Chapter4 Prairie Day 草原上的一天-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《草原小屋Little House on the Prairie》上

Chapter 4 Prairie Day SOFT whickerings①were close to Laura'sear,and grain②rattled③ into the feed-box.Pa was giving Pet and Patty their breakfasts. “Back,Pet!Don't be greedy④，”he said.“You know it's Patty's turn.” Pet stamped her foot and nickered. “Now,Patty,keep your own end of the box,”said Pa.“This is for Pet.” Then a little squeal from Patty. “Hah!Got nipped,didn'tyou?”Pa said.“And serve you right..I told you to eat your own comn." Mary and Laura looked at each other and laughed.They could smell bacon and coffee and hear pancakes sizzling,and they scrambled out of bed. Mary could dress herself,all but the middle button.Laura buttoned that one for her,then Mary buttoned Laura all the way up the back. They washed their hands and faces in the tin washbasin on the wagon- step.Ma combed every snarl out of their hair,while Pa brought fresh water from the creek. ·046· 4 草原上的一天 ①whicker/'wka/ 劳拉的耳边响起轻轻的马嘶声和谷物倒入饲料 (马)嘶 ②grain/grern//n.谷物 槽的沙沙声。爸爸在给皮特和帕蒂喂早餐。 ③rattle /raetl/v.嘎嘎 响 他说：“回去，皮特！不要那么贪心。你知道， ④greedy/'gri:dila,贪 该帕蒂吃了。” 婪的 分stamp/stamp/顿 皮特一边跺脚，一边嘶叫。 足 ⑥nicker/nka/.嘶 “好了，帕蒂，在你自己那一头吃，”爸爸说， 0叫 “这边是皮特吃的。” ⑦squeal /skwi:/n长 而尖的叫声 随后，帕蒂发出一声尖叫。“哈！你被咬了 一口，是不是？”爸爸说，“你活该。我叫你吃 自己那份玉米。”玛丽和劳拉互相看了看，笑了 8 sizzle/s1z/u.(油 起来。她们闻到了咸肉和咖啡的香味儿，听到 煎食物时)发出咝险 了烙饼发出的咝咝声，她们争先恐后地下了床。 声 玛丽能自己穿衣服，只有中间一个扣子不能扣。 劳拉帮她扣上那颗扣子，然后玛丽帮劳拉把背上的 ⑨tin/nln马口铁 扣子一一扣好。在放在马车级梯上的马口铁脸盆里 0 snarl/sna:lVv.吼o叫 洗手洗脸。妈妈给她们梳开头发上的每一个缠结， 爸爸到河边打清水。 ·047· Little House on the Prairie Then they sat on the clean grass and ate pancakes and bacon and molasses from the tin plates in their laps. Alt around them shadows were moving over the waving grasses, while the sun rose.Meadow larks were springing straight up from the billows of grass into the high,clear sky,singing as they went.Small pearly③clouds drifted④in the immense⑤blueness overhead.In all the weed-tops tiny birds were swinging and singing in tiny voices.Pa said they were dickcissels. “Dickie,dickie!”Laura called back to them.“Dickie bird!" “Eat your breakfast,.Laura,”Ma said.“You must mind your manners,even if we are a hundred miles from anywhere." Pa said,mildly⑦，“It's only forty miles to Independence,Caroline, and no doubt there's a neighbor or so nearer than that." “Forty miles,then,”Ma agreed.