The Adventures of Pinocchio(1)|木偶奇遇记(1)

[英语美文]

III
Geppetto's home consisted of one room on the ground floor. It received light from a window under a staircase2.
    The furniture could not have been more simple: a broken chair, a hard bed, and a dilapidated3 table. On one side of the room there was a fireplace with wood burning, but the fire was painted, and above it there was also painted a boiling pot with clouds of steam all around it that made it quite real.
    As soon as he entered Geppetto began to make a marionette4. “What name shall I give him?” he said to himself. “I think I will call him Pinocchio. That name will bring with it good fortune. I have known a whole family called Pinocchio. Pinocchio was the father, Pinocchio was the mother, and the children were called little Pinocchios, and everybody lived well. It was a happy family.”
    When he had found the name for the marionette he began to work with a will. He quickly made the forehead, then the hair, and then the eyes.
    After he had made the eyes, just imagine how surprised he was to see them look around, and finally gaze at him fixedly! Geppetto, seeing himself looked at by two eyes of wood, said to the head, “Why do you look at me so, eyes of wood?” No response.
    After he had made the eyes he made the nose; but the nose began to grow, and it grew, grew, until it became a great big nose, and Geppetto thought it would never stop. He tried to stop it, but the more he cut it the longer that impertinent5 nose became.
    After the nose he made the mouth. The mouth was hardly finished when it commenced6 to sing and laugh. “Stop laughing,” said Geppetto, vexed7; but it was like talking to the wall. “Stop laughing, I tell you,” he said again in a loud tone. Then the features began to make grimaces8.
    Geppetto feigned9 not to see this impertinence and continued to work. After the mouth he made the chin, then the neck, the shoulders, the body, then the arms and hands.
    Hardly had he finished the hands when Geppetto felt his wig10 pulled off. He turned quickly, and what do you think he saw? His yellow wig in the hands of the marionette! “Pinocchio! Give me back my wig immediately,” said the old man. But Pinocchio, instead of giving back the wig, put it on his own head, making himself look half smothered11.
    At this disobedience12 Geppetto looked very sad, and did a thing he had never done before in all his life. Turning to Pinocchio, he said, “Bad little boy! You are not yet finished and already lack respect to your father. Bad, bad boy!”And he dried a tear.
    There now, only the legs and feet to make. Scarcely were they finished when they began to kick poor Geppetto. “It is my fault,” he said to himself, “I ought to have thought of this at first! Now it is too late!” Then he took the marionette in his arms and placed him on the ground to make him walk. Pinocchio behaved at first as if his legs were asleep and he could not move them. Geppetto led him around the room for some time, showing him how to put one foot in front of the other. When his legs were stretched Pinocchio began to walk and then to run around the room. When he saw the door open he jumped into the street and ran away.
    Poor Geppetto ran as fast as he could, but he was not able to catch him. Pinocchio jumped like a rabbit. He made a noise with his wooden feet on the hard road like twenty pairs of little wooden shoes.
    “Stop him! Stop him!”cried Geppetto; but the people in the street, seeing the wooden marionette running as fast as a rabbit, stopped to look at it, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed, so that it is really hard to describe how they enjoyed it all.
    Finally, through good fortune, a soldier appeared, who, hearing all the noise, thought that some colt13 had escaped from its owner. He planted himself in the middle of the road and with a fixed look determined to catch the runaway. Pinocchio, when he saw the soldier in the road, tried to pass between his legs, but he could not do it.
    The soldier, scarcely moving his body, seized the marionette by the nose (which was a very ridiculous14 one, just the size to be seized by a soldier) and consigned him to15 the hands of Geppetto, who tried to correct him by pulling his ears. But just imagine: when he searched for the ears he could not find them! Do you know why? Because, in the haste16 of making Pinocchio, he did not finish carving them.
    Taking him by the neck, Geppetto led him back, saying as he did so, “When we get home I must punish you.”
    Pinocchio, at this threat, threw himself on the ground and refused to walk farther. Meanwhile the curious people and the loungers17 began to stop and surround them. First one said something, then another. “Poor marionette!”said one of them, “He is right not to want to go back to his home. Who knows how hard Geppetto beats him?”And others added maliciously18, “That Geppetto appears to be a kind man, but he is a tyrant19 with boys. If he gets that poor marionette in his hands, he will break him in pieces.”
    Altogether they made so much noise that the soldier gave Pinocchio back his liberty and took to prison instead the poor old man, who not finding words at first with which to defend himself, wept bitterly20, and on approaching the prison stammered21 out: “Wicked22 son! And to think I tried so hard to make a good marionette! I ought to have thought of all this at first.”


