8 The Toad and the Snail

The Toad and the Snail I really am most awfully fond Of playing in the lily-pond. I take off shoes and socks and coat And paddle with my little boat. Now yesterday, quite suddenly, A giant toad came up to me. This toad was easily as big As any fair-sized fattish pig. He smiled and said "How do you do? "Hello! Good morning! How are you?"

蟾蜍和蜗牛我真的非常喜欢在睡莲池里玩。 我脱下鞋子、袜子和外套，划着我的小船。 昨天，突然，一只大蟾蜍向我走来。 这只癞蛤蟆很容易就和任何一只中等大小的肥猪一样大。 他微笑着说：“你好！ “你好!早上好!你好吗？”

(His face somehow reminded me Of mummy's sister Emily.) The toad said, "Don't you think I'm fine? "Admire these lovely legs of mine, "And I am sure you've never seen "A toad so gloriously green!" I said, "So far as I can see, "You look just like Aunt Emily." He said, "I'll bet Aunt Emily

（他的脸让我想起了妈妈的妹妹艾米丽。）癞蛤蟆说：“你不觉得我很好吗？ “欣赏我可爱的腿吧”我相信你从来没见过“这么绿的蟾蜍”我说：“在我看来，你长得很像艾米丽姨妈。” 他说：“我打赌是艾米丽姨妈

"Can't jump one half as high as me. "Hop on my back, young friend," he cried, "I'll take you for a marvellous ride." As I got on, I thought, oh blimey, Oh, deary me. How wet and slimy! "Sit further back," he said. "That's right. "I'm going to jump, so hold on tight." He jumped! Oh, how he jumped! By gum, I thought my final hour had come! My wretched eardrums popped and fizzed. My eyeballs watered. Up we whizzed. I clung on tight. I shouted, "How "Much further are we going now?" Toad said, his face all wreathed in smiles, "With every jump, it's fifty miles!" Quite literally, we jumped all over,

“跳不到我的一半高。 “跳上我的背，年轻的朋友，”他叫道，“我要带你去兜风。” 当我上车时，我想，哦，天哪，哦，我的天哪。 又湿又黏！“坐得靠后一点，”他说。 “这是正确的。“我要跳了，抓紧了。” 他跳了!哦，他跳得多好啊！天哪，我以为我最后的时刻到了！我可怜的耳膜噼里啪啦地响着。 我的眼睛湿润了。我们飞快地飞了上去。 我紧紧地抓着。我喊道：“我们还要走多远？”蟾蜍满脸笑容地说：“每跳一跳，就是五十英里！”毫不夸张地说，我们跳了过来，

From Scotland to The Cliffs of Dover! Above the Cliffs, we stopped for tea, And Toad said, gazing at the sea, "What do you say we take a chance, "And jump from England into France?" I said, "Oh dear, d'you think we oughta? "I'd hate to finish in the water." But toads, you'll find, don't give a wink For what we little children think. He didn't bother to reply. He jumped! You should have seen us fly! We simply soared across the sea,

从苏格兰到多佛悬崖！过了悬崖，我们停下来喝茶。蟾蜍凝视着大海说：“你说我们碰碰运气，从英国跳到法国怎么样？”我说：“天哪，你觉得我们应该这么做吗？” “我可不想在水里结束比赛。” 但是蟾蜍，你会发现，对我们小孩子的想法一点也不关心。 他懒得回答。 他跳了!你真该看看我们的飞行！我们只是飞越大海，

The marvellous Mister Toad and me. Then down we came, and down and down, And landed in a funny town. We landed hard, in fact we bounced. "We're there! It's France!" the Toad announced. He said, "You must admit it's grand "To jump into a foreign land. "No boats, no bicycles, no trains, "No cars, no noisy aeroplanes." Just then, we heard a fearful shout, "Oh, heavens above!" the Toad cried out. I turned and saw a frightening sight– On every side, to left, to right, People were running down the road, Running at me and Mister Toad, And every person, man and wife Was brandishing a carving-knife.

了不起的蟾蜍先生和我。 然后我们下来，下来，下来，降落在一个有趣的小镇。 我们重重地着陆，实际上是弹跳。 “我们在那里!是法国！”蟾蜍宣布。 他说，“你必须承认这是伟大的”跳进异国他乡。 没有船，没有自行车，没有火车，没有汽车，没有吵闹的飞机。 就在这时，我们听到一声可怕的喊叫。“哦，天哪！” 我转过身，看到了一个可怕的景象——在每一边，向左，向右，人们沿着路跑，跑向我和蟾蜍先生，每个人，男人和妻子都挥舞着切肉刀。

It didn't take me very long To figure there was something wrong. And yet, how could a small boy know, For nobody had told me so, That Frenchmen aren't like you or me, They do things very differently. They won't say "yards", they call them "metres", And they're the most peculiar eaters: A Frenchman frequently regales Himself with half-a-dozen SNAILS! The greedy ones will gulp a score Of these foul brutes and ask for more. (In many of the best hotels The people also eat the shells.) Imagine that! My stomach turns!

没过多久我就发现出了问题。 然而，一个小男孩怎么会知道，因为没人告诉过我，法国人跟你我不一样，他们做事方式很不一样。 他们不说“码”，而叫“米”，而且他们是最奇特的吃食者：一个法国人经常吃半打蜗牛。贪婪的人会吞下这些可恶的野兽，并要求更多。 （在许多最好的旅馆里，人们也吃贝壳。）想象一下!我反胃！