“But whether or no,it isn't good manners to sing at table.Or when you're eating,"she added,because there was no table. There was only the enormous,empty prairie,with grasses blowing in waves of light and shadow across it,and the great blue sky above it, and birds flying up from it and singing with joy because the sun was rising.And on the whole enormous prairie there was no sign that any other human being had ever been there. In all that space of land and sky stood the lonely,small,covered wagon.And close to it sat Pa and Ma and Laura and Mary and Baby Carrie,eating their breakfasts.The mustangs munched their corn,and Jack sat still,trying hard not to beg.Laura was not allowed to feed him while she ate,but she saved bits for him.And Ma made a big pancake for him,of the last of the batter Rabbits were everywhere in the grass,and thousands of prairie chickens,but Jack could not hunt his breakfast that day.Pa was going ·048· 草原小屋【 接着，他们坐在干净的草地上，吃放在他们膝 上的马口铁盘子里的薄饼、咸肉和糖浆。 太阳升起的时候，他们四周的影子在随风波动 lark /la:k/n.云雀 的野草上移动。野百灵从波浪滚滚的草丛中腾空飞 ②billow /bila/n.巨 浪 起，直上晴朗的高空，它们一边飞一边歌唱。珍珠 ③pearly/p3lla.珍 似的小片云块在浩瀚的蓝天高空飘游。野草上空的 珠似的 ④drift/dnf/.漂移 小鸟悠闲自在地飞来飞去，细声细气地歌唱。爸爸 分immense /I'mens/a 巨大的 说它们是美洲雀。 6dickcissel /dik'sisal/ “小雀，小雀”劳拉和它们对唱着，“小雀！” :鸟/美洲（斯皮 扎)雀 “劳拉，吃你的饭吧，”妈妈说，“你要注意自 己的举止，尽管我们处在远离人群的地方。” mildly /'maildli/ad. 爸爸温和地说：“我们离独立镇只有40英里， 柔和地 卡罗琳。毫无疑问，在40英里内会有一两个邻居。” “那么就算40英里吧，”妈妈赞同地说，“但是 无论如何，在饭桌上唱歌总不是好习惯。或者说在吃 东西时唱歌。”她补充了一句，因为那儿没有饭桌。 那里只有空旷的辽阔草原，周围的野草在或明 或暗的波涛中随风浪涌，草原的上空是浩瀚无垠的 蓝天。太阳正在升起，鸟儿从草原上飞起，欢快地 唱着歌儿。在整个漫无边际的草原上，没有其他人 来过的任何迹象。 在这个由大地和天空构成的整个空间中，伫立 着孤伶伶的有车篷的小马车。爸爸、妈妈、劳拉、 munch /mAntf/vt. 玛丽、小卡里坐在车旁边吃早饭。马儿大声咀嚼着 大声嚼 玉米，杰克静静地坐着，尽量不主动乞讨食物。劳 拉没有得到准许在吃饭时给杰克喂食，但她仍然为 ⑨batter/beta/n.面 粉调成的面糊 它省出了几口。妈妈用最后一部分面糊给杰克做了 一个大玉米饼。 草原上到处都是兔子，还有成千上万只北美草 ·049· Little House on the Prairie hunting,and Jack must guard the camp. First Pa put Pet and Patty on their picket-lines.Then he took the wooden tub from the side of the wagon and filled it with water from the creek.Ma was going to do the washing. Then Pa stuck his sharp hatchet in his belt,he hung his powder3 horn beside the hatchet,he put the patch-box and the bullet-pouch in his pocket,and he took his gun on his arm. He said to Ma:"Take your time,Caroline.We won't move the wagon till we want to.We've got all the time there is." He went away.For a little while they could see the upper part of him above the tall grasses,going away and growing smaller.Then he went out of sight and the prairie was empty. Mary and Laura washed the dishes while Ma made the beds in the wagon.They put the clean dishes neatly in their box;they picked up every scattered twig,and put it in the fire;they stacked the wood