3 Wings
3 翅膀
The next day was very wet. It rained all day and the children could not go to see the Psammead. They stayed at home and wrote letters to their mother. But none of them told her about the Psammead. And the day after that,their Uncle Richard came and took them out,so they did not see the Psammead for two days. But Anthea spent a lot of time thinking about what to wish for.
第二天外面很湿。雨下了一天,孩子们不能去看赛米德。他们呆在家里给母亲写信。可谁也没把赛米德的事告诉她。又过了一天,他们的理查德叔叔来了并带他们出去了,所以他们两天没见赛米德。可安西娅花了很多时间想她该许些什么愿。
The next morning,while Martha was busy with Baby,the children left the house quietly and went to see the Psammead. On the way,Anthea said to the others,' I know what we can ask for—— wings!'
再一天的早上,马莎正忙着照顾小弟弟时,孩子们悄悄离开家去看赛米德。在路上安西娅对大家说:“我知道我们希望要什么了——翅膀!”
The others were silent for a minute,but then they all agreed that they too would like to have wings.
一时别人都没说话,可然后他们都赞成,他们也愿意长出翅膀。
They found the Psammead easily. ' I wish we all had beauti-ful wings to fly with,'Anthea said.
他们没费劲就到了赛米德。“我希望我们都有美丽的、可以用以飞翔的翅膀,”安西娅说。
The Psammead made itself very big and then went small again. The children felt strange for a minute and when they looked,they saw that they had beautiful soft wings of many colours. They moved them about and jumped up and down,and soon they could see the green fields and sunny woodsbelow them and the blue sky above. They could fly!It was wonderful,and they flew over the woods and trees,the townsand villages,for a long tim
e. But they began to get hungry.
赛米德把自己变得非常大,然后又变小。一时孩子们觉得有些异样,可当他们一看,他们看见自己已长出了五颜六的、软软的、美丽的翅膀。他们拍着翅膀跳上跳下,很快看见他们下方绿的田野和阳光照耀着的小树林以及上方蔚蓝的天空。他们会飞了!这太棒了。他们飞过树林、城乡,飞了好久。可他们开始饿了。
Just then they saw below them some trees full of large red plums. ' We mustn't steal,'Cyril said.
正在这时他们看见下面有些树,树上满是又大又红的李子。“我们可不能偷啊。”西里尔说。
' We've got wings,'Jane answered quickly,' so we're birds. It's all right for birds to take things. Birds can't steal. '
“我们长了翅膀,”简很快地答道,“所以我们就是鸟。鸟拿点东西没关系。鸟不会偷。”
So they flew down onto the trees,and they ate as many of the plums as they could.
所以他们飞下来落在树上,尽情地大吃李子。
They were finishing the plums when they saw a very angry little fat man,who was hurrying through the trees. They were his plums and the poor man thought that boys from the village were stealing them. But when he saw that the children had wings,his mouth fell open and his face went green. Anthea did not want to steal anything,of course,so she flew down and pushed some money into his pocket.
他们正要吃完的时候,突然看见一个非常生气的小矮胖子。他正急急忙忙地在树间穿梭。那是他的李子,那可怜的人认为是村里的孩子们在偷他的李子。但是当他看见这几个孩子长着翅膀时,他张大了嘴巴,脸苍白。安西娅当然不愿偷东西,所以她飞下来把一些钱塞在他兜里。
'Don't be afraid,'she said. ' We've had some of your plums. We thought that it wasn't stealing,but now I'm not so sure. So that was some money to pay for them. '
“别怕,”她说,“我们吃了你的一些李子。我们起初觉得这不是偷,可现在我也不敢那么肯定。所以那是付给你的些李子钱。”可怜的孩子
The little man sat there on the ground and looked up into the sky. 'Talking birds!Children with wings!This is a lesson for me. From now on,I'm going to live a better life,'he said. And he went into the house and was very kind to his wife.
那个胖子坐在那儿地上,仰望着天空。“会说话的鸟!长翅膀的孩子!这对我可是一课。从今以后,我要过得好点儿,”他说。他进房里去,对他的妻子很和蔼。
Plums are very nice,of course,but you soon feel hungry again. So the children stopped first at one house,then another,to ask for something to eat. They didn't get anything because everyone was afraid of them and screamed and ran away when they saw them. By four o'clock they were getting very tired and hungry,so they flew down onto the roof of a church,to think what to do.
李子当然很好吃,可很快你就又饿了,所以孩子们在一幢又一幢房子前停下来,想要些东西吃。他们什么也没得到,因为所有的人见到他们时都很害怕,尖叫着跑开了。到4点时他们变得又累又饿,于是就飞落在教堂的屋顶上,想想怎么办。
' We can't possibly fly all the way home without something to eat,'said Robert.
“我们要是没有东西吃,就不可能飞回家去。”罗伯特说。
In the end they decided to take some food from the vicar's house next to the church.
最后他们决定从紧挨着教堂的牧师家里拿些食物。
' He's a good man . He'll understand. We'll leave some money for the food,'Cyril said,'and a note saying that we're sorry. '
“他是好人。他会理解的。我们留些食品钱,”西里尔说,“再留张便条说我们很抱歉。”
Cyril got in through the window and gave the food to the others,who were outside. There was some cold meat,half a cold chicken,some bread and a bottle of soda-water. Then they all flew back up onto the church roof to eat it. They were very hungry,so they really enjoyed it. But when you are very hungry,and then you eat a big meal and sit in the hot sun on a roof,it is very easy to fall asleep. And so they did— while the sun slowly went down in the west.
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