9 A Useful Nose

A Useful Nose written by Pam Holden illustrated by Samer Hatam

一个有用的鼻子由帕姆霍尔顿写，萨默哈塔姆插图

While Baby Elephant was growing up, he was clumsy with his trunk. He bumped things with it and tripped on it. "Why do I have this long, useless nose?" he grumbled to Mother Elephant. "It gets in my way." His mother patted him gently with her trunk. "It is time for you to go to Elephant School to learn how to use your trunk," she told him. "You will be surprised what good things you can do with it."

小象在成长的过程中，他的鼻子很笨拙。 他用它撞东西，绊倒了。 “为什么我有这个又长又没用的鼻子?”他向象妈妈抱怨道。 “它妨碍了我。”他妈妈用鼻子轻轻地拍了拍他。 “你是时候去大象学校学习如何使用你的鼻子了，”她告诉他。 “你会惊讶于你能用它做多少好事。”

A wise old elephant was ready to teach the baby elephants. "Good morning, young elephants," she said on the first day. "I will teach you about the most useful nose in the whole world. You will learn why you are luckier than any of the other animals. Their noses are only used for two things — breathing and smelling things. No other animal has a trunk. You can use your trunk to do lots of clever things."

一头聪明的老象准备教小象。 “早上好，小象们，”她在第一天说。 “我来教你世界上最有用的鼻子。 你会明白为什么你比其他动物都幸运。 它们的鼻子只做两件事——呼吸和闻东西。 没有其他动物有鼻子。 你可以用你的鼻子做很多聪明的事情。”

The first thing the teacher showed the baby elephants was how to say hello with their trunks. They touched each other's trunks, like people shaking hands. Then they learned how to pick things up with their trunks and carry them around. "You can feel things with the tip of your trunk to find out what they are," said the teacher.

老师教小象的第一件事是如何用鼻子打招呼。 他们互相抚摸着对方的树干，就像人们握手一样。 然后他们学会了如何用皮箱把东西捡起来并随身携带。 老师说:“你可以用鼻子尖去摸东西，找出它们是什么。”

Next, the young elephants wanted to find something to eat, so they lifted their trunks in the air, moving them from side to side until they could smell leaves and berries. Soon they were pulling plants from the ground and stuffing them into their mouths. When Baby Elephant could not reach the fruit on a high branch, the teacher showed him how to wrap his trunk around the tree to shake it until the fruit fell.

接着，小象们想找点吃的，所以它们把鼻子举到空中，左右移动，直到闻到树叶和浆果的味道。 很快，它们就把植物从地里拔出来，塞进嘴里。 当小象够不着高树枝上的果子时，老师教他如何用鼻子绕在树上摇晃，直到果子掉下来。

The food made the elephants thirsty, so they went to the waterhole for a drink. They learned to suck water into their trunks and then pour it into their mouths. Baby Elephant found that he could stay under the cool water for a long time by keeping the tip of his trunk sticking out like a snorkel. The teacher-showed them how to wash themselves by spraying water all over their bodies like a shower. "Your trunk can help keep you safe from insects and sunburn," said the teacher. "Just spray dust and mud onto your wet skin!"

这些食物使大象口渴了，所以他们去水坑喝水。 他们学会了把水吸进鼻子里，然后倒进嘴里。 小象发现他可以长时间呆在凉爽的水里，把鼻子的尖端像通气管一样伸出来。 老师教他们如何像淋浴一样把水喷遍全身。 “你的鼻子可以保护你免受昆虫和晒伤，”老师说。 “把灰尘和泥土喷到你湿漉漉的皮肤上!”