against a wagon wheel.Then everything about the camp was tidy. Ma brought the wooden pannikin of soft soap from the wagon.She kilted up her skirts and rolled up her sleeves,and she knelt by the tub on the grass.She washed sheets and pillow-cases and white underthings, she washed dresses and shirts,and she rinsed them in clear water and spread them on the clean grass,to dry in the sun. Mary and Laura were exploring.They must not go far from the wagon,but it was fun to run through the tall grass,in the sunshine and wind.Huge rabbits bounded away before them,birds fluttered up and settled again.The tiny dickie-birds were everywhere,and their tiny nests were in the tall weeds.And everywhere were little brown-striped gophers These little creatures looked soft as velvet.They had bright round eyes and crinkling noses and wee paws.They popped out of holes in 050· 草原小屋 原松鸡，但杰克那天不能为自己捕猎早餐。爸爸要 去捕猎，杰克必须守卫营地。 ①tubb/n.桶 爸爸先是给皮特和帕蒂套上拴马索，然后从马车 侧厢取出木桶，从河里打来一桶水。妈妈要洗东西。 ②hatchet/het∫t/n 接着，爸爸把他那锋利的短柄小斧子插进皮带， 短柄小斧 把角制火药筒挂在斧子旁边，把胶布盒和子弹袋放 ③powder/'pauda/n. 粉 在口袋里，然后用胳膊挎着枪。 ④bullet /bulit/n.子 0 他对妈妈说：“不要急，卡罗琳，我们什么时 ⑤pouch/paotJ/n.小 候想走才走呢，我们有的是时间。” 袋 他走了。不一会儿，她们能看到他的上半身露在 高高的野草上，他越走越远，越变越小。然后他在她 们的视线中消失了，草原上又是一片空荡荡的。 妈妈收拾马车里的床铺时，玛丽和劳拉刷洗盘 子。她们把洗干净的盘子整整齐齐地放在箱子里， ⑥scatter/skaeta/散 个 把每一根散落在地上的小细树枝捡起来放入火中， ⑦ack/stek/v,堆积 把木柴堆在一只车轮旁边。于是营地的一切都安排 线pannikin /'paenikin 小杯 得整整齐齐了。 ⑨kilt /kdt/v.以撩起 妈妈从车里取出盛液体肥皂的木制小杯，她提 0 rinse/rins/.以清 水冲洗 起裙子卷起衣袖，蹲在草地上的水桶旁。她洗了被 I bound/baund/k跳 单、枕套、白色女内衣，又洗外衣和衬衫，用清水 跃 flutter/flAta/摆 把衣物投净，最后把它们铺在干净的草上，在阳光 动 settle /setl/v.定下 下晒干。 来 玛丽和劳拉正在野草中“探险”。她们不能跑得 stripe/straip/n.条 纹 离马车太远，但是，在阳光下和轻风里，在高高的 5 gopher /'gaufa/n. 野草中跑来跑去很有意思。大个兔子在她们面前跳 北美地鼠 ⑩velvet'velvit/n.天 着远去，鸟儿拍翅高飞，接着又落下。小鸟儿处处 鹅绒 crinkle /'krinkl/v. 可见，在高高的野草丛中有它们的小巢。遍地是带 使变皱 褐色条纹的小黄鼠。 8 wee /wi:la./苏格 兰/极小的 这种小动物看上去像天鹅绒一样柔软，它们有 ·051· Little House on the Prairie the ground,and stood up to look at Mary and Laura.Their hind legs folded under their haunches,their little paws folded tight to their chests,and they looked exactly like bits of dead wood sticking out of the ground.Only their bright eyes glittered. Mary and Laura wanted to catch one to take to Ma.Again and again they almost had one.The gopher would stand perfectly still until you were sure you had him this time,then just as you touched him,he wasn't there.There was only his round hole in the ground. Laura ran and ran,and couldn't catch one.Mary sat perfectly still beside a hole,waiting for one to come up,and just beyond her reach gophers