There once was a boy named Thomas who lived just down the street in the house with the red bricks. Thomas didn’t care about the environment and he never recycled his garbage.
从前有一个男孩叫托马斯，他住在红色砖头搭成的房子里。托马斯从来不管环境，还从来不回收他的垃圾。
One day an old wizard smelled an awful stench while he was working in his basement. He walked upstairs and outside and kept following the scent until he found himself in front of Thomas’ house.
一天，一位老巫师在自己的地下室工作的时候，闻到一股臭气。巫师上楼出了门，跟着气味，一直跟到托马斯的房前。
He stopped out front and looked at the garbage piled up on the curb. He shook his head with disgust. “Look at all this trash! Thomas must learn that he should not waste his garbage.”
他在外面停了下来，看了看堆满道路的垃圾。他厌恶地摇着头。“看看这些垃圾！托马斯必须认识到不能浪费他的垃圾。”
The wizard pulled out his wand and put a spell on Thomas’ house that would not go away until Thomas stopped wasting his garbage. Every time that Thomas threw away good garbage, it would start to talk to him.
巫师拿出了他的魔法棒在托马斯的房子上施了魔法。如果托马斯仍然这样浪费他的垃圾的话，巫师就不会把魔法移除。每次当托马斯扔走了好垃圾，垃圾就会对托马斯说话。
That night Thomas made a mistake after he had already printed his homework. Without thinking he threw the paper into the trash. “Hey! What are you doing?” “Who said that?” “You are wasting me! I am not garbage!”
那天晚上，托马斯印出了他的作业以后，发现有一处错。他想都没想，把那张纸扔到了垃圾桶里。
“嘿！你在干什么？”
“谁说话了？”
“你在浪费我！我不是垃圾。”
“Yes you are! There is a mistake printed on you.” “Look at me. I still have one blank side.” “What can I do with that?” “You could draw a picture. You could write a note. You could play a game. You could do your math homework.”
“是的，你就是垃圾！你的上面有一个错误。”
“看看我，我还有一面。”
“我能用那一面干什么？”
“你能画一幅画，你能写一件记事，你能玩一个游戏，你能做你的数学作业。
“Wow! I never thought about it before.” “Well, you should start to think about it more often. I am precious; a tree had to die to make me. Don’t waste a tree by throwing me away! You must learn to recycle.”
“哇！我以前从来没那么想过！”
“好吧，你以后就要经常想了。我很珍贵，一棵树需要失去它的生命来制造我。不要通过扔走我的方式而浪费一颗树，你必须得学会回收。”
The next day, Thomas went to the kitchen to make his lunch. He ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with milk. Then, he put the empty jar into the garbage. “Excuse me! Take me out of here right, now!” “Why? You’re garbage.”
第二天，托马斯进厨房做午饭，他吃了一块夹花生黄油和果酱的三明治，然后他把空瓶子扔进了垃圾桶里。
“打扰一下，请把我从这儿拿出来。”
“为什么？你是垃圾。”
“No I am not!You can use me for something else.” “Something else?Like what?”“I can hold your morbles.I can hold your pennies.I can hold your candy.I can hold many small treasures.”
“不，我不是，我还能做些事。”
“做事？你会做什么事？”
“我能拿住你的玻璃球，我能拿住你的便士，我能拿住你的糖果，我能拿住许多小宝藏。”
Thomas’ head was spinning with ideas. This was the strangest thing that had ever happened to him. Talking garbage! But he agreed that the jar was very useful so he put it in a safe place.
托马斯感到很奇怪。对他来说，这时发生过的最奇怪的事情：说话的垃圾！但他同意瓶子非常有用，所以他把瓶子放到了一个安全的地方。
Later that day, Thomas ate some oranges and threw the orange peels into the trash can. It happened again. This time the peels started to talk. “Stop! I do not belong in here.” “Why not? You’re definitely garbage! There is no way I can reuse you.”
