The Elephant and the Spider（一）

 

大象和蜘蛛（翻译）

　　It was afternoon in the forest. The sun was behind the trees. The animals were quiet. They were waiting for the sun to go down.

　　下午的森林中，太阳已落到了树的后面。动物们安安静静，等待着太阳落下去。

　　There was also an old spider. Slowly she worked on a web. It was a very large web. The spider put the web between two trees. The web was silver and gold in the evening sun. The spider worked, and the sun fell. Night came.

　　一只老蜘蛛慢慢地在网上忙活。这是一张非常大的网，蜘蛛把网结在两棵树之间。网在落日余晖中银光光金闪闪。太阳落下去了，夜晚来了，蜘蛛还在工作。

　　Nearby, an old elephant was dying.He walked slowly, swinging his old trunk. The elephant slept.

　　附近，一只老的大象快要死了。它缓慢地走着，摇着它的老鼻子。一会儿，大象睡觉了。

　　In the night the spider worked. Other animals watched her.There were night birds that did not sleep. There was a snake under a tree. A little mouse looked up at the beautiful web, silver and gold in the moonlight.

　　夜晚，蜘蛛还在忙活。动物们看着它，夜鸟不睡觉，一条蛇在树的下面，一只小老鼠向上瞅着那美丽的、在月光下银光闪亮的网。

　　“Why are you working at night?” they asked. “The other spiders are sleeping.” “You can see,” said the spider. “This is going to be my most beautiful web.” “It’s very large,” said the mouse. “There are no flies that large,” said the snake. “I don’t want to catch a fly,” said the spider.

　　“你为什么还要在晚上忙活呢？”动物们问，“别的蜘蛛都睡觉了呀。”

　　蜘蛛回答：“你们会发现，这可是一张最美的网。”

　　“它非常大。”老鼠说。

　　“捉只苍蝇也不需要那么大的网。”蛇说。

　　“我并不想用它去捉苍蝇。”蜘蛛说。

　　There was a small black bird in a tree above the web. “So what are you going to catch in your web?” she asked. “I’m going to catch an elephant,” said the spider.

　　一只小黑鸟站到了网上面的树稍上，问道：“那你准备用网捉什么呢？”

　　“我准备捉一只大象。”蜘蛛说。

　　All the animals laughed and laughed. The spider worked and worked.

　　动物们笑得情不自禁，而蜘蛛仍然忙来忙去。