美国小学英语教材5:第278课 约翰去了玩具谷(8)

“It looks so easy,” said John, “I wish I could try.”

“看起来很容易，”约翰说，“我希望我能试一试。”

“No, no,” said Mother Herder, anxiously, “you would spoil the wood and maybe break the tool. It takes practice.”

“不，不，” 赫尔德妈妈焦急地说，“你会把木头弄坏，还可能把工具弄坏。它需要练习。”

“John wants to carve,” said Father Hofer, “but I tell him it is folly¹, for none of our family has ever carved.”

“约翰想雕刻，”赫尔德爸爸说，“但我告诉他这是愚蠢的，因为我们家没有一个人雕刻过。”

He said this a little sadly, for it was a great honor in the Toy Valley to be able to carve.

他说这话时有点悲伤，因为能在玩具谷里雕刻是一种莫大的荣誉。

“I am going to carve,” came a piping voice, apparently² from the roof. John looked around and saw little Hans peeping down at him from the bed made on the platform above the stove. He had gone up there to take a nap because it was so warm. All the children laughed, for little Hans was a great pet.

“我要去雕刻，”一个尖细的声音从屋顶传来。约翰环顾四周，看见小汉斯正从炉子上方的平台上往下看他。他去那里小睡了一会儿，因为那里很暖和。所有的孩子都笑了，因为小汉斯是一个很好玩的小家伙。

A VISIT WITH THE WAGON³ AND DOLL CARVERS

参观马车和洋娃娃雕刻师

In a few minutes John’s father got up. They said good-by, and again went out into the sparkling, white world, along a lane that led them out of the village, down across a bridge over a little stream that made a pleasant sound as it rushed along between its ice-bound banks.

几分钟后，约翰的父亲站了起来。他们道了别，又走到白晃晃的世界里去了。沿着一条小路，他们走出了村庄，穿过一座桥，桥上有一条小河，小河在冰封的河岸间奔流，发出悦耳的声音。

1 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。