第三天晚上，托马斯吃了些橘子，把橘子皮扔到了垃圾桶里。怪事又来了，这回，橘子皮都开始说：“停下来！我不是在这儿的。”
“为什么？你肯定是垃圾！我可不能用你做其它的事。”
“No, I am very special garbage. I go into the compost bin.” “What is a compost bin?” “A compost bin is a special box where you put all the vegetable and fruit scraps. In the spring you put us into your garden and we help your flowers grow.”
“不，我是非常特殊的垃圾，我要进肥料箱里。”
“什么是肥料箱？”
“肥料箱就是一个你把蔬果的残留物放到里的一个特殊箱子。春天，你把我们放到你的花园里，我们帮你的花儿成长。”
Thomas did not understand why his garbage was talking all of the sudden, but he started to understand what it was saying. He took the orange peels out of the trash can and put them into the compost bin.
托马斯不明白为什么他的垃圾都开始说话了。但是托马斯知道垃圾都在说些什么。他把橘子皮拿出了垃圾桶，把它们放进了肥料箱里。
The next day, while Thomas was get dressed, he accidentally ripped his shirt as he pulled it over his head. Since it was an old shirt he took it off and threw it into the garbage. “Where am I going?”
第四天，当托马斯穿衣服的时候，他偶然卷起他的衬衫朝头顶上拉。由于是件旧衬衫，他把衬衫拉下来，扔到了垃圾桶里。
“我要去哪里？”
“You are an old, ripped shirt so you are going into the garbage. I’m sorry, but there is nothing can do with you.” “You are wrong, Thomas! I can wash the floor. I can clean your bike. I can help with many chores.”
“你是件旧了的扯了的衬衫，所以你要进垃圾桶里。对不起，我不能用你做任何事。”
“不，托马斯，你错了！我能擦地板，我能擦你的自行车，我能帮许多忙。”
Thomas was amazed. It seemed that everything that used to be garbage stilll actually had a job to do -- even orange peels and rags! He had a whole new understanding of his trash. Thomas learned a lot from the talking garbage.
托马斯惊讶了，看起来每件成为垃圾的东西还是有用的，甚至橘子皮和破布！他完全明白了他自己的垃圾要怎么用。托马斯从说话的垃圾学到了许多。
He did not want to be an environment hazard anymore. That afternoon he went around the house and looked in all of the garbage bins. He found everything that he could reuse and put it all in a special place with the rest of his treasures.
他一点也不想破坏环境了。那天下午，他在房子周围所有的垃圾桶里看了看，他把能用的每件东西都找到，放在一个特殊的地方当做他的宝物。
The next week,Thomas’ garbage bag was very small.Even the garbage man was impressed when he came to pick it up.Thomas had saved all of the used paper,all of the empty bottles,and all of his old clothes.
接下来的一周，托马斯的垃圾袋非常小。当收垃圾的人来把垃圾袋提起来的时候都很惊讶。托马斯存下了所有的用过了的纸，所有的空瓶子，所有的旧衣服。
He had even made compost out of his fruits and vegetables! There was hardly anything to throw away. However,the garbage man was not the only person who was amazed by Thomas’ new habit.
他甚至用蔬菜和水果的残留物做了肥料！很难有东西能扔走。但是，发现托马斯的新习惯的人不只是收垃圾的人。
The old wizard had also seen the small bag of garbage on the curb that day. During the night, when everyone was asleep, he walked by Thomas’ house enjoying the fresh air.
老巫师那天在街道上也看到了那一小包垃圾。夜晚，当大家都睡觉的时候，他在托马斯房前散步，享受新鲜的空气。
He smiled and laughed as he looked toward the house. “Ha! Ha! Thomas you have learned your lesson. You have learned to save your garbage, so I will remove the spell from your house.”
他看着房子笑了。“哈哈！托马斯，你学会了回收垃圾，所以我把你的房子的咒语移除。”
王含之翻译