又坐在一起吃午饭了。

The Rat and the Otter were having a long conversation about river-bank matters, so the Mole began to talk to the Badger.

水鼠一直和水獭聊着河岸边的事情，因此鼹鼠开始和獾交谈。

'This is a wonderful, comfortable home you have here, 'he said.

你这个房子真好，真舒服，他说。

'There's really nothing better than a place underground like this.

真的没有比像地下这儿更好的地方了。

You can shut off the world up there when you don't want it.

你不想见它，就可以把世界关在你的上面；

And when you do, you can just go up and there's the world waiting for you. '

你愿意，你只要走上去，就有一个世界等着你。

1 otter   

n.水獭

参考例句：

• The economists say the competition otter to the brink of extinction.经济学家们说，竞争把海獭推到了灭绝的边缘。
• She collared my black wool coat with otter pelts.她把我的黑呢上衣镶上了水獭领。

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 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。

4 badger   

v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠

参考例句：

• Now that our debts are squared.Don't badger me with them any more.我们的债务两清了。从此以后不要再纠缠我了。
• If you badger him long enough,I'm sure he'll agree.只要你天天纠缠他，我相信他会同意。

5 grand   

adj.豪华的，宏伟的，壮丽的，主要的，重大的；n.(美俚)一千美元

参考例句：

• The pianist played several pieces of music on a grand piano.钢琴家在一架大钢琴上弹了几首乐曲。
• Come on,I'll give you the grand tour of the backyard.跟我来，我带你去后院来一次盛大的旅游。

6 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

7 chasing   

n.雕镂术，雕刻工作；车螺丝；抛光；螺旋板

参考例句：

• My dog likes chasing rabbits. 我的狗喜欢追捕兔子。
• The children were having fun, chasing each other's shadows. 孩子们追逐着彼此的影子，玩得很开心。

8 fellow   

n.人，家伙；伙伴，同事；对等者，对手；一对中之一，配对物；adj.同伴的，同事的

参考例句：

• I can't stand that fellow.我不能容忍那家伙。
• Who's that old fellow?那个老家伙是谁？

9 fry   

v.油煎，油炸；n.油炸食品；鱼苗，小生物，小东西

参考例句：

• We should use slow fire to fry fish.煎鱼要用慢火。
• I worked there for 11 years as a fry cook.我在那儿做了11年的油炸师傅。