15 Tortoise's Trick

Tortoise's Trick written by Pam Holden illustrated by Pauline Whimp

乌龟的把戏，帕姆·霍尔顿写，宝琳·威普配图

Hare and Tortoise had a quarrel about who could eat the vegetables in the farmer's field. "Let's have a race to decide," said Hare. Tortoise agreed. "We will race along the cabbage row tomorrow," he said. "The winner can have all the vegetables to eat whenever he likes. The loser will not be allowed to go to the farmer's field again." Tortoise asked his family to help him win the race. "We will play a trick on Hare. He will think he is just racing against me, but there will really be three of us in the race. When we win, we will be able to have all the vegetables for ourselves without greedy Hare eating any," Tortoise told them.

兔子和乌龟为谁能吃农夫地里的蔬菜而争吵。 “我们赛跑来决定吧，”黑尔说。 乌龟同意了。“明天我们将沿着卷心菜田赛跑，”他说。 “获胜者可以随时享用所有的蔬菜。 输的人不能再到农民的地里去了。” 乌龟请求他的家人帮助他赢得比赛。 “我们要和兔子开个玩笑。 他会认为他只是在和我比赛，但实际上我们是三个人在比赛。 当我们赢了，我们就可以拥有所有的蔬菜，而不需要贪婪的兔子吃。”乌龟告诉他们。

Early the next morning, Tortoise's brother and sister plodded to the field, where they ate a delicious breakfast of cabbage leaves. Then Sister Tortoise went halfway along the row and hid herself behind the cabbages. Brother Tortoise walked on to the end of the row and hid under thick cabbage leaves.

第二天一大早，乌龟的哥哥和妹妹就拖着沉重的脚步来到田里，在那里他们吃了一顿美味的卷心菜叶早餐。 然后，乌龟姐姐沿着这排走了一半，躲在卷心菜后面。 乌龟哥哥走到排的尽头，躲在厚厚的卷心菜叶下面。

When Hare arrived for the race, he didn't notice any other tortoises. Lots of animals came to see if Tortoise could win the race. "Ready, set, go!" shouted Owl, and the race began, with Hare running quickly along the row of cabbages. Tortoise plodded as fast as he could on his short legs. As soon as Hare was out of sight, Tortoise turned back and hid near the starting line.

当野兔到达比赛现场时，他没有注意到其他的乌龟。 许多动物都来看乌龟是否能赢得比赛。 “准备，准备，开始!”猫头鹰喊道，比赛开始了，野兔沿着一排卷心菜飞快地跑着。 乌龟用他的短腿尽可能快地走着。 兔子一看不见，乌龟就转身躲在起跑线附近。

After a while, Hare looked back to see how far behind him Tortoise was, but he could not see him anywhere. He heard a voice call, "Here I am!" When he looked ahead, he saw Tortoise crawling along in front of him. Hare didn't know that Sister Tortoise had come out from her hiding place to trick him. "How did you get there so quickly?" called Hare as he ran by. He ran as fast as he could to reach the finish line at the end of the row of cabbages. But when he stopped running, he found Tortoise, munching on a cabbage leaf. Hare didn't know that it was really Brother Tortoise.

过了一会儿，兔子回头看了看乌龟在他后面有多远，但他哪儿也看不见乌龟。 他听到一个声音喊道:“我在这里!”当他向前看时，他看到乌龟在他前面爬行。 兔子不知道乌龟姐姐已经从她的藏身之处出来捉弄他了。 “你怎么这么快就到了?”野兔边跑边问。 他以最快的速度跑向那排卷心菜的终点线。 但是当他停止奔跑时，他发现乌龟正在咀嚼一片卷心菜叶子。 兔子不知道那真的是乌龟哥哥。

"That race was too short," grumbled Hare. "We will have to race again. I'm sure that I'm faster than you." Tortoise agreed to have another race, so they lined up while Parrot shouted, "Ready, set, go!" Hare ran quickly ahead, while Tortoise walked slowly. When he was halfway along the row, Hare looked back to see where Tortoise was. He was surprised that he couldn't see Tortoise behind him, but he heard a voice ahead of him calling, "I am here!" Sister Tortoise had come out of her hiding place again. "I don't understand how you can be so fast today," shouted Hare as he puffed past. Sister Tortoise crawled along, laughing to herself. As soon as Hare was out of sight, she hid under a large cabbage.

“比赛太短了，”野兔抱怨道。 “我们将不得不再次比赛。 我肯定我比你跑得快。” 乌龟同意再比赛一次，所以他们排好队，而鹦鹉喊道:“准备，出发!”兔子跑得很快，而乌龟走得很慢。 当他走到一半的时候，他回头看看乌龟在哪里。 他很惊讶，他没有看到乌龟在他身后，但他听到一个声音在他前面叫:“我在这里!”乌龟姐姐又从她的藏身之处出来了。 “我不明白你今天怎么跑得这么快，”黑尔喘着气走过时喊道。 乌龟妹妹一边爬一边笑。 野兔一看不见，就躲在一棵大卷心菜下面。