scampered②merrily③，and gophers sat up and looked at her.. But not one ever came out of that hole. Once a shadow floated across the grass,and every gopher vanished.A hawk5 was sailing overhead.It was so close that Laura saw its cruel round eye turned downward to look at her.She saw its sharp beak and its savage claws curled ready to pounce.But the hawk saw nothing but Laura and Mary and round,empty holes in the ground.It ·052· 草原小屋【 明亮的圆眼睛，弯弯的鼻子和小小的爪子。它们从 ①haunch/h3:ntf/m. 地洞里跳出来，抬起前腿，立着向玛丽和劳拉张 腰 望。它们的后腿在腰下并拢，小小的前爪紧紧地合 在胸前，看上去活像突出地面的一截截枯木。只有 它们的明亮眼睛在闪光。 玛丽和劳拉想抓一只给妈妈。她们一次又一次 地捕捉，她们眼看就要抓到一只了。黄鼠总是一动 不动地站在那儿，直到你十拿九稳会抓住它，然而 就在你伸手可得时它又溜掉了。那儿只留下它的圆 圆的地洞。 劳拉跑啊跑啊，一只也没抓到。玛丽静悄悄地 ②scamper/'skampa/ 快跑 坐到一个洞旁边，等它上来，就在她手够不到的地 ③merrily'merili/ad. 欢乐地 方，黄鼠欢快地奔跳着，它们坐起来向她张望。但 ④1 pat /flou/v,浮动 她身旁那个洞口一直没有钻出一只来。 ⑤hawk /ho:k/n.商 ⑥beak /bi:k/n.鸟嘴 一次，野草上掠过一个影子，所有的黄鼠都消失 ⑦savage/'sEev1d山la. 凶猛的 了。原来是一只鹰从上空飞过。鹰飞得非常低，劳拉 8 pounce/paons/k.猛 都能看到它那凶狠的眼晴向下盯着她。她看到鹰的尖 扑 嘴和那副蜷曲着准备袭击的凶残利爪。然而，除了劳 ·053· Little House on the Prairie sailed away,looking somewhere else for its dinner. Then all the little gophers came up again. It was nearly noon then.The sun was almost overhead.So Laura and Mary picked flowers from the weeds,and they took the flowers to Ma, instead of a gopher. Ma was folding the dry clothes.The little panties and petticoats were whiter than snow,warm from the sun,and smelling like the grass. Ma laid them in the wagon,and took the flowers.She admired equally the flowers that Laura gave her and the flowers that Mary gave her,and she put them together in a tin cup full of water.She set them on the wagon-step,to make the camp pretty. Then she split two cold corn-cakes and spread them with molasses. She gave one to Mary and one to Laura.That was their dinner,and it was very good. “Where is a papoose,Ma?”Laura asked. "Don't speak with your mouth full,Laura,"said Ma. So Laura chewed and swallowed,and she said,"I want to see a papoose.” “Mercy⑤onus！”Ma said.“Whatever makes you want to see ·054· 草原小屋【 拉、玛丽和一个个空空的圆地洞以外，鹰什么也没看 到。鹰飞走了，到其他地方去寻猎午餐了。 这时，一只只小黄鼠又全出来了。 差不多已是中午时分，太阳几乎挂在头上。劳 拉和玛丽采摘了草地上的野花，带给妈妈，用以取 代黄鼠作礼物。 ①panty/pnt/(= 妈妈正在叠衣服。洗净的小短裤和裙子比雪还 panties)童裤 白，带有阳光的暖气和野草的芳香。妈妈把衣物放 进马车里，接过野花。她对劳拉和玛丽两个人给她 ②admire/ad'maua/v 钦佩 的花都同样赞赏，她把花插在一个盛满水的马口铁 杯子里，然后又放在马车的级梯上，营地顿时显得 生机盎然，美丽宜人了。 接着她掰开两个凉玉米饼，抹上糖蜜。她把抹 3 split /split/劈开 上糖蜜的玉米饼给玛丽一个，又给了劳拉一个。这 就是她们的午饭，吃起来香甜可口。 “印第安人的小孩在哪儿，妈妈？”劳拉问。 “不要嘴里含着东西说话，劳拉。”妈妈说。 于是劳拉用力咀嚼咽下，她说：“我要看印第 ④chew∫u:/.咀嚼 安小孩。” mercy/m3:s/n.宽 妈妈说：“天哪！你怎么会想看印第安人？我 恕 们会看个够的。我敢肯定，会看到比我们想看到的 ·055·