诗翁彼豆故事集 第19期:兔子巴比蒂和她的呱呱树桩(3)

 　　The following morning all the lords and ladies of the kingdom assembled in the palace grounds. 第二天早晨，王国里所有的王公贵族都聚集在宫殿的庭院里。

　　The King climbed on to a stage in front of them, with the charlatan¹ by his side. 国王登上了他们面前的一个舞台，江湖骗子站在他身边。

　　“I shall firstly make this lady's hat disappear!” cried the King, pointing his twig² at a noble- woman. “首先，我要让这位女士的帽子消失！”国王用他的树枝指着一个贵妇人，大声说道。

　　From inside a bush nearby, Babbitty pointed³ her wand at the hat and caused it to vanish. 从旁边的灌木丛里，巴比蒂用她的魔杖一指那顶帽子，让帽子消失了。

　　Great was the astonishment⁴ and admiration⁵ of the crowd, and loud their applause for the jubilant King. 观众们非常惊讶，赞不绝口，并为欢欣鼓舞的国王大声喝彩。

　　“Next, I shall make that horse fly!” cried the King, pointing his twig at his own steed. “接着，我要让那匹马飞起来！”国王用他的树枝指着自己的坐骑，大声说道。

　　From inside the bush, Babbitty pointed her wand at the horse and it rose high into the air. 在灌木丛中，巴比蒂用她的魔杖一指那匹马，马就高高地升上了的天空。

　　The crowd was still more thrilled and amazed, and they roared their appreciation⁶ of their magical King. 观众们更加兴奋诧异，大声地表达着他们对有着高超魔力的国王的欣赏。

　　“And now,” said the King, looking all around for an idea; and the Captain of his Brigade of Witch-Hunters ran forwards. “现在——”国王说着环顾四周打着主意。这时女巫追捕小分队的队长跑上前来。

　　“Your Majesty⁷,” said the Captain, “this very morning, Sabre died of eating a poisonous toadstool! Bring him back to life, Your Majesty, with your wand!” “陛下，”小队长说，“就在今天早晨，沙伯吃了一个毒蘑菇死了！陛下，用您的魔杖，让它起死回生吧！”

　　And the Captain heaved on to the stage the lifeless body of the largest of the witch-hunting hounds. 说着，那位队长把追捕女巫小分队的那条最大猎狗的尸体呈上了舞台。

　　The foolish King brandished⁸ his twig and pointed it at the dead dog. 愚蠢的国王一挥他的树枝，用它指着死狗。

　　But inside the bush, Babbitty smiled, and did not trouble to lift her wand, for no magic can raise the dead. 然而在灌木丛中，巴比蒂微微笑着，并没有举起她的魔杖，因为没有一种魔法能够起死回生。

　　When the dog did not stir, the crowd began first to whisper, and then to laugh. 看到死狗一动不动，人们起初开始窃窃私语，接着便大笑起来。

　　They suspected that the King's first two feats⁹ had been mere¹⁰ tricks after all. 他们怀疑国王的前两个魔法只是变变戏法而已。

　　“Why doesn't it work?” the King screamed at the charlatan, who bethought himself of the only ruse¹¹ left to him. “为什么不管用？”国王冲着江湖骗子嚷道，江湖骗子想起了他仅存的一个诡计。

　　“There, Your Majesty, there!” he shouted, pointing at the bush where Babbitty sat concealed¹². “你瞧，陛下，你瞧！”他指着巴比蒂隐藏的灌木喊道。

　　“I see her plain, a wicked witch who is blocking your magic with her own evil spells! Seize her, somebody, seize her!” “我看得清清楚楚，一个邪恶的女巫用她邪恶的咒语挡住了您的魔法！”抓住她，来人，抓住她！”

　　Babbitty fled from the bush, and the Brigade of Witch-Hunters set off in pursuit, unleashing¹³ their hounds, who bayed for Babbitty's blood. 巴比蒂从灌木丛中逃了出来，女巫追捕小分队立刻追了上去。他们放开那些猎狗，猎狗吠叫着追寻巴比蒂的气味。

　　But as she reached a low hedge, the little witch vanished from sight, and when the King, the charlatan and all the courtiers gained the other side, they found the pack of witch-hunting hounds barking and scrabbling around a bent¹⁴ and aged¹⁵ tree. 可是当她跑到一片低矮的篱笆前，小个子女巫一下子就消失在了视线中，等国王、江湖骗子和所有的朝臣绕到篱笆另一边时，发现那群追捕女巫的猎狗正围着一颗弯弯曲曲的老树狂吠、抓挠。

　　“She has turned herself into a tree!” screamed the charlatan and, dreading¹⁶ lest Babbitty turn back into a woman and denounce him, he added, “Cut her down, Your Majesty, that is the way to treat evil witches!” “她把自己变成了一棵树！”江湖骗子嚷道，惟恐巴比蒂变回女人后揭发他的真面目，便又说，“把她砍掉，陛下，就该这样对付邪恶的女巫！”

1 charlatan   

n.骗子；江湖医生；假内行

参考例句：

• The charlatan boasted that he could charm off any disease.这个江湖骗子吹牛说他能用符咒治好各种疾病。
• He was sure that he was dealing with a charlatan.他真以为自己遇上了江湖骗子。

2 twig   

n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解

参考例句：

• He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
• The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。

3 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

4 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

5 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

6 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

7 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

8 brandished   

v.挥舞( brandish的过去式和过去分词 )；炫耀

参考例句：

• "Bang!Bang!"the small boy brandished a phoney pistol and shouted. “砰！砰！”那小男孩挥舞着一支假手枪，口中嚷嚷着。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Swords brandished and banners waved. 刀剑挥舞，旌旗飘扬。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 feats   

功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance. 过去，他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。
• His heroic feats made him a legend in his own time. 他的英雄业绩使他成了他那个时代的传奇人物。

10 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

11 ruse   

n.诡计，计策；诡计

参考例句：

• The children thought of a clever ruse to get their mother to leave the house so they could get ready for her surprise.孩子们想出一个聪明的办法使妈妈离家，以便他们能准备给她一个惊喜。It is now clear that this was a ruse to divide them.现在已清楚这是一个离间他们的诡计。

12 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

13 unleashing   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Company logos: making people's life better by unleashing Cummins power. 公司理念：以康明斯动力建设更美好的生活！ 来自互联网
• Sooner or later the dam will burst, unleashing catastrophic destruction. 否则堤坝将崩溃，酿成灾难。 来自互联网

14 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

15 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

16 dreading   

v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was dreading having to broach the subject of money to her father. 她正在为不得不向父亲提出钱的事犯愁。
• This was the moment he had been dreading. 这是他一直最担心的时刻。