第三章
盖比克的家在一楼,只有一间房间,光线由楼梯下的窗户透射进来。
    家具再简单不过了:一把破椅子,一块硬板床,一张快散架的桌子。房间的一角有个正烧着柴火的壁炉,但是火是画上去的,火的上面还画着一只沸腾的锅,锅的四周是云雾似的蒸汽,使它看起来像真的一样。
    盖比克一进屋就开始刻木偶。“我该给他取个什么名字呢?”他自言自语,“我想我可以叫他匹诺曹,那个名字会带给他好运。我知道有一家人全都叫匹诺曹,父亲叫匹诺曹,母亲叫匹诺曹,孩子们叫小匹诺曹;他们家里的每个人都过得很好,他们一家很快乐。”
    他替木偶取好名字后,就开始一心一意地工作了。他很快就刻好了前额,接着是头发,再后来是眼睛。
    眼睛刻好之后,木偶开始四处张望,最后两眼直直地瞪着他,想想木匠看到这些有多么惊讶啊!看到两只木头眼睛瞪着自己,盖比克对木偶脑袋说:“你为什么这样看着我啊?”木偶没有回答。
    他刻好眼睛之后,就刻鼻子;但是鼻子开始生长,长着,长着,直到它变成一个很大的鼻子。盖比克觉得它不可能停下来了,就努力想要制止它。但是他越削,那顽强的鼻子就越长。
    他做好鼻子之后就做嘴巴,嘴巴一做好木偶就开始又唱又笑。“不许笑!”盖比克生气地说,但却犹如对墙说话。“我告诉你,不许笑!”他恼火地说道。这张脸于是开始扮鬼脸。
    盖比克装作没看到这个不礼貌的举动,继续工作。刻好嘴之后,他刻下巴,接着刻脖子、肩膀,然后刻身体、胳膊和手。
    手刚做好,盖比克就发现他的假发被扯掉了。他很快转过头去,你猜他看到了什么?他的黄色假发在木偶手里! “匹诺曹!快把假发还给我。”老人叫道。但是匹诺曹不还,反倒把它戴在自己头上,他的半张脸都被盖住了。
    盖比克看到这个不听话的举动很伤心,就做了一件他一生中从未做过的事。他转向匹诺曹,说:“坏小子!我还没做好你,你就已经不尊重你父亲了。坏、坏小子!”然后他擦干眼泪。
    现在只剩腿和脚要刻了。脚才刚刚做好,它就开始踢可怜的盖比克。“我这是自作自受,”他对自己说,“我应该先想到这点的!现在太迟了!”然后他将木偶抱在怀里,再把他放到地上,让他走路。匹诺曹迈腿,但一开始他的腿好像麻木了,挪不开。盖比克领着他在房间里走了几圈,教他如何将一只脚跨到另一只脚前面。匹诺曹的腿伸直之后,便开始走路,接着在房间里奔跑。他看到门开着,就跳到街上,逃走了。
    可怜的盖比克拼命地追赶,但还是无法抓住他。匹诺曹像只兔子般地跳着,他的木脚走在坚硬的地面上,发出的嘈杂声,就像20双小木鞋弄出来的一样。
    “拦住他!拦住他!”盖比克叫道,但是街上的人们看到木偶跑得像兔子一般快,就停下来观看,笑啊、笑啊、笑啊,以至于难以形容他们是多么地乐此不疲。
    最后,幸好一个士兵走过来,他听到嘈杂声,还以为是哪匹马驹从它的主人那儿逃走了。他站在路中间,带着一副坚定的表情决心抓住那个逃兵。匹诺曹看到土兵站在路中央,想要从他两腿间钻过去,但是他失败了。
    士兵几乎身子都没动一下,一把抓住了木偶的鼻子(这个鼻子很滑稽,大小刚好适合士兵抓住),把他交给盖比克。盖比克想揪着他的耳朵教训他。但是,想想看,他却找不到耳朵在哪儿!你知道为什么吗?因为他匆匆忙忙地刻完了匹诺曹,还没顾上做耳朵。
    盖比克拎着他的脖子带他回去,一边走一边说:“等到了家,我一定要收拾你。”
    听了这句威胁,匹诺曹赖在地上,不愿意再走一步。这时好奇心强的人和游手好闲之徒开始停下来围住他们。他们你一言我一语地说开了。有人说:“可怜的木偶!他不想回家是对的,谁晓得盖比克会怎样凶狠地揍他一顿呢?”接着另一些不怀好意的人说:“盖比克看起来像个好人,其实却虐待儿童。如果可怜的木偶到他手上,他会把他撕成碎片的。”
    全都因为他们这样吵吵嚷嚷,士兵才放了匹诺曹,反而将可怜的老人捉到牢里去了。老人一开始找不出一句话来自己辩解,难过地流着眼泪,在去牢房的路上才结结巴巴地说:“臭小子!想想我多么辛苦,想要做一个好木偶!我早该想到这一切的。”

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1. 卡尔洛·科洛迪,原名卡洛·洛伦齐尼(Carlo Lorenzini),意大利著名儿童文学家。1826年科洛迪出生于佛罗伦萨乡下的一个厨师家庭。他从教会学校毕业后,开始给地方报纸写稿,投身于民族复兴运动,并参加了1848年的意大利民族解放战争。随后他撰写短篇小说、随笔、评论,对意大利资产阶级社会进行讽刺,同情穷人,捍卫民主和民族艺术。
2. staircase n. 楼梯

3. dilapidated adj. 毁坏的
4. marionette n. 木偶
5. impertinent   adj. 不礼貌的,粗鲁的 impertinence  n. 粗鲁
6. commence  v. 开始
7. vexed  adj. 恼火的
8. grimace  n. 鬼脸
9. feign  v. 假装
10. wig n. 假发
11. smother   v. 覆盖
12. disobedience n. 不服从
13. colt  n. 小马,驹
14. ridiculous  adj. 可笑的,荒谬的
15. consign…to 把…交付给
16. haste   n. 急速,匆忙
17. lounger  n. 闲逛的人;懒人
18. maliciously  adv. 不怀好意地
19. tyrant  n. 暴君
20. bitterly   adv. 悲痛地
21. stammer   v. 结结巴巴地说
22. wicked  adj. 坏的,